Meet Linda Maresca | Nearly 30 Years of Dedication

“We’ve grown up together,” Linda Maresca told me as we started her employee profile interview. “We can practically finish each other’s sentences.”

It’s rare to find an office of leaders who have worked together for 10 years, but 30 years? That’s more than impressive; that’s commitment that defines loyalty.

For Linda, her nearly 30 years with LidoChem, and now Performance Nutrition, have been about much more than a j.o.b. She has watched the company grow from its early days as a family-owned business, helped it navigate changes throughout its evolution and built the kind of work relationships with co-workers that turn into family.

An unlikely beginning, Maresca’s time with LidoChem began in a very un-LidoChem industry—horses.

She met LidoChem founders Don and Lisa Pucillo in the early 1990s, when she was working at a horse farm in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Don and Lisa’s young daughter came to the farm for riding lessons, and the friendship that grew between Linda and the family matured into a lifetime career.

As she got to know the family, she began helping Lisa with things around the house, caring for the family’s horses and dogs and occasionally looking after their daughter. Eventually, Lisa, who served as the company’s chief financial officer, began teaching Linda some of the accounting work she handled from her home office.

“It was just a natural progression,” she recalls. “Lisa started teaching me her part of the CFO duties for the business, and I was able to grow into what I’m doing now from there.”

Linda officially joined LidoChem in April 1997 and moved into a full-time position at the corporate office in 2002.

Today, Linda handles accounts payable, accounts receivable and invoicing, with much of her attention also focused on customer service and managing one of Performance Nutrition’s largest customer accounts, an account that has nearly tripled due in part to exemplary customer service and support.

A Day in the Life

Based in the New Jersey headquarters, Maresca’s mornings generally begin by reviewing orders and arranging transportation from the company’s main warehouse in Ohio. On a busy day, she might arrange 15 trucks headed to destinations across the country.

And sometimes, that’s just the beginning of her day. After nearly 30 years, Maresca has learned that flexibility is paramount to success in her multiple roles. She often navigates the challenges that logistics present, solving each as they come with the utmost regard for the customers she’s come to call friends.

“The most important thing is that we can always make it right, no matter what it is,” she says. “If the pallet is lost, the pallet is damaged, it shows up short, no matter what comes our way, in almost 30 years, we’ve always been able to make it right for our customers.”

The customer-centric approach is something Linda learned from Don and Lisa years ago, and it remains an important driver in how she approaches every piece of the work she does today. The priority is always finding a solution and taking care of the customer.

And in an age when reaching an actual person can sometimes feel like an accomplishment, she wants customers to know they can always pick up the phone and get an answer.

“I’m very much a people person, so I enjoy engaging with our customers,” she says. “I know that they appreciate that if they have a question or if they have to reach out to me, whether it’s an ETA on an order or something else, they know that they’re going to actually reach a person.”

More Like a Family

Having spent so many years with a relatively small team, Linda has shared a lot of life with the people around her. They’ve worked through busy seasons and company changes, watched one another grow into new responsibilities and developed friendships that extend well beyond the office walls.

That closeness made the company’s transition to new ownership under Valudor especially meaningful to Maresca and her long-time colleagues. After spending so many years in a family-owned business, she admits there was some uncertainty about what the future might look like.

“We’re such a close-knit family, and having Valudor purchase us, we really didn’t know what to expect,” she shares. “But they have been so wonderful working with us, keeping us as a family, as a team; they have really worked to encourage and empower us.”

She also credits Lisa for taking great care in making sure the team would be in good hands following her retirement.

For Linda, the relationships and the belief in committing to something bigger have made her time with Performance Nutrition special.

Beyond the Office

When she isn’t helping to drive Performance Nutrition’s success and growth, Maresca is a self-taught and self-proclaimed history geek. She can tell you the incredible history of her home state and its important role in founding of America.

Born and raised in Middletown, New Jersey, Maresca has deep roots in the Jersey Shore community. Her father was born on a 101-acre property in the area, and she has always loved the rich history of the area.

On weekends and after her workday ends at Performance Nutrition, you can find Maresca volunteering with local historical societies. She even serves as a docent at several historic locations. The 250^th birthday of our great nation kept her busy this past summer, as she participated in reenactments and community events celebrating the history of our nation.

And when she’s not sharing local history, you’ll find her volunteering with animal rescue organizations or pursuing her passion as a novelist. In addition to keeping the logistics and customer service of Performance Nutrition running like a well-oiled machine, Maresca has authored a two-book fiction series set in New Jersey during Superstorm Sandy.

Her first novel, completed in 2017, is currently with her editor.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

As Maresca approaches her 30th anniversary with Performance Nutrition in April 2027, she has plenty to be proud of. She has been part of Performance Nutrition’s history since before the brand existed, and she has seen firsthand how much the business has changed and grown.

“It’s been a true privilege to experience Performance Nutrition’s beginnings and seeing it evolve and just grow to being something I’m so proud to be a part of,” Linda says. “It’s been a blessing. It’s truly a family.”