Company Blog

The Head Honcho

by Adam Zack — June 25, 2025

“CEOs, and head honchos are so important to your customers.”

Hello! I just returned from a 5 week sabbatical trip to Europe. It was amazing and refreshing and awe inspiring all at once. There was so much history we saw, food we ate, wine we drank, places we visited and things we learned. One of those should be the most memorable, I would think. Maybe the Vatican in Rome. Or the Duomo in Florence. How about the Rock of Gibraltar? Maybe the tapas in Spain. But the most memorable and influential things were not historical or gastronomical. They involved business management and leadership lessons that I will never forget.

Let me set it up for you: Our trip included two Mediterranean cruises. The first was on the cruise line Azamara and left from Rome. Having never sailed on Azamara, we were very impressed with the exceptional service, quality of food and amazing ports we visited. Towards the end of the cruise we were invited to a special dinner with the Captain and officers of the ship, along with about 12 other passengers. We looked at each other and said “Is this a mistake? We aren’t special.” But it wasn’t a mistake. We were seated at the long, very fancy dining table that had name cards at the seat where you were to sit. We found our seats at the middle of the table and were seated directly across from the Captain and I was right next to the CEO of the cruise line. It’s kind of like going to a baseball game and sitting next to the owner of the team. I was a little nervous at first, but as I spent time talking to her (Dondra Ritzenthaler is her name), we talked about sports (she’s a big fan of all things Texas), food, family and just everyday things. Just like talking to a regular person and not the leader of a billion dollar company. I left the dinner feeling very special.

This being our “Trip of a Lifetime”, of course after a few days in Portugal, we had to do another cruise through new spots in the Mediterranean. This was on a cruise line called Atlas, a fairly new line with only about 200 passengers. It was really an amazing experience, and halfway through the cruise we stopped into an event that featured the CEO of Atlas, James Rodriguez, speaking about the ship and his crew. He was on the ship with his family on vacation. During one of our land excursions to a family beekeeping farm that produced its own honey, I told him how terrific his crew was and how much I thought of the hospitality culture that we experienced on the ship. I know it’s always nice to hear that I am doing something right, and wanted to share that with him. By the end of the bus ride home he knew our first names (we did not tell him). We saw him many times on the ship after that and we had time to talk about family and business and cruising. It was the second time in a row that I was awed by the easy way a CEO interacted with guests and crew, and as he saw us disembarking at the end of the cruise, he wished us well, said that he wanted to be like us (!!) and mentioned that he had read some of these DW Green blogs and that he liked them. Talk about leaving an impression!

So, I know this is a long story. It made me think about how each of you store owners, CEOs, and head honchos are so important to your customers. The chance for them to interact with the big boss and know that they are appreciated makes an impression that creates loyalty and memories that will be shared again and again. You are special and you do have that power.