EP 165 From $5 a Week to President: Growing Up in the Family Business

In this heartfelt and insight-packed conversation, Angela and Sami sit down with longtime client, coaching partner, and friend Jonathan Janacek. Jonathan opens up about the journey from sweeping job sites as a kid to purchasing and running the family remodeling business.

This episode is a goldmine for second-generation business owners, parents preparing for leadership transitions, and anyone navigating the tension between honoring legacy and carving a new path forward.

Jonathan shares what it was like growing up in a business-focused family, how he set intentional boundaries between work and home, and the hard-earned lessons that come with evolving a business while staying true to your values.

What They Explore:
-  The shift from “babysitting on job sites” to leading the company
-  How calling your dad “Tim” at work changes everything
-  Navigating loneliness, perfectionism, and high expectations in leadership
-  The emotional weight of rebranding the family business
-  Owning your mistakes—and the healing that follows

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
-  How to transition from employee to owner in a way that builds trust and confidence
-  Why boundary-setting is crucial (and tricky) when your coworkers are also your parents
-  How to balance honoring what was with building what could be
-  Insights on leading authentically—especially in a business that bears your last name
-  Why vulnerability and honesty are leadership superpowers in generational businesses

Why You Should Listen:
Whether you’re stepping into leadership, working with family, or learning to own your role without losing yourself, this episode is your reminder that growth is messy, legacy is complicated, and it’s all part of being freaking awesome.

Connect with Us
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Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Here at Be Freaking Awesome, we believe that life is too short to be anything less than extraordinary. Join us as we explore what it means to live authentically, grow continuously, and have a blast while doing it. Let's get started. Welcome everyone to this week's episode of Be Freaking Awesome. I'm one of your hosts, Amy Kinison, here with Angela Belford. And today we are joined by dear friend, business, client, coaching, relationship, super fan, Jonathan Janicek. And we're really excited to get to have a conversation with you today, Jonathan, on our podcast. I feel like you have been a part of the journey in a lot of different ways and been following us and supporting us in so many different things. And so I'm excited to get to bring you here to this side of the conversation and talk today more about second generation business owners and those unique challenges that come with that.

SPEAKER_00: 1:00

Uh, Jonathan also has another claim to fame, which is that I finished my book just before his, uh, well, I say finished, like it was still needed the final edit before he got on a plane to go on the other side of the world. And so I'm like, Hey, you need something to entertain yourself while you're on like 18 hours of flights, nine hours, nine hours back, whatever number it was anyway. And so he did read my book, a first draft on a very long, uh, transition. And he's one

SPEAKER_01: 1:27

of the endorsements on your latest book, Traveling

SPEAKER_00: 1:29

Lane. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 1:31

So

SPEAKER_00: 1:31

welcome, Jonathan. Thank you for joining us. Do you want to tell us just a little bit about you?

SPEAKER_03: 1:36

Yeah. So, well, first of all, thanks for having me on. Yes, I have been a longtime client of the Belford Group and also coaching with Angela. And that's something we'll talk some more about. So a little bit about myself. I grew up in kind of a typical family. My dad was an entrepreneur, started our business in 1987 as a handyman, and continuously grew the company doing remodel work. So that's what we specialize in at Janacek Remodeling. I started off when I was a young kid, probably nine years old, picking up nails, trash, I was really excited when my dad decided that I wasn't really earning my keep. In other words, my cost of my lunch every day tagging along with him. So he wanted me to be more productive. So he offered to start paying me$5 a week. And man, I thought, in five weeks, I can have a video game. And that was my goal and intention. I

SPEAKER_00: 2:42

love it.

SPEAKER_03: 2:43

So I kind of did this all during the summers and high school and spring break and stuff. And when I got into high school, I realized I didn't want to sweat for my paycheck. So I was going to go to college, went to college for one semester, realized it wasn't for me. And I came back home. I worked in corporate America for two years and realized I didn't like that either. And so in the year 2002, I started remodeling with my dad, swinging a hammer and slapping a paintbrush. I started off just like every other person would. And the fortunate thing was my dad was not my supervisor. So I had another supervisor I reported to. And that's probably why I stayed on for the first two years, at least, because I didn't have to report to him. My mom was also part of the business. She did our bookkeeping and office management. I slowly progressed to learn all the trades, eventually started doing a little bit of project management, and then I got into sales, and sales led to design and estimating. I did that for a while, and then I went back to project management, which I really enjoy. until I grew enough that the company needed me to step into a bigger role. And so I became the vice president of operations about six years ago. And then three years ago, I became the president of the company. And a little over a year ago, I purchased the business from my parents and allowed them to finally retire. So that's kind of my whole story in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_00: 4:20

Hey, you know what I was thinking is, since we do your website, I was thinking, ooh, I'm going to snippet that video because that's the cleanest I've ever heard you tell that story. So we're going to snippet the video and add it on the About Us page. Bonus content. That's full circle, all the way from picking up nails at nine years old to now the owner of the company, which I absolutely adore. And... whenever I think about talking through executive coaching, this is exactly the, the situation that so many second generation, um, business owners find themselves in, you know, like I've done this literally. I interviewed, we had a gal work for us for a while that interviewed her. And she's like, I went to work for my, my parents' company. I think she was like seven, eight years old. Yeah. Doing the same thing you're doing. Because honestly, you know, your parents would probably call it babysitting. They just didn't put you in camps. You had to take a son to work day, right? But that is quite a transition. And talk through the guy that was your supervisor. Has he stayed with the company? Obviously, that's been a minute. But let's talk about what that's like for how first the other employees treat you in that journey.

SPEAKER_03: 5:46

Yeah, so I think one of the best advices that my dad actually gave me when I started with the company was not to call him dad, to call him by his first name. And that was a couple of areas that that affects. One, that your perception with the team that you're working with, when you start calling him dad, people see that there's this favoritism and That's not something we really want to happen. You know, it's it's I wanted to work. I didn't want to have I don't want it easy like some people get. And I didn't want any nepotism going on. And secondly, with our clients, it was kind of funny when I would talk to clients and say, you know, Tim, this and Tim, that people would start looking at me and they'd squint their eyebrows for a second. They go, is he your dad? And it was always kind of funny when they would get that moment that they'd figure it out. And I'd be like, yeah, he's my dad. But this is how we maintain a relationship during the business hours that we can have disagreements and we can have fights. And for many years, our office was right behind my parents' house. And so we'd have fights and arguments in the office. And then we would go inside the house. And as soon as the door closed in the house, it was like, OK, father, son. family time. And it was a way for us to disconnect from being upset or angry at something in a work situation that we didn't bring it to the Thanksgiving table.

SPEAKER_01: 7:29

Jonathan, I do the same thing as well whenever working with my parents. And even on this podcast, the podcast feels like the blend for business and personal, which is why it gets weird sometimes where I'll be like, Angela, what do you think? Mom, what do you think? I... I also sometimes have noticed myself now because I am still actively working with my parents. Occasionally I will use the name that I use to indicate what kind of response I'm needing. And so one time I distinctly remember being, I got off the phone with a client and I looked up at my coworker sitting next to me and I said, Hey dad, I could really use a moment to debrief from that call. And just, I just really need some comfort right now. And then can I talk to Barry about what we need to do about this call? But like, I need, first I need dad and then I need Barry. Can you help me with that? And even Angela, I noticed this morning, I was texting my husband and I said, hey, AB said this thing about a weekend thing. And I was like, oh crap, I meant to tell my husband that. mom said this thing about our weekend plans. Like, but AB is the text shorthand for Angela said, do anything at work. And so now I'm telling my husband, AB said, we got to go do this thing. And I was

SPEAKER_02: 8:52

like,

SPEAKER_00: 8:53

anyway, in our, in our agency, um, if, if this is the way we do things and you do something outside of that, as long as you put per AB, then like, that's like the get out of jail free card. And I remember when, uh, cause it's like, you've taught, somebody has talked to me and I have overridden the policy or whatever, or vetoed the client is typically where it is. Well, I remember especially when Sammy started working, she's like, he doesn't understand per A, B. He thinks that this is still up for debate. I don't understand what is happening. The rest of the team is like, oh, per A, B. Okay, done. Let's go. Anyway. That's a

SPEAKER_03: 9:38

good point. I like that. I'm going to have to put that in to affect my business as well.

SPEAKER_00: 9:41

Yes, it's super helpful because it's like, you know, it's just a shorthand for I talked to Angela. This is what she decided. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And just pretty.

SPEAKER_01: 9:51

Well, and then, Jonathan, my other thing that is similar but different is I when clients find out that I am Angela's daughter, it takes them longer sometimes it takes them longer because I married and have a new last name. And then sometimes they look at me and it's like, it's uncanny that you and the CEO of your company like looks so similar. And I was like, well, I don't know if it's uncanny or if it's genetics because she is my mom. Like I try to give them the quick out. I'm not going to just be like, whoa, I wonder what you mean.

SPEAKER_00: 10:24

Well, and you meet people networking all the time. You're like, you seem so familiar. And she's like, you probably know my mom. I do know your mom.

SPEAKER_01: 10:34

I have also had recently a couple of times, it's at least been twice now, where somebody will be like, Sammy, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've known your parents for a really, really long time. And I'm like, I always want to know, what does that mean? Does that mean we have a good relationship? Does that mean we have a bad relationship? I just need more context. Like, I don't know. A really long time. Like, I don't get it. I don't know how to... okay, great. Well, I have a new face, make a new relationship

SPEAKER_00: 11:00

with me. So, okay. So that is how you guys, I asked how employees treat you, but you both answered how your parents treat you. Um, so is there any clarity on that? I liked you did hear, I heard you say, I didn't want it easy. Um, I don't know that we always hear that from, from owners kids.

UNKNOWN: 11:20

Um,

SPEAKER_00: 11:21

And that's what I call them. Like there's preacher's kids, there's owner's kids. Those okays, what are you going to do about them? Right. And so talk about what that was like.

SPEAKER_03: 11:30

And I fall in that age group where, you know, I had analog in my life and I had digital. And so I was able to blend the two together. So I grew up in a time of like, you work hard to get things in life. Right. And so that's where I've always looked at it is, is I didn't want somebody to just say, no, I'll do it for you. Cause you know, the boss wants me to do it. No, I want to learn how to do it. So that way I don't have to go ask somebody next time. Um, but the whole relationship with employees, I think is really important to remember. Um, you need to have some boundaries with them and, you know, you as as a person that will one day hopefully maybe be running the company you kind of have to like i can be associates and i can be somewhat friends but i can't be like best friends with employees and that's sometimes a hard thing to to transition especially when you enjoy the people you work with but um really i've always tried to keep um a friendly work relationship with everybody and not take it to like, hey, what's going on this weekend? Let's go to a game together type of deal. It's been challenging, but also at times it's a little bit lonely in that regards too. I

SPEAKER_01: 12:55

would agree. I think that you don't get to be in the same category as every other employee and it's okay. It does come with advantages. It means that you're more likely to be consulted if there's a big decision that the quote owners get to be involved in. And you're not an owner, you're an employee, but the owners, AKA your parents are more likely going to ask you for your opinion and your take on things. But you are right. Like you're not going to get the juicy gossip about everything going wrong in the company because you are an insider on the team, on the leadership team. And I think that's fair. I think that that makes sense. I think that it is a downside. It does make things a little bit more lonely. On the other side, you treat the work like it's your own, even though it's technically not your company yet. Like I'm not doing shortcuts because I know the people who I'm like screwing over are my parents and that's not what I'm doing. And, and I think like when I

SPEAKER_03: 13:56

went, yeah,

SPEAKER_01: 13:57

go ahead.

SPEAKER_03: 13:59

Let's say at the same time, you're, you're screwing over your future. Right. Right. You know, it's like, this is one day what you're going to be. And, and I know like, Sammy is a little different word for you at the last name, not being the same anymore. But for me, it was like, this is my last name.

SPEAKER_02: 14:15

You know,

SPEAKER_03: 14:15

it's not just my parents. It's my extension. And then maybe one day my son as well, or my daughter. Um, and those are those things that you, you internalize a bit more when you are an employee of the company and yeah, the child of the company.

SPEAKER_00: 14:34

Sammy used to love to say, um, Actually, they weren't a group until it was me. I'm the one that made them a group. They were the Belford couple. I made them the Belford group.

SPEAKER_01: 14:45

I mean, it is true. I also think that I took that mentality when I worked elsewhere. And that's probably what made me really valuable during my corporate days is that I didn't know anything different than to treat the business like it was yours. That was just the way it was. Of course, you're going to do that. And so I Interestingly enough, I then went into corporate being like, no, we're not going to shortcut things. Like we're screwing somebody over. Like somebody is going to see this downside. Of course, I'm going to do it the right way. Of course, I'm going to like be, I don't know. There's just, it was an innate buy-in to the company and not everybody else had that. And I'm trying to figure out how to say this in a way that doesn't sound insulting to people.

SPEAKER_03: 15:28

You know, the expression of a company man, you know, it's very far and few between that I see that. And, you know, obviously, unless you're the owner. But when you do find that one employee that has that complete buy-in, like, I don't care if it's Friday night. If it's something that has to get done for the betterment of the company, we're going to do it. And that's just like, In my position, it was always that way. Every single day, it's I'm 100% company man, whatever there is. And that's kind of the part that it's oftentimes hard because you want every employee to have that same mentality. You want every manager, project manager to have that same mentality about every single thing, but they don't. And so you just have to accept that. that you're not going to get that out of every person.

SPEAKER_00: 16:28

Well, and so since I, I'm going to pause y'all because the, I happen to know, and I don't think I'm speaking out of turn. I think anybody that knows you, Jonathan knows that you struggle with perfectionism. And so do you, Sammy, Sammy's talked about a lot on the podcast. Y'all both struggle with perfectionism. And so how, where's the balance in that, um, idea of i you know i don't want to mess up my future company i want to do it just right it's friday night and there's one more thing like how have you what strategies have you learned so far because i know you're both we're all on our journey right but what have you learned so far to help you um not let that go too far

SPEAKER_03: 17:16

yeah that's that's a great question what i One of the things that you were saying that I realized that is part of that, I think, comes innately from not wanting to disappoint your parents. Oh, yeah. And that, you know, I almost feel that anybody that is serious about being a part of a business just naturally has that inclination to not want to do that. And there has to be a balance about that, about not projecting your desires and your wants onto every single person. And it takes a lot of conversations and pushback sometimes from the employees to say, no, I've got plans. I'm not going to be able to do that. And you being OK with that. And then at

SPEAKER_00: 18:04

times,

SPEAKER_03: 18:06

yeah, absolutely. And then, well, that's family also helps do that, too. So my wife has been really good about that and saying, hey, look, I know you got work to do, but your kids need to go to bed. And they want their daddy time to be able to put you down. And I also believe that there's phases of life that you can give a lot more at certain phases. And then you also have to recognize, all right, this is a different phase of life. I got to slow down and reprioritize. I

SPEAKER_01: 18:36

remember having a conversation once with my husband that he and I said, both of us likely would be just crazy workaholics if we did not have our family. Like, what else would I do? Like if I didn't have a family to come home to, of course, I'm going to stay at work till like seven or eight because what am I supposed to do? Go home and like watch TV. And so I can appreciate then the accountability that my family gives me to make sure to have balance, to make sure I don't go off the deep end. And I think that point you made about disappointing your parents. I mean, like, oh, that is the gut punch for me. I wrote an article that I'm very proud got published in a fast company magazine. on their website specifically about, I was presenting a project to my boss and then my boss said, nope, it's not good enough. It's not, it's not up to snuff. I think is what she said. She didn't say the words. It's not good enough, but suddenly I'm an 11 year old girl hearing her mom tell her you're, this isn't enough. And I disappointed you and all these things. And I'm like, I, it was very hard to separate my boss telling me you need to put more into it. And my mom telling me, this, I'm disappointed. And it was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to break down now. And I think that, I don't know that I have figured that out. I don't know that I figured out how to not disappoint my parents or how to be okay with the possibility that I could disappoint them. I'm in that, in the middle of that journey. And I tend to now just work really hard to try to not disappoint them. And that's my tool.

SPEAKER_00: 20:11

Well, and I will say that I think that The advantage you have, Sammy, is that because I am on my own journey of workaholism and perfectionism, then I work extra hard not to express that disappointment. And I don't actually think I said up to snuff because that is not something I do say. But I think what I said was that's a great first draft. you need to continue to develop your idea. And she starts crying. Not my brain, not my brain nerd. No, sure. And I mean, there's probably more words to it, but I remember sitting there and I was like, if you were an employee, I would just sit here quietly with you and let you pull yourself together because I have had employees crying in my office, 26 years in business. You know, that happens. I'm like, As your mom, I want to offer to hold your hand, give you a hug, do whatever. Can you please help me understand what you need right now? And it was weird what I, I'm just going to brag on my own growth because I tell plenty of messy middle stories on this podcast. I'm going to own a good one. But I remember sitting there and just knowing deep in my soul, this was not me. I didn't do this. This is part of her journey that she had to go on. And I could just sit there calmly and quietly without the voices in my head going, Oh my God, you might do good. You know, the next day I probably could have had the same problem. Like I could have had a different response, but it was so peaceful in my body and in my mind to just be like, She's got to, she, this is part of the journey and this is part of what she has to do. Just stay quiet. Don't try to fix this. That's what my brain was doing was coaching me. Don't try to fix it. Don't try to like, don't, don't water down your opinion, like hold to the standard. Cause she, when she interviewed for this job, she's like, I don't want to be a nepotism. higher. And I'm like, well, if you don't want to be a nepotism higher, that means I'm not going to cut you. I'm going to hold you to the same standards of excellence that I do everyone, which by the way, is the antidote to perfectionism. People are like, but I go really high. I'm like, no, no, no. You have to define your standards of excellence because you can't achieve perfection, but excellence we can achieve. And, and I have, Really, that is that's the journey for me is like what what is excellent and what is too much and what am I going to if I do this much more, how much more benefit am I going to get or how much am I taking away from my family at that point?

SPEAKER_03: 22:54

So I want to tell a little story about dealing with your parents. my company had the same logo for about 25 years. And the angel is laughing on this one. And when I took over to owner of the company, I realized like we needed to change this logo. Like it needed to be updated and modernized. And I think we went through something like 15, 20 different logos that the Belford Group had drawn up for me. Not

SPEAKER_00: 23:31

normal. Don't think that that's the standard.

SPEAKER_03: 23:33

No, it's not. It was not. And I paid for some of it. But every time I would get a copy of the logo, I would choose the one or two I really liked in that set of four or five, whatever it was. And I would sit down with both my parents and I would say, what do you think? Because I wanted to honor and bring my parents into something, even though it was mine. I wanted to bring them into it. And every time I would give them something, it was this feedback or this feedback after something that I had, you know, that we had really worked on hard to get to somewhere where I liked it. And I'd always get this feedback or it was like, well, it should have this. No matter what you do, it should have this in it. And so we kept just trying to make something happen. And I think it was nine months into the whole process. Then I finally called up Angela and I said, we need to have a call. And so we talked about it. And I realized what it was going on inside me is I wanted their approval. And I wanted them to be a part of it. And I wanted them to be pleased with it. And there was so much of that just wrapped up in this childhood, you know, got to make mom and dad pleased with me. And, um, we had a great coaching session about it and I, I cried a few times in the coaching session just because it's a lot of emotion that can come out in situations like that. And you sometimes don't even think that, no, this has nothing to do with my childhood, but then like, yeah, there's some stuff there that I'm, I'm struggling with. And, um, And so Angela went back to the drawing board, presented me with a few more, and the very first one was it. We made a few minor tweaks to it, but it was the logo. And that's where we're at today with this. I'm very proud of it. Every time I see it on my trucks driving down the road, it gets me excited. But when I finally was happy with it, that's when I showed my parents. And I didn't ask them, what do you think about it? I said, This is the direction our company is going now. And this is our new logo. And, you know, it took a few months, but my parents finally gave me some feedback. And they were like, yeah, it was very hard to receive that. Because for so long, it was our company, our logo, what we made and what we as a couple, both my parents developed this logo. And it was their identity. And so now this is my, I know it sounds weird, but this is my identity. This is my business. And it was probably one of the healthiest things for me to be able to do to kind of make that break and identify it as mine and not my parents, my parents, my parents. But it took me 22, 21 years to get to that point. of working in the business. And everybody's path is different. You know, yours can be shorted to five minutes or, I mean, five years or, you know, 30 years. But it's a path. And there's no shortcuts to getting through some of this stuff. You just have to wade through it. And it's not easy. So that's my story about

SPEAKER_00: 27:14

I love it.

SPEAKER_03: 27:15

Parents and logos.

SPEAKER_00: 27:16

Well, and I love it so much because I, because you were a coaching client, I had so much more patience than I typically have for just marketing consulting clients. I also knew the clock was running. I'm like, that's fine. Let's change it again. Whereas typically we do a package price. And anyway, I was just like, okay, more bill of liars. That's fine. We'll work through it. Also, I remember that session because It really highlights how I like to what I like about kind of the new role that I'm taking on, which is like I literally said to you, OK, I'm going to take off my marketing consultant hat now

SPEAKER_02: 27:56

and

SPEAKER_00: 27:57

I'm going to put on your coach hat. And and so I gave you that moment to switch gears and we did have to dive into the emotion, which I love. I love that we can be like super positive. strategic and practical and like let's get this done and let's set this up and then we can like go hang on time out new let's let's let's address this underlying stuff first even though things that you we don't think of that are impacting us work through that and then we're like okay I'm going to take my coach hat back off and now I'm going to put my marketing consultant. And you were like, I think I just need to let you do your job. And I went, what a great idea. Yeah. So much about that session. I love

SPEAKER_03: 28:42

that session. And I said, the only thing I'm going to give you for parameters is it has to have my name in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 28:51

Well, that's funny story too. Cause I used to, we used to, I would come in from client meetings, new client meetings and my, One graphic designer just teased me and goes, did they get to keep their name? I was so notorious for being like, that name is dumb. We're changing it. Anyway, it's not that it's dumb, it's that it's ill positioned for the marketplace. And I would shorthand that too. Anyway, so that was always the joke. Did they get to keep their name? I don't even think I've renamed that many businesses, but it was enough. So that was an important parameter for you to put on me.

SPEAKER_03: 29:26

Well, you know, the cost of having you go through and do all those logos for me, all the revisions that you said we were on the clock for, there's times in your life that you're going to feel like a failure when you do those things. I never blamed the Velfer group. It was me. What I realized, and that was therapy for me.

SPEAKER_00: 29:52

It really was.

SPEAKER_03: 29:53

That helped me get down a path of something I didn't realize. And I say that to also say that you're going to make mistakes. We all make mistakes. And sometimes those are cheaper than going to therapy. Sometimes they're a lot more expensive than going to therapy. But we need to make those mistakes and fall on our face and learn from them. And the hard part For parents, because my parents expressed this to me later on after I've had some time away from my mistakes, was the hard part for them was to not rush in and want to fix the problem. To let me sit in that problem and deal with it. And I give them so much credit for that, of letting me make those mistakes and not just coming in and fixing them. Like, you know, money can fix things or, you know, taking over and managing something themselves can fix it. But they're like, no, okay, it broke. What are you going to do to fix it now? Yeah. And sometimes that did require asking them for advice, but they wouldn't offer the advice unless I asked for it.

SPEAKER_00: 31:09

Yeah.

UNKNOWN: 31:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 31:10

A few weeks ago, we had an episode with Cash from Icon Foods, and I told the story that I... Sammy, you can make the same mistakes I did, but you have to listen to what I did because things change. And I was saying how one of the things as a parent, especially if you made an expensive mistake, it's very tempting to say, no, we can't try that again. We've tried it before. And I have to be super cautious to not... to realize that technology has changed a lot since I tried something, that the world has changed a lot since I tried something, you know, business, all the things. There's so many of the variables of the experiment that I ran that that didn't. And so but if I made a big mistake, I am and I had to pay for it. There is a higher cost of time and thinking things through for Sammy. I try not to like. I just don't like to pay for the same mistake twice. And so then on those particular initiatives, she has to be a lot more thoughtful. She has to have thought things. She has to have showed me proven to me that her experiment is different. And here's the parameters that have changed. And this, whereas if there's something that she wants to try that I've never tried before, and wow, that's a good idea. She might get just an easy. Yes. Sure, give it a try, especially if it's not going to cost a whole lot of money and maybe it's just, oh, we're going to invest some time and we'll give something a whirl. So I think that as a as the first generation, as the parent in this situation, be aware of when you are tempted to say like, no, no, no, I've tried that. It didn't work. Things might have changed and figure out for you what it is. Cause you also don't want to get swing to the opposite side. And well, just cause I tried it, go ahead. You can try it now. Well, they can make a stupid mistake because they don't have your wisdom. So, so find that balance. And I would just say that, watch your words to like being, I have to be extra supportive in those scenarios. Because oftentimes I tell people, if we have a weird policy, you don't understand, I promise I got screwed. And so now there's a policy, like this is the process. And so I have to be really careful not to bring the emotion of that mistake I made, that failure I had, or how, you know, it didn't work out to like this conversation and make you guys inadvertently feel bad about when all you're trying to do is make the business better, you know? Well, and Angela, you

SPEAKER_01: 33:51

are also kind of a visionary and often ahead of your time. And some of your ideas, you're like, I tried that. And I'm like, I know. And you were like six years too early. And if we try it again right now, I think it's going to actually work, but you just like, you wanted everybody to use QR codes and you were really on that train and people were like, I don't get it. And now if you're not using a QR code, yeah, 2010, you were out there like putting QR codes on business cards. People thought that was so silly. And yeah, It was just ahead of its time. Like you were, you were there early. So that's sometimes when

SPEAKER_03: 34:26

I really want to say it. Thank you for saying that, because that was something that I wanted to bring. Exactly what you said is what something I wanted to bring up, but it's more powerful coming from you

SPEAKER_02: 34:36

than

SPEAKER_03: 34:38

it is me because I saw those same things happen to my parents. Like, me wanting to do something and, and they're like, no, we've already done that. It failed. This is the reason why. And then there's almost like, yeah, but was there something else going on that caused that to fail that you're not looking at right now that you can't see you just, you're internalizing and feeling the failure of it. And what do we do with failure? We, you know, fight, flight, or, uh, yeah, fight, flight, or freeze. And, and, I'm trying to look at this like, yeah, maybe you did fail on it, but let's talk about the parameters of what caused that to happen. So, A, I don't make that same mistake, but also what has changed between now and then. And there's another component to this that I encourage parents to keep in mind is that your kids are going to fail. It's going to happen. And The hard part is to not hold it over their head, first of all, especially when it costs money. But secondly, giving them an opportunity to correct it. And sometimes that opportunity may not come right away. It may take a while. And I'll give an example for myself. I was looking at a software for running our company or construction projects. And I was... I was on board with this, and I was a little bit younger. I don't remember, early 30s. And the company said, hey, fly out here to Virginia. We'll give you a three-day crash course on it, and then you'll be all set up, and then you can go back to your company and roll it out. Well, the people I was trying to roll it out to was my dad, my mom, and another project manager their same age. And the technology, barrier there was pretty extreme. And I did not know how to roll it out to them in a way that they could understand. And because as a millennial, it was real easy for me just to get into it and start using it. And so honestly, we probably paid, I don't know, out of pocket five,$6,000 for this software, plus my time to drive there. We fly there, hotels and everything. And it was just a waste. And then about three years ago, I was like, hey, I want to do this again, this other software. And my dad was just like, are you sure? How are we going to do this again? I said, well, first of all, all these barriers that were there are now removed. And so I had to explain to him the things I learned from the first time to not make those same mistakes again. And it was very helpful because it helped me be more intentional with rolling it out this time. And it's been a wild success. We've had a lot of great processes developed and great results from it.

SPEAKER_00: 37:49

That's awesome. What a great example. Well, and I think the technology changes so fast that software probably is even easier now than it was then.

SPEAKER_01: 37:58

And I just can't imagine, I was like teaching family technology classes, it just adds the extra piece to it. It's the patience required to teach somebody how to use technology. And then that rope is already going to be a little bit shorter when you just have more personal relationships with them. Yeah, a lot. Jonathan, thank you so much for the conversation today, for the advice and the wisdom that you have given. I am sure that I needed to hear some of the things that you had to say today and I really appreciate it. And I, I know we've said it before, but I appreciate that you and I are in similar seats in different timelines and phases of it. And so getting to sort of see your journey and learn some of the things from you for my mom to see the things that have happened in your transition and learn some things as well. Um, All of those things are great. Anyway, she's rolling her eyes at me. She's rolling her eyes because she thinks she's never retiring, but at some point she'll be tired of this. But in any case, thank you so much for your time and your wisdom today. We really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03: 39:06

I've learned a lot along my journey and I'd be happy to sit down with a cup of coffee and talk to anybody else that wants to go down this road as well. It's not for the faint of heart. But the rewards of spending so much time with my parents, you know, when I look at my life versus my siblings, I see it that I have spent more time with my dad and my mom than anybody else in the world has, except for each other, you know, except for them.

SPEAKER_01: 39:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 39:35

And so that's a blessing that I get to take with me for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_01: 39:39

That's super cool. Thank you guys so much for listening today. Don't forget to subscribe, like, and share. And until next time, we hope you guys go be freaking awesome. Angela, that was such a good conversation with Jonathan. Oh my gosh. And I feel like he was like prepped and ready to go. Like I have lessons learned and wisdom that other people need to know to get in on this. And oh my gosh, it was really, really good. I just loved it. I wanted to follow up and let all of you guys know, listening, if you are somebody who relates to where Jonathan is at and could really use somebody to support you in that transition, wherever you are located, Angela is there for you and she can help with that process. And I know that sometimes self-promotion gets weird. So we're going to take the benefit. Let me just tell you, Angela is very good at what she does. And she's very good at helping people figure out the business side of things, the emotional side of things. As she said, she'll put on the different hat for the different moments that are needed. So if that's something that you're interested in, you're absolutely welcome to reach out to us. We would be happy to talk with you more about what that looks like and how you can get the same kind of support and somebody to come alongside you in that transition. just like Jonathan did.

SPEAKER_00: 40:52

Well, I'm glad you said that it's anywhere because I, even people in Northwest Arkansas, they're like, no, no, no. I want to be face-to-face coaching. I'm like, I'm sorry. I only do, I only do zoom coaching. And the reason why I do that is because especially when you are doing emotional processing, I want people to feel comfortable in their home or in their space or in their office. I can't tell you how many times I coached Jonathan where he pulled over on the side of the road. We would have our call. He's like, I'm so sorry. I'm running late. I'm just going to stop right here. This is our time. I'm just like, you're hilarious. Anyway, but I want people to be in their own space. Because I think the one thing that is good and bad of therapy is that you create a safe space somewhere else in your therapist's office. And so I you can be anywhere and I will coach you and people think it's not effective. And, oh, you can't connect with people like you absolutely can. I have done a lot of very deep emotional coaching work. We're on Zoom. I love it. And you heard Sammy mention, Sammy and Jonathan talk about how lonely it is. And I would say that it wasn't until today that I really understood how passionate you were. You've always been very emphatic about starting a group coaching model. And I was like, okay, sure, take it or leave it. But in listening to you explain, both of you share how it's lonely when you're in this opportunity to take over a business and there's a lot of responsibility, but there's not always, you know, you don't get the same friends at work kind of support. Sammy has started a group coaching program for those emerging leaders. An emerging leader does not have to do with how old you are, right? Because we have people in that program that are early, early twenties. And we have people in that program that are much, much older than that, right? And that is an opportunity to be able to share in a safe space and to be able to unpack some of those communication challenges that can come from working in a family business. And it's not just for second generation leaders. It can also be for people who are leaders in a family business. So someone that is looking to they just have to navigate all of those emotional challenges. Those are also a really good fit for your group coaching program.

SPEAKER_01: 43:22

It's been a What if that wasn't true? And I'm really feeling not that this is just about me. I probably should be talking more about the person on the other side and the client. That's what all the marketing experts say. And I know you guys are all here for the journey. It's been really neat for me to get to sort of experience that joy of coaching and getting to help watch people. see tangible improvements in their life. So it's been exciting. And thanks for supporting me and letting me try something new, even though you're like, okay, sure. I don't know. Anyway, then when we talk about the different ideas and all of that, because I do really love the group coaching model. It's not just that it's scalable. It's that I learn so much from the things that other people are willing to say, and the things that other people bring forward as their challenges. And I think that everybody can benefit. It's not just me as the expert in the front of the room. It's the group and the collective together growing and improving.

SPEAKER_00: 44:39

So that means that if you prefer one-on-one, we have that option. If you want a group situation, we have that option. And all of those, we designed this really... When we talk about designing your life and designing your business, we live it. So for us, we also have our family business forum, which looks like we're probably going to shape up to have at least twice a year. And it's an opportunity for people in family business to come together, to network, to be able to meet other people that are in that same type of business and It's always growing and evolving. What I love is that our format is that we, in the morning, we're dealing with emotion and soft skills and things that are probably less practical, more on that. Well, soft skill, that's the easiest way to say it. And then in the afternoon, we are typically dealing with more tangible, hard, practical skills. like AI in business, investing in leadership growth. We'll have, again, have a panel discussion where we will hear from other business leaders. And so we've really been very intentional about designing those family business forums and would love for you to join us. Those are in person. And so great excuse for you to come to Northwest Arkansas. And we have them in the spring and in the fall, which are two of the most glorious times to come to Northwest Arkansas. So we'd love to have any of you that are in family

SPEAKER_01: 46:11

business. Join us. We also, for this next upcoming event, for the first time, we're going to have the family business awards. So if you know somebody who maybe you're not in the family business at all, and you know, somebody doing great work and that they are crushing it out there, go to our website and nominate them. We'll make sure that all of the links are in the show notes and we'll make sure that on the be freaking awesome website, you can get to the family business forum information as well. Thank you guys so much for listening. We so appreciate every single one of you tuning in each week and being a part of our growth journey and joining in the community. So until next time, we hope you guys go be freaking awesome.