Peter Wolpert grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey, the kind of kid who was always outside. He played basketball and tennis, fished whenever he got the chance, and somewhere along the way started spending time in the kitchen too, following recipes and then changing them to see what happened.
He went south for college, earning an undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Miami, then stayed on for an MBA in Marketing and Finance. The chemical business was already part of his life before he had a diploma. His father and grandfather had both worked in it, and when Peter joined City Chemical LLC, he was stepping into something that already had two generations behind it.
That was more than 47 years ago. Peter has spent his career at the same company, working his way through the kind of decisions that only show up after doing something for decades: how to train people well, how to keep a team steady through slow years and busy ones, how to stay honest with customers even when honesty is the harder answer.
Outside of work, not much has changed since his Maplewood days. He still plays golf, still fishes, still cooks for friends and family, and shares his home with his German shepherds. He talks about his long run at City Chemical the way someone talks about a marriage: not as a single achievement, but as a lot of ordinary days that added up to something worth having.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I’m up early, usually before the rest of the house. I go through email first, because I’d rather clear the small stuff before anyone needs a decision from me. Then I walk the floor and talk to the team, not because I’m checking up on anyone, but because that’s where I find out what’s actually happening. The rest of the day is a mix of calls, orders, and whatever problem decided to show up that morning. I try to leave room for the unplanned, because there’s always something unplanned.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I write them down first. An idea that stays in your head is easy to talk yourself out of. Once it’s on paper, I break it into smaller steps and bring it to people on my team who are younger than me. They see angles I don’t, and they’re not shy about telling me when something won’t work.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I like seeing more young chemists interested in cleaner, simpler ways of doing things that used to require a lot of extra steps. It’s a generational shift in how people think about efficiency, and it’s going to change this industry more than people expect.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Keeping a written list of long-term goals where I can see it. I check it often. It’s easy to spend a year being busy without actually moving toward anything, and the list keeps me honest about that.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Slow down on the decisions that don’t need to be fast. I made some calls early in my career just to feel like I was making progress, and a few of them cost me more time later than if I had waited a week and thought them through.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I think most businesses would be better off with fewer goals, not more. People load up their plans with ten priorities and end up making real progress on none of them. I’d rather have three goals we actually hit than ten we half-finish.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Write your goals down and look at them on a schedule, not just when you remember to. I check mine regularly. A goal you never look at again isn’t a goal, it’s a wish.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I go fishing, or I’ll head out to the golf course. Both force you to slow your thinking down because you can’t rush either one. I usually come back with a clearer head than when I left.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Hiring people who are smarter than me in the areas I’m weakest, and then actually listening to them. Early on I think I wanted to have the answer to everything myself. Once I let go of that, the team got stronger and so did the business.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Years ago, I pushed to bring on a new product line faster than we were really ready for. We hadn’t worked out all the testing and training that should have come first, and it cost us time and money to fix after the fact. We slowed down, rebuilt the process properly, and I learned that moving fast only helps you if the foundation underneath is solid.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A small meal-kit service built around family recipes passed down through generations, with a short story about each dish included in the box. People want the food, but they also want the history behind it, and almost nobody is selling both together.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
A simple project tracking program that lets me see where every task stands without having to ask. I use it to keep long-term goals visible next to the daily work, so the two don’t drift apart from each other.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I keep coming back to biographies of people who built family businesses over generations. They remind me that the hard years are normal, not a sign something is wrong.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I enjoyed a documentary series about commercial fishing crews. It’s a completely different industry from mine, but the discipline and patience those crews need looked very familiar.
Key learnings
- Written, regularly reviewed goals keep daily effort pointed at long-term direction instead of just activity.
- Rushing a new initiative without finishing the groundwork tends to cost more time later than it saves upfront.
- Hiring for weaknesses, not just strengths, and genuinely listening to that input strengthens both leadership and the business.
- Stepping away through a hobby that demands patience, like fishing or golf, can restore focus better than pushing through fatigue.