Ingredients for a Best Place to Work: Brand Fuel (asi/145025) was built on friendship, literally. Co-President Danny Rosin and his business partner, Robert Fiveash, have known each other for 44 years, founding the company together nearly 30 years ago. “If you have people who love each other, care about each other and trust each other and will go to bat for each other, you create a foundation for what that looks like for your employees,” Rosin says.

Brand Fuel (asi/145025) employees have made it an annual tradition to trek to the local Waffle House for a Halloween costume contest, judged by the staff.

The company achieved B Corp certification in 2022, which Rosin calls “the guidepost for everything” from responsible sourcing and supply chain transparency to how employees treat each other and the communities around them. It wasn’t always that way. When Brand Fuel first applied 17 years ago, confident they’d sail through, they failed. The process taught them to examine gaps in their supply chain understanding and ability for social impact. Earning the certification ultimately became a defining moment. Rosin describes the culture of reciprocity – with supplier partners, customers and internally – as the most important thing. “How do we want to be treated?” he says. “That’s what carries through.”

Top Benefits & Perks: Brand Fuel has Valentine’s Day off, a decision made roughly a decade ago, Rosin says, simply to “zig while everyone else was zagging.” Then there’s Halloween, a Brand Fuel institution going back to the company’s founding. Every year, the team dresses up in homemade costumes – store-bought isn’t allowed – and descends on the local Waffle House, where the staff votes on the best one.

Parting Tip: For companies trying to build strong cultures, Rosin says the key is remembering that culture isn’t just leadership-driven. “Companies often get a bad rap because there’s a lot of pressure on them to create great culture,” he says. “But employees can affect change, too.”

If Brand Fuel Were a Movie, It Would Be Pay It Forward. The generosity-driven message resonates with the distributor, but Rosin says, there’s also a bit of the music-fueled spirit of Almost Famous, and he admits with a laugh, there’s probably some of The Office in the mix, too. “I get the Michael Scott comparison all the time,” Rosin says. “I’ll own it.”