Chuck Dahlgren would have told you that any company – including his own, Crystal D, PPAI 100’s No. 88 supplier – is bigger than the person in charge. A few years ago, the people who reported to him might not have believed it.
“He wore all the hats,” says Mike Irvine, who worked for Dahlgren for two decades. “He had a true passion for Crystal D and the family. What he built here at Crystal D was as important as his own family.”
You can attribute that to the fact that Dahlgren’s work and his family were intertwined. Crystal D is a family-run business. His wife, Jeanne, and three daughters (one of whom is named Crystal) all work for the company – Jeanne has moved into the role of president.
So, when Dahlgren unexpectedly passed away in October of 2022 after a planned medical procedure did not go as intended, the company not only lost its do-it-all leader. Its remaining leaders lost a huge piece of their world.
What happens to a thriving family-run promo company when the people tasked with keeping it running are overcome by grief?
“We each hit the point in grief of being disoriented,” says Audra Lehnert, Chuck’s daughter and Crystal D’s director of culture.
Through a series of interviews with his family (and Irvine, who is something like family to the Dahlgrens), PPAI Media chronicles the passing of Chuck Dalhgren, the immediate aftermath and the two years since Crystal D was forced to accept and adapt to its new reality.
Below is a retelling of that time, as told by those closest to him.
A Man Turned Into A Legacy: “The rug ripped from under our feet…”
Chuck Dahlgren purchased Minnesota-based Ice Nine Glass Design in 1993, renaming it Crystal D, beginning a journey in the promotional products industry, specifically the awards and recognition niche of the promo world. It would be many years before he turned Crystal D into the force it is today.
Jeanne Dahlgren, president of Crystal D, Chuck’s wife: Chuck was working long hours most days of the week back then.
Mike Irvine, chief operating officer, Crystal D: He grew up as a farmer and had the work ethic.
Bridget Dahlgren, executive vice president of marketing and sales, Chuck’s daughter: Grit is a word that he used a lot. He talked a lot about being gritty.
Jeanne: Our first production location was so dingy that we had to use the restroom at the restaurant across the street, and we bought countless lemonades in exchange for their facilities. We were raising three daughters.
Bridget: He got into this industry 30 years ago when it was still a catalog-based industry – and a good ol’ boys club. He told me competitors and customers would flat out say to his face, “what makes you think you’ll be here in a year?” That helped put a little fire under him. He always said he was too stupid to quit.
Irvine: When I first started, there were maybe 12 people in the company, and he was the guy. He said he couldn’t afford me. But there was a connection he had with people, including me. I felt it right away. I knew it was different here at this place, and he was the guy that I wanted to link up with.
Audra Lehnert, director of culture, Chuck’s daughter: When you have a problem that you can’t solve, he’d always say to look outside for answers. He was a really big reader. If he got stuck, he’d say “who knows about this more than I do?” And he’d find answers outside the industry, looking out into the world.
Irvine: Chuck also had this innate ability to connect with people. He was a people guy. He would support people in this industry, and that included our competitors.
Chuck would grow Crystal D over the years, giving his employees the official title of “Memory Makers,” who provided the clients the opportunity to provide their colleagues or friends or loved ones with the recognition they deserved. If Crystal D couldn’t deliver what Chuck referred to as “The Wow Effect,” then the company was not doing its job.
In October 2022, at the age of 70, he underwent planned heart surgery.
Jeanne: Chuckwas born with a heart valve that did not work correctly. On the day of the surgery, we met with the surgeon and had complete confidence that everything would go well.
Mike: He was 70 years old, and he was slowing down a bit, but I’m in my 50s and I’m slowing down, too.
Jeanne: The surgery did go well initially; the surgeon told me that he placed a larger valve in Chuck’s heart and that he expected a normal recovery. I had commented that we wouldn’t be able to keep up with him soon enough.
However, a complication arose quickly after the procedure that led to internal bleeding.
Jeanne: As a result, a few hours later I found myself signing an authorization form for an emergency second surgery.
It was during this second surgery that Chuck passed away, turning life upside down for those around him.
Irvine: It was a big shock. I thought he was going to keep going forever.
Jeanne: Our family was completely caught off guard. It felt like someone had ripped the rug out from under our feet.
Audra: Grief is weird because it makes you question everything. Like, gosh, how can the loss of one person create such turmoil inside me?
Bridget: You had to have a split personality for moments just to be able to keep operating.
Jeanne: He had worked very hard his entire life, and his death was a peaceful one, not requiring him to work at all. So, in that way, I am grateful.
Irvine: He died on a Monday, and he was at work typing out emails on Saturday, which was normal for him.
A Map Left Behind: “He was training us to not have to rely on him…”
The period of quiet grief was interrupted by the reality of a company full of Memory Makers who did not know their leader was gone.
Jeanie: We left the hospital after midnight, already having called a few of the leaders at Crystal D to let them know what had happened. The next morning, we gathered some of our longest-tenured employees — those closest to Chuck — to let them process the news before informing their teams.
Irvine: He was my mentor. He was part of my life. Part of my routine. I used to joke with him that I see him more than my wife. And it wasn’t just me. He connected with everyone here.
Jeanne: I explained what happened during and after the surgery. I said that the surgeons did everything they possibly could have done to save Chuck.
We brought in food for the whole company and gave employees the time, space and place to share their thoughts and feelings — also reminding them of the company-provided counseling services through the employee assistance program. Announcing Chuck’s death was one of the hardest things I have ever done. All the Memory Makers responded with courage, supporting our family and keeping the business going.
Audra: Right after he passed, I just took three weeks and worked with my family to get the funeral taken care of, and I didn’t check into the business at all during that time. The only reason I could do that is because of the people that were left there.
Mike definitely just kind of said, “go take care of what you guys need to do.
I will make sure the business is OK.” And he did.
Irvine: I didn’t even want to be in the building because it just hurt that much. The first day, I’m like, “I didn’t know what to do without Chuck.”
Jeanne: Those days were extremely difficult.
Ever the caretaker of his family and business, in life and in death, Chuck had left preparations for even the most difficult circumstances.
Jeanne: Believing he would be out of the office for a couple months to recuperate, he worked every day in the weeks prior, getting all the ducks in a row so the other Crystal D leaders could work while he recovered.
Bridget: I knew what his vision was. He was already prepping the executive leadership team, not for his death; he was looking further out thinking he had years of planning to do before he retired.
He was training us to not have to rely on him for the day-to-day. That helped a lot because we knew the direction we needed to go.
Irvine: He wanted to back out of the business a little bit eventually and enjoy more time with Jeanne and the family.
Looking back, he really set us up to succeed.
Bridget: In a way, it was like a compliment. [Through tears] He thought we could do it, so we were just going to do it.
Still, Chuck was so hands on before his passing, and business moves quickly.
Audra: When we came back, honestly, there wasn’t time to grieve after that. You’ve got to just survive.
Irvine: At the time of his death, he was still very much in command on a daily basis in all aspects of the business here. For as much as he had on his plate, he would find time to walk the building. He liked to check on the product, he liked to check on the building conditions. He wanted to make sure he had a great environment for everyone on the team and, more than anything, liked to talk to the people and connect about their lives.
Therapy In The Business: “The business became a huge blessing…”
Grief doesn’t adhere to anyone else’s timelines. As time went on, Crystal D became a place where his loved ones could reflect on Chuck’s qualities as a leader in order to grow into their own strengths.
Audra: It’s very easy when you’re grieving to blame your circumstances for what’s going on inside of you, and it’s easy to be frustrated about this thing or that person. It took a couple weeks to be like “wait a minute, this isn’t anyone else’s issue. I’m just sad. This is grieving.”
Irvine: I’m told it takes five years to grieve. The best way I can describe it is that it comes in waves.
Bridget: My uncle – Chuck’s brother – passed away a year earlier. I checked in on my aunt again shortly afterwards, and she said, “Bridget, you girls are so lucky you have the business because I don’t know how to get out of bed.”
The business became a huge blessing.I would say it brought us closer together in a weird way.
Irvine: The first few months, it was very difficult to make a decision because it’s not only what’s best for the business, but this looming thought of “we have to honor Chuck and, what would Chuck do?”
Audra: I think that we were operating on adrenaline for a long time.
Bridget: We’ve got to prove to the team that we know what we’re doing and that we can do this without Chuck. As far as the leadership team, that was our focus, keeping the team feeling secure and knowing they have jobs.
Audra: I took on my current title [director of culture] right after he passed away. The job that I do is part of what he did. It’s funny because I thought I knew basically what he did, but nope. He did so much more.
Irvine: I felt like I couldn’t change anything. That would be like changing Chuck, and I can’t do it, but I also know that he would be the first to say, “well, then your business is going to die.”
Bridget: For Chuck, it wasn’t just about communicating the business plan or goals. It was about the emotions and feelings behind it.
Audra: He had such a heart for wanting his Memory Makers to succeed in their roles, but also just in life as well. I feel a big responsibility to make sure that the goals we give our Memory Makers are within their reach, because if they’re constantly striving and never reaching the finish line, it can be very taxing, even though that is kind of the way business is sometimes.
Irvine: He’d tell me, your job as a leader is to help them see goals within themselves and then help them form a path to get there. It changed my whole perspective.
Bridget: Watching him know how to connect with individuals and each of our Memory Makers at a personal level was probably the biggest lesson. This business isn’t about money or how many pieces you get out the door. That’s the byproduct of something much bigger.
Audra: Our strategy has been to try to take the elements that he wanted to be everlasting and keep those alive somehow. Mike meets every single new employee who comes into the building.
Irvine: Then I follow up with them 90 days later, and we have a check-in, and they answer some questions for me. One of those questions is for them to describe the ‘Wow Effect’ for me. They all give different answers, and they all nail it on the head.
Audra: He kind of took that part of Chuck’s job, and then I kind of took the events part and then Bridget took the sales and marketing side of things. Jeanne is the president. We just kind of divided and conquered that way.
A Legacy Honored With New Heights: “We still love each other…”
In the two years since Chuck’s passing, business has not stopped, and growth continues to go in one direction. A company where he once maintained personal relationships with every employee has hired about 40 new team members who’ve never met Chuck.
Audra: They know about him, but they don’t know him, and there is a disconnect. There’s no way you can just download his presence. You can just talk about it.
Irvine: Audra, Bridget and Jeannie; They really went through a lot, and they led by example on how we can do this together.They are their own individuals, and they are amazing people, but Chuck had an influence on them.
Now, each employee goes through an onboarding process that includes the history of the company, presented by the people Chuck raised.
Audra: Bridget and I do that segment on purpose, so that we can try to tell his story.
I think people coming in who didn’t know him, they look at it as a family company, not Chuck’s company
Bridget: We have something internally here called the Engagement Zone. It’s where your head and your heart align. It’s about creating an environment where those personal lives can line up with your professional lives. Chuck’s vision was about getting people to see that. It wasn’t about how many products we sold each month.
Jeanne: I felt like I was in a fog after he passed. But it occurred to me that I could turn my grief into good by honoring Chuck’s heart for generosity. That’s how we developed and launched the Legacy Gallery, which is our giveback program with 10 exclusive designs and for which 20% of the product total goes to four charities we designate each year.
Helping people in need was core to who Chuck was and what he believed in. He was an extremely generous individual. I carefully researched different nonprofit organizations, wanting them to cover a range of areas and needs, and I wanted to make sure at least 90% of donations go directly to these programs. I have also decided that Chuck’s birthday each year, in February, will be when I write out those Legacy Gallery donation checks.
Of course, beyond honoring him, his family has taken the reins of Crystal D and thrust it into the future
Bridget: When we realized what he’d left behind for us, we said, “we’re going to make him proud.” And we did. This was the best year for the company in 30 years.
Audra: Our business is strong. We’ve hit our annual goals.
Irvine: We survived. We’re still here. We haven’t fought each other to death. We still love each other.
Jeanne: I believe the goal of making Chuck proud is exactly what we have accomplished.
Irvine: We have different leadership, and the guy who inspired everybody has passed on, but he’s passed us a lot of those tools and we are going to work hard.
Jeanne: We are working as one team and, together, we knock it out of the park. I am so excited for what’s to come.
