Mullins steps down from Sebago Lakes Chamber leadership role

By Ed Pierce

As President/CEO of the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce, Robin Mullins has poured her heart and soul into promoting the community and local businesses but as it’s been said before, every good thing must eventually come to an end.

Robin Mullins is stepping down from
her position as President/CEO of the
Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of
Commerce after five years of leading the
organization. FILE PHOTO

Mullins, who has led the chamber since 2019, will step down from her chamber position to focus on her new role as Marketing Manager for Octagon Cleaning & Restoration in Windham.

“Now seems like the right time to leave my chamber President/CEO role as I was offered a position too good to turn down,” Mullins said. “It was hard turning down no more nights or weekends for a bit more money and a company car. What I love about my current role is all of the relationships I have built and the marketing I have done for the region. In my new position I will do what I love and continue to build and foster relationships, and instead of marketing hundreds of businesses in eight communities, I will be able to focus all of my efforts on just one company.”

She said she has worked for Octagon before, so she knows the business.

“The coolest part is that it is a family business and my family,” Mullins said. “My brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Kathy York, own the business and my dad, nephew and cousin all work there.”

She grew up in Windham and graduated from Windham High School in 1986. Although she earned a degree in elementary education, Mullins has spent most of her career working for Hannaford Supermarkets in both retail and corporate environments. She worked 22 years at Hannaford and the company paid for Mullins to obtain a master’s degree in training and development while giving her experience in every aspect of human resources management.

Mullins left Hannaford to spend more time with her family and then became the part-time HR Director for Octagon Cleaning & Restoration. She later joined the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce as its part-time office manager and in 2019, Mullins assumed the full-time role as SLRCC’s President/CEO. Her last day leading the chamber will be July 12.

SLRCC Board Chair Jonathan Priest said that Mullins has left an indelible positive stamp upon the chamber.

“I am excited for her in her new role, but I know we will all miss her boundless energy, her giant heart, and her passion for the people and businesses of our region,” Priest said. “She has worked tirelessly during her time with the chamber to support our area businesses, grow our membership, expand chamber member benefits, boost attendance at our Business Breaks, and raise money for worthy causes like Feed the Need.”

Priest said that her membership in various organizations like MAACE, the Gray New Gloucester Optimist Club and the Sebago Lake Rotary Club allowed her positive energy, sharp mind and articulate voice to be seen and heard by business owners, state and federal representatives and community leaders. And, he said that Mullins attended many trainings and conferences to make sure she always had the most accurate and up-to-date information for the chamber board and communities she served.

For her efforts on behalf of the chamber, Mullins was honored last fall as the 2023 Maine State Chamber Professional of the Year.

According to Mullins, her family including husband John and daughters Cassidy and Ainsely, are proud of what she’s accomplished during her time working for the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce and excited about her new job.

The people are what Mullins says that she will the most about working for the chamber.

“I have an amazing Office Manager, Denise Dyer. I will miss working with her every day. I will miss the SLRCC Board of Directors, especially our Board Chair, Jonathan Priest,” she said. “But you know, as I think about it, I am not going that far away. I will still be in Windham. Octagon is a member of the chamber, so I'll still participate in chamber events. And all of those relationships I have will not go away. They will just change. Don't get me wrong, I do not wish water or fire damage on anyone. However, if it should happen, I know an amazing restoration company that can take care of anyone I have come to know and adore in my role as chamber President/CEO.”

Above everything else, Mullins says the thing she’s learned the most about herself from her time working for the chamber is fundamental.

“I hate to sound like a broken record, but it is all about relationships. I have learned how much relationships mean and how the relationships I formed in the past continue to benefit me today,” she said. “I have always told my girls to be nice to everyone and to never burn bridges. You never know when someone will come back into your life and how you might need them or they you. So many of the people I have known from other roles in my life have proven to be extremely valuable in my chamber President/CEO position and will continue to be in my new role as Marketing Manager at Octagon Cleaning & Restoration.” <