For Dan Cathy, expressing gratitude to others – in notes, emails, texts or in person – is simply a way of life he learned from his father, who founded the Chick-fil-A company.

“I saw my dad express thankfulness and gratitude to our customers as a child when he would load up lemon pies and deliver them to people who had issues or challenges or struggles,” Cathy recalled. “He would use that to affirm them or express appreciation for their friendship.”

Cathy likes to say that he has spent his entire life at the company his father, S. Truett Cathy, built on the premise that the business is as much about people as it is chicken.

And in the 50 years since Cathy’s father started the business, the company has grown quite a bit – to more than 2,000 restaurants. Cathy often tells people that regardless of his title, he really works in customer service, an attitude that reflects the family’s value of providing a great dining experience for every customer.

“An ‘attitude of gratitude’ fits with anything you are wearing no matter who you are or where you are,” Cathy said with a smile. “Saying thank you is part of a bigger focus on etiquette and civility.”

Cathy often sends handwritten notes – “the most preferred method and the most personal way to express appreciation in written form” – to restaurant Operators, team members and staff who have done something special or noteworthy while at work or in the community.

“I confess that more frequently it’s a text or even email,” he said. “But I do think that any time we can express appreciation, even verbally, or do small acts of kindness, then that is another form of thank you.”

Gratitude is a core value at Chick-fil-A, Cathy says.

“I want to carry the lessons my parents taught me about gratitude and appreciation through to everything we do at Chick-fil-A,” Cathy said. “We have been blessed with great restaurant owners, team members, staff and customers, and saying ‘Thank you’ to them is simply the right thing to do. It makes everyone feel good.”