Before I became editor-in-chief here, my idea of a quintessential “family business” probably would have been something like a local bakery with multiple generations behind the counter, a pizza shop owned by half a dozen siblings or a local HVAC company with “& Sons” emblazoned on its trucks. All of those types of businesses are, of course, integral to the family enterprise ecosystem. But, after I took this role, I figured out very quickly that “family-owned” is absolutely not a synonym for “small and quaint.”
On stage at our conferences and in my own conversations, I’ve heard plenty about how messy it can get when you mix business with family. And the bigger the business (and/or the family), the messier the mess. But even with that knowledge, there are still times when a quote from a family business leader will surprise me with its frankness on that topic.
That happened on my first read of this issue’s Leadership column, in which Peter Latta, chairman and CEO of massive trucking and logistics company A. Duie Pyle, says family leaders must be “willing to make the hard decisions to protect the business from the family.” Despite the horror stories I’ve heard, that notion — that your family business might need to be shielded from, well, your family — still seemed kind of counterintuitive at first.
Then I remembered a similar quote from JP Cullen Co-President Jeannie Cullen Schultz in our March-April 2026 cover story: “Running a construction company in a pretty dynamic environment takes a lot and the family can’t get in the way.” That’s when it really dawned on me: The most successful family business owners and leaders are deeply aware of both the value they create for their organization and the potential threat they pose to it. And, even more importantly, they know how and where to draw the line to keep that threat at bay. In addition to our interview with Peter Latta, this issue contains several examples of other family businesses whose success and longevity owe much to their leaders’ and owners’ self-awareness and willingness to self-assess.
Our cover subject, Pella Corporation, for example, has had a long-running policy prohibiting family members from working in the business full-time. It’s a mandate that even fourth-generation owner and board chair Adam Farver chafed at as a young, ambitious NextGen. But eventually, he came to understand that the family’s role is stewardship, not management. “There are very bright lines between the three aspects of our governance structure: owners, board and management,” says Farver. “We demand world-class professional executives and independent directors; in return, we promise to be world-class shareholders.”
Fourth-generation cleaning product manufacturer Charlie’s Soap, also profiled in this issue, is another example of a family business that has been able to look inward, assess its strengths and proactively address its weaknesses. For years, the business thrived on instinct, opportunism and what one leader described as letting things “fall in your lap.” But as the company grew, that approach became a liability. That recognition led the family to embrace governance and structure. Today, the family is working on building out its nonfamily leadership capabilities with the goal of eventually moving solely to an ownership role — an acknowledgment that sustaining the business will require a different model.
Perhaps nowhere is it more important, or more difficult, to understand your own limitations than in a top leadership role. In the latest edition of his “Enterprising Voices” column, Kellogg School of Management’s Matt Allen is joined by Midmark Corporation Board Chair (and Family Business Editorial Advisory Board member) Anne Eiting Klamar. Her story reinforces that an important part of being a successful leader is recognizing when your time has passed. “You have the responsibility to say, ‘I’m not the leader I need to be for this stage of the organization,’” she says.
I’ve learned a ton about family businesses during my two-plus-years-and-counting crash course on the subject. But if I could distill it all down to one (slightly cheesy but true) sentiment, it would be this: Stewardship isn’t about holding on, it’s about knowing when to let go.