The Family Business with Matt Kaufman

How come you get to be on your phone?

Every parent gets that whine weekly. Our usual response, "This is for work." What about if your career is predicated on social media? It is part of your job to be on every platform daily.

How do you get an 11 year old to understand the difference between your responsibility and their love of #TikTok? Good luck with that one...

Here is a conversation with Kamal Bhandal on the Family Business. She has been ahead of the curve in social media influencing as it relates to medical technology for years. Truly an authority on the subject. She drives much of the strategy for Align Technology.

While raising two daughters, her lines are perpetually blurred between the digital and real world. Instead of fighting with them, she did the opposite. She seeks their opinion and their suggestions on how to use social media. One of many clever items she said during our chat.

Give a listen, she is one of the more knowledgeable people in this space and is dancing along the line that is forever moving between setting a good example and doing her job.

This was my George Clooney.

Started The Family Business program this year and compiled a list of folks that would be great guests. People that exemplify the intertwining of family and careers. Thrilled that all of them have said yes so far.

The "big get" was Vivek Jayaraman and Aruna Jayaraman. Watching our conversation, it became clear that there was no way to select a clip as all of it was compelling.

To name a few:

Aruna is the only female GI physician in Sonoma County (not including Kaiser)

Vivek is the COO of Cerus and has had a monstrous career to date with Medtronic and Trivascular/Endologix LLC

They lost their home to the fires exactly three years to the date that this was taped. Had no idea and the irony was striking

They are first generation Americans and have an immense appreciation for their parents' influence

They have two sensational children, one of which is going to be an author thanks to me...

Take a listen.

Here is the answer to the question that has plagued me for years, which is "When does a pig become a hog?"

Never know what you are going to learn on a new episode of The Family Business. In this case, we are entertained by the incomparable Kristen Knox. She is currently the Senior VP and General Manager at ACIST Medical Systems.

She has had a stellar career so far while raising two teenage boys with her husband. She said something in this clip that resonated with me. Kristen was a part of a successful acquisition and could have easily taken off as much time as she wanted. While she thrives on being a mom and married, she knew that in order to be the best version of herself she needed to get back to work. Significant self-awareness there and an incredibly supportive guy at her side. She is a character. Grew up on a farm and built a substantial business career. Truly an amazing story. Anyone interested in learning how to be a hockey mom, here is your role model.

Like most love stories, it all started at Benningan's.

Not sure if it is the potato skins or the suspenders worn by the wait staff.

Either way, we are the benefactors as Colby Holtshouse and Mike Holtshouse forged a romance there over 2 for 1's and being the only people in their age bracket there. In this new episode of The Family Business we explore their lives. Let me say this to you. They are funny folks.

Colby is the COO of Alydia Health and Mike is the Director of Ops at Murj. Exceptional medical device executives and caretakers of one of the more entertaining households on the planet.

Throughout this podcast, you will receive a reminder of what happens if you take your eyes off your daughter while trying to do a Zoom call with an investor.

Congratulations, you are having twins.

Could be the most exciting and disconcerting sentence spoken to new parents. I imagine most say "Wait, what? Sounded like you said twins."

In this episode of The Family Business, we sit down with Omari Bouknight and Kavita Bouknight to discuss how they have been raising their twins amidst two considerable careers.

If you do not already know them, please take my word for it that they are fascinating. Ironic that this is another program where I am speaking with the parents of twins. Kathryn (Katie) Arnold and Evan Norton were the interview I did shortly after this one. What are the odds we would have back to back twinnings?

Omari and Kavita are two of the more popular folks in the medical technology industry. Highly recommend you give their story a listen. Particularly if you have twins...

Mountain climbing as a family, a dog named Jed and saving patients from amputation. Another day in the life of Dan Rose. In a rousing conversation with Dan and his extraordinary wife Marta, we were given a glimpse into their lives.

In this clip from The Family Business, Dan, who is the CEO of LimFlow SA, explains why for the sake of his family they have made Switzerland their home while Marta describes the positives and negatives of his traveling.

This whole conversation is compelling. We cover a myriad of topics as they have truly lived a full life already. 

I have had the pleasure of speaking with Kathryn (Katie) Arnold and Evan Norton for many years. I thought I knew them well. Their story unfolded during our conversation in my program The Family Business. This particular clip discusses how Katie built SPRIG from scratch and how her growing family prompted this initiative.  Evan supported her while managing his own significant career and three children (including twins). Two exceptional success stories wrapped into one family.

Started this program called "The Family Business" with the intent of sharing stories about how career and family are intertwined. How both sides of that coin influence decisions and prompt outcomes that change the rest of your life. The good news is I do not have to try and explain it any further. My guest and friend Ajay Nair does it for me. He describes having a newborn and being separated from him for six months due to Covid and travel restrictions. I know it is six minutes. Worth your time. He is an unbelievable human being and his wife and child are cut from the same cloth. Any parent will be able to relate to what he says and understand the joy and anguish that comes with a significant career and having a child. I think we need to interview his wife next. She sounds like someone we could all benefit from knowing.

This is what happened on our latest episode of The Family Business. Motty Klots and Katie Ellias are one of the more prolific "power couples" in the medical technology community. They were gracious enough to share how their careers began and what it is like to get hired with your life partner. The program's goal is to share examples of how family is intertwined with your career. Motty and Katie manage it all with grace, humor and patience. With 4 children under 10 years old and two substantial careers, they have a few stories to tell.

Here is how they both were hired simultaneously at Medtronic.  
They are extraordinary folks and if you have dual careers in your house and multiple kids, you might pick up a few pieces of wisdom.

For my first episode, the timing worked out well to shine a light on Connected Covid. We have been developing this non profit to provide a bridge for hospitals and clinicians to find each other during this talent shortage. Josh Goldsmith and Morgan Goldsmith, RN, MBA created and nurtured this effort all the while working full time and raising two boys. The full conversation is in the comments. Welcome to The Family Business.