Stories to Live, Breathe and Work By
"Throughout our years, building relationships has always been more important to us than creating a catchy sales pitch. Relationships are what hold us together, and they are the connection that allows us to thrive individually, and to learn from one another. Having conversations, making new friends, growing, listening, learning and sharing ourselves is who we are. We hope that our friends, new and old, will join us in celebrating relationships, telling new stories, and having fun along the way." - Co-Owner Michelle Kalberer
Klean Kanteen has spent a decade building connections that we hold near and dear, and we've spent the last year celebrating our 10 year anniversary with all of you. Part of celebrating so many years together has included sharing stories of change: "Back in 2004, there were no stainless steel water bottles for personal hydration, and the health and environmental issues linked to plastic use were not widely known." It has also included reflecting on how much has remained the same; "We treat our customers like good neighbors and our partners like dear friends. We have stakeholders, not shareholders, an our bottom line is simple: to provide affordable, safe, healthy, high quality products and accessories and to promote and encourage health, sustainability and environmental awareness."
Today, Klean Kanteen is proud to unveil a new way of connecting and storytelling that bridges the gap between old and new, which just so happens to be a representation of what Klean Kanteen has become. With big smiles all around, the entire Klean Kanteen team would like to welcome you to the brand-new website, along with some beautiful new product and, as you see here, a new Blog for sharing stories, information, news, happenings and general updates. We believe this venue will serve as a resource for sharing tales, both ones we want to tell and ones we need to share with the world, while remaining true to the values -- of family, community, health, fun and the environment -- that the company itself is deeply rooted in.
Co-Owner Jeff Cresswell (who, if you didn't know, is Michelle's brother) wraps it all up with these words:
"Over the past 10 years we have listened to a lot of really great stories, many that included Klean Kanteen and many that didn’t. We've listened to stories that were about adventures, about our natural world and some that were simply just about living life. We have shared some of our own stories and have lived vicariously through others. However you look at it, whether it's your own storytelling or you living through someone else’s story, it's these narratives that bring us together, that help us understand each other, that connect us to people and place. We created this blog to share some stories from ourselves and from our friends. We invite you to enjoy, to live, to learn, and to have fun."