In this episode, Peter Stenehjem, CEO of First International Bank & Trust, reflects on leading a fourth-generation, $6 billion family bank founded in 1910. This episode also features part 2 of our conversation with Brent Thomas of Tepi Naturals, who talks more about building a family-owned natural skincare business from the ground up and gives his perspective on scaling the business while maintaining quality, sustainability and long-term family ownership. In addition, we chat with Jamie Shah, G2 president of Chem-Impex and an adjunct faculty member at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, about the latest entry in her “FWIW (For What It’s Worth)” advice column. She discusses how NextGen leaders can determine if they’re ready to step into leadership roles within their family enterprises.
Need some guidance on a family business issue? You can anonymously submit a question to Jamie right here.
Interested in being a guest or have a topic you’d like to hear us discuss? Contact host Zack Needles, editor-in-chief of Family Business Magazine, at: zneedles@familybusinessmagazine.com.
Don’t miss an episode! Follow Family Business/Business Family on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Guests
Peter Stenehjem
Peter Stenehjem, a fourth-generation community banker, was born and raised in the heart of North Dakota’s badlands, where he grew up during the height of the region’s oil boom. His journey in banking began in 2000 when he joined First International Bank & Trust (FIBT) as a teller, and quickly demonstrated his expertise in both business and personal banking. Peter quickly advanced in his career from lender to market president and ultimately became CEO in 2025. Throughout his career, he has become well-versed in the unique challenges and opportunities facing the communities FIBT serves.
Brent Thomas
Brent Thomas is the founder and formulator of Tepi Naturals, an eco-luxury skincare brand harnessing the power of upcycled coffee silverskin to create clean, effective products for sensitive skin. With a Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry and a lifelong commitment to sustainability shaped by his Eagle Scout values, Brent combines scientific precision with a deep respect for nature, developing formulations that are both sustainable and high-performing. Guided by the philosophy “Created in Nature | Harnessed by Science,” Brent’s work proves that coffee may not be just for drinking anymore, it’s also a remarkable source of natural compounds that help skin thrive.
Jamie Shah
Jamie Shah is the President of her family’s business, Chem-Impex, a distributor and manufacturer of high purity laboratory chemicals. In addition to teaching courses on ownership and operations of closely held businesses at Booth, Shah is a Polsky Center Entrepreneur in Residence where she provides mentorship and coaching to University of Chicago students.
TRANSCRIPT
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You can imagine a lot of our dinner table discussions
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has some work aspects, but my brother and I
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at least have some shared principles that, hey,
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try not to call each other after five o’clock
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with really meaty items unless it’s like a urgent matter.
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Can this wait till tomorrow?
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So we just have tried to establish
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some somewhat ground rules so that when we’re
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with our family and I have some young kids
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to like be present and be present in the moment
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because that’s all so important.
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That was Peter Stengem, CEO of First International Bank
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and Trust on setting boundaries in a multigenerational family
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business and why being present with family
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matters just as much as running the family enterprise.
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We’ll hear more from Peter later in this episode.
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Welcome to the Family Business Business Family Podcast.
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I’m your host, Zach Needles,
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editor-in-chief of Family Business Magazine.
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This episode also features part two of my conversation
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with Brent Thomas of Teppi Naturals
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who talks more about building a family-owned
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natural skincare business from the ground up
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and gives his perspective on scaling the business
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while maintaining quality, sustainability,
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and long-term family ownership.
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But first, we chat with Jamie Shaw,
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second generation president of Chem Impact,
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adjunct faculty member at the University
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of Chicago Booth School of Business
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and one of our newest columnists
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here at Family Business Magazine.
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She joins us to discuss her new
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For What It’s Worth column,
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which is an advice column for family business owners.
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In this interview, Jamie shares advice
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on how next-gen leaders can determine
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if they’re ready to step into leadership roles
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within their family enterprises.
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She discusses the risks of waiting too long,
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the importance of learning through action,
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and how next-gens can build credibility
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and trust within their organizations.
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Hi, Jamie, welcome back to the podcast.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to chat today.
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Always, it’s always fun to be here, Zach, thanks.
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Yeah, well, you have your first column,
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your first For What It’s Worth advised column
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is now out and it’s up on familybusinessmagazine.com.
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It was also in our March, April print issue.
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So hopefully everyone’s had a chance to read it
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at this point, if not, please do.
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But for folks who haven’t read it
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or just to kind of shed a little bit more light
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on this topic, I wanted to have you on
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and kind of chat a little bit more.
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You know, and the question was really,
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basically boiled down to how do you know
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if you’re ready for leadership
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in your family enterprise, right?
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You might have a pretty long
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and experienced career outside the family business,
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but how do you know if you’re actually prepared
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to take over a leadership role in the family business?
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And so you wrote in the column
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that leadership is learned in motion
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and that readiness often comes from just doing
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whatever the role is,
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you have to just really kind of dive into it.
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What’s the risk of waiting too long
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to feel fully prepared
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before joining the family business?
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Yeah, I think that for me personally,
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I tend to be the type of person
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who wants to make everything perfect.
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Like that’s something that I kind of dealt with
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earlier in my life.
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When I work with a lot of business school students,
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this is the same experience that they have.
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They’ve worked with really amazing organizations
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and they want to just get that next whatever it is,
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whether it’s another piece of experience
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or another accolade, just another certification
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and always feels like there’s something more.
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And the reality is you don’t know
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what you’re going to encounter until you encounter it.
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And we might be preparing for the wrong thing.
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We might be thinking that we’re going to be working
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on some sort of strategic project
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when reality is that it’s very tactical.
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And I really like the Taoist quote,
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which is the best way to do is to be.
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And I remember there was somebody,
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like a famous Charlie Munger,
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somebody had asked him,
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how do you find the right partner?
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And he had responded with it’s to be the right partner.
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And I think the same thing in this role,
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like we can tend to like over exaggerate
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and become scared of that because there’s so much unknown.
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But once you just start doing it,
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you can just start almost like cleaning out a drawer.
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You just got to start moving things around to organize it.
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Yeah.
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And I fear that like-
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I love that.
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Oh God.
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I just fear that by waiting too long,
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we end up scaring ourselves even more.
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Like the stakes start to feel even higher
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and we then just get more anxiety for ourselves.
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Yes.
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Absolutely.
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I think that’s a great point.
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It’s sort of along those lines because as we know,
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there are so many family enterprises
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that require family members to get outside experience.
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So how do you distinguish
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between genuinely building needed experience,
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getting that outside experience that’s going to help you
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and just simply avoiding taking that leap, right?
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Like you said, just sort of procrastinating endlessly.
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It’s such a personal question.
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Like each different organization
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and each different person might require
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different level of like maybe even self-confidence
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in order to take that quote unquote leap.
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And I wish there was like a,
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spend three to five years somewhere else
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and then do or learn this, this and this,
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but different organizations and different people
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have different strengths and weaknesses.
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But maybe I would focus on that,
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like find whatever it is
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that you think you’re the worst at
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and then try to find a competitor who’s really good at it
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and spend your time learning on their dime.
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And I also think the same thing for the organization.
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I think in a lot of family businesses,
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we tend to accumulate a lot of blind spots.
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And if we’re able to correct for those
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by looking at other organizations,
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I think that that will be serving us.
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So I don’t know if there’s like a specific time
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or a specific number of things that need to be learned.
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I think you kind of need to build your own adventure
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based on some self-reflection.
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And ideally some like very clear open eyes
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on what could be your potential blind spots
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in the business.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And you also suggest that before you do step
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into a role in your family enterprise,
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you should try to gather perspective on the role,
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the expectations, the team dynamics.
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And so what are the most important questions
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that a next gen should ask during that exploratory phase?
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Because I think that’s a really great point.
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Like you should, it’s your family first of all,
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you should be able to ask questions about
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what am I getting myself into
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before you actually take the lead.
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Yeah, I think that this is again,
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similar to dating, right?
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You’re like in this,
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you might have known these people for your whole life,
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but this is a whole new context
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in which you’re learning to work with them
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and coexist with them.
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Yeah.
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So I feel like there needs to be some level
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of trust that’s being built.
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And some of those questions could be around like,
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what does failure look like?
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Because I think one of the most challenging things
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is you don’t wanna ruin your relationships.
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I think that’s the biggest fear that people have.
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Like I’m gonna join the family business
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and I’m gonna make a mistake
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or something’s gonna go wrong
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and then I’m never gonna be able
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to have Thanksgiving with my family again.
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And maybe becoming really clear
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and just what are those worst case scenarios
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and what does that look like?
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Like what are some early warning signs of that
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so that way we can make sure
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that we’re staying on top of it.
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So I would start to probe those types of questions
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of like, where could we go wrong?
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And then also I would really probe on,
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this could be people who are working in the business,
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not family business owners,
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but like what keeps them up at night?
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I feel like that’s a question
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that even good advisory board folks ask.
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They just are asking, what are your biggest challenges?
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Where do you feel like we’re failing?
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What keeps you up at night?
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Which then I think serves you to figure out like,
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are these problems that I want to solve?
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Are these problems that I’m capable of solving?
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Are these problems that excite me?
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Yeah, yeah.
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And you also make a really great point
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that external validation plays a major role
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in readiness, right?
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So you can kind of break it down into two questions.
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Do I feel ready?
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And do I think that others view me as being ready, right?
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And so how can next-gen build credibility
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with non-family executives
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who might be skeptical of their appointment?
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I mean, this is something that comes up all the time
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when we talk to next-gens,
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this idea that like,
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people are looking at me like,
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I’m the Nepo kid or whatever it might be.
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How do you kind of build that credibility?
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Yeah, I love this concept of the Nepo baby
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as the person who is undeserving.
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And I think in so many situations,
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whether you’ve inherited this business or not,
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we’re all Nepo babies.
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Like if you’re trying to kind of step into this role
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of change management,
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people are always going to question like,
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who are you?
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How did you get here?
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Why are you here?
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So I would say stepping back,
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I think this is an issue that is not unique
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to just family business, second-generation folks.
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I actually think it is relevant
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to anybody who’s trying to lead change.
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And I really do like the framework
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that Yvonne Landsberg has for establishing credibility.
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He calls it the test of a prince.
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And the whole concept behind it is really like,
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am I in good hands?
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Like, can people trust me?
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And there are a couple of different frameworks
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around trust and like,
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what does trust mean?
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And how do I build trust with people?
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But one of the things that Yvonne Landsberg says
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in the test of the prince is,
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there’s specific tests that you’re kind of being put
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through and those tests would be qualifying tests.
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So that would be maybe working somewhere externally
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or getting an advanced degree somewhere.
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Then there would be political tests.
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So this would be like,
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how are you managing a political situation
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within the organization?
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And how do you show up in those situations?
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There would be self-imposed tests.
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So how much are you actually pushing yourself?
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And like, I think being very like,
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I think conscious of these are the challenges
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and like, this is how I’m going to support
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a change in the business,
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which is I think very entrepreneurial in nature
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that a lot of times people at second generation
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are just waiting for things to be handed to them.
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So if you can flip the script on that
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and say, this is what I’m doing,
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I think that can support building credibility.
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And then lastly, there’s circumstantial tests.
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So you’re put in a specific scenario
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that was totally out of your control.
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This could be how people handle life in the pandemic.
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And how do you show up in those scenarios?
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Did you work with a sense of care and authority?
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And did you accomplish what you needed to accomplish?
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So I do like these specific frameworks
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that Yvonne Landsberg puts out
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because I think that we can sometimes feel
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at a disadvantage when we’re,
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you feel like you’ve inherited something.
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But I think if you can just standardize,
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these are the ways that people are thinking of me.
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And maybe, I guess, judging you,
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it could help you simplify.
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At the end of the day,
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they just want to feel like they can trust me.
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Yeah.
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I love that point that you made.
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I think that’s such an important one that,
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the Nepo baby thing is kind of just the flavor
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of this same sentiment that happens in every business.
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The Nepo baby thing is just what they call it
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in family businesses.
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But in every business,
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when somebody moves up the ranks, is promoted,
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and especially if they’re trying to make change,
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there’s always gonna be somebody who is suspicious
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that it was because of some type of favoritism
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or whatever, whether it’s family or not.
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So I think that’s an important thing.
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Like, there’s always gonna be haters, right?
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So you have to just do what you can
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to prove that you belong.
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And I think sometimes, yeah,
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maybe people put too much stock into this idea of like,
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oh, well, I’m a family member,
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so that’s why people are suspicious.
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I think it happens in every kind of enterprise.
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I think that’s a really important point.
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With that question,
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it’s like, well, what do we do with that?
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Like, okay, I was put on this earth
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for reasons that are beyond my control.
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You’ve inherited this position, this power.
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You’re in this place.
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You can’t change that.
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So why worry about something you literally can’t change?
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Now, all you can do is make the best of the situation.
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Yes, absolutely.
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No, that’s a great point.
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And so my last question is kind of on the other side.
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We’ve been talking a lot about how the next gen,
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in most cases, should approach this,
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but how do you think the families,
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the families who run these businesses
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should think about structuring the transition
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so that when a next gen steps in,
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they’ll be tested and they’ll be able to grow,
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but you’re also not putting them or the business
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at unnecessary risk?
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Yeah, I think part of this is so challenging
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because it really requires you to give a sense of freedom,
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but at the same time,
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when you give too much freedom,
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that can be overwhelming.
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And then, again, to your point,
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you don’t want to put somebody in a position
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that they’re going to be set up for failure.
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So I think some of this is,
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how do you start small and expand?
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And that’s kind of my philosophy in so much of life
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is just like, what’s the baby step that you can create?
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So maybe it’s a project that they’re trying out,
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maybe it’s then a department that they’re managing,
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maybe it’s then a organizational change
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that they’re taking on.
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So I think that thinking about
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what are the laddering steps
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that can help support and build trust
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across the organization
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and have somebody do these in very visible ways
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and eventually, the training wheels can be taken off,
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but I also hope that some of that is self-directed
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and that’s actually one of the tests
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that I appreciate the most,
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which is these self-imposed tests.
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There’s only so much that someone else
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can hand you on a silver platter.
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You at some point need to find the problems,
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create the solutions,
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and if you don’t have the confidence to do that,
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then how do you expect to lead an organization?
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And so I think for that previous generation,
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giving that next generation that space
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to make the mistakes and to fail
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and then to see how they clean up that mess,
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I think is also relevant.
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I remember week one or two
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of working in the family business,
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I was like, I’m a Gmail person,
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I’m gonna change the email system
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and I changed the DNA.
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I didn’t know what I was doing,
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I just changed everything
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and we didn’t get emails for literally a week.
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And I remember my dad,
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he wasn’t actually mad at me.
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He was like, you know, I’m glad you tried something.
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You made a mistake,
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but you figured out how to clean it up
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and that was I think the most important thing
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was like, you took responsibility,
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you clean it up.
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He’s like definitely more upset
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if there’s an error due to inaction
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versus an error due to action.
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And I think having that philosophy
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gave me a lot of freedom to know like,
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I can make a mistake,
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we can clean it up, it’s okay.
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This segment features part two of my conversation
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with Brent Thomas,
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00:15:41.230 –> 00:15:42.790
founder of Teppi Naturals,
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which is now a multi-generational family business
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that includes his sister and his parents.
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The company’s natural skincare products
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are made using silver skin,
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which is a byproduct of the coffee roasting process.
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Brent discusses building
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a sustainability-driven family business
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and planning for growth
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while maintaining family control into the future.
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And I wanna talk about, you know,
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00:16:06.050 –> 00:16:07.010
sustainability again,
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because that’s what we were kind of
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00:16:08.450 –> 00:16:09.290
started this conversation.
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And we should say too that the byproduct
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that we’re talking about is silver,
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00:16:13.490 –> 00:16:16.030
silver skin, is that what it’s called?
410
00:16:16.030 –> 00:16:17.990
Yeah, it’s called coffee silver skin.
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If you’re looking for like a generic industry term,
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they call it chaff.
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So that’s what we’re using.
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Yes, yes.
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00:16:26.250 –> 00:16:30.310
And so sustainability clearly is one of your key values
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because that was how this whole thing was started,
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00:16:31.790 –> 00:16:31.990
right?
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We have this stuff that we’re just getting rid of
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in huge quantities in the coffee industry.
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Let’s do something with it.
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00:16:39.230 –> 00:16:41.710
How does that, why is that so central?
422
00:16:41.710 –> 00:16:44.230
Why did you guys care about that in the first place?
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And how does it influence your long-term strategy
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and operational decisions as a business?
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So the sustainability is a major portion
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of who we are as a company,
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because we’ve seen in industries across the board
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a massive amount of waste that goes into
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like our water systems, our disposal plants.
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00:17:08.690 –> 00:17:12.710
This one here had not just, you know,
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reducing the amount of waste that’s going out,
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but also it has really good purpose.
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00:17:18.050 –> 00:17:21.329
And so that purpose coupled with the reduction
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in industry waste, it seemed like a perfect fit
435
00:17:26.030 –> 00:17:28.630
as a natural skincare ingredient.
436
00:17:29.610 –> 00:17:31.530
So, you know, it had,
437
00:17:32.190 –> 00:17:34.150
in the past it’s been used for like fertilizer.
438
00:17:34.150 –> 00:17:38.370
It has a lot of really good nutrients,
439
00:17:38.910 –> 00:17:42.950
mineral content that is beneficial for plants,
440
00:17:42.950 –> 00:17:45.190
but it’s also beneficial for people.
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00:17:46.830 –> 00:17:48.970
So it’s been used for fertilizer.
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00:17:50.150 –> 00:17:52.310
It’s also, it’s nutritious.
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00:17:52.910 –> 00:17:55.150
So there have been food scientists
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00:17:55.150 –> 00:17:56.950
who’ve tried to incorporate it into,
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00:17:56.950 –> 00:17:58.390
you know, various food products.
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00:17:58.690 –> 00:18:00.870
But one of the problems they keep running into
447
00:18:00.870 –> 00:18:01.590
is the taste.
448
00:18:01.590 –> 00:18:02.350
It’s quite bitter.
449
00:18:03.130 –> 00:18:04.370
Okay, all right.
450
00:18:04.450 –> 00:18:05.850
So a little bitter.
451
00:18:06.810 –> 00:18:08.930
So the food aspect was kind of hard to get by.
452
00:18:09.010 –> 00:18:11.190
It has a really good like fiber content too.
453
00:18:11.810 –> 00:18:14.610
So yeah, so it’s got a lot of uses.
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I have some other thoughts on ways to use it too
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00:18:18.250 –> 00:18:21.190
that could be really, really beneficial to society.
456
00:18:21.310 –> 00:18:26.230
But the skincare was my first and foremost
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direction for it.
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00:18:29.510 –> 00:18:31.790
Well, yeah, don’t give away the other ideas on here.
459
00:18:31.790 –> 00:18:34.510
I was like, I want to talk about it.
460
00:18:37.430 –> 00:18:38.870
That’s really cool though.
461
00:18:39.310 –> 00:18:40.250
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
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00:18:40.330 –> 00:18:41.990
They’ll come out and do time for sure.
463
00:18:43.750 –> 00:18:48.150
And so, you know, it’s such a cool story
464
00:18:48.150 –> 00:18:51.210
that you really literally started this company
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out of your house, right?
466
00:18:52.570 –> 00:18:54.990
And that you were, you got a little like
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00:18:54.990 –> 00:18:56.570
makeshift lab basically where you’re trying
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00:18:56.570 –> 00:18:58.850
to figure this out, this formula.
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00:18:59.490 –> 00:19:01.850
Now that you’re scaling and you’re thinking
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00:19:01.850 –> 00:19:04.010
about scaling further, I would imagine
471
00:19:04.640 –> 00:19:08.130
how do you kind of balance the commitment
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00:19:08.130 –> 00:19:10.450
of small batch production and the kind
473
00:19:10.450 –> 00:19:14.430
of minimalist formulations with, you know,
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00:19:14.490 –> 00:19:15.270
just getting bigger.
475
00:19:15.410 –> 00:19:16.570
It’s that thing that I guess, you know,
476
00:19:16.730 –> 00:19:18.690
every business that creates a product like this
477
00:19:18.690 –> 00:19:20.590
has to figure out how do we keep the quality
478
00:19:20.590 –> 00:19:24.750
and the way we wanted to do things from the beginning.
479
00:19:24.890 –> 00:19:26.710
How do we kind of replicate that
480
00:19:26.710 –> 00:19:28.270
on a larger scale, right?
481
00:19:28.270 –> 00:19:32.270
Yeah, so within a household business
482
00:19:32.790 –> 00:19:34.950
as we are currently operating under,
483
00:19:35.370 –> 00:19:38.190
you know, we started with little two pound batches.
484
00:19:38.330 –> 00:19:42.290
Right now we’re able to produce about 200 pounds per batch.
485
00:19:42.770 –> 00:19:46.030
And so we’ve upscaled kind of as far
486
00:19:46.030 –> 00:19:47.630
as we can within the household.
487
00:19:48.150 –> 00:19:50.370
And currently we’re in discussion
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00:19:50.370 –> 00:19:52.970
with contract manufacturers local
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00:19:52.970 –> 00:19:55.030
to our Yorba Linda home.
490
00:19:55.030 –> 00:19:58.090
So that would be the next step
491
00:19:58.950 –> 00:20:01.470
because we don’t quite have the facility
492
00:20:01.470 –> 00:20:05.250
to bring in larger mixing vessels
493
00:20:05.250 –> 00:20:07.350
and equipment as such.
494
00:20:08.150 –> 00:20:10.770
So we are considering outsourcing it.
495
00:20:11.170 –> 00:20:18.390
And that’s mainly due to our recent path into Amazon.
496
00:20:18.670 –> 00:20:20.490
And so this is kind of like a fail safe.
497
00:20:21.090 –> 00:20:24.050
So as long as I can manage the output,
498
00:20:25.690 –> 00:20:27.370
we’ll continue to do that.
499
00:20:27.510 –> 00:20:28.950
But this is like, you know what,
500
00:20:29.190 –> 00:20:32.870
if things get out of hand before we can, you know,
501
00:20:34.050 –> 00:20:35.330
purchase that equipment for ourselves,
502
00:20:35.530 –> 00:20:37.710
because ultimately we want to on the means
503
00:20:37.710 –> 00:20:38.970
of all of our production.
504
00:20:40.990 –> 00:20:43.610
So, you know, facility, we’ve looked into a facility.
505
00:20:44.110 –> 00:20:46.670
The equipment itself is quite an investment
506
00:20:46.670 –> 00:20:48.830
that we don’t quite need at this point.
507
00:20:48.950 –> 00:20:51.850
But should things, you know, get out of hand,
508
00:20:51.930 –> 00:20:53.670
we do have a fail safe in place.
509
00:20:53.670 –> 00:20:55.730
So I think that planning ahead for the future like that
510
00:20:55.730 –> 00:20:57.830
is gonna, I mean, it is really important.
511
00:20:57.850 –> 00:20:58.650
So that’s what we’re doing.
512
00:20:59.510 –> 00:21:00.810
100%, yeah, absolutely.
513
00:21:02.570 –> 00:21:05.430
And so speaking of planning for the future,
514
00:21:05.950 –> 00:21:08.030
we’ll end on this question, you know,
515
00:21:10.910 –> 00:21:13.210
and maybe it’s a little early
516
00:21:13.210 –> 00:21:14.230
to be thinking along these terms.
517
00:21:14.310 –> 00:21:15.510
Although we would say it’s never too early
518
00:21:15.510 –> 00:21:16.870
to be thinking along these terms, right?
519
00:21:16.890 –> 00:21:19.010
Like, what does the next generation
520
00:21:19.010 –> 00:21:20.770
of Tepe Naturals look like?
521
00:21:20.950 –> 00:21:22.230
In terms of growing the business,
522
00:21:22.230 –> 00:21:24.130
that’s what you talked about a little bit just then,
523
00:21:24.270 –> 00:21:26.890
but also like the potential involvement
524
00:21:26.890 –> 00:21:29.390
of additional family members or the next gen.
525
00:21:29.690 –> 00:21:31.090
If there is a next gen right now,
526
00:21:31.610 –> 00:21:33.130
like what do you kind of envision?
527
00:21:36.480 –> 00:21:39.980
So we are continuing to expand our product line.
528
00:21:41.340 –> 00:21:42.680
The next generation,
529
00:21:42.700 –> 00:21:45.040
it’s gonna be a bit of time for that.
530
00:21:45.040 –> 00:21:45.600
Yeah, sure.
531
00:21:45.620 –> 00:21:47.820
Right now I’m currently without children.
532
00:21:48.420 –> 00:21:50.520
So we’ve got two generations in,
533
00:21:50.540 –> 00:21:52.120
we’ve got, you know, mother, father,
534
00:21:52.120 –> 00:21:54.800
and then my sister and I currently involved.
535
00:21:56.420 –> 00:21:58.540
At some point, there might be opportunity
536
00:21:58.540 –> 00:22:01.320
to bring my brothers in as well,
537
00:22:01.880 –> 00:22:04.040
who, you know, they work in actually other industries
538
00:22:04.040 –> 00:22:06.640
and we’ve discussed having them and being a part of it.
539
00:22:07.080 –> 00:22:08.820
One of them is an electrical engineer.
540
00:22:08.860 –> 00:22:13.960
The other one works with venue organization
541
00:22:13.960 –> 00:22:15.640
and development.
542
00:22:16.140 –> 00:22:21.480
So they have really good assets
543
00:22:21.480 –> 00:22:24.060
that Teppi could definitely utilize.
544
00:22:26.140 –> 00:22:27.740
And next generations,
545
00:22:28.370 –> 00:22:32.220
I think will involve collaborations with other companies
546
00:22:32.220 –> 00:22:35.560
until our young ones are old enough
547
00:22:35.560 –> 00:22:38.120
to, you know, take over the family business,
548
00:22:38.720 –> 00:22:41.140
but build out the product line,
549
00:22:41.380 –> 00:22:43.200
work with other companies,
550
00:22:44.000 –> 00:22:46.300
whether it’s, you know,
551
00:22:46.400 –> 00:22:48.840
putting them onto store shelves, advertising,
552
00:22:48.840 –> 00:22:51.660
we can still be a part of the community in that aspect.
553
00:22:52.540 –> 00:22:53.660
But as of children,
554
00:22:53.720 –> 00:22:57.120
it’s gonna be a little bit of time for my daughter, so.
555
00:22:57.800 –> 00:22:59.640
Well, and I should have asked you that earlier,
556
00:22:59.840 –> 00:23:01.980
that the fact that you have other siblings
557
00:23:01.980 –> 00:23:03.600
who might get involved is really cool.
558
00:23:03.720 –> 00:23:06.320
I mean, you have a very talented and eclectic family.
559
00:23:06.360 –> 00:23:08.800
You have like a different department for each person,
560
00:23:08.800 –> 00:23:10.800
you know, they all have a different skill set.
561
00:23:11.700 –> 00:23:12.580
So it’s awesome.
562
00:23:13.460 –> 00:23:15.680
It’s funny, my brother,
563
00:23:16.040 –> 00:23:17.980
I’d love to have both my brothers
564
00:23:17.980 –> 00:23:19.600
a part of the company because this is,
565
00:23:19.880 –> 00:23:22.260
we’re building this for the family.
566
00:23:22.700 –> 00:23:24.700
So that’s the ultimate goal for it.
567
00:23:25.220 –> 00:23:25.940
One of the things,
568
00:23:26.340 –> 00:23:29.420
I used to work in biotech before I started this company.
569
00:23:29.880 –> 00:23:32.500
And one of the things I was considering to myself,
570
00:23:32.760 –> 00:23:33.300
I said, you know,
571
00:23:33.740 –> 00:23:36.980
I’m building someone else’s empire right now.
572
00:23:37.320 –> 00:23:40.700
And while it’s funding my lifestyle,
573
00:23:40.900 –> 00:23:42.920
housing, food, you know,
574
00:23:43.200 –> 00:23:44.560
necessities plus extra,
575
00:23:45.400 –> 00:23:50.100
ultimately, if I want to break free from,
576
00:23:50.100 –> 00:23:52.420
you know, just working for somebody else,
577
00:23:52.520 –> 00:23:54.420
I’d have to build my own empire.
578
00:23:54.680 –> 00:23:56.920
And that’s, that is the goal here.
579
00:23:56.920 –> 00:23:58.320
And not like I’m gonna take over
580
00:23:58.320 –> 00:24:00.240
the entire world type of empire, but.
581
00:24:00.280 –> 00:24:00.800
Yeah.
582
00:24:01.180 –> 00:24:05.440
Have something sustainable for not just the public
583
00:24:05.440 –> 00:24:06.780
and reducing agricultural waste,
584
00:24:06.880 –> 00:24:08.260
but it’s sustainable for my family,
585
00:24:08.380 –> 00:24:09.380
for generations to come.
586
00:24:12.930 –> 00:24:14.430
In this segment, Peter Stenjum,
587
00:24:14.430 –> 00:24:18.190
fourth generation CEO of First International Bank and Trust
588
00:24:18.190 –> 00:24:21.150
reflects on leading a multi-generational family bank
589
00:24:21.150 –> 00:24:23.030
founded in 1910.
590
00:24:23.510 –> 00:24:25.650
He shares how working across nearly every role
591
00:24:25.650 –> 00:24:27.970
in the organization shaped his leadership path
592
00:24:27.970 –> 00:24:30.630
and how the business scaled from under $1 billion
593
00:24:30.630 –> 00:24:33.130
to more than $6 billion in assets
594
00:24:33.130 –> 00:24:35.850
while remaining tightly held and family driven.
595
00:24:37.550 –> 00:24:39.490
Hi, Peter, thanks so much for joining me today.
596
00:24:40.270 –> 00:24:42.170
Zach, first of all, thanks for having me.
597
00:24:42.170 –> 00:24:43.310
Excited to talk to you today.
598
00:24:43.770 –> 00:24:44.550
Yeah, definitely.
599
00:24:44.550 –> 00:24:45.670
I’m excited to get into this.
600
00:24:45.750 –> 00:24:47.130
It’s a really interesting story.
601
00:24:47.730 –> 00:24:48.830
And why don’t we kind of start
602
00:24:48.830 –> 00:24:50.050
with the story of the business.
603
00:24:50.070 –> 00:24:52.510
Tell us about how First International Bank and Trust
604
00:24:52.510 –> 00:24:54.430
was started and how it’s evolved
605
00:24:54.430 –> 00:24:57.530
over the past 115 years, right?
606
00:24:58.470 –> 00:24:59.330
Yeah, you nailed it.
607
00:24:59.470 –> 00:25:01.470
So I’m a fourth generation community banker.
608
00:25:01.550 –> 00:25:02.990
My name is Peter Stenjum,
609
00:25:03.230 –> 00:25:05.550
service CEO of First International Bank and Trust.
610
00:25:05.990 –> 00:25:08.450
And so a little bit more about FIBT
611
00:25:08.450 –> 00:25:09.790
or First International Bank and Trust
612
00:25:09.790 –> 00:25:12.430
is founded by my great grandfather,
613
00:25:12.530 –> 00:25:15.070
Odin Stenjum in 1910.
614
00:25:15.450 –> 00:25:17.750
And so that’s what makes me a fourth generation.
615
00:25:18.270 –> 00:25:19.750
And so fortunately for us,
616
00:25:20.210 –> 00:25:23.270
our family homesteaded in Western North Dakota.
617
00:25:24.050 –> 00:25:28.210
And so Stenjum is Norwegian, translates to Stonehome,
618
00:25:28.410 –> 00:25:29.870
but our family members,
619
00:25:30.190 –> 00:25:31.450
nine brothers and two sisters
620
00:25:31.450 –> 00:25:33.690
decided to head to West North Dakota.
621
00:25:34.150 –> 00:25:35.150
Two of the brothers felt
622
00:25:35.150 –> 00:25:37.490
that the small town community needed a bank
623
00:25:37.490 –> 00:25:40.930
and they pulled together the capital to make that happen.
624
00:25:41.170 –> 00:25:44.450
And so at the time it was roughly $15,000
625
00:25:44.450 –> 00:25:47.430
is what it took to start a bank in Arnegard, North Dakota.
626
00:25:47.810 –> 00:25:50.470
They had a relative that owned a bunch
627
00:25:50.470 –> 00:25:52.730
of hardware stores that helped float him the money.
628
00:25:53.070 –> 00:25:55.010
But essentially they pulled together the capital
629
00:25:55.010 –> 00:25:58.030
to start a farmer’s state bank of Arnegard at the time
630
00:25:58.030 –> 00:25:59.690
in Western North Dakota.
631
00:25:59.870 –> 00:26:03.250
And yeah, we remained a small town bank
632
00:26:03.250 –> 00:26:04.890
for a period of our history.
633
00:26:04.910 –> 00:26:06.530
And I’m happy to get into that more,
634
00:26:06.530 –> 00:26:11.670
but very honored to continue a family banking tradition,
635
00:26:12.130 –> 00:26:15.590
especially one that’s been around for 115 years.
636
00:26:16.490 –> 00:26:17.290
Yeah, absolutely.
637
00:26:17.490 –> 00:26:18.690
And let’s talk a little bit about
638
00:26:18.690 –> 00:26:21.450
how you personally got involved in the family business
639
00:26:21.450 –> 00:26:23.750
and what was your career trajectory
640
00:26:23.750 –> 00:26:25.130
leading up to becoming CEO?
641
00:26:25.310 –> 00:26:29.110
I love this question because it’s usually a toss up
642
00:26:29.110 –> 00:26:31.270
between, oh, I grew up around the business my whole life
643
00:26:31.270 –> 00:26:32.390
I always know is gonna be in it,
644
00:26:32.390 –> 00:26:34.990
or I wanted to get as far away from it as possible
645
00:26:34.990 –> 00:26:36.430
and then it kind of sucked me back in.
646
00:26:36.430 –> 00:26:38.730
So I don’t know where you fall on that trajectory.
647
00:26:39.330 –> 00:26:41.710
I’m honestly, I’m a little of both to be honest.
648
00:26:42.030 –> 00:26:45.670
And so obviously having a bank within the family,
649
00:26:46.090 –> 00:26:49.110
that’s what a lot of our dinner table discussions were.
650
00:26:49.510 –> 00:26:52.350
I started working in the bank in June of 2000,
651
00:26:52.390 –> 00:26:54.430
so 26 years ago, roughly.
652
00:26:55.450 –> 00:26:57.570
And I’ll say why I say I started working there,
653
00:26:57.590 –> 00:27:01.130
that’s when I first earned $6 an hour to be a teller.
654
00:27:01.230 –> 00:27:04.050
And so I started when I was 15 years old as a teller.
655
00:27:04.150 –> 00:27:06.370
Prior to that, I think I did a lot of other duties
656
00:27:06.370 –> 00:27:08.650
as a sign, but wasn’t necessarily collecting a paycheck.
657
00:27:09.370 –> 00:27:10.750
But essentially worked in the bank
658
00:27:10.750 –> 00:27:11.930
starting off as a teller.
659
00:27:12.170 –> 00:27:14.470
I’ve almost worked in about every area
660
00:27:14.470 –> 00:27:16.450
of our institution throughout my career.
661
00:27:17.250 –> 00:27:18.650
So started as a teller,
662
00:27:18.670 –> 00:27:20.010
worked in the computer and running proof,
663
00:27:20.070 –> 00:27:21.530
which banks don’t even really talk
664
00:27:21.530 –> 00:27:22.790
about what proof is anymore.
665
00:27:23.330 –> 00:27:26.510
And then also helped as a loan associate,
666
00:27:26.910 –> 00:27:29.210
got in more into our CFO functions
667
00:27:29.210 –> 00:27:30.910
and learning more of the general ledger
668
00:27:30.910 –> 00:27:33.270
and the balance sheet aspects of our business.
669
00:27:33.590 –> 00:27:34.970
And then when I went off to college
670
00:27:34.970 –> 00:27:36.430
at the University of North Dakota,
671
00:27:36.910 –> 00:27:39.370
I actually thought that I was gonna go a different path.
672
00:27:39.490 –> 00:27:41.370
I think I was an 18 year old kid,
673
00:27:41.750 –> 00:27:44.110
felt like that I didn’t necessarily need to follow
674
00:27:44.110 –> 00:27:45.670
in my father’s footsteps.
675
00:27:46.570 –> 00:27:49.410
And my family tree, so as the banker’s son
676
00:27:49.410 –> 00:27:50.610
married the doctor’s daughter,
677
00:27:50.710 –> 00:27:54.090
so we always had this medical history within our family.
678
00:27:54.790 –> 00:27:56.270
And so when I first went off to UND,
679
00:27:56.310 –> 00:27:58.330
I felt that I was gonna go the medical school route.
680
00:27:58.950 –> 00:28:01.630
And I thought that through my freshman year
681
00:28:01.630 –> 00:28:04.070
and I came back to work after my sophomore year
682
00:28:04.070 –> 00:28:06.030
and I started going on customer calls
683
00:28:06.590 –> 00:28:08.210
with a lot of our lenders and my dad.
684
00:28:08.450 –> 00:28:09.930
And so I thought that was awesome.
685
00:28:09.990 –> 00:28:14.730
Love seeing businesses either buy something or expand.
686
00:28:14.890 –> 00:28:16.690
I got to interact with clients.
687
00:28:16.730 –> 00:28:18.150
I got to see firsthand,
688
00:28:19.070 –> 00:28:21.750
really helping make dreams come true essentially.
689
00:28:22.170 –> 00:28:24.130
And I went back to college and kind of figured,
690
00:28:24.290 –> 00:28:25.510
hey, what am I doing here?
691
00:28:25.570 –> 00:28:27.470
I seem to really like and enjoy this.
692
00:28:27.810 –> 00:28:29.050
Do I really wanna go sit in school
693
00:28:29.050 –> 00:28:30.610
for the next decade of my life
694
00:28:30.610 –> 00:28:32.510
when we kind of have this good thing going?
695
00:28:33.090 –> 00:28:36.510
Changed my major to banking and financial economics.
696
00:28:37.230 –> 00:28:39.310
Graduated from college and then felt that I needed
697
00:28:39.310 –> 00:28:42.250
to get some commercial lending experience.
698
00:28:42.310 –> 00:28:44.890
So I moved to, at the time Fargo, North Dakota
699
00:28:44.890 –> 00:28:46.630
and kind of just came throughout the ranks.
700
00:28:46.630 –> 00:28:47.890
Started as a consumer lender.
701
00:28:48.050 –> 00:28:49.670
I had a brief stint as a credit analyst
702
00:28:49.670 –> 00:28:52.170
and then got into more of the business banking.
703
00:28:52.290 –> 00:28:55.030
So I kinda came up through the traditional bank route,
704
00:28:55.350 –> 00:28:56.910
meaning I went business banking
705
00:28:56.910 –> 00:28:58.670
and then got into the leadership roles.
706
00:28:59.090 –> 00:29:01.410
Eventually became a market president.
707
00:29:01.410 –> 00:29:03.990
Started up some new offices
708
00:29:03.990 –> 00:29:07.290
and kind of kept expanding some of our footprint
709
00:29:07.290 –> 00:29:08.350
and hiring teams.
710
00:29:08.770 –> 00:29:11.570
Became chief retail banking officer for a little while
711
00:29:11.570 –> 00:29:13.850
and then eventually ascended into the role of president.
712
00:29:14.290 –> 00:29:16.990
And that’s when I started getting some executive oversight
713
00:29:16.990 –> 00:29:19.390
and I oversaw all of our non-interest income areas
714
00:29:19.390 –> 00:29:20.110
as well.
715
00:29:20.670 –> 00:29:22.550
And then to your point,
716
00:29:23.010 –> 00:29:25.650
ultimately we had a family transition
717
00:29:25.650 –> 00:29:28.270
and I succeeded into the role
718
00:29:28.270 –> 00:29:32.730
of chief executive officer January 1 of 2025.
719
00:29:33.010 –> 00:29:35.650
So a little over a year, year and a half ago now.
720
00:29:36.290 –> 00:29:36.690
Awesome.
721
00:29:36.870 –> 00:29:39.550
And I smiled at the part where you were talking about
722
00:29:39.550 –> 00:29:40.970
going out on customer calls
723
00:29:40.970 –> 00:29:43.110
and that’s what kinda got it in your head.
724
00:29:43.270 –> 00:29:43.730
Like, hey, you know what?
725
00:29:43.730 –> 00:29:44.590
I really enjoy this.
726
00:29:44.910 –> 00:29:46.150
And I just think that’s cool
727
00:29:46.150 –> 00:29:47.030
and I think that’s something
728
00:29:47.030 –> 00:29:48.950
that happens a lot in family businesses.
729
00:29:48.970 –> 00:29:51.710
When you really actually get to see the people
730
00:29:51.710 –> 00:29:54.010
that you impact in the community
731
00:29:54.010 –> 00:29:55.350
and the people that you work with,
732
00:29:55.570 –> 00:29:58.050
I feel like that is inspiring a lot of times, right?
733
00:29:58.050 –> 00:30:00.450
I’m still a business banker at heart.
734
00:30:00.590 –> 00:30:03.070
I still love to this day going on customer calls.
735
00:30:03.270 –> 00:30:05.510
Any excuse I have to get out of the office
736
00:30:05.510 –> 00:30:06.450
to go do that,
737
00:30:06.770 –> 00:30:08.150
whether it’s prospects or calls,
738
00:30:08.270 –> 00:30:09.490
I love that piece.
739
00:30:10.350 –> 00:30:11.290
Outside of the bank,
740
00:30:11.450 –> 00:30:12.090
I was actually,
741
00:30:12.210 –> 00:30:13.430
I was a lifeguard too.
742
00:30:13.470 –> 00:30:14.910
That was kinda one of the only other jobs
743
00:30:14.910 –> 00:30:16.510
I really had outside of our organization.
744
00:30:16.870 –> 00:30:18.010
I think it’s mostly because,
745
00:30:18.190 –> 00:30:19.150
hey, if the weather looked great,
746
00:30:19.190 –> 00:30:20.990
maybe I should go teach some swimming lessons
747
00:30:20.990 –> 00:30:21.830
or be a lifeguard.
748
00:30:23.410 –> 00:30:26.110
But that just wasn’t necessarily a long-term path for me.
749
00:30:26.110 –> 00:30:26.890
I think it was maybe just
750
00:30:26.890 –> 00:30:28.890
because I grew up watching Baywatch or something.
751
00:30:34.110 –> 00:30:35.630
You just talked about your path,
752
00:30:35.930 –> 00:30:39.030
but how many family shareholders are there today
753
00:30:39.030 –> 00:30:40.270
across how many generations
754
00:30:40.270 –> 00:30:41.810
and do any of the other folks
755
00:30:41.810 –> 00:30:43.070
in the family work in the business?
756
00:30:43.490 –> 00:30:45.830
Yeah, and this is kinda what makes our organization
757
00:30:45.830 –> 00:30:47.010
maybe a little bit unique.
758
00:30:47.410 –> 00:30:48.890
So, I mean, there’s lots of banks out there
759
00:30:48.890 –> 00:30:50.410
that have been around for 115,
760
00:30:50.770 –> 00:30:52.450
roughly 116 years.
761
00:30:52.990 –> 00:30:54.370
What makes us a little bit more unique
762
00:30:54.370 –> 00:30:55.310
is probably our size.
763
00:30:55.310 –> 00:30:58.070
So we’re about six billion now in total assets,
764
00:30:58.190 –> 00:30:59.970
a little over six billion in total assets.
765
00:31:00.330 –> 00:31:02.030
Happy to talk more about that growth
766
00:31:02.030 –> 00:31:05.210
as well as we have a cool payments company.
767
00:31:05.590 –> 00:31:07.070
But then what makes us unique
768
00:31:07.070 –> 00:31:08.550
is just how tightly held we are.
769
00:31:08.610 –> 00:31:10.530
So there’s only six of us total owners.
770
00:31:10.910 –> 00:31:12.950
And so my dad in the role of chairman,
771
00:31:13.370 –> 00:31:15.710
my mom Gretchen is active with the bank still,
772
00:31:15.850 –> 00:31:18.170
does a lot of our public relations events,
773
00:31:18.170 –> 00:31:19.130
as you can imagine.
774
00:31:19.790 –> 00:31:22.430
My sister Kira works alongside her.
775
00:31:22.430 –> 00:31:26.270
My brother Eric is active in the leadership role
776
00:31:26.270 –> 00:31:27.470
with me as well.
777
00:31:27.470 –> 00:31:29.490
He’s based in our Phoenix Metro.
778
00:31:29.630 –> 00:31:30.990
We have some offices in Arizona
779
00:31:30.990 –> 00:31:33.590
and Eric is our chief transformation officer.
780
00:31:33.650 –> 00:31:35.870
So I work closely with him on a lot of strategic items.
781
00:31:36.190 –> 00:31:38.610
And then my youngest sister, Kristen, as I mentioned,
782
00:31:38.990 –> 00:31:41.250
we had the family medical tree.
783
00:31:41.890 –> 00:31:43.770
My youngest sister, Kristen, we’re very proud of her.
784
00:31:43.810 –> 00:31:44.930
She went the medical route.
785
00:31:44.970 –> 00:31:48.970
And so she is a pediatric allergist immunologist.
786
00:31:48.970 –> 00:31:51.770
And so she lives in Chicago
787
00:31:51.770 –> 00:31:54.610
and then also practices in West North Dakota
788
00:31:54.610 –> 00:31:56.210
in Watford City, our hometown.
789
00:31:56.710 –> 00:31:59.250
And then her husband Grant is also a medical doctor.
790
00:31:59.270 –> 00:32:01.310
So we kind of still have that banking
791
00:32:01.310 –> 00:32:02.850
and that medical tradition going,
792
00:32:02.910 –> 00:32:06.910
but there are six of us as owners of FIBT.
793
00:32:07.590 –> 00:32:08.430
Awesome, awesome.
794
00:32:08.950 –> 00:32:11.970
And so we hear this, I’m sure you’ve heard this a lot,
795
00:32:12.410 –> 00:32:14.270
that getting beyond the third generation
796
00:32:14.270 –> 00:32:16.250
of family business is really, really hard,
797
00:32:16.410 –> 00:32:17.210
really, really rare.
798
00:32:17.210 –> 00:32:18.670
And you guys just pulled off
799
00:32:18.670 –> 00:32:20.230
the fourth generation transition.
800
00:32:20.410 –> 00:32:22.750
And so what do you think have been the keys
801
00:32:22.750 –> 00:32:25.870
to sustaining both the family involvement
802
00:32:25.870 –> 00:32:27.930
and also the business performance
803
00:32:27.930 –> 00:32:28.790
that you were talking about,
804
00:32:28.790 –> 00:32:30.490
that growth across generations?
805
00:32:31.010 –> 00:32:32.730
Well, I’ll give a lot of kudos to my dad.
806
00:32:32.870 –> 00:32:34.610
So I mean, we, in some aspects,
807
00:32:34.650 –> 00:32:36.350
my dad almost acts like a G1
808
00:32:36.350 –> 00:32:38.850
or I act like a G2 in some respects,
809
00:32:38.910 –> 00:32:40.950
but we are four generations
810
00:32:41.550 –> 00:32:42.630
throughout this syndrome family.
811
00:32:43.010 –> 00:32:44.590
But my dad in reality is kind of the one
812
00:32:44.590 –> 00:32:46.590
who really built it to what it is today.
813
00:32:46.590 –> 00:32:49.870
So his relatives kind of encouraged him
814
00:32:49.870 –> 00:32:51.570
to come back in the early 80s.
815
00:32:51.670 –> 00:32:54.350
My dad had some larger bank experience
816
00:32:54.350 –> 00:32:56.030
with one of the money center type banks
817
00:32:56.030 –> 00:32:57.670
and went through some leadership roles there.
818
00:32:57.830 –> 00:32:59.550
And then he came back to our organization
819
00:32:59.550 –> 00:33:00.230
and kind of realized,
820
00:33:00.410 –> 00:33:03.470
hey, to keep up with technology, regulation,
821
00:33:03.990 –> 00:33:05.850
we need to get some size going here.
822
00:33:05.950 –> 00:33:06.810
And so my dad is the one
823
00:33:06.810 –> 00:33:08.910
that started a lot of our expansion efforts.
824
00:33:09.250 –> 00:33:11.170
Starting in the 80s, going into the 90s,
825
00:33:11.250 –> 00:33:14.670
we purchased some failed savings and loan institutions.
826
00:33:14.670 –> 00:33:17.230
We continued some organic growth on our own.
827
00:33:17.870 –> 00:33:20.390
And so when I came into the bank full-time,
828
00:33:20.450 –> 00:33:22.050
we were less than a billion dollars.
829
00:33:22.410 –> 00:33:26.650
And so we hit a billion dollars back in 2010.
830
00:33:26.750 –> 00:33:28.270
So it took us a hundred years
831
00:33:28.270 –> 00:33:30.830
to get to the first billion in total assets.
832
00:33:31.190 –> 00:33:34.170
Then if you fast forward from 2010 to 2026,
833
00:33:34.310 –> 00:33:36.690
we went from one billion to over six billion now.
834
00:33:36.730 –> 00:33:38.070
It just kind of shows you
835
00:33:38.070 –> 00:33:40.270
how that flywheel effect kind of starts going.
836
00:33:40.950 –> 00:33:43.770
But I think a key to our success too
837
00:33:43.770 –> 00:33:45.990
is we are tightly held, which helps.
838
00:33:46.690 –> 00:33:49.990
Plus we’ve tried to really maintain
839
00:33:49.990 –> 00:33:52.670
a little bit of a work-life balance as much as we can.
840
00:33:53.010 –> 00:33:55.330
Granted, when we have Christmas and Thanksgiving,
841
00:33:55.750 –> 00:33:57.990
you can imagine a lot of our dinner table discussions
842
00:33:57.990 –> 00:34:00.070
has some work aspects.
843
00:34:00.690 –> 00:34:01.610
But my brother and I
844
00:34:01.610 –> 00:34:03.390
at least have some shared principles that,
845
00:34:03.930 –> 00:34:06.550
hey, try not to call each other after five o’clock
846
00:34:06.550 –> 00:34:07.810
with really meaty items,
847
00:34:07.850 –> 00:34:10.030
unless it’s like a urgent matter.
848
00:34:10.330 –> 00:34:11.570
Can this wait till tomorrow?
849
00:34:11.570 –> 00:34:13.969
So we just have tried to establish
850
00:34:13.969 –> 00:34:15.389
some somewhat ground rules
851
00:34:15.389 –> 00:34:17.909
so that when we’re with our family
852
00:34:17.909 –> 00:34:19.070
and I have some young kids too,
853
00:34:19.250 –> 00:34:21.850
be present and be present in the moment
854
00:34:21.850 –> 00:34:23.310
because that’s also important.
855
00:34:23.469 –> 00:34:26.510
And I think that family-owned aspect,
856
00:34:26.590 –> 00:34:28.190
we’ve really tried to carry that through
857
00:34:28.190 –> 00:34:31.130
into our culture throughout all of our employees as well
858
00:34:31.130 –> 00:34:33.650
is we really like that family atmosphere
859
00:34:33.650 –> 00:34:36.530
and it’s driven by who we are as an organization.
860
00:34:51.090 –> 00:34:54.270
You’re not just a CEO, you’re a family business CEO.
861
00:34:54.610 –> 00:34:56.070
You don’t just serve on a board,
862
00:34:56.389 –> 00:34:58.090
you’re a board member of a family business.
863
00:34:58.730 –> 00:35:01.590
You don’t just lead a group, you lead a family council.
864
00:35:02.190 –> 00:35:04.050
That’s why Family Business Compass exists,
865
00:35:04.490 –> 00:35:07.210
a national membership community designed exclusively
866
00:35:07.210 –> 00:35:08.670
for family business leaders
867
00:35:08.670 –> 00:35:11.310
from the team behind Family Business Magazine.
868
00:35:12.510 –> 00:35:14.670
Built on 35 plus years of experience,
869
00:35:15.330 –> 00:35:17.150
Family Business Compass offers peer groups,
870
00:35:17.590 –> 00:35:19.390
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871
00:35:19.830 –> 00:35:21.370
research, events and more.
872
00:35:22.130 –> 00:35:23.770
We are launching more peer groups now
873
00:35:23.770 –> 00:35:26.090
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874
00:35:26.090 –> 00:35:28.710
and demand has exceeded expectations.
875
00:35:29.830 –> 00:35:32.510
Apply now at familybusinessmagazine.com
876
00:35:32.510 –> 00:35:35.130
slash family-business-compass
877
00:35:35.790 –> 00:35:38.650
to strengthen your governance, leadership and legacy.
878
00:35:41.210 –> 00:35:42.290
That’s it for this episode
879
00:35:42.290 –> 00:35:44.410
of the Family Business Business Family podcast.
880
00:35:45.490 –> 00:35:48.330
If you have ideas for future topics or future guests,
881
00:35:49.050 –> 00:35:53.670
reach out to me at zneedlesatfamilybusinessmagazine.com.
882
00:35:53.930 –> 00:35:54.550
Talk to you soon.