Joymakers: Mengran Zhou Helps Deliver Joy to Chewy’s Pet Parents’ Doorsteps—Even During the Pandemic

Those goals—delivering high quality products and protecting employees’ safety—were central to Zhou’s work at Chewy before the pandemic. But in the wake of COVID-19, they took on added importance. As local stores shut down or sold out, customers relied on Chewy to deliver the products their pets need. And keeping her coworkers COVID-free meant implementing new safety procedures.

With customers and their precious pets top of mind, Zhou and her team went into warp speed. “We implemented safety measures to ensure that our team was able to do their work without any negative impact to their health,” she says. Those efforts paid off, and her team has continued to step up their game in the months since. “When the operations can run smoothly, it ensures that Chewy customers receive their orders on a timely basis with great quality,” Zhou says.

And in case you were wondering, yes, Zhou (like most of us at Chewy) is a besotted pet parent who knows the joy of an extra-special delivery firsthand. Since she began working at Chewy, her cat, Grey Tea (nicknamed Juju), has been getting extra spoiled. “I’m always finding new things that she would love,” Zhou laughs, explaining that getting a blue box in the mail is a common occurrence at her place. “I’m always buying her something new, just from working here and looking at all our products.”

And delivering that same joy to pet parents across the country is what keeps her motivated.

“We have a mail locker in the apartment complex where I live. Every time I go, I see a couple Chewy boxes—not mine, but ones for my neighbors who are ordering from Chewy,” she says. “I’m definitely very proud of those moments, of seeing other Chewy boxes showing up and knowing the background story behind them. There’s something very special about that.”