The Suit, The Hoodie and The Skirt - an odd mix making work.
To any bystander at BWI airport the morning of April 10, it might have seemed like an odd mix of traveling companions - a 60 something attorney -dressed the part, a 30 something self proclaimed (and Google proclaimed) tech geek - dressed the part, and 40 something business women - dressed the part.
But to me, it was a typical day in the life of being one part of a family of habitual entrepreneurs. Yes, the Suit (my dad), the Hoodie (my brother), and Me (the skirt), own 7 companies strong between us, and while we each run firms in vastly different fields, we found a way to make them work ….together.
Now, most would say that this sounds like the worst possible idea, never work with family and friends. Well we tried that, we all went and did our separate thing, but eventually found that our paths kept coming back to the people we trusted most. It’s not to say that we don’t have moments, we do, its’ not to say there aren’t challenges, there are, it’s not to say that the conversations around a board room table are also the conversations around the dinning room table, because they are. But these would be the same scenarios we would encounter even if we were still working more independently, because at the end of the day we are all habitual entrepreneurs, and if you have been diagnosed with that illness, you know that these are generally the side effects you can expect.
The reason we were walking through BWI Airport that morning, was because we were all taking a family vacation……to Inc. Magazines Growco Conference in New Orleans. Because that’s what sounds like a perfect family vacation for a group like us. As we continue to evolve our companies we will also continue to evolve the way our family works together, because I an imagine that it isn’t too often you see the Suit, the Hoodie, and The Skirt build a family brand of companies together. The results of the tales and lessons learned I will share will surely be entertaining at times, for example “I love you, I hate you, you’re the best, you suck, your hired, your fired, don’t care - I quite….oh wait I have an idea, let’s get to work”, but that’s for another day.