Mary Murrin: The Power of Intention Through Uncertainty

Mary Murrin is the President and CEO of Rivers of Steel, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and reimagining the industrial heritage of the Pittsburgh region while supporting community revitalization and economic growth.  

In this episode of The LeadStyle Way, Mary reflects on returning home to Pittsburgh after years away and what it means to lead through seasons of uncertainty with greater clarity and purpose. She shares lessons on sustainable leadership, the unexpected impact of being truly heard as a new CEO, navigating major life and career transitions without a perfectly mapped plan, and why some of the most meaningful leadership decisions are shaped not by certainty, but by intention.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

I've known Mary Murrin for almost a decade. We first met in Houston sitting around a conference table in a leadership program. One of those environments where you quickly see how someone thinks, how they connect, and how they show up. And even then, Mary had a way of drawing people in. Not loudly, not performatively, but with a kind of clarity and steadiness that makes you lean in. This conversation was recorded in October of 2025. Just seven months after Mary stepped into her role as president and CEO of Rivers of Steel in Pittsburgh. Seven months. If you've ever stepped into a senior leadership role, you know that's not the polished chapter, that's the raw one. The one where you're still listening more than speaking, figuring out what's yours to change, what's yours to preserve, and how your voice actually lands in the room. What Mary speaks to in this conversation isn't hindsight. It's not a clean narrative of success. It's something much more relevant to the moment many leaders face. She talks about returning home, not just geographically, but professionally and personally. About navigating uncertainty without the illusion of stability. About being heard for the first time in a way that changes how you lead. And maybe most importantly, about presence. Not as an idea, but as a practice. In a time where leadership is being tested across every dimension, professionally, personally, physically, this conversation is a reminder that sustainability doesn't come from having it all figured out. It comes from how you move through the moments you face along the way. You have that rare mix of intellect and warmth that really draws people in. Now seeing you back, I mean, I was sad when you left Houston, but seeing you back home in Pittsburgh, leading as a CEO at Rivers of Steel, it feels like your career has come full circle.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

It really has. We spend so much time planning, figuring out a trajectory that is safe and has momentum. And then things just happen. And I really feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. I could not have planned it had I started with this vision 30 years ago. And I am just thrilled to be here.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

As CEO of Rivers of Steel, tell us a little bit about what Rivers of Steel does and really your day in the life.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Yes. So Rivers of Steel is a very, very unique nonprofit organization. Rivers of Steel is a state, a Pennsylvania state, and a national heritage area. One of the first national heritage areas. It encompasses what was the homestead works, which of U.S. Steel, originally Carnegie Steel, in the Monongahela Valley, right outside of Pittsburgh, right over the city line. And when the mills here were closing and the steel industry was the bedrock and foundation of our economy, a few people got together, including my predecessor, Augie Carlino, who was a lobbyist originally and had lots of contacts on the Hill, was talking to Senator John Hines and some other folks that had roots in Pennsylvania, represented our economic development here. And the discussion surfaced of does it make sense to tear everything down? There's developers were coming in to reimagine the future of Pittsburgh. And the decision was made to keep one part of a blast furnace here in the region. Blast furnaces process the ore that was then shipped across the river to the steel manufacturing plants. It was it was built 125 years ago. It's got a great history. So along with that, some other historic landmarks, including the building I'm in right now, that is our headquarters, was built in uh the mid-1800s, around the time of the Battle of Homestead, which I won't go into here, was the end of the labor unions in steel until the early 1930s. So it was momentous. There were shots fired, people died. It was a basically frickin' Carnegie against the workers. But there were other sites that are around this carry blast furnaces that represent the grit and innovation and hard work that represented the steel industry. And we salvaged those spots and currently are reinvigorating them, but also using them for workforce development programs and traditional trades, arts, metal arts programs, lots of tourism. Local theaters come and do Shakespeare in this industrial built, post-industrial building. So it's it's a great destination to remember and honor our heritage, but also how do we take the goodness of that that made us who we are and impact future generations and the economic development evolution of this region?

SPEAKER_02 5:20

I don't think there's any coincidence that you are here today. Looking back at your family, really was very involved in the history of Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

My family history is fascinating, or as is many are many people's histories, but this region was built on immigration, immigrants that came across around the time of the revolution and afterwards, and then went over the Appalachian Mountains to settle the West. And Western Pennsylvania has resources, natural resources that rival anywhere in the world. So my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Hugh Murrin, came from Donegal, Ireland in the 1760s and fought for the colony of New Jersey before heading over the mountains and buying uh land from original founder named Robert Morris here in the uh western Pennsylvania. And three generations of my family were sustainable farmers, making ends meet, you know, living off the land. Uh the land wasn't great. Western Pennsylvania is a lot like Ireland, it's rocky, it's not flat, it can be complicated, but they did okay. And then in the 1890s, they struck oil, enough oil to move to a big city called Butler. It's actually a small city, but it was a big city for them, about 30 miles away. And the beauty of that story, that was my grandfather. He started, since they didn't have to farm, he started to read law at Grove City College nearby. And then three of his sons and one of his four daughters became lawyers and uh they started a law firm. So the idea that they made that transition to be able to be educated in a different way after generations of working the land. My mother's family was the exact opposite. They were similar, but they came at a much later time. My grandfather was an immigrant from Italy, was a coal miner in Westmoreland County, also north of Pittsburgh, different county than Butler. He was a child laborer, didn't even finish grade school. He was a minor at 12, obviously a smart guy and a hard worker. He ended up managing a packaging floor uh for Alcoa, the aluminum company America, which is based here in Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Mary, you before Chevron, though, before we met, you actually had worked at Alcoa.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

I did. I started in public affairs, managing retiree, you know, the writing for the right retiree magazine and going into communities, sort of shadowing what they were doing in PR. Absolutely loved it.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Well, fast forwarding though, you left Pittsburgh, you came to Houston.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

I did.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

And you're with Chevron and what did you do at Chevron?

SPEAKER_01 8:01

I was leading our social investment in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and just loved it. We were very focused on impacting the small uh towns that had been left behind by coal and steel shutting down or or diminishing. Most people there were either unemployed or unemployed, and they weren't trained for the terrific opportunities that the supply chain for the natural gas industry needed. So we were as a region bringing people up from Oklahoma and Texas. And so we we were focused on our social investment on uh career and technical training for pipe fitting and drilling, and really changed for a short period of time the economy of these underserved regions. It was, it was an exciting time. It's it's dwindled quite a bit, and that's when I was moved to Houston when there was sure everyone was moving that same development. They learned a lot from our operations here, but it was much less expensive to do it in West Texas than it was in in Pennsylvania for a lot of number of reasons. So I went down and joined a social investment team in Houston.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

I remember when you were contemplating moving back to be closer to your family. Yeah. That was a big decision for you.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

It was a huge decision. I had been intended to be in Houston for three years. I was told it was called an out and back. You go down, and then when you're we don't promote from within, everybody sort of spreads and moves somewhere else, and they'll bring me back. And then while I was in Houston the first few years, Chevron sold everything to a company here called EQT. So I wasn't coming back if I was staying with with Chevron. And I decided to stay with Chevron. So I was there for seven years, but I didn't originally intend to be that far from my sons, who were grown by then. But you know, Texas is far away from Pennsylvania. It's, you know, it's not like you could go for the weekend. So it was a big decision. I felt like I had given Houston my all. I had given Chevron my all. I was very proud of my time there. I really enjoyed my time in Houston. So it was a great experience, but it felt like it was time.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

You've described the role, your role now as CEO at Rivers of Steel as returning home. How did you know it was time to move back home?

SPEAKER_01 10:12

It was a number of things that resulted in this very strong feeling of certainty and clarity. It really was, I got to a point where I was ready to do it. One of the influencers and the way I've lived my life professionally is that I have not had the luxury at times or the flexibility to say, I'm not really happy where I am right now, or this isn't really working for me. I'm gonna throw down and leave, or I'm going. Not even out of a sense of anger or frustration, but just, you know, this isn't working. I'm gonna move on. It is a blessing in some ways to, as a single income generator, my ex-husband and I, who are both very involved in our kids' lives, but I was my own provider. I was aging, getting way smarter. So aging brought a lot with it. But I I knew that it was gonna be harder to keep changing jobs quickly over time as you reach your 60s. So I didn't have that luxury. And in some, as I said, in some ways that was a blessing. It gives you a mindset that stay the course, work hard, keep doing what you're doing. And so I had done that for a number of years. And then I had this moment of clarity that said, all right, you've done that. It's time to start looking for something else. I was ready. There was talk of layoffs in the company, and the timing was just right to start looking. So I started to look in the Pittsburgh area and then also Washington, D.C., where I had some family. And when this job was posted, two women I know from Pittsburgh who knew I was looking to come back texted me within minutes of each other and said, This is your job. So it's just like it was meant to be. The timing was perfect.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

As CEO of Rivers of Steel, what's your day-to-day life?

SPEAKER_01 12:06

So there's fundraising, which is a lot of uh federal, state, county grants, heritage grants that makes up you know a percentage of our revenue stream, uh earned revenue, tourism, education programs, arts initiatives. The third is foundation of private funding, private donor funding. So that's a big component of it. We have a pending launch of a huge capital, multi-year capital campaign to complete the riverfront and trails on this on this site to bring people in from many different channels. One of the things I love most about my job is a lot of my work is communicating with leaders in communities that are peripheral to this huge footprint of this former blast furnace. These were the towns there that people like my grandfather lived in. If you've seen the movie The Deer Hunter or All the Right Moves, so many of them are based on these Pittsburgh towns by the mills. People lived in these towns and walked down the hill to the mill. And when those mills closed, these these towns have never gotten back to a sustainable economic spot. And so we are very focused on as this footprint grows, how do we get the people that are coming in to the site for any number of reasons to go up the hill to these communities and spend some money to uh support the commercial area, to encourage businesses, hotels. Uh, you know, our goal is to get 200,000 tourists a year to the site.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

So a lot of what you're doing, Mary, is reaching out to leaders in those communities. So it's a lot of developing relationships.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Yes. Yes. And there's some permitting and tax, you know, components to this, but really building trust is the bottom line. How we want to make it clear that we're listening to what they want. We're not being prescriptive and telling them what they need. We are communicating the potential value we have of impacting the whole corner of this region. And we can't do it without them. And we need to do it with their guidance. How big is your team? We have 24 full-time staff and another 40 part-time staff and a lot of volunteers. One of the beauty, the best piece of the experience here, the best experience from a leadership role that I that I've enjoyed is so many of the staff started out as volunteers, maybe joined, you know, as part-time initially, and 10, 15 years later are all in full-time, completely engaged, experts in what they do. Some of them are PhD historians who are archivists, and uh, and then they're folks that are education specialists. So a diverse group of people, but they're here because they're passionate about the mission, which is very exciting.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Do you find yourself still all consumed with work or is there a boundary that you have now?

SPEAKER_01 15:10

I'm working on that any day now. At the end of the day, I spend a lot of time networking with the next generation of leaders in the region. So some of it's, you know, specific events that are planned, some of it's having coffee or a beer, but there's a lot of that. And I hope in the next few months to sort of cover that field and be able to step back and get a little more balance of my own time.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

What time does your day start?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

I try to get to the office by 8:30 or nine. Honestly, I get up and do a little email before I even get in the car. We probably all do that. And then I'm generally here till five or so, and I would say three or four nights a week. Yeah, maybe two or three have have something after work. But that that will slow down over time. I do try to, I'm in the office Monday through Thursday. I try to take Fridays to be my out in the field, you know, have coffee, take a walk, uh, visit somebody's organization that has, you know, shares a mission with ours, so that I'm not coming in and out of the office. I'm more efficient with either being here or being out.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

When you're in the office, what's your priority then?

SPEAKER_01 16:16

My priority is listening. I have an open door policy. I'm in this, uh, you'll you'll see in the in the images at some point. I'm in this building. I like to say I'm working in Bailey Savings and Loan from It's a Wonderful Life. It's a building built in the 1800s. It's beautiful, it's Victorian, it's an old hotel, and it's got these old wooden floors. And I'm at the end of this hall, and I keep my door open, but I can hear people walking down the to come talk to me. And part of me is really excited. Then, and then the other part of me is I just need 10 more seconds to get this email out and hit send. So I'm trying to get work done, uh uh, you know, the tactical work done, but the best part so far is talking to the people who have been here much longer than I have, and tell me what's working, tell me what's not working, share ideas, trying to be more efficient and be more action-driven. And as every organization is, it's not, it's no reflection of how it was when I joined. It's a it's it was a great organization when I joined, that very diverse in the financial fundraising, as I said, great staff, but there's always room to make changes when you join. So I'm I'm I'm listening to what changes are potentially good options. And the people that work with me know far better than I do what those are. So I really love just love listening to people's ideas.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

How long have you been in this role? Seven months. What's been something that you didn't expect as you transition into this role?

SPEAKER_01 17:47

I didn't expect to be so energized by being heard, which is now which I didn't expect. I mean, I've worked for leaders, I've been on executive teams, but when you are the president and she EO, as my son likes to say, it took me a minute to say, oh, when I when I talk, everybody's stopping to listen. It doesn't mean that they agree with me. It doesn't mean that, you know, they're they're not thinking, oh, here she goes again. But it is it's a fascinating experience to have. I've never owned my my own organization like you have. You know, there's I've never been running the show. And that's been surprising to me, certainly welcoming, but also, and I knew this coming in. It's important again to listen, but to also know what you don't know. There are people in this organization that are way more knowledgeable than I am. I have a lot to learn. So when I'm heard, I'm very conscious of when I when I'm speaking that I'm being clear that I want feedback, that I'm curious and asking questions. I'm not being prescriptive. Now, after five months, I did have some clear direction on things that I felt strongly about, where I said, you know, we're gonna change this up and head this direction. But you have to build that that trust first. But yeah, to to go back to my original thought, because it's a really important one, is I did not expect to be impacted so strongly by the opportunity to be heard every time you said something. That's super bound to be heard. Yeah. I mean, I've been we're all we're all part of systems where we have a good idea, we think we have a good idea, we have a thought. You never know if somebody's really gonna give you a chance to share it. It's quite an honor to be in a position, and I've earned this position, but to earn a position where I was selected because I have something important to say.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

As a leader of this organization, what's the biggest challenge you face?

SPEAKER_01 19:53

The biggest challenge is I'm gonna say two. First is clarifying our message. So one of the first things I did was engage with a company to help us think through that and not in a you know two-week long 30 people at the table kind of discussion, because all the information's there. If you look at our website, riversofsteel.com, there's a lot there. There's too much there. But all the information on what we do is there. It's how do you position it and condense it in a way that's compelling. So that was that was a challenge and still is. We're getting there. Um, my goal is to have a clearer message beginning of Q1. And then the other one is like most nonprofits navigating the funding issues right now and the federal government. The good news is that our mission is bipartisan in the sense that it speaks to both extreme sides right now, US Steel and Nippon Steel. A Japanese company have just done a merger acquisition here in the region. So there's a lot of excitement for the steel industry on both on both sides, from the labor side and you know, the the economic development side. So I think we're in a good position there, but there still are are some restrictions on federal funding that that may maybe tuck down the road.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

How do you sustain yourself now? I mean, what's your routine?

SPEAKER_01 21:14

My routine is more important now than ever. I've always done yoga. So I uh do yoga on the weekends. I try to do Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if I can. Uh again, Friday's a day. I work from home and do coffee. So I'll go to go yoga and then have coffee with somebody. Walking. So pre-COVID, when I wanted to see my friends, including you when I lived in Houston, would go to Rice. I remember this.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

You walked a lot.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

I did.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

And Houston is not a very walkable city. I mean, it amazed me. I I still tell my friends she didn't have a car. Yeah. She was living in the museum district in Houston, and you were walking to the grocery store, which was not close. I did not feel it was close.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

That was part that was one of the best things that I liked. Yeah, it was. Now, in fairness, I would Uber back or lift back. I'm not carrying bags back. But yes, so walking, I try to plan some of my social life around walking. I I've my apartment building is on this great park. There's Pittsburgh has a ton of parks in the East End. So, you know, instead of maybe, you know, going for a beer or a coffee or a meal, hey, you know, want to meet up at, you know, the entrance at this street entrance of the park and you know walk for an hour and catch up. And so that that's a beautiful way for me to spend time with people that are very important to me. It really lends itself to reflection and important conversations and is healthier.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

I mean, I think we've had so many deep conversations, Mary, over the years. When you think, when you flick back now, what would you have done differently?

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Wow. What would I have done differently? I think I would, I know, I would have spoken up more when I was dissatisfied with something in my personal life, or spoken up more when I saw opportunity for change in my professional life. It was partially how I was raised. That, you know, don't inconvenience anybody. I mean, be smart, be curious, but no, don't rattle too many, too many boats to figure out how to navigate it yourself, keep a positive attitude, keep moving forward. And I think there was more room for me to speak up. And so I think there are times where I let things pass that maybe extended the length of time that things were tough, and I might have been better off speaking up.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

What specific practices keep your energy steady today?

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Breathing physically, just sort of taking a moment to sit. I actually have what first thing I do in the morning, get a cup of coffee, and I have a book of quotes from Mr. Rogers, who is a Pittsburger. I actually grew up in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood for real. Oh, and I've been asked to be on the board of, I'm currently on the board of Fred Rogers production since I got back. But I've always been a fan of his. And there's a book that basically you can read a quote a day, a quote a morning. And I like starting my day by reading one of those. It sort of grounds me because they're always to be reductive, they're always sort of like, you know, we're all doing the best we can. We're all human, cut each other a break. I mean, that's that's my interpretation of his messaging. So I like to start the day that way. And then at work, it's very much about prioritizing. That gives me peace of mind and keeps me focused and productive because the me of 20 years ago would have made a list and a list maker of, you know, 50 things I needed to get done today. And there's no way you're going to get them done. And you're not going to get them done well if you're if it's more is better. So I'm I've learned to prioritize and say what is what's most time sensitive or what's if there isn't anything particular that's time sensitive, what can create the biggest change in a positive way, focus on that. And that makes me feel more like I added more value by the end of the day, but it also keeps me from being overwhelmed. I haven't felt overwhelmed yet, even though I'm incredibly busy. I think that the trick is keeping yourself from being overwhelmed by prioritizing and breathing.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

What's the boundaries that you protect?

SPEAKER_01 25:25

A quick no. If somebody throws down a quick no, that's a red flag. To me, that feels like, as my son likes to say, it sounds like a him problem or it sounds like a her problem. Like if somebody is so quick to just say no without even listening, then that's an opportunity to say, let's give this some thought and you know, I'll send you a few notes on it and let's talk tomorrow. So not not giving up because somebody is either exhibiting, you know, a negative reaction towards something without finding out what the origin of that is and if there's if there's some room. The other thing though, as part of the prioritizing of the boundaries, is you know, pick the hills you're gonna die on. If there are three things that are really important to you, the fourth, fifth, and sixth ones that somebody else feels more strongly about, let it, you know, follow somebody else's lead because it's not that important to you.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Do you have a recovery ritual? I mean, going through those demanding days, or you're maybe working after work, but it's the walking.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

It's walking. It's the walking. And I'll often listen to a podcast or a book to sort of uh if I'm not walking with a friend, I I like to sort of check out. I I like listening to the daily, getting caught up on the news, or Ezra Klein. Yeah, there's a couple cool podcasts that I help me check out and immerse myself in something that's separate from my work.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

How do you define success now in your life?

SPEAKER_01 26:54

In my professional life, it's having an impact, being able to have data and still working on what those data will be for Rivers of Steel, but I have a fairly good sense. But it's not about you know feeling good about yourself just for the sake of feeling good about yourself. It's it's having a collaborative effort with some objectives that deliver impact. And in in something I care most about in this job is impact on the communities that have been devastated since the 90s here. So impact in my personal life, I think it's certainly human connection. One of the boundaries I've developed as I've gotten older is my circle of friends has gotten smaller intentionally. And there are five, ten people, you among them, that I I look forward to connecting with and talking with. It's not about how often, it's about the meaningful connection when you have them. You know, it's I have lots of there are lots of people I really enjoy being with, but I don't need to see them as often because I don't have that that regenerative feeling when you're with them. And or or or maybe not regenerative, maybe difficult discussions that are painful but thoughtful and meaningful. Um, so that that's gotten smaller. That's a boundary for me. With with my with my sons, it's really taking their lead. They're good people, they have their own priorities and letting them know I'm here for them on their terms, not on mine. What defines your lifestyle today? Self-awareness for sure. There's a beauty that comes with age that is I don't feel I have to explain myself so much. I don't have to validate myself. I have to be who I am, be authentic. Again, with the assumption that I am not the smartest person in the room, and there's a lot of value in listening. But there's a lot of peace that has come with not fighting that climbing the ladder mentality, or, you know, I've had a history, I've talked to you about this through the years of working in male-dominated industries where the women are throwing down and and competing with each other all the time because there's only so much room at the top. And so there's sort of this always this competitive push, push, push. And it has nothing, uh this reflection doesn't have anything to do with moving from for-profit to nonprofit, because I can tell you I'm probably working as hard, if not harder, than I ever have in in in this in my nonprofit. So nonprofit people are working very, very hard. But there isn't, it's more feels more like a collaborative, we're solving a problem together than some of the work environments. So that that's a great relief is just being authentic, listening, being self-aware, and always, as I hope, all people are uh accountable for what we're doing well, what we what we can improve, and owning opportunities to listen to how we can do things better.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

For leaders listening to this, who you know, when I think about you circling or or returning home, I think there's such an authentic piece to that. Uh, where you're living your authentic life. And for those leaders that are are are navigating or maybe not feeling that they're leading at that authentic place, what you know, what's one myth to let go of and and one habit maybe to start this week to start for people to feel like they've returned home?

SPEAKER_01 30:24

This isn't something you can do in a day, but the most important thing I did to ultimately define coming home and feeling this incredible sense of place was leaving. So I had gone away to college and then come back. And I had been here my whole life and I I always liked Pittsburgh a lot. I mean, it's it's a great place, but I was here by default. And the opportunity to leave and then come back with intent, you know, make the decision to come back was very powerful. So that's not something you do in a day, but maybe maybe you can model that structure for something you can do in a day, meaning leave something behind that you're sort of taking for granted and do without it for a bit, and then decide it how how much you really want that thing. I wish I could come up with an example, and then you're doing it by by intent. So it's sort of the default and intent are the two ways I've I've operated on things. I'm just here and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this well. Or I want to be there and I learned that, so now I'm there with intent. And that really changes your mindset. My I think so much of my joy and and excitement for being home isn't just I love Pittsburgh and I'm back in Pittsburgh. I'm here with intent.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Thanks for listening. I hope today's conversation gave you a moment to pause and to consider not just how you lead, but how you're living along the way. If this episode resonated, consider sharing it with someone navigating their own version of leadership at the top. You can also continue the conversation by following on your favorite platform with the handle Lead Style Way. Until next time, live fully to lead fully.