About

About Mary Carroll Murphy

Mary Carroll Murphy is an award-winning business owner and former Fortune 500 executive from Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. She was born and raised in Western Massachusetts.  In 1990, Digital Equipment Corporation relocated her to Bedford, New Hampshire, to market their breakthrough integrated office systems.  

Murphy has lived and worked in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, California, and internationally.  During her distinguished, decades-long career, the accomplished information technology and financial services industry professional has won numerous high-profile awards.

Murphy now heads up a groundbreaking software company and owns substantial acreage with her husband, Michael, in Francestown, New Hampshire.  She built her “forever” home, Black Shoals, on the shores of the scenic Piscataquog River.

 

Current Roles

Cost Cures

Murphy is the CEO of Cost Cures, headquartered in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Cost Cures is a disruptive software company established in 2024. The company will provide dental, healthcare, and vision price transparency focused on driving down the high cost of healthcare nationwide.

The firm is developing a specialized AI-based database and search capability that lets users locate low-cost self-pay, cash, or negotiated prices for medical, dental, and vision tests and procedures anywhere in the country.  

Murphy and her team at Cost Cures are currently working on integrating telemedicine and medically trained concierge services into their offerings. Cost Cures will provide these services directly via its website and a dedicated mobile application.

Black Shoals Farm

Murphy started Black Shoals Farm with her husband, Mike, in 2022. The farm is a non-GMO, chemical-free fruit and vegetable farm in Francestown, New Hampshire, with a goal of sustainability. The startup also produces edible flowers and medicinal and gourmet herbs.  

 

Career History

Charles Schwab

In 2011, Mary Carroll Murphy was selected from thousands of applicants to become the first-in-the-nation Charles Schwab Independent Branch franchisee. Charles Schwab offers investment products and services, including brokerage and retirement accounts. The company is the nation’s largest publicly traded investment services firm, with approximately $7.4 trillion in assets under management.

Murphy rapidly grew her franchise in ten years to become one of the most extensive independent wealth management practices in New Hampshire, with nearly $1 billion in assets under management by early 2022.   

A little over a decade later, Charles Schwab created the Charles Schwab Champion Award in recognition of her pioneering work as a franchisee, proving the viability of the Independent Branch Service model. She sold her successful franchise the same year, in mid-2022.

Earlier Roles

Murphy’s first job in 1979 was working for what is now Eversource in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut.  She quickly realized that the insurance industry had early access to state-of-the-art technologies and secured a position as a Technical Analyst at ITT/Hartford Insurance Group in 1982.  She was rapidly promoted to Assistant Systems Manager and then Director of a Hartford Insurance Group subsidiary tasked with selling programmer productivity software.  From 1982 until 2001, she  rose through the sales and marketing ranks to senior management positions at various high-tech companies, including Digital Equipment Corporation, Lotus Development Corporation, IBM Corporation, and various technology startups.  IBM/Lotus Development relocated her to Europe to lead a global division working with governments, large telecommunications companies, and Internet Service Providers to deploy public Internet and email applications worldwide.

In 2001, Murphy took a hiatus from technology to care full-time for her elderly and terminally ill parents. In 2004, she decided to obtain a master’s degree from Rivier University and become a teacher like both her parents. She then accepted a position teaching mathematics and personal finance at Manchester High School West for the Town of Bedford, New Hampshire, until 2006. The Bedford teachers elected her to be their union representative.

Later that year, she was recruited by UBS Financial Services to become a financial advisor. After two years, she transitioned to an independent financial advisor and career agent with MassMutual in 2008.

As a financial advisor, Murphy provided comprehensive asset protection, investment, and estate planning strategies, products, and services to high-net-worth clients. During her financial services career, she held Series 9, Series 10, Series 7, Series 66, SIE, NH Life, Health, and Accident Insurance licenses.

Academic Background

Bridgewater State College

Mary Carroll Murphy graduated from Bridgewater State College in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, in 1978. Bridgewater is one of the largest state schools in Massachusetts, and its primary campus is in the eastern Bay State.

Murphy studied at Bridgewater from 1975 until 1978, graduating early after passing advanced placement exams. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications, arts, and sciences from the Bridgewater-based institution. The class officer, swim team member, and forensic and debate team champion also earned minors in psychology and English from college.

Rivier University

Murphy graduated with an M.Ed. with high distinction from Rivier University in Nashua, New Hampshire, in 2004. Rivier is a private Catholic university accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and approved by the New Hampshire Department of Education.  

 

Awards

As a sales representative for Digital Equipment Corporation, Mary Murphy won DEC 100 and Decathlon sales awards, was promoted, and relocated to New Hampshire in 1990.

She was part of a team that advanced the worldwide adoption of email in the early 1990s. In 1992, she received an Electronic Mail Association Leadership Award for contributing to the electronic messaging industry’s growth.

While working for IBM/Lotus Development Corporation in 1995, Murphy received a Lotus Achievers Award in 1994 and the Summit Award for Manager of the Year in 1995.  The Summit Award for Manager of the Year represented the corporation’s highest honor. IBM acquired Lotus Development Corporation in 1995.

In 2006 and 2007, she received two UBS Leaders Circle Awards for asset growth while working as a financial advisor. 

The 2011 opening of the Nashua, NH Charles Schwab Independent Branch is mentioned on Charles Schwab’s website as a milestone in the company’s history.  In recognition, the Nashua Telegraph named Murphy among its 25 Extraordinary Women of Greater Nashua in 2014. The Telegraph’s Extraordinary Women of Greater Nashua awards recognize successful local women making significant differences in their communities.  

As a Charles Schwab Independent Branch franchisee until 2022, Mary Murphy won Small Business of the Year in 2018, awarded by the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce. The Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award is granted annually to one local company experiencing high growth and forecast for continued success.  

This recognition came after Murphy received the New Hampshire Business Review’s Business Excellence Award – Finance. The finance-focused Business Excellence Award reflects New Hampshire Business Review’s recognition of organizations exemplifying best business practices and demonstrating exceptional customer service. 

Finally, as a Schwab franchisee, Murphy received multiple Peer Excellence Awards, the prestigious ICON Award, and the Champion Award, which Charles Schwab created to acknowledge her pioneering the Independent Branch Service model and advocacy of individual investors.

Philanthropic Endeavors

Mary Carroll Murphy and her husband, Michael, regularly donate to local organizations, non-profits, and charities, including the Francestown Old Meetinghouse, Francestown Volunteer Fire Department, Francestown Food Bank, and Monadnock Community Hospital, at which she is a member of the Parmalee Society.  She has also been a member of the Francestown Broadband Committee, working to improve Internet access for citizens in and around her rural community.  

The Murphys donated an 11-acre riverfront conservation easement in 2020 to assist the Francestown Land Trust in acquiring additional Piscataquog River South Branch frontage, protecting the watershed and one of the most valuable animal habitats and migration corridors in New Hampshire.

Murphy has volunteered at past community events in Deering, NH, and will do so again at the upcoming 250th Anniversary Event.  

She has also sponsored fundraisers for the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, St. Joseph Hospital, Rivier University, and the YMCA in the past.  

Murphy has provided community service through her over ten-year membership in the Bedford Lions Club. The New Hampshire-based Bedford Lions Club forms a part of Lions Clubs International. Lions Clubs International is a volunteer service organization with almost 1.5 million members in over 200 countries worldwide.  Her mother had macular degeneration, and her father, a disabled World War II Army veteran, had partial hearing loss, so the Lions Club’s charitable activities and vision screenings are important to her.  As a Bedford Lions Club member, she focuses on supporting individuals with impaired hearing and vision in and around Hillsborough County and throughout New Hampshire in partnership with other clubs.

She has also been a member of charitable women’s clubs for more than ten years, including the Hollis Women’s Club and the Nashaway Women’s Club. 

The Murphys are members of the Monadnock Community Hospital Parmalee Society. The Parmelee Society is a distinguished group that recognizes and honors individuals who have chosen to include Monadnock Community Hospital (MCH) in their will or estate plan. 

 

Board Memberships

Mary Murphy is a Rivier University Trustee. She has served on the university’s board of trustees since January 2016. The board supports the administration of the institution’s academic, service, and business operations. She and her fellow trustees are committed to the Catholic university’s continued spirit and ongoing mission:  transforming hearts and minds to serve the world.

Previously, and between 2016 and 2019, Murphy sat on the Board of Trustees of St. Joseph Hospital. The hospital is part of St. Joseph Healthcare – a network of healthcare facilities and hospitals across southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts.

 

Personal Life & Interests

Mary Carroll Murphy was born and raised in Hampden County, Massachusetts. She moved to Bedford, New Hampshire, more than thirty years ago and considered the state her “forever” home.  

She lives in Francestown, New Hampshire, with her husband, Mike, a former chemical engineer and Professional Engineer. The dog-loving couple adopted their first Belgian Malinois from a retired police K9 handler and have remained passionate about the breed ever since. She also owns seven Jubilee Orpington chickens named for her closest friends and sister-in-law.

The award-winning academic, information technology, and financial services industry professional is a former Nashua Telegraph guest columnist on personal financial topics.

Murphy enjoys cultivating culinary and medicinal herbs and organically grown fruits and produce.  She enjoys reading non-fiction, antiquing, kayaking, sport shooting, and cooking for friends and family.