Harvia Appoints Nathan Hagemeier Head of North America, Succeeding Jennifer Thayer
Effective 1 November 2025, Nathan Hagemeier became Head of Region North America and President of Harvia US Inc., succeeding Jennifer Thayer who led Harvia's US business through the ThermaSol acquisition and integration.
Harvia US Inc., the subsidiary behind the Almost Heaven Saunas brand and the Lewisburg, West Virginia factory, has a new leader. Nathan Hagemeier became President and Head of Region North America effective 1 November 2025.
Harvia Plc disclosed in its Q3 2025 interim report on 6 November 2025 that Nathan Hagemeier was appointed Head of Region, North America and President of Harvia US Inc., taking a seat on the Harvia Group management team effective 1 November 2025. The appointment replaces Jennifer Thayer, who had held the role since 1 February 2024 and was a central figure in the USD 30.4 million ThermaSol acquisition and the subsequent integration. (Every Harvia executive change, earnings release, and M&A event is indexed in our Harvia News hub.)
What Thayer Did
Jennifer Thayer joined Harvia on 1 February 2024 after a career in North American industrial and building products. She presented at Harvia's Capital Markets Day 2024 three months later, where she laid out the strategy for scaling Harvia's US business from EUR 43.4 million (2023) toward a target of materially more in the following five years. Thayer was also named CEO of ThermaSol as part of her Head of Region role when Harvia closed the ThermaSol acquisition on 31 July 2024.
Under Thayer's leadership, Harvia's North American business posted the strongest growth of any region. Q1 2025 North American revenue grew 58.8% year over year to EUR 21.8 million. Q2 2025 North America grew 35.1% on a fully consolidated ThermaSol basis. Q3 2025 North America grew 23.7% to EUR 16.6 million. Year-to-date through Q3 2025, North America accounted for 35% of Harvia Group revenue, up from 29% in 2023.
Why the Change
Harvia did not disclose the specific reason for Thayer's departure or Hagemeier's selection. The company's investor materials simply announced the transition as effective 1 November 2025. No financial impact was disclosed, and the transition was not flagged as a material risk to North American operations or the ThermaSol integration, which Harvia has consistently described as "progressing well" and "operating effectively as one Harvia team."
In large multinational sauna and wellness companies, Head of Region North America is one of the three or four most consequential operating roles outside the CEO position. It controls the Almost Heaven factory in Lewisburg, West Virginia, the ThermaSol operation in Round Rock, Texas, the sales office in Holland, Michigan, direct-to-consumer e-commerce, B2B distributor relationships, and the US commercial pipeline that includes hotels, gyms, and spa operators.
Continuity of Strategy
The company's Q3 2025 messaging emphasized continuity. The strategic priorities outlined at Capital Markets Day 2024 remain the US playbook: grow in infrared and steam, strengthen mid- and higher-price position, sharpen direct-to-consumer and B2B channel strategy, expand Lewisburg capacity, and continue to scale the ThermaSol brand. Hagemeier inherits a US operation with strong growth momentum, a recently refreshed ThermaSol brand, the TIME Magazine Best Inventions recognition for the Solaris, and the new ThermaSol Astra/Fortis/Ombra premium sauna collection.
CEO Matias Järnefelt has been explicit with investors about how big the North American prize is. On the Q4 2025 earnings call three months after Hagemeier's appointment, he sized the installed base and framed the competitive position of the Almost Heaven brand Hagemeier now runs.
"We see a market with significant growth potential. We believe there is more than 10 million saunas" in the US. "Almost Heaven is the brand which you could consider like the IKEA of the saunas." — Matias Järnefelt, CEO, Harvia Q4 2025 earnings call, 12 February 2026
That framing, volume category, IKEA-of-saunas positioning, is the operating brief Hagemeier inherited. Järnefelt also confirmed on the Q3 2025 call that Harvia is "assessing what potentially could be the right time for us to have a sauna cabin factory in that region," a decision that, if made, would land squarely on Hagemeier's desk.
Leadership transitions at 35%-of-revenue regional roles are always worth watching. Harvia's North American momentum is too strong for a botched handoff to be acceptable, and the company's Q3 materials treat the Hagemeier appointment as a smooth succession rather than a reset. The real test will be Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 growth rates under new leadership, and how Hagemeier positions ThermaSol's premium sauna collection against the established US barrel sauna and infrared market.
Arlene Scott
Senior Wellness Correspondent & Hospitality Consultant
Arlene Scott brings over fifteen years of reporting and consulting experience across energy infrastructure, sustainable design, and thermotherapy-focused hospitality.
Full byline
Arlene Scott is a Senior Wellness Correspondent for SaunaNews.com, bringing over fifteen years of experience at the intersection of energy infrastructure, sustainable design, and thermotherapy. Her work focuses on the physiological benefits of passive heat therapies and the sustainable integration of sauna culture into modern wellness routines.
Arlene's background is rooted in the clean energy transition. She was a founding writer at MicrogridMedia.com, where she covered the technical and economic viability of desalination projects, microgrid deployments, and distributed renewable energy systems. During the mid-2010s, she was a regular contributor to Greentech Media (GTM) during its independent era — prior to the Wood Mackenzie acquisition in 2016 — reporting on the early integration of thermal energy storage and sustainable infrastructure.
Transitioning her focus from macro-energy systems to human-scale wellness, Arlene now applies her technical background to the hospitality sector. She operates as an independent consultant, advising boutique hotels and eco-resorts on the design, energy efficiency, and historical authenticity of commercial sauna and thermal spa installations. Her consulting work ensures that high-end wellness facilities balance traditional Nordic bathing principles with modern sustainable engineering.
Arlene holds a specialized certification in Applied Thermic Wellness from the Nordic Institute of Passive Heat Studies (NIPHS) and is a recognized associate member of the International Sauna Association (ISA). When she isn't reviewing the latest innovations in infrared technology or consulting on a new resort project, Arlene can be found tending to her own traditional wood-fired sauna in the Pacific Northwest. You can read her complete archive of essays on energy, wellness, and sustainable living at www.arlenescott.com.
