Matt Therrien ’07 receives 4 Under 40 Alumni Achievement Award

As a business graduate student, Therrien visited a friend in India whose family owned the country’s third-largest construction company. Riding in the back of their brand-new, top-of-the line Mercedes, he was handed a glass of expensive champagne. He looked out the window and saw a young girl trying to stay warm next to a burning barrel of trash, and the contrast between the “haves and the have nots” stunned him.

“I didn’t finish the champagne,” he recalls. “Everywhere I’ve been in the world, I’ve seen a need for hope, for feeling valued, and for truth.”

Those three needs—hope, value, and truth—have fueled his success in the business world. Over the past 18 years, he has held roles in consulting, finance, marketing, and global pricing strategy before moving into his current leadership position—head of channel innovation and  vice president of sales at Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company.

Leadership by the book

His leadership style didn’t come from textbooks, though. “If you want to be a leader, there’s only one leader to follow—He has billions of followers. His name is Jesus. We’ve got a book on leadership—how to do it right,” says Therrien. “That book is super simple. Number one: treat people with respect, and number two: speak the truth with love.” 

That approach has defined his work. During the turbulence of global inflation post-Covid, Medtronic tapped Therrien to lead a pricing transformation. Under his leadership, he shifted a 2% decline in pricing to a 1% year-over-year increase—representing nearly $900 million in annual revenue for the $30 billion company. Even more importantly, employee engagement went up during the process.

The transformation earned him the prestigious Wallin Leadership Award, which recognizes Medtronic’s strongest leaders. “It’s a humbling opportunity,” he says. “You have to be in the right spot, have the right support, and use the skills you’ve been given. I’ve been put in a place where I can make a difference.” The award is extra poignant for Therrien, whose mentor won the same award 20 years ago. Back then Therrien told his mentor that one day he’d win the award, too. 

 

His approach blends business savvy with a commitment to those around him. “You have to make tough decisions as a leader, and you can't take those lightly. I’ve gone through a dozen restructurings and firings and have been at the helm of many of those,” he says. “The question is always, ‘how do you make sure you do the right thing for the organization, while recognizing you have a real impact on employees’ lives?’ You make sure that you’re using all of the wisdom you have access to to make those decisions well.”

Finding himself

Therrien first realized his knack for business in high school in Buffalo, Minnesota, where he grew up. When it came time for college, he weighed his options between the University of Minnesota and Bethel. “I told my dad, ‘the U is probably the right brand, but I think I'll learn how to find myself and be a better person—a better leader—if I go to Bethel.’ He said, ‘well that seems like an easy choice. Learning how to be an upstanding man is the most important thing. Do that and everything else will take care of itself,’” Therrien recalls. 

At Bethel, he jumped into business classes, met his future wife—in macroeconomics—and befriended professors who eventually came to his wedding and still come over for dinner. “They cared,” he says. “And when someone cares, your impact can be three times what it would be otherwise. It wasn’t all about getting an A or a B. That wasn’t the point. ”

But he was antsy and looking for a bigger challenge. In the fall of his junior year, he dropped out of Bethel and enrolled at a school in Hong Kong—his first time abroad. “It turned out the world was bigger than Minnesota,” he says. “But I also realized that chasing something outside was never going to make me whole inside.” He returned to Bethel after a semester to finish his degree in business: accounting before moving into his career.

The right balance

Since his Hong Kong semester, Therrien has visited 49 countries. He and his wife, Valerie (Gabrielse) ’08, have three children—3, 8, and 9—who have joined them on many of their travels. But for all his international experience, Therrien says the greatest challenge is close to home.

“It’s the triangle between self, family, and work,” he explains. “How do I make sure I’m present and really the dad my family needs? I’ll never be enough, but how can I be as good as I can be? As our kids grow, I’m constantly learning how to be what they need next.”

Therrien received Bethel’s 4 Under 40 Alumni Achievement Award in his final days as a 39-year-old. Professionally, he has often been the youngest person in the room. “Everyone in my roles has been a decade older,” he says. “For a long time, that led to questions from others and from myself about being good enough. But once I figured out the code on myself—knowing that I’m not enough on my own but God is—it all became easier.”

For Therrien, that balance of faith, family, and leadership continues to define success, and remaining rooted in the values instilled during childhood and his time at Bethel helps him lead with discipline. “I think I’ve had phenomenal opportunities since Bethel, and I’ve always been willing to work hard,” he says. “But the distractions can be high, which means your discipline needs to be higher. You have to ground yourself deeper in order to not stray from your foundation.”

Nominate the next 4 Under 40 recipients!

Bethel University’s National Alumni Board annually seeks and accepts nominations for the 4 Under 40 Alumni Achievement Award. The selection is made from Bethel University graduates 40 years of age or younger who have had outstanding achievements in their career, public service, or volunteer activities.

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