Top Ten Reasons I'm Grateful Today

As I was driving to work this morning through the green Pennsylvania Dutch countryside, I briefly paused my Audible book to think about how grateful I am for the role I have at Brenntag. 

A "top ten" list of reasons I love working for Brenntag today started to form in my mind. 

Ten Reasons I'm Grateful for my Role at Brenntag Today

1. I love that at 3 AM on Monday one of our drivers left our Reading, PA warehouse in a Brenntag truck with over 34,000 pounds of bottled water, toiletries and supplies for shelters in Houston, TX, all donated by caring folks who want to make a difference.
2. I love that walking in each morning I am greeted at the coffee machine by the friendliest people in the world, including Jan, Kimberly, Karen, Alan, Joe, Ann, Deneen…and so many others…what a way to start each day!
3. I love that Safety First is more than our cornerstone Core Value – it is lived by my colleagues! They care about me enough to call me out if I don’t use a handrail, if I slow pause at the stop sign in front of our office or I fail to talk about our Safety First value at the beginning of a meeting. This has revolutionized how I think about my own safety and the safety of those around me.
4. I love that I was in a meeting with senior leaders the other day and they made a tough financial decision based on our core value of Integrity and Responsibility and that our leaders live this value to their core – both privately and publicly!
5. I love that checks are arriving daily from employees around the country who are sending money to be distributed to the dozens of employees impacted by the hurricanes that ravaged Texas, Louisiana and Florida these past couple of weeks. Please join us!
6. I love that our brand promise is “ConnectingChemistry” and that employees feel they have a direct role in connecting their knowledge with customers around the globe. And I love that we have a team of employees in our offices who call themselves the “ConnectingCulture Team”, passionate about creating a culture that connects employees to each other!
7. I love that our company is so passionate about sustainability that we were the first-ever chemical distributor to sign up to the United Nationals Global Compact and we just published our over fifty-page annual report on sustainability! The fact that we can show the world that chemistry and chemicals used properly can support positive solutions to combat some of the challenges we are facing today.
8. I love that we believe in the importance of chemistry so much that we have partnered with the Chemical Education Foundation and we sponsor “You be the Chemist” competitions and education for K-8th graders across the country, aimed at getting youngsters excited about STEM careers (especially young girls).
9. I love that thousands of the products we distribute are making this world a better place for people…from healthcare..to clean water..to the spaces we live and work in…chemistry truly is a part of everything we do. I love that we are exploring ways to partner on clean water projects around the world and we are a leadership partner with Water For People in making the world a better place.
10. And I love the passion of employees who constantly want to make this a better company, such as the early career professional who left my office fifteen minutes ago, after telling me he is willing to move anywhere with Brenntag and wants to spend his career here, and, Frank, a sales rep who just celebrated his 101st birthday and doesn’t want to retire because he loves what he does!

Every day at Brenntag have employees celebrating their 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th or 50th anniversary with the company and as I approach my second anniversary with the company I’m beginning to understand why our turnover remains under ten percent and I am grateful.

It is easy to focus on what isn’t working or what we don’t like about where we work, but today, I choose to be grateful and focus on what makes this company so great. 

I am lucky to be part of the Brenntag family!