Mary first demonstrated a facility with money as a six year old, when she escaped from the corner store with a box of textured balloons she had pocketed. Later, she discovered honor and marketing. Soon, she had a balloon franchise in her exclusive elementary school, collecting lunch money from colleagues who were surprised to discover a balloon need where none had previously existed. She moved on to become treasurer for all three of her high school years. Her money management skills allowed L'Ecole Menasha to double its endowment within five years.
As an adult, Mary has honed her fiscal skills. Before joining the Greens, Mary worked as a broker in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, a position which followed an internship with Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, Inc., her first job after graduating magna cum laude from the Wharton School.
Her portfolios' returns caught the attention of the international recruiters of Deere Credit, Inc., and Lamon-Smith signed on with Deere in 1994. An abiding interest in baseball prompted her to take over the money end of the Greens in 1995. Her astute control of the organization's finances has allowed the Greens to draft bravely and offer generous draft bonuses far larger than those offered by other small-market franchises, though never more than what the organization believes a player is worth. Despite the machinations of multiple player agents, Mary has been able to negotiate contract terms that have favored the Deere ownership of the Greens. Her own contract negotations she keeps close to her vest, but she concedes that the terms have grown "increasingly favorable" in the years of her tenure at Deere.
Off the field and away from the office, Mary enjoys playing tennis and "other ball games." She is a gourmet cook, who studied culinary art at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She might have pursued that interest professionally, but the scent of the green stuff was more alluring. "It's not just the money," she notes. "Green is my favorite color." And why is that? "It's the color of envy," she says with a smirk. Pressed, Mary admits to a "deeper reason I'm devoting my time to a small Midwest franchise," though she won't divulge it. "It is no one's business but mine."
Having become a mother in the last few years, Mary finds her life and her time more compromised. "Yes, I sleep less, but I do more. How? The surge that comes from knowing all that must be done. And the needs of my children. Love does that."