July 31, 2020
The Mountain Shadows Board of Directors Welcomes Sean Premeau
By Sheryl Wilde
Acta, non verba.
Deeds, not words.
Sean Premeau’s father loved Roman and Greek history. No matter what was going on in the world, Sean’s father could tie it back into history. “My father would always say, ‘This has happened before.’
“He loved Latin quotes. One of his favorites was Carpe Diem. That was his biggest thing – that you have to take advantage of every day. That really stuck with me and, over the years, I got into Latin and Greek quotes. The one I really like is, “Acta, non verba,” or “Deeds, not words”. I have applied that not only in the work I do, but in my whole life. Talk is cheap. It’s actions that really get the job done.”
Sean’s call to action led him to serve in the United States Army. He is a combat veteran and served in both Desert Shield and Desert Storm. “While no war or combat is a good thing – it’s the worst of humanity – sometimes the best parts of humanity can come through as a result.
“I come from a family of veterans from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. I believe in serving my country. Coming from a small town, I was ignorant to the world as it really was. I spent time in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It was an extremely enlightening experience. I learned how to become a leader, by example, and from learning from my own mistakes, at a very young age.
“Once out of the military, I went to work for a microbiology company that invented microbiological processes for soil remediation. We developed more friendly, less environmentally impactful processes for leaching of metal containing ores. I started as a dishwasher, and over the course of about two years, I went from washing dishes to making analytical media, plating microorganisms, and designing and running experiments. Towards the end, we had developed several patented technologies that were picked up by Phillips 66.
“I found I had an aptitude for chemistry and received my Chemistry degree from the University of Arizona.
“When I moved to San Diego, I started to work in the pharmaceutical industry. Initially, I was a bench-top chemist for SkyePharma, which is now Pacira. Then I moved to Pharmatek, which is now Catalent. That’s where my relationship with Mountain Shadows started.
“Our philosophy at Pharmatek was to work hard, play hard and create a culture of learning and giving back to our community. We wanted to share our people, our time, and our knowledge to make San Diego better.
“The Pharmatek/Catalent Foundation was founded to support volunteerism in San Diego. Jeff Bibbs, Pharmtek’s CEO at the time, visited Mountain Shadows and he was very impressed. So, we decided to adopt a house through our corporate sponsorship program. We chose Olive House because we felt the residents needed our help the most.
“Our first project was to have Thanksgiving dinner with the Olive House residents. I must admit we weren’t sure how it would go. Some of our employees were out of their comfort zone. A couple were like deer in the headlights due to the severity of the resident’s conditions. They weren’t sure how to communicate. But, after about 30 minutes, everyone started interacting.
“Like many things in life, unfamiliar situations can be a little uncomfortable, a little challenging. But several of our volunteers took to the residents right away. Several of the women picked up a book and started reading a story and made physical contact with the residents. Then the others dove right in! It was contagious. In the end, everyone had a really good experience.
“We are all human beings, with the same wants and needs. I think that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from my experiences at Mountain Shadows.
“Touching someone, sharing a few words, showing love and compassion – these are easy things to do. I think that’s an important lesson. It was a growth experience for everyone. Listening to the residents’ stories helped put our lives and our health into perspective.
“Pharmatek/Catalent was also an opportunity for me to push myself and do what they call “soup to nuts” projects, where you get a molecule (drug) and do all the pre-formulation experimentation, and then develop a formulation for early clinical studies. I had the opportunity to work on well over 100 types of drugs in my nine years there. From Pharmatek/Catalent I went to Receptos. Now I’m at Amplyx.
“The reality is that the vast majority of drugs do not make it to market. At Pharmatek/Catalent I believe three of the programs I worked on are in the market now and helping people. That’s really cool. The drugs we worked on at Pharmatek were for treatment of cancer, hearing protection, vision related, the full gamut. At Receptos, I was involved in very late stage development for a drug that was recently approved in Europe and in the U.S., for treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis.
“I think what I’m most proud of is to have had a part in the success of these drug products, making it to market, to help people who have significant ailments. Many people really don’t know the path drugs take before they get into the bottle. Being a part of it all, and knowing there are people being helped now by drugs I had a small part in, that is the most rewarding part of all of it.”
Sean’s true love, Joanna, is an emergency room nurse at Scripps Mercy Hospital in La Jolla.
In addition to his professional experience, Sean has a passion for the outdoors. “I love hiking the mountains. Right now, I’m training for Mt. Whitney. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of doing, but, due to some health issues, I wasn’t certain I could ever do it. It was just a pipe dream for a long time.
“But, over the years, I’ve realized you can push your body and your mind to extremes, to be able to accomplish anything, not only in business, but physically as well. I suffered some physical issues myself, and saw what it’s like to be in a situation where you’re experiencing a temporary handicap. Often you take for granted your ability to just walk across the street, or go down the street to have a bite to eat.
“That experience shifted my focus back to carpe diem – where every day and every moment is precious. You can just pick yourself up and you can find a way to live an extremely full life.
“I love the outdoors and I love trees and nature, but this mission to climb Mt. Whitney isn’t necessarily about that. It is about training hard, and overcoming something that seemed really out of my grasp mentally, because of my perceived physical limitations. That’s what this is about. Can I push myself to that limit?”
We believe Sean can.
At Mountain Shadows, we encourage our residents to push beyond perceived limits each and every day, because every moment – every life – is precious. And everyone deserves to live an extremely full life.
It is in this shared spirit that the Mountain Shadows Foundation welcomes Sean Premeau to the Board of Directors, where it is our mission to serve our residents a cta, non verba – through our deeds, not words.