The Family Business CEOs to Watch Class of 2023 recognizes 23 exceptional business leaders. The CEOs honored run the gamut of family business leadership, from entrepreneurial founders to fifth-generation stewards of a multifaceted enterprise to non-family executives trusted by the family ownership group to lead and expand their operations.
Karen Flavelle
CEO | Second generation | Purdys Chocolatier, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Karen Flavelle’s father, Charles Flavelle, purchased R.C. Purdy Chocolates Ltd. in 1963. “His message to his four children was that he didn’t want to parachute his offspring over longtime employees,” Flavelle says. “We all received the message: pursue our careers elsewhere, which we did.”
Flavelle received her B.Comm. from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and started her marketing career at General Mills, Toronto. She then moved to the United Kingdom, where she worked at a boutique marketing consultancy. After the crash of 1987, she and her husband moved back to Toronto, where she found a job as marketing manager for a 140-unit chain of casual restaurants. By this time, her father was ready to discuss succession, but her husband wanted to live in Toronto for five years to reconnect with family.
“What a gift to not drift into the family business, but to have a negotiated start date on terms that both my father and I (and my husband) were happy with,” Flavelle says. “What a gift to have separation while negotiating, not working for the company and not even in a city close by. Also, having searched for and found great career jobs three times already, I could always walk away with confidence of having a great career elsewhere.”
Among other terms, Flavelle and her father agreed that she would buy the business on her own, with her father as the banker; she would pay market price and market interest; she would have control when she had bought 75% of the value; and she would start as executive vice president and would be president in two years.
“In 1997 Karen bought the business from her father, Charles, and since then expanded the business in many ways,” says Lawrence Eade, non-family president of the company. “Be it new confectionaries, new modern plant equipment, revitalized branding or doubling the number of retail outlets, Karen has been all about growth. Her vision is to establish a world-class, state-of-the-art chocolate business that is ‘Canada’s Chocolatier.’
“During her tenure many competitors have failed because they were not able to stay on top of fickle consumer trends. Through Karen’s leadership and her customer-centric viewpoints as a CEO, Karen has kept her business leading rather than following those changing tastes. Karen recognized the wonderful culture of Purdys that her father had built and made it a priority to keep it while at the same time adapting to changing needs and evolving expectations of employees.
“In the late ’90s, Karen, with her razor-sharp customer focus, saw that store hiring was not reflecting the diversity of the community and insisted it did. It required a push to shift managers away from ‘hiring themselves.’ Now the stores are very much a reflection of the community, and as a result the customers in these communities are more engaged with Purdys.
“Karen’s tireless commitment to continual improvement fosters an environment of excellence and accountability and provides opportunities for team members to grow, innovate and thrive even during turbulent times.”
Flavelle is now planning the transition of her business to her son Scott McTavish, vice president of strategy and corporate development at Purdys.
“I feel it is incredible that my father was the right person to buy a four-store chain of chocolate shops with a small 3,500-square-foot factory. I was the right person to take over a 44-store chain, plus two direct sales channels and a 57,000-square-foot factory. My son is the right person to take over an 80+-store chain, four direct sales channels and a 157,000-square-foot factory. Plus, he is looking to build a stable of companies with a family office, not just lead Purdys.
“Scott volunteered to help me at the suggestion of my husband at the beginning of COVID as I struggled with the reams of data my CFO was giving me. My son took one day to be able to show me the financial story. Then he proceeded to help with many other things, including stepping in when the VP of IT resigned. After two weeks we hired him. He is a geoengineer and worked three years at PWC in management consulting.
“Scott’s progress is measured against ‘What needs to be true for Scott to buy Purdys?’ including a scorecard with specific benchmarks managed by the president, our family adviser, VP people & culture, the CFO and me. I feel blessed to have such a capable, wonderful person taking over.
“We are now figuring out the financial methodology for him to take over and communication with the rest of the family and the executives,” says Flavelle, whose other two children are beginning their careers in teaching and journalism. “My purpose now is to make sure transition of all our assets is done in a way that maintains the extraordinary harmony of our family. We want this close relationship to continue.”