From 1969 to 1976, she was the California State Consumer Affairs Department information officer, state director of consumer education, and publications assistant in the office of then-Governor Ronald Reagan. She was director of marketing for Intercontinental and Continental Chemical Corporation in Sacramento, California, from 1976 to 1978. Lavelle's responsibilities included development of corporate guidelines to comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a law that her later position at the EPA left her to administer nationwide compliance with by both business and government sectors.