The holiday season is all about celebrating and spending time with our families. This month, we are pleased to introduce you to The Martino Family: Sean, Vicki, and their three daughters, Ava, Sophia and Lena. Life for this family of five is undoubtedly busy, but their love for each other and commitment to our community is a gift worth sharing.
Sean grew up in Exton with his parents and three sisters, Marie, Jeanne and Lynne, but was sure to point out that his parents have deep Delco roots. “My parents both grew up in Havertown and met each other at Manoa Lanes Bowling Alley,” he said. “Even after we moved to Chester County, we would always make the trip to Alex’s Meat Market for cold cuts, which is the space now occupied by A Cut Above.”
Sean graduated from Owen J Roberts High School in Pottstown, where he played varsity basketball and tennis and was named all-conference and all-county in both sports. After graduation, Sean attended Penn State University, earning his degree in Health Policy and Administration. He played basketball there briefly until a season and career-ending injury. Sean continued his education at St. Joseph’s University, graduating with an Executive MBA in Pharmaceutical Management.
“I worked for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for 23 years in various roles in Market Access and Research and Development,” Sean explained. “I moved from Exton to Conshohocken and then Narberth before purchasing a townhome in West Chester.”
These days, Sean works as an Associate Director, Contract and Business Analytics in Market Access at Jazz Pharmaceuticals. “I manage pre-deal financials for two of the country’s three largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers and lead our post-deal analytics.” He enjoys being able to work from home while managing his nationwide accounts. “My role has specific core responsibilities that continually change and evolve. I’m never doing the same thing day after day or week after week.”
Vicki was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia, where she lived with her parents and sister Shannon. She went to St. Hubert’s Catholic High School for Girls, where she said her main passion was writing. “I was a writer for the school paper, the Tally-Ho, and eventually became editor-in-chief in both my junior and senior years,” Vicki said. “During my senior year, I was chosen to be part of the KYW News studies program that concluded with everyone reporting their story on KYW 1060! My grandfather was so excited to hear my voice on the radio!”
Vicki went on to study at Temple University in Philadelphia and their campus in Rome, Italy, where she earned her degree in Journalism and Public Relations. She began her career at GSK, mainly working with the Vaccine business unit. “I spent my years doing Contract Development, Market Access Marketing, Contract Strategy and Pricing,” she explained. “I was part of the team that launched the Shingrix vaccine for the prevention of shingles and spent many years working on GSK’s Flu portfolio.”
After 22 successful years at GSK, Vicki is now an Associate Director of Pricing Strategy at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (previously Janssen Pharmaceuticals). “I have the privilege of working on J&J’s first retina/gene therapy,” she explained. “My role is quite interesting. Being in a new market, there are a lot of unknowns, but there are plenty of opportunities to utilize innovative contracting strategies and various pricing models.” Vicki said that although the retina/gene therapy space is still relatively new to her, she enjoys learning new things each day through her meaningful work.
If you’ve been paying attention thus far, you’ll probably be able to figure out where Sean and Vicki crossed paths. “My best friend, Cristina, worked with me at GSK, and her boss, Maureen, was a good friend of Sean,” Vicki said. “Maureen told Cristina that Sean noticed me in the hallways and thought I was cute.” For weeks, Vicki walked the floors at GSK, trying to get a glimpse of Sean. “Eventually, Vicki and I ended up in an elevator together,” Sean recalled. “I then followed up with an email introducing myself.” Maureen learned of their brief elevator encounter and organized a happy hour where they finally met outside of the office. “We kept our relationship at work a secret because we didn’t want to be the talk of the office,” Vicki said. “It was quite funny when we eventually got engaged a few years later, and people had no clue we were even dating!”
The happy couple married in October 2009 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in the Bella Vista section of Philadelphia and celebrated with family and friends at their reception at the National Constitution Center. “We honeymooned in Hawaii the same time the Phillies were playing in the World Series,” Sean said. “It was funny because everywhere we went to watch a game, someone there claimed to be Shane Victorino’s cousin.”
When the newlyweds returned from The Aloha State, they settled down in Sean’s townhome in West Chester. That arrangement worked for a while, but they eventually decided they wanted a shorter commute to the city and a larger home to raise their growing family. They started looking in Newtown Square, where Vicki had some roots. “I am related to the owners of Gentile’s Fruit & Produce,” she explained. “Joe and Mary Gentile were my Great Aunt and Uncle.” Vicki said her family used to make the trip every summer for a family get-together. “I used to think the ride from Philly to Newtown Square was so far!”
By the time they moved to Newtown Square in 2015, Sean and Vicki had three young girls – three-year-old twins Ava and Sophia and one-year-old Lena. “We love Newtown Square,” Vicki said. “Everyone has been incredibly welcoming since the day we moved in.” Sean added that they feel so fortunate to have the best neighbors on a cul-de-sac filled with kids.
Vicki and Sean’s oldest is Ava. She’s an active sixth-grade student at Paxon Hollow Middle School who loves to play lacrosse and just completed her first year running as part of the Paxon Hollow cross-country team. She is also a Marple Junior Tigers (MJT) Cheerleader for football and is now part of the Yearbook Committee at school.
“Ava is a very happy and competitive child,” Vicki said. “She may be petite, but she is a die-hard thrill seeker!” Ava looks forward to the family’s end-of-summer vacation in Ocean City, NJ, and riding the upside-down roller-coaster Gale Force as many times as her parents will let her. She says she wants to be an Interior Designer on HGTV someday.
Sophia is next, but just one minute younger than her twin sister Ava. She is also a sixth-grade student at Paxon Hollow who plays lacrosse and runs on the school’s cross-country team. She loves to cheer with her friends for Marple Junior Tigers and enjoys being a part of Paxon Hollow’s Yearbook Committee.
“Sophia has a serious sweet tooth, so when we go to the shore every summer, she tries to increase the number of times she eats Kohr Bros® ice cream on the boardwalk,” laughed Sean. Vicki added that Sophia is such a caring and compassionate child. “She always makes sure that everyone around her has a great day!” Sophia also wants to be an Interior Designer when she gets older.
Nine-year-old Lena is the youngest of the Martino girls. She is in fourth grade at Culbertson Elementary. “Lena has played softball for the Newtown Square Petticoat League since she was five, and she recently made the NSPL Rebels travel team,” said Sean. Like her older sisters, Lena cheers for MJT and enjoys their annual vacation to Ocean City, NJ. She also enjoys making pottery and has taken classes at the Wayne Arts Center.
Vicki said that Lena is both strong-willed and yet very shy at times. “She is hands down the comedian of our family,” Vicki remarked. “Lena will often just say the most hilarious things out of the blue but hits the mark!” Sean pointed out that Lena is now taller than her older twin sisters and loves to remind them of it every opportunity she gets. In the future, Lena wants to be an Author.
All three Martino girls have been active Girl Scouts since grade school, and Vicki has been encouraging their participation. “I currently Co-Lead my youngest daughter, Lena’s, 4th Grade Girl Scout Troop at Culbertson,” she explained. “This is my third year being a Troop leader, and I love every minute of it. Now that the troop is in fourth grade, I plan to involve them in more volunteer opportunities and community events where they can help give back to our wonderful community.”
Culbertson has been a special place for the Martino family, who regularly volunteer their time and talents to their fundraising events and socials. Sean was most recently one of Culbertson’s Dancing Dads in the annual talent show, and Vicki chairs the Yearbook Committee. “The students all know me and often ask me to take their pictures at events,” she said. “I like to think of myself as the Culbertson Mamarazzi!”
Managing three kids and their various activities and working fulltime jobs takes up a lot of Sean and Vicki’s time. Vicki said that when Ava and Sophia began first grade at Culbertson, they met Ellen Carson, a long-time Newtown Square resident who started helping with the girls. “Ellen has become part of our family, and we are forever grateful for all she does for us.”
When Vicki and Sean do manage to find some spare time, they like to spend it working out at the gym and running. Vicki has been an avid runner since 2004 and has completed many races, including half marathons and the Philadelphia and Chicago Marathons. This past year, Vicki, Sean, Ava and Sophia all ran in the Pints in the Square 5k, with Ava and Sophia placing 1st and 2nd in their age group.
Spending time with family and friends is very important to Sean and Vicki. “We live on a cul de sac, so we often hang out with our neighbors while the kids play or ride bikes,” Sean said. “We occasionally have firepit Fridays where we rotate backyards and do s’mores for the kids and drinks for the adults.” Their home is close to the NSPL softball fields, so there is always a lot of excitement in the spring and fall. Vicki added, “We enjoy hearing all the spectators cheering and listening to the teams cheering on their teammates.”
The Martinos are grateful to call Newtown Square home for the holidays. On behalf of your Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors, we thank you for sharing your story and wish you all a happy, healthy holiday season!
Do you know a Newtown Square family, individual or nonprofit group who should become known by our community? Make your nominations for upcoming feature articles by emailing your ideas to Sheila Turner-Hilliard at STurnerHilliard@BestVersionMedia.com.