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More Than a Last Name: How Ilia Margarita Morales Toledo Is Writing Her Own Legacy
By Maristella Collazo, Ferraiuoli
Growing up in a family business sounds like a privilege — and it can be. But for Ilia Margarita Morales Toledo, CEO of Laboratorios Toledo, it was also a lifelong challenge to be seen as more than just her mother's daughter.
Born in 1987 in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Ilia Margarita is just one year older than the laboratory her mother, Ilia Toledo, founded in 1988. She spent her childhood literally running through its halls, drafted into work shifts during school breaks and summers. "Today I'm grateful for it," she says, "because that's how I learned the entire business."
After earning two master's degrees — in public health and healthcare administration — she had her sights set on hospitals. A mentor changed her course with a simple question: Why take on other people's headaches when you can take on your own?
She returned to Laboratorios Toledo, but the road to respect wasn't smooth. In one defining moment during a business acquisition, the seller bypassed her entirely and called her mother to complain about what "your little girl" was saying. The deal held. And so did Ilia Margarita.
Her response to being underestimated has been deliberate: build a leadership record that speaks for itself. She became president of the Caribbean Council of Girl Scouts, past president of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and in 2025, co-owner of Ganaderas de Hatillo, a women's professional basketball team. Each role was carved out independently — no family name attached.
The basketball venture taught her something she brought back to the lab: real leadership is about delegation, not control. "You can extrapolate that to your work team and understand that it's not entirely my responsibility," she reflects.
As a single mother of two, she's candid about the loneliness that comes with all of it — the C-suite, the personal decisions, the weight of continuing a legacy. Her answer? Therapy, coaching, and refusing to treat professional support as weakness.
Ilia Margarita didn't inherit her seat at the table. She took it — without asking permission.
Based on an episode of Así las Cosas by Ferraiuoli, hosted by Maristella Collazo
Ferraiuoli LLC
Ferraiuoli LLC (FLLC) was founded in 2003 by the late Blas Ferraiuoli-Martínez, Eugenio Torres-Oyola and María Marchand-Sánchez. This group was then joined in 2004 by Fernando J. Rovira-Rullán, thus forming the founding core of FLLC. FLLC has grown exponentially since its founding from a law firm with three attorneys and a support staff of three to its current size of 54 attorneys with a support staff of 38. Also, FLLC has grown from initially being known as an intellectual property and corporate law boutique law firm to a multiservice law firm that handles most matters relevant to a business while continuing to earn praise for its leading intellectual property and corporate practices.
FLLC has been ranked as a leading law firm in Puerto Rico by the professional publication Chambers Latin America in intellectual property, corporate, bankruptcy, labor & employment, real estate, and tax law. Moreover, 17 FLLC partners have been ranked as leaders in their field by the same publication. 4 FLLC partners are ranked as leaders in Intellectual Property, no other firm has more than 2. This recognition in such a short period of time is a tribute to FLLC’s business model.
FLLC prides itself in doing its work faster and more cost-efficiently yet with the same quality as that of its main competitors. The founding name partners are available at all times to attend to client matters. Their work ethic sets the tone for the rest of the firm. FLLC’s founders’ goal has been steady from the outset: become one of the premier multiservice law firms in Puerto Rico.
