By Jordan Harrington
Kevin McCarthy’s path from Stonehill College to his current role as senior global marketing manager in urology at Boston Scientific is proof that taking calculated risks and embracing change can lead to success.
McCarthy grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts, and was looking for different colleges.
“I initially attended Brandeis University with plans to major in psychology, but realized that it was not my passion,” he said.
After taking an economics class, he realized a business career suited his interests.
“Brandeis did not offer a core business administration program, so I started to look at other options that would fit my needs,” McCarthy said.
This led him to transfer to Stonehill College, where he majored in general management and found a close, supportive community that would shape his future career.
“Stonehill was a great place to grow into the best version of yourself,” McCarthy said. “The professors really cared about you, and the small class sizes made learning more personal. My accounting professor at the time made a complex subject like accounting approachable and fun.”
Other than academics, he cherished his time on the Stonehill baseball team. “It was an incredible experience to be part of that team… many friendships that I still have and value today," McCarthy said.
Not only did Stonehill help McCarthy refine his business and communication skills, but it also prepared him for the corporate world by stressing the importance of team collaboration.
“We worked a lot in group projects, and I quickly learned how to manage different working styles,” he said. “That was invaluable for my career, especially in marketing and leadership roles.”
After graduating, McCarthy’s career started at Putnam Investments as a fund analyst, a role he secured through Stonehill’s alumni network. He spent the first nine years of his career in finance, including time at Upromise, before transitioning to marketing at Boston Scientific in 2005.
“Marketing was a big risk for me,” McCarthy said. “I’d never worked in sales or marketing before, but I knew if I didn’t take the risk, I might never get another opportunity to move up in my career.”
His gamble paid off. He was able to move up the ranks at Boston Scientific by taking on international responsibilities, like managing a Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) marketing team.
Reflecting on his career journey, McCarthy praises his time at Stonehill and continued his education at Bentley University for his Master of Business Administration (MBA) to further develop his business skills.
“The MBA program helped me think beyond my current role and see the bigger picture,” McCarthy said. “It made me more skilled at understanding different industries and prepared me for leadership.”
McCarthy has dealt with various challenges throughout his business career, mainly in roles he had little experience in.
He was tasked with leading a European marketing team with limited knowledge of the EMEA healthcare systems. Later, he took on a sales manager role in Urology at Boston Scientific despite never working in sales.
“The key to overcoming these challenges was being honest about what I didn’t know and using my diverse experience to connect with my teams,” McCarthy said. “I wasn’t afraid to learn alongside them, and that’s helped me build trust and rapport.”
Now, as senior global marketing manager in urology at Boston Scientific, McCarthy leads a team responsible for managing a portfolio of products that treat kidney stone disease.
“My team manages a portfolio of products within urology that treats kidney stone disease, like catheters, that physicians will use to treat patients,” he said. “We want to make sure we're delivering the right products to our customers to help their patients… at the end of the day, there's a person on the table, relying on high-quality tools that will safely treat their disease.”
“It’s been an incredible journey, and it all started with making those tough decisions to move out of my comfort zone,” McCarthy said.
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