The first time Sarah Macary Brine took a seat at HOB Industries, she was 6 or 7 years old and her feet didn’t reach the floor from her chair at the reception desk.

“My dad would sometimes bring us in on weekends, and I have fond memories of spending a portion of some Saturdays drawing pictures and stringing paper clips together for hours,’’ Brine said. “Patti, our receptionist, always knew when we had been in the building, because she spent her first half hour on Monday unclipping that paper-clip chain!’’

Today, Brine is Vice President at the fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer in Cheshire. HOB Industries specializes in high-speed metal stamping, custom tooling, and precision engineering. The company serves the automotive, aerospace, electronic, appliance, and commercial roofing sectors.

Brine, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Babson College and an Executive MBA from UConn in 2017, will be honored with a ‘40 Under Forty’ award from the Hartford Business Journal in September, recognizing her as an outstanding young professional excelling in her industry. Brine is one of three UConn business graduates to be recognized.

EMBA Program Taught Her to Think More Strategically

Running a manufacturing business today isn’t easy, Brine said.

“For me, the challenge is the joy,’’ she said. “On a global scale, there are tariffs and pricing challenges and 20 great employees who have their own needs in the business and outside of it. “
“On the days when it all comes together and works, it is fun. Like they say, ‘Everyone wants to be a star athlete but no one wants to go to practice,’’’ she said. “But it is the hard work and preparation that brings success and that allows us to celebrate when we get the win.’’

When Brine was accepted into UConn’s EMBA program, she was the youngest in the cohort and she was nervous about it. But she met people with different leadership styles, different viewpoints, and experience in a vast wealth of industries. She said the professors were exceptional and she still maintains friendships with many of her classmates.

Through the EMBA program, Brine developed a new perspective.

“The EMBA program gave me the opportunity to step back from the day-to-day operations of the business and think more strategically,’’ she said. “Instead of simply reacting to whatever came my way each day, which is so easy to do in a small business, it challenged me to spend time on our long-term goals and priorities and to make decisions with the company’s future in mind. This has stayed with me for many years.’’

Brine’s father, Francis Macary Jr., is no longer CEO but is still an owner and remains involved in the business, while her brother, Peter Macary, serves as company president.

Brine said her father never pushed her, or her three brothers, to join the company. But the summer after her junior year in college, he asked her if she would help build a custom software for the company.

“We were the kind of family where you had to earn your own gas money, so I said yes,’’ she recalled.

That summer she enjoyed the work, particularly providing new data for the company and knowing that the processes she developed would benefit the organization. By the time she returned to college, she was invested in the company’s success. Her first accomplishment after becoming a permanent employee was to create a method that allowed employees to measure production in real time, an essential tool for the staff.

Brine’s Advice to Students/Alums: Enjoy Your Work

If Brine could offer advice to students or young alumni, it would be two-fold.

“A core value of mine is to enjoy work,’’ she said. “So much is written about people working to make money, but there is so much joy it brings to your life if you enjoy what you do and take pride in it. That’s very important.’’

“Also, I can’t overstate the importance of relationships. People sell products to other people. The root of business is building relationships with customers and with co-workers,’’ she said.
Brine, and her husband Stephen, an inner-city teacher for more than 20 years, are raising their 2-year-old daughter, Dottie, and are excited to welcome a baby boy in January.

“I’ve been fortunate enough never to have to view my career and family as separate parts of my life; they’re both part of an incredible adventure that challenges me and brings me so much joy. I truly believe one makes the other more rewarding,’’ she said.