The Female Founder duo: the story behind the market leading consultancy RQM+ | Maria Fagan & Lisa Casavant, co-founders of RQM+

Key takeaways:

• Why you should prioritise CULTURE when starting a company
• Learn the secret to a successful BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP
• How to be IN TUNE with your workalike balance
• When it’s right to LEAVE YOUR JOB and become a consultant or start a company 

About Maria Fagan, President, RQM+ :
Maria provides leadership to RQM+, ensuring the team is strategically focused on business balanced growth, the RQM+ vision and mission are upheld, and RQM+ is poised for success. Having cofounded R&Q in 2008, which was rebranded to RQM+ in 2020, Maria has an expert understanding of the consulting industry as well as the medical device industry. Maria has nearly 30 years of industry experience in medical device development across RA/QA areas, as well as post-surveillance and compliance. Maria capitalizes on this experience to ensure that RQM+ continues to provide top quality strategic and tactical solutions to the industry. 

Prior to co-founding R&Q, Maria held positions at MEDRAD, a two-time Malcolm Baldridge winning company and one of Pittsburgh’s top medical device companies. Maria’s previous positions included Director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs for Europe, as well as Manager of Quality Assurance for New Products where she led a team of professionals that provided a broad range of quality and regulatory services to product development teams. Maria holds an Executive Leadership Program certificate from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

About Lisa Casavant, Executive VP, RQM+:
Lisa cofounded R&Q in 2008, which was rebranded to RQM+ in 2020.  As a member of the executive leadership team, Lisa supports strategic planning and execution, and provides guidance across the company.  Lisa leads the RQM+ Marketing Team, focusing on creating and executing innovative marketing strategies to profitably increase revenue and grow the brand.  She is responsible for managing all aspects of RQM+ marketing campaigns and operations.  
Lisa has 20 years of industry experience, with extensive expertise in medical device RA/QA and business development. Prior to co-founding R&Q, Lisa held positions at MEDRAD and the Tyco Healthcare. Lisa’s previous positions included Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist at MEDRAD, where she focused on worldwide submissions for product development teams and field safety risk assessments for product issues, and Process/Quality Engineer at the Tyco Healthcare Retail Group. Lisa holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University.

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