Harvia Appoints Nathan Hagemeier Head of North America After Jennifer Thayer’s Exit

Harvia Plc announced on 27 October 2025, and confirmed 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. He fills the role Jennifer Thayer held from 1 February 2024 until 30 May 2025, a period that covered the USD 30.4 million ThermaSol acquisition and the start of its integration. Nick Larrick, Vice President of Operations at Harvia North America, served as interim head from 1 June 2025. (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 from STG Logistics, where she was Chief Commercial Officer, after executive roles at Lowe’s Home Improvement from 2004 to 2020. 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.

During Thayer’s tenure, Harvia’s North American revenue rose 42.8% to EUR 62.0 million in 2024, and Q1 2025 North American revenue grew 58.8% year over year to EUR 21.8 million. After she left, North America grew 12.9% in Q2 2025 (35.1% for the first half) and 23.7% to EUR 16.6 million in Q3 2025. Year-to-date through Q3 2025, North America accounted for 38% of Harvia Group revenue, up from 29% in 2023.

Why the change

Harvia announced on 16 May 2025 that Thayer had decided to resign to join another employer, and said it would start recruiting a successor immediately. It did not disclose why it chose Hagemeier. 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.

Correction, September 25, 2026: an earlier version of this article said Hagemeier directly succeeded Jennifer Thayer, who held the role until October 2025; that Harvia first disclosed the appointment in its Q3 report and gave no reason for Thayer’s departure; that Thayer came from industrial and building products; that North America grew 35.1% in Q2 2025; that North America was 35% of revenue year to date; and that North America grew faster than every other region under Thayer. Thayer resigned to join another employer and left on 30 May 2025, Nick Larrick served as interim head until Hagemeier started on 1 November, and the appointment was announced on 27 October 2025; Thayer came from STG Logistics and Lowe’s; North America grew 12.9% in Q2 2025 (35.1% was the first-half figure) and made up 38% of revenue through September; and APAC & MEA grew faster than North America in 2024, per Harvia’s releases on Thayer’s appointment, her departure and Hagemeier’s appointment, and its Financial Statements Bulletin 2024 and January to September 2025 interim report.