Marcus Hutsen and the Patriot Coolers team were actively building their business when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Hutsen, the brand’s Business Development Manager, said one of the hardest things was pivoting to a hybrid model.
“I think most of us (in the world) were on the learning curve with that set of circumstances.”
Marcus Hutsen, Business Development Manager, Patriot Coolers
Patriot Coolers was founded in 2018 – just a couple of years before the peak of pandemic chaos. That 2020 shift forced as much as 70% of the global workforce to embrace remote work and all of the new processes and technologies that enabled it. The new approach was a challenge for new and established businesses alike.
“We handled it the best we could, however we were operating with the idea that the goal was to get us all back in the office as soon as possible,” adds Hutsen.
Much of the world didn’t finally return to traditional office workspaces for nearly a year. Still today, more than 2 years later, many companies continue to host most of their employees offsite.
“Though we are now mostly back in the office, there have been benefits to learning what we can do in terms of a remote/hybrid model. In retrospect, what I would tell myself is this: instead of looking at remote work as an obstacle, look at it as a new framework from which to succeed. We now find ourselves with enhanced capabilities based on being able to function as a hybrid company,” said Hutsen.
Patriot Coolers continues to grow with a full line of stainless steel drinkware, soft-sided coolers and rotomolded hard coolers that support Veterans with a donation to Homes for Our Troops with every purchase.
