Isolde Boettger, Silcotech North America Inc. | Women Breaking the Mold 2024

BOLTON, Ontario—Isolde Boettger, vice president and co-founder of Silcotech North America Inc., inherited a sharp business acumen from her father, a German urologist with numerous patents in the medical plastics space.

Over the last 25 years, she has used this industry acuity to transform the 120-person firm into a global leader in silicone molding.

"I'm a person who leads by example," Boettger said June 21. "This has been my greatest philosophy in life in general. I try to project both authority and approachability, and I have learned over the years how to connect both."

By bridging this gap, she said, she is able to make tough decisions.

"No one wants to have to make these decisions, but they have to be made," she said.

Boettger, who came to Canada from Germany in 1981, counts her empathy and listening abilities as her most important leadership traits.

"Getting an employee's input from the floor and at all levels is critical," she said. "Where are the company's needs? Approachability and having a relationship with people—as well as knowing where they are in their lives—is so important. The personal spills into the business end and vice versa, and you have to connect that and have empathy."

Besides her father, Boettger cites Michelle Obama, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Nelson Mandela as having influenced her leadership style.

"Not that I put myself in these categories, but I strive to take things from them. You need to listen to people and take them seriously, and try to improve their lives," she said.

Boettger has placed a specific emphasis on assisting women in the workplace.

"It wasn't easy to be respected as a woman in the plastics industry," she said. "You have to be consistent and go with what you know ... do your best and apply your knowledge in the field. Women can do this. We have women taking apprenticeships at Silcotech on molding machines.

"That is why I have been trying to build the womens' knowledge base and help them to be where men are in the careers."

Silcotech President Michael Maloney said Boettger was key in the company's 2009 expansion in India, and in setting up Silcotech's female technology line of menstrual cups.

The design of the fem-tech line was a direct result of a design-for-manufacturing plan with a mother and daughter duo.

"I was always interested in female advancements ... that seemed to be an advancement in a big way, one that would change the lives of so many women for the better," Boettger said.

Maloney added that Boettger has been "relentless" in her continuing education for all employees.

"Under her leadership, Silcotech created a diverse and multicultural work force of over 120 people, attracting talent from countries like China, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, India, England as well as cultivating local talent in Canada," Maloney said in his nomination letter of Boettger. "The combined work force from around the globe has been the cornerstone of Silcotech's success, growth and sustainability."

Silcotech's story began when Maloney and Boettger met in 1998 at a plastics show in Long Beach, Calif.—and the company has chapters to go in its relatively young existence.

"It is a story of us getting together privately and professionally, and it worked out perfectly fine," Boettger said. "It is often difficult to connect private life and business life.

"But in our case, we have been very successful."

Silcotech, with a joint venture in New Delhi, India, offers product development, prototyping, mass production and multi-shot molding for its customers, many of whom are OEMs in the medical production space.

The company that began in Switzerland in 1998—Trelleborg A.B. purchased portions of the privately owned Silcotech Group in 2011, but the Ontario branch of Silcotech remained independent—sees its strength originate from its personnel (as cultivated by Boettger) and associated technical prowess.

Today, Silcotech has about 32,000 square feet in Ontario, with about 10,000 square feet of that as warehouse space.

And community engagement remains paramount for Boettger, undertaking philanthropic efforts with local non-profits and other community outreach avenues.

"We have so many people from so may different backgrounds, you have to have respect for all people to find out where they are coming from, to try and understand their cultures," Boettger said. "And we do that at Silcotech."

Years with company: 26

Years in rubber industry: 26

I was always around plastics when I was growing up. My dad was a urologist in Germany and had several patents in the medical packaging industry in the early 1950s and '60s, i.e. sending blood and urine samples to labs, hospitals etc.

After I finished my education, B.A. (German and physical education) and master's degree in education, Goethe University Frankfurt, I moved to Canada.

I was partner in JPI. We represented Heitec Hotrunner systems in Canada and the U.S. I learned a lot about the plastics industry, dealing with customers and suppliers, handling the administrative and financial side of the business.

Michael (Maloney), president of Silcotech, and I always set long-term goals for the company together as we started and lead the company together. One of our initial goals was to build our own facility, which was accomplished in 2003.

We continue to grow our strong presence in the medical device space, while keeping our customers in the most competitive position. We've set an objective for Silcotech to double the business over the next five years—representing a growth by 20 percent per year. In year one we are targeting a 5-percent increase through overall efficiency improvements and 15 percent through new business.

I challenge the daily activities in finance and operations to reach these goals, building and strengthening our business relationships with financial institutions and suppliers.

I maintain strong relationships with our employees who I meet with daily and challenge them to strive to reach the goals the company has set forth, while growing as individuals.

I have always tried to have strong, meaningful and personal relationships with people and lead by example. I try to talk to many of our employees daily and understand their challenges and current life situations as well as their challenges in the workplace. I created an approachable atmosphere in the company by doing this over the last 25 years. I learned as well that you must be strong and decisive in making tough decisions and often unpopular decisions.

I recently read an article by Lisa Sinnott—"8 inspiring stories of Leaders Nailing Authority and Approachability"—which inspired me to believe that I was on the right track as a leader.

We started Silcotech Carolina in 2015 serving a multinational company. We made significant capital investments by building a 25,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art building and investing in machinery and equipment. The project required a production of 150 million parts per annum and started successfully in the first few years. The program wasn't continued by our customer, and we had to close the facility.

The big challenge is coming back from failures and developing faith in yourself again—being successful again. You learn from these experiences and get better. Failure is the path to growth, a necessary evil in business.

I unwind by reading daily. I read news stories and about current events. Reading literature and historical fiction relaxes me. I like to swim, travel, listen to music and spend time with my family, especially with my grandkids.

Success cannot be measured. To me success means building a growing, sustainable business and at the same time creating a balance between business life, a healthy family life and personal relationships.