Editor’s Note: Mitzi Perdue, third wife of the late Frank Perdue, is the daughter of Ernest Henderson, who co-founded and built the Sheraton Hotel chain. She was married to Frank Perdue, the leader of poultry processor Perdue Farms and the face of its TV ads, for 17 years—from 1988 until his death at age 84 in 2004.
Mitzi had two children and Frank had four, including Jim Perdue, his only son, who now is Perdue Farms’ chairman and CEO. Mitzi had a unique perspective on the patriarch, whose no-nonsense management was the driving force that enabled the company to transform a generic product into a global brand. Television viewers who watched the likeable pitchman proclaim, “It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken” had no idea how tough Frank Perdue really was.
Mitzi has had a long and varied career. She grew rice in California and is a past president of American AgriWomen, a farm women’s organization. She founded Healthy U Delmarva, a Maryland organization that promotes healthy lifestyles, and, among other projects, developed an iPhone app that helps users track lifestyle factors. She has also created art works and handbags made from eggs.
As a syndicated columnist, Mitzi wrote about food and agriculture and the environment. She also hosted and produced TV interview shows. Her most recent project is her new book, Tough Man, Tender Chicken: Business & Life Lessons from Frank Perdue (Significance Press), based on notes she kept during her marriage and interviews with Frank’s employees and associates.
Reporter Hedda Schupak recently spoke to Mitzi about her life with Frank and her observations about the Perdue family enterprise.
Family Business: What did you learn about business from your father?
Mitzi Perdue: Dad always believed in being generous in negotiations. Business schools teach you to get every last penny, but Dad felt it was better for the long term to leave something on the table. Because people then wanted to deal with him, he got his pick of the best [hotels to buy].
He believed in a broad background and intuition. His degree was in science, from MIT, and he thought that was great for business. It teaches you to think scientifically: Something either works or it doesn’t; you don’t get emotional about it. He also said your subconscious stores lots of information, so whenever he struggled with a question, he always went to sleep, and when he woke up, he had the answer.
FB: Did your family discuss business much around the dinner table?
MP: We rarely talked about business. We talked about politics and values a lot, and Dad made sure we all learned about finance—stocks and bonds—but we didn’t discuss business specifically.
But he always believed in leaving something on the table in negotiation for long-term benefit. As a result, he had his pick of prime hotels for sale, because people wanted to do business with him.
FB: Did the Perdue family (prior to you) discuss business at dinner? Was Frank home for dinner, given the hours he always worked?
MP: Oh, yes! I know from conversations that they did. Frank was very aware that this was a family business, and a family business involves the family. Frank devoutly wanted his family in the business!
FB: But of Frank’s four children, only his son, Jim, is now in the business. What about his three daughters?
MP: All the girls had summer jobs, but it was the early 1960s, so all the girls got married, had kids and moved away with their husbands. All the children told me the work ethic Frank instilled was incredibly valuable their whole lives. They weren’t treated any differently than any other employee.
FB: Frank’s management style seemed very different from his image on TV.
MP: In some ways, it was identical. He really was humorous and self-deprecating, but his image didn’t show how tough he really was. For example, once Frank drove up to Hunts Point, the huge food distribution center in the Bronx, New York City. He met the Perdue rig pulling in at 4:55 a.m., five minutes early for its 5 a.m. appointment. Frank chatted up the driver, asking how long the drive from Salisbury, Md., takes and, casually, how long it takes to change a flat tire on an 18-wheeler.
“An hour,” said the driver.
“Then next time you better leave an hour earlier.”
That was Frank. No excuses. If you didn’t pull your weight, you were gone.
But he was incredibly caring. He had a policy of entertaining every employee at our home. We’d have buffet dinners, and he’d be behind the line, serving. If someone had a sick family member, money would mysteriously appear to help with expenses.
He used to say that in a weak culture, people worked for the money, but in a strong culture, they worked because it was a great place to work. He was tough, but we are the winning team, and people want to be on the winning team.
FB: Frank continued working right up to his death. Do you think he should have retired, especially since he had Parkinson’s disease?
MP: He did try to scale back, but he didn’t succeed. He was so deeply wired to be in charge. He and Jim got along very well, but the only time they didn’t was when Frank tried to retire. He couldn’t let go. The only way was to physically get him away, so I convinced him to travel a lot. He knew I did it to get him out of the way, and he knew it was the right thing to do, but it was hard for him.
The Parkinson’s wasn’t really debilitating till about the last six months of Frank’s life. He was modest and frugal and always traveled coach, but after he got sick he needed the extra space in business class. But otherwise it didn’t slow him down till the end.
FB: Can you comment on the power of Frank’s ethical will as a guide for the family and for the company?
MP: Frank knew the clock was ticking three to four years before he passed. He was afraid of “rich man’s disease,” where the first generation builds a business and subsequent generations are too privileged to work hard. He didn’t want to raise hothouse flowers, and above all he wanted his descendants to have a happy life. He wanted to leave his family something more than money—the values to make them happy.
We worked on his “ethical will” for three days. He dictated, I wrote. At his funeral, each grandchild read one of the values. No. 1 was “Be honest always,” because honest people are happier people, Frank believed.
FB: What were your first impressions of Jim and how he and Frank interacted?
MP: They had a big, big affection for each other. The happiest day in Frank’s life was when Jim came back [to the company]. Jim has a Ph.D. in marine biology, but he didn’t want to go into academia, so he came back. They rejoiced on seeing each other, but having your father as your boss is complicated, especially when your father is Frank Perdue. But Frank wanted first for Jim to be happy.
FB: Family business advisers say that parents often aren’t the best mentors for their children in business. Was that an issue with Frank and Jim?
MP: Frank didn’t really get the concept of a chain of command. The personality it takes to build a company is very different from the personality it takes to continue a successful company. Frank was the hard-charging type, and Jim is the MBA style who understands the importance of having a chain of command in management. Frank was perfect for his time and incredibly lucky to have Jim with the personality to continue. For Jim, it was difficult having Frank go around him, but they were able to get around it because they loved each other.
Frank did mentor Jim, but a lot of their communication was by letter. When there was a big issue, they’d write each other letters. Frank kept Jim’s letters to him in the safe; they were very precious to him.
FB: Would Frank be proud of how Jim has managed the company through economic hard times?
MP: Frank would be doing cartwheels over Jim’s performance! Since Jim took over, Perdue has almost doubled in size, which I take as proof that Jim’s personality is exactly the kind needed to keep the business running.
FB: Frank admired his father, Arthur, who founded Perdue Farms. Did he ever get to see what Frank had done with it?
MP: Mr. Arthur (as he was called) did get to see what Frank built. He died in 1977. His big emphasis was on quality and frugality, and he loved that Frank built that into a business. Mr. Arthur was very frugal. During the Depression he used the leather from old shoes to make hinges for the chicken houses. Frank banged his knuckles installing them, and Mr. Arthur simply said, “Well, you’ll learn not to do that again.”
FB: Four of the fourth generation joined the business. What is their perspective?
MP: I think they’ll all tell you it’s a two-edged sword to be a family member. People aren’t immediately aware that they’re required to pull their weight.
Family members are required to work elsewhere first. The thinking is, they’ll bring more when they do start working for the company because they’ll have seen how things are done elsewhere and they’ll also have had a chance to prove themselves.
They range from age 30 to 44, and are children of Jim, his sisters and my son by my first marriage. Their responsibilities change [as they gain experience with the company]. My son started at age 16 with a summer job, cleaning hatchery wastes. He’s now vice president for International. Another is developing new products, including a high-end pet food line. Two more are doing different rotations, with one having high-level responsibilities as part of his career development and the youngest learning the ropes in different assignments.
FB: What are Perdue family get-togethers like?
MP: Thanksgiving is our holiday. Of course, we have chicken and turkey, and the whole family is together. Family was very important to Frank. Every year, he made sure there was a family trip that everybody went on—46 people for a week—so that everyone could get to know each other and appreciate each other. He endowed money to ensure the annual trip continues, and it has, every year.
Frank believed in a culture of dissent. He didn’t want to be surrounded by yes-men. At work, often there were very heated arguments but if you could prove your point he would back down. Feelings that aren’t expressed get you in trouble, he said. Once they’re expressed, they get resolved. That carries over to the family. He was OK with dissent [in the family], but it has to stay within the family and you face the world with a united front, even if you don’t agree.
FB: Tell us more about the Perdue family.
MP: We have a family council, [consisting of] seven people from different branches, ages and generations. They’re elected, not appointed, with staggered two-year terms. I’m proud to serve on it.
The family council decides how to speak with one voice to the board of directors. For example—and let me stress this is all hypothetical and it has never happened—if we had an issue with personnel, how would we deal with it?
But the family council does weigh in on risks we’re taking [as a company]. Is it too much risk? The family council also decides on smaller things, like where to go for the vacation and how to spend the budget. When Frank was alive, he decided where to go. Now it’s the council.
We also have a family newsletter six to eight times a year. In the beginning, I interviewed Frank about his values, such as why it is important to live within your means and leave something better than you found it. [The project] grew, and family members began asking questions that Frank would answer. Once, a 17-year-old cousin said she wasn’t sure what her place in the family was, since her cousins were all valedictorians and went to prestigious colleges. Frank replied, “Your generous, caring heart is as valuable as anyone else.” That was 20 years ago, but it helped give her a better view of herself.
The newsletter still exists. Obviously, I’m not interviewing Frank anymore, but I still put in things I’ve heard from him. At the end of each year, each family member is asked a question [for the newsletter]: “Who is your hero?” “What’s the best advice your parents gave you?” “If you had two extra hours a day, how would you spend them?”
FB: Do you own a stake in Perdue Farms?
MP: Yes, I’m a stockholder. Family members all own stock, regardless of age or lineage.
FB: We have to ask: Did Frank ever crave a good steak?
MP: A funny thing used to happen when people would invite us to dinner parties. They always assumed Frank would be tired of chicken. They’d serve steak. Frank didn’t like steak, but he would bravely eat it because he was a polite person!
Frank Perdue’s Ethical Will
1. Be honest always.
2. Be a person whom others are justified in trusting.
3. If you say you will do something, do it.
4. You don’t have to be the best, but you should be the best you can be.
5. Treat all people with courtesy and respect. No exceptions.
6. Remember that the way to be happy is to think of what you can do for others. The way to be miserable is to think about what people should be doing for you.
7. Be part of something bigger than your own self. That something can be family, pursuit of knowledge, the environment, or whatever you choose.
8. Remember that hard work is satisfying and fulfilling.
9. Nurture the ability to laugh and have fun.
10. Have respect for those who have gone before; learn from their weaknesses and build on their strengths.
Copyright 2015 by Family Business Magazine. This article may not be posted online or reproduced in any form, including photocopy, without permission from the publisher. For reprint information, contact bwenger@familybusinessmagazine.com.