On October 17th, 2023, at the ScanSource and Intelisys Channel Connect 2023 Awards Dinner, Symplicity Communications CEO and President Catherine Behrenbrinker was named as the recipient of the 2023 Chuck Mache Award.
The award, named in honor of beloved business coach, mentor, and friend Chuck Mache, recognizes an individual that has raised their game, established new skills, taken risks, and done the heavy lifting of personal development that Chuck was great at helping people do.
“It’s really cool to be selected,” said Behrenbrinker. “It’s really cool to have your peers look at you and tell you that you are worthy of something like this. I think that winning this very prestigious Chuck Mache Award, it means that I’ve made the right choices and other people co-sign that. I’m doing the right thing and the path that I’ve chosen in the journey I’ve taken for myself and my company, people see that and say, ‘she’s doing something right.'”
When asked what it was like when she heard her named called as this years’ recipient, Catherine said, “It was such a shock! I don’t know if there were people in the room that were like, ‘oh, gosh, it could be me,’ but I that wasn’t me. The first question that I uttered was, ‘how is this possible that it was me?'” She continued, “I can’t tell you how grateful that I am to be carrying this honor, because so many people loved Chuck for who he was. It means so much, when I think about Chuck and his ability to bring that light out of people.”
Catherine received a resounding standing ovation both after being announced and after delivering her unexpected acceptance speech.
“It feels like a culmination of a lot of years of hard work,” she added. “And those that may not have known me before I got up on the stage, I really showed my heart and a lot of people got to really see the real Catherine and who I am.”
Members of the Symplicity Communications team that joined Catherine at Channel Connect were present for the big moment.
“Cheering for other people is one of my all-time favorite things so to be in the audience when Catherine won not one, but two awards was exhilarating!” said Manager of Customer Succes, Jessica Reilly. “We had no idea she was going to be honored with either! When they started describing the Chuck Mache Award and they mentioned the Hungry, Humble and Smart portion I knew FOR SURE it was her because that’s very much a core value of the company that she wholly embodies. It was wonderful to see the pure shock and all of the emotions come over her when they announced her name. She’s worked so hard for so long – she absolutely deserves it!”
Added VP of Government Contracting, Victor Zuniga, “Even when I first met Catherine, she harbored what some might call ‘audacious dreams.’ Fast forward to today, and I couldn’t be prouder to witness her receiving well-deserved recognition from Intelisys in the form of the Chuck Mache Award.”
“I have this huge pride for the team at Symplicity, that this isn’t a ‘Catherine’ award,” Catherine said. “My name is on the trophy, but I can do what I do because I have amazing people on the team that really stand back and support me and help me.”
Catherine understands how meaningful and special this recognition is and wants to do her part to honor Chuck Mache’s legacy and set others up for success in the future.
“I want to take a step in this next year, take a journey of learning more about Chuck. I’m going to read his books and talk to people that knew him well,” she said. “I want to take this honor seriously and understand the blessing that I’ve been given and make the most of it. I’m going to set up the next recipient to feel the honor of being selected to represent this great individual and to continue his legacy. I want to be a part of that, to continue the learning of what he brought to people and business even after he’s gone. How special is that?”
