Family IN Business

It was a routine activity that led to a life-threatening accident, a coma, and multiple cranial surgeries. Adam Farver, Chairman of the Board and fourth generation of his family enterprise, Pella Corporation, found himself eavesdropping on doctors who doubted his full recovery. Faced with frightening questions about his future, Adam took stock of his life before the accident, consulting his late great-grandfather and grandmother’s wisdom: what would he do now?

Listen as Adam tells the story of his realizations, recovery, and resetting his purpose. We are also joined by experts Dave Whorton and Jennifer Pendergast discussing how family enterprises can—and should—intentionally find their purpose to steel themselves from crisis.

Along with their younger sister Melissa Steiner, Stephanie Jackson and Kimberly Paxton-Hagner are co-owners of their multigenerational family enterprise, Kwik Lok. If you’ve ever bought bread, tortillas, or apples in a bag, you’ve already used their product! Their grandfather, Floyd Paxton, invented the plastic closure tab that keeps food fresh and tracks the supply of many of our favorite foods.

The sisters’ road to family enterprise leadership started as a total surprise: their grandfather and father never intended for women in their family to take over the business. But their father’s sudden passing left a leadership gap, and the Paxton sisters had to ask themselves: What do we do? How will we do it? And why should we do it?

Listen as our guests discuss their trepidation and inspiration finding their purpose within their family enterprise, in roles they never thought they’d take on. We are also joined by experts Rob Lachenauer and Jennifer Pendergast, who offer thoughts on organizational change, defining purpose, and winning employee buy-in.

As the brainchild of Kent Johnson’s great-grandparents, Highlights for Children has been an explicitly purpose-driven company from its inception. A passion for serving, honoring, developing, and educating children informs every decision made in this family business. Purpose is so ingrained at Highlights for Children that the in-house newsletter is called “The Purpose,” and the company even has a Chief Purpose Officer!

But when building up the importance of purpose, how do leaders make sure they and their organization actually walk the walk? How does a commitment to living your values impact your choices at difficult crossroads? Listen as Kent describes steps he and his family enterprise have taken to ensure they serve their purpose in meaningful ways, even in the face of controversy. Experts Brooke Vuckovic and Jennifer Pendergast add insights on what it means to lead well in sticky situations.

Enrico Leta expected to continue to lead and work in his family enterprise, a highly successful regional chain of high end supermarkets started by his Italian immigrant grandfather. But he did not expect that the second generation—Enrico’s father, aunts, and uncles—would decide the best future for their family business rested on leaving the third generation to find their own ventures. Dazed and untethered, Enrico set off to find a new career path and purpose. His story inadvertently illustrates for us what guest expert Dave Evans refers to as “designing your life” with curiosity, community, experimentation, and storytelling.

Join us to learn how Enrico navigated a season of uncertainty and how he found success with his “best doable option.” In addition to Dave Evans, we are also joined by guest expert Jennifer Pendergast, who discusses trans-generational entrepreneurship and the “entrepreneur gene.”