The Family Business Voice

From their roots on a modest 40‑cow dairy in Wisconsin — America’s ‘Dairyland’ — the Crave brothers learned early that success in agriculture hinges on adaptability. Facing industry consolidation in the 1990s, they pivoted from commodity milk production to value-added cheese making, launching Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese in 2002. That bold move transformed their family business and set the stag...

Ahmed Nawara was always expected to join his family’s automobile parts importing business, the Al Manar Group. After graduating from university in 1997, he assumed a role in the organisation, along with his twin brother, Mohamed. We talk to him about his journey to becoming CEO.

Every year, up to 1.2 million children fall victim to trafficking, and many remain undetected, hidden from national authorities and anti-trafficking organisations. Of global trafficking victims, 66% are girls. Often, these victims are young migrants seeking refuge, only to become vulnerable to trafficking and its inherent exploitation. The horrifying "business" of human trafficking is thriving, ge...

Ana Maria Guerrero Carvajal, president of the Board of Directors of her family’s Fundación Carvajal, recognises the considerable challenges the charitable foundation currently confronts. In response, Fundación Carvajal, an organisation dedicated to helping Colombia’s most vulnerable overcome poverty, has remodelled its strategy, promoting a holistic approach aimed at addressing the elements of pov...

Cristina Carvajal remembers exactly what it was like to visit her family’s printing business with her father when she was a little girl. The sights, sounds, and smells of the printing presses left a life-long memory that later, she confesses, shaped her involvement in the family’s enterprise. Now serving as the council’s president, Cristina continues to work on the unity among the more than 300 fa...

Despite the formidable challenges of a global pandemic, Pedro Carvajal and the entire Carvajal organisation united around the company’s longstanding culture of putting people first and “doing things right”. Obstacles presented by the crisis became opportunities for Pedro and his team, who implemented changes to improve the organisation and its resilience to future disruptions.   We spoke to Pedro...

Philip Mackeown is an author, career coach, and fifth-generation business director. After spending 25 years working in his family’s leading food retail group in Ireland, the Musgrave Group, Philip set out to write the book he wished he’d read upon entering the family business. His book, “The Successor’s Voice”, is a practical guide aimed at empowered family enterprise successors looking to develop...

Traditionally, family enterprises focused their philanthropic efforts in the communities close to their operations, where they could generate the greatest impact. Today, there’s an abundance of worthy global causes all competing for their attention. To maximise their impact, families need to align on the issues important to them while also addressing the challenges of harmonising and orchestrating...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, Ryan Margolin talks about the entrepreneurial path that led him to become CEO of Professional Hair Labs, a global leader in cosmetic bonding. Growing up with business-owning parents helped influence Ryan’s pursuit of personal and professional development, which continued after relaunching his father’s business and shaped the strategies he used to expan...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, Laurette Rondenet discusses her journey with Edlong, a family business and leading innovator in the food-flavourings industry. Laurette has been Edlong’s principal owner, President and CEO since 2012, making her the first and only woman to own a food flavouring company in the world. She sits on the board of several national and international business o...

On this episode of the Family Business Voice, author, consultant, and business coach Jonathan Goldhill speaks about the unique emotional and psychological hurdles many next-generation business owners confront. Jonathan and Ramia also discuss the importance of redefining how success is measured for the next-gen leaders of family enterprises, and the paradox they face when attempting to introduce di...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, François de Visscher talks about the important shift in mindset that can help families grow, manage, and safeguard their long-term wealth. Francois and Ramia also discuss the core values and other intangibles that families should consider when defining their wealth, how family members can support the transition from business owners to wealth owners, an...

On this episode of the Family Business Voice, Nike Anani discusses her new book, Lifetime to Legacy , and how it can help business families navigate succession. Nike and Ramia explore the importance of relational values to family business continuity and discuss techniques that founders and next-gens can use to facilitate the transfer process. - Founders typically focus on the technical and legal s...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, Sara Stern discusses her new work, Married to the Family Business: a Handbook for Spouses of Family Business Owners . Sara Stern is a speaker, author and consultant who decided to write a handbook for spouses of family business owners because of the apparent vacuum of resources out there for them. Though they might not sit on the board or hold an opera...

On this episode of the Family Business Voice, John Giovannini speaks with Ramia about having to plan 15 years into the future because of long production cycles, the importance of holding on to biodiversity in the caviar industry and how his father's dream developed over time. Read the full interactive article here . - As it takes 10-15 years for a sturgeon fingerling to grow large enough to produc...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, Dr Jamie Weiner and Russ Haworth speak with Ramia about their new book, The Quest for Legitimacy, which explores the unique struggle of those growing up in the family business. Dr Jamie Weiner’s experience as a clinical psychologist gives him insight into the complex dynamics that exist between family members. Since 2018, he’s devoted himself to qualit...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, Maya Prabhu and Dr Dennis Jaffe speak with Ramia about their work on the Tavares de Melo case study, which was published by Tharawat Magazine and written with Carolina Cintra. Read the full interactive article here: https://www.tharawat-magazine.com/stories/tavares-de-melo-5th-generation-family-enterprise/ Dennis Jaffe is a family business consultant a...

In this episode of The Family Business Voice, Tom McGinness and Andrea Calabró discuss the findings from KPMG Private Enterprise and the STEP Project Global Consortium's Annual Report, which surveyed 2,439 CEOs and other leaders from top family businesses across 70 countries and territories. Using this extensive data set, the report outlines three success factors that underpin multigenerational fa...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, we speak to Neus Feliu, Partner at Lansberg Gersick Advisors, about her work on the Family Enterprise Global Survey on Generational Perspectives. This important study indicates 'stress' areas that family businesses might want to focus on, while also breaking down stereotypes about generational perspectives in family enterprises. Next-gens and current l...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, we spoke to Jonathan Edgeley, the Founder of Montrose Advisory, about dealing with addiction in the family enterprise. Jonathan grew up in a family enterprise environment and as a young man, was outwardly successful while at the same time struggling with addiction and other mental health issues. Now, Jonathan uses those experiences to help others on th...

On this episode of the Family Business Voice, we speak with Dr Sofia Bordone, owner and CEO of legacy publishing house Editoriale Domus. Sofia works closely with her mother, Giovanna, to bring their grandfather's business to new heights in the face of a heavily disrupted publishing industry. We talk to Sofia about the mindset required to enable innovation as well as Editoriale Domus’ celebrated hi...

On this episode of the Family Business Voice Ramia speaks with Marshall Rabil, third generation owner and Marketing Director of Hubs Peanuts. See the full interactive article here . Marshall discusses what his family’s legacy, started by his grandmother, means to him, why peanuts are in fact a superfood and why his vision for the future centres around community. - Community is at the core of Hubs...

More than half of all companies globally are family owned or operated, contributing to 70% of the world's GDP and accounting for 65% of jobs. And of these family businesses, the 500 largest represent the third-largest global economic contribution and employ more than 24 million people worldwide. On this episode of the Family Business Voice, Helena Robertsson, EY’s Global Family Enterprise and Fami...

On this episode of The Family Business Voice, Nand Kishore Chaudhary, the visionary founder of Jaipur Rugs, discusses how his company transformed the Indian carpet industry with dignity and respect. See the full interactive article here . - When NK Chaudhary started his business, rug weavers were a disenfranchised minority. They were taken advantage of by middlemen who used the vagaries of a compl...

On this episode of the Family Business Voice, Saliza Abdullah, Managing Director and CEO of BG Capital Holdings, talks about her journey at the forefront of the Malaysian security industry, what she sees as the key ingredients for a family firm’s longevity, and what the future might hold for BG Capital Holdings. See the full interactive article here . - For Saliza Abdullah, the Managing Director a...