Sean: How did you grow into this position? And this is a family business. I'm wondering, as someone who grew into the family business, what did it look like for you to be where you are right now? What did the journey look like for you?

Charlie: Yeah. It's the phrase that comes to mind is that, it's both a blessing and it's a curse. And you know, it's because when somebody asks me, I'm 34 years old, they're asking me, how long have you been in the business?

I've been actively working in the business for about 12 years, but I might answer 34 because I have been in this business since the day I was born. I have memories of going to the office with my dad when I was my kid's age, I've got a seven, five-year-old, and a one and a half year old. I remember going to the office with them.

I worked in our warehouse in high school and in college, in the summers. So it's, I've just grown up and there's almost been an expectation. So to go work in it and also I've wanted to, I mean, I look at our executive team, which my dad is a part of. And I, you know, you grew up idolizing these people, for a great reason too. So I say that it's the blessing and the curse because being a family member, you're being held to a higher standard.

And I hold myself to a much higher standard too. However, that can be too much. And I would say that that's been helpful to me, but also it's been a great teacher. I've been running the HR department. We call it team member services for about four years now. And if I didn't have the team around me, I would not be doing a good job right now.

And if I wasn't given the training over the 12 years that I've been in the company I would not be sitting here talking to you because I have made huge mistakes. A lot of the mistakes, some mistakes that cost the business a lot of money, because of my borderline arrogance, instead of confidence, and trying to do things myself, as opposed to asking for help.

And like, those are massive lessons that I don't know if I would have learned that, had I not been given the opportunity to fail, honestly. So I mean, that's the blessing of it. And you know, I think that when I was younger, I would have said that it's more a curse to work for the family side because you just, you know, maybe I should've been a doctor, maybe I should've been an attorney. Maybe I should have done other things.

But now, as I was rolling it through a lot of these lessons and made a lot of mistakes and been able to make those mistakes and been supported by brothers in law, and older cousins, and my father and my aunt and my uncle. I really, I look at them with just sheer admiration that they let me go through this gauntlet and learn from it because now I have just a deep appreciation that I think working for a family business, it's the best thing in the world.

Because you're, you're your own boss? The family is the boss. So it's just been this process of thinking it was more cursed. And now see that it's a total blessing. It's kind of a shame that there's not more family businesses in the world that are as big as we are, because most of them, when you get to our size to sell out. Because it's, it's very difficult, you have to swallow your pride and you have to put the foundation of the company and the priorities of the company before you're grown.

I made that mistake and, you know, fortunately I worked for the family business that let me make that mistake. Because had I not been working for the family business, it probably would have ended a little differently. And I'm sure you can fill in the blanks of what I'm going to there. Right.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/leadershipstack

Join our community and ask questions here: from.sean.si/discord

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadershipstack