The Resonance Test 34: Matt Sheehan of Primo Water

Matt Sheehan is a passionate guy. As the President and CEO of Primo Water—North America’s leading single source provider of water dispensers, multi-gallon purified bottled water, and self-service refill water—he brings an undeniable sense of mission to his company culture, the retailers he works with, and thirsty customers. “I don’t care about being right, I care about getting it right,” he says, adding: “It doesn’t matter where the ideas come from.” That passion electrified his recent *Resonance Test* conversation with Kenji Ross, Senior Design Strategist at EPAM Continuum. Sheehan has strong opinions on many topics, among them: corporate values, Primo’s culture, (“If you have a big ego, Primo’s not a great place for you because we aren’t shy to tear apart some ideas,”) being a public company, and the hiring process (“We’re pretty picky about the people who get to carry our flag,”). Sheehan gets particularly jazzed about getting out and talking with customers—“Let’s really go to talk to Nancy Jones at the Walmart on 2 Main Street”—to find out what really motivates them. The insight from this customer experience work, he says, “has been a thousand light bulbs for us."