Growing up with Great-Depression-era parents and grandparents in a family business was like attending a masterclass in frugality—complete with pop quizzes on who could survive the longest without turning on the heat! I distinctly remember the “don’t touch the thermostat” rule, essentially carving it into stone like a biblical commandment. Sure, there were plenty of valuable lessons tugged into my memory, but they never made it onto a vision board or a motivational poster. Or so I thought...

From our first family council meeting, we encouraged our boys to ask the tough questions. How much do you make? How much is the company worth? What will I inherit? These were all questions we thought they would ask. However, the most important question on their mind was…if something happened to dad, who would run the company? No longer were we having adult to child conversations, rather an adult to adult relationship was beginning to develop.