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Ralph Marucci, the CEO and Co-Founder of Hydr8, has been a transformative leader in the water purification industry since 2017. Under his guidance, Hydr8 has become one of the nation’s top ten point-of-use water providers in 2020. His innovative approach has revolutionized office hydration in the Tri-State area by eliminating cumbersome 5-gallon jugs and outdated filtration systems. Ralph’s commitment to relationship-building, transparency, and consistency has solidified Hydr8’s reputation for impeccable service and fresh water delivery.
Before founding Hydr8, Ralph led Silo Consulting LLC for over a decade, where he specialized in consulting for medical institutions. His expertise in medical supplies and equipment, with a focus on orthopedics, pain management, and internal medicine, allowed him to build strong relationships within the healthcare sector. This experience honed his skills in self-management, education, and fostering trust, which later became core focuses at Hydr8.
Ralph’s journey in the business world began as the Regional Sales Director at MedSF and in medical device sales at Empire Surgical. His strategic planning, consultative selling, and ability to develop meaningful relationships with clinicians and staff laid a solid foundation for his later entrepreneurial endeavors. Recognized as one of the Top 20 Under 40 by the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation (SIEDC), Ralph continues to serve others with a commitment to accessibility and excellence in every aspect of his professional life.
HYDR8 is an industry leader in sustainable and healthy hydration solutions, offering top-of-the-line water cooler purification systems, bean-to-cup coffee machines, reverse osmosis ice units, and sustainable pantry services. With clients such as United Airlines, Fedex, Peloton, and non-profits like The New York Foundling and Catholic Charities, HYDR8 is trusted for its unmatched quality and 5-star rated service. Committed to innovation, HYDR8 recently introduced the Elimin8™ Zero Waste Pantry™, reinforcing their dedication to making a positive impact on the environment.
Chris Santomassimo: Welcome to The Think Factory podcast powered by OGC Solutions. I’m Chris Santomassimo, your host and I’m here today with a good friend of the firm. This is Ralph Marucci, who’s the CEO and Co-Founder of Hydr8. Just so you can find Ralph and he’ll talk more about it later too.
But hydrate is Hydr8 and I’m happy to say that Ralph and hydrate are not only a friend of the firm, but a partner of the firm. So welcome to the podcast.
Ralph Marucci: Thanks, Chris. So good to be here. Thanks so much for having us.
Chris Santomassimo: You know, I, as I said to you, Ralph, you know, we known each other and done some business together for the last few years. I mean, you’ve done great work for us and not only do I love the service that you guys provide us and keep our employees happy, but I love some of the things you’re doing on the sustainability and Wellness side as well. So I’d love to just get the opportunity to introduce you to other folks and tell them what you do and all the great things you do for us.
Ralph Marucci: Yeah, I appreciate that. Of course, appreciate the the business and and of course your your personal recommendation is just. It’s invaluable, frankly. So really do appreciate you my friend personally and professionally. And yeah, the the company is doing well. Thankfully, we are focused on, as you mentioned, on sustainability. In fact, about 8 months ago, we’re in business now almost eight years, but it was only about 8 months ago that we launched the zero Waste Pantry and we are the first to market. We’re trademarked and patent pending on the zero waste pantry itself. And what does that mean? It means that all assets and all products that we provide in the corporate break room, net zero waste to landfill for everything that is customer facing. So everything that would include water, coffee, ice, snacks, disposables, sparkling water, we even have a way of consolidating soda cans now. So to really neat little one stop shop that we’ve created and it seems to be working out quite well over the last few months. So we’re really excited about it.
Chris Santomassimo: Well, we were too. I mean, you know, we we had another vendor for a number of years until we got together a few years ago. And I gotta tell you that the IT really makes a difference, I think in the morality office to go into the kitchen and and grab some, you know, really top shelf coffee or to use the, you know, the water cooler, which is not just a water cooler, but we get carbonated beverage out of it. And it seems a little thing. I think that really uh, you know, create, you know, a little bit more happiness in the office. And if we can do it in a way that’s a little bit softer on the Earth, even better.
Ralph Marucci: Yeah, I’m with you on that. You know, truth be told, I I believe that water and coffee should be there to help you do your job, not be a part of it. So as you mentioned, these kind of little things that really there to help you guys do what you do so well. And I think that’s one of the things that kind of excites me about my business in a way is that I kind of in a small way, if you will, partner with each of the firms that we work with and work for to help them do what they do so well, which is obviously serve the communities at large. We work with everyone, hotels, hospitals, education, healthcare, great law firms like yours and and the idea is like I said, just to make sure that we are supporting the work that you guys do. And I think it’s thoughtful that we do this in a very, uh, uh, sustainable way and and of course, it’s about showing up and servicing people in a timely fashion, which I find that most of my competition seems to really not have much of a focus on or isn’t nimble enough perhaps to get to these accounts quickly. And folks are just learned to live with that. Like if you have 3456 days without a machine working, they kind of say like oh, you know, they show up and they come, you know, about a week later I I think that’s way too long. You know, if you have a water machine, you’re paying monthly for a coffee Brewer, especially coffee. My goodness. Can’t go a day or two without coffee. No, that would be. That would be harsh on, especially lawyers that have to think, and they have to work. And they have to focus. So it’s really incumbent upon us to make sure that we’re really proactive instead of reactive as it relates to service. And if there is a problem that kind of, you know, happens in an instant, it’s up to us to show up within a very timely fashion, which I would consider to be 24 hours. So that is really kind of the backbone of who we are is a service company. So this sustainability is great. Wellness. I can get into a little bit about the technology that makes this like water cooler, for example, not just the water cooler as you pointed out, but really it’s a matter of backing you guys up and making sure that you’re getting basically a return on investment in that the machines are not only working but providing for you some value at the end of the day that hopefully helps people do their job better. And that’s where the return would come in. So hopefully that’s been and it sounds like it’s been your experience and the other 2000 or so customers that we service hopefully has been there as well.
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