Episode 8: Preserving Legacies While Pushing Boundaries | Learning How to Lead | Creating Trusts Without Destroying Trust

Guests

Aaron Chin

Aaron Chin is a second-generation business leader and CEO of Organika, a family-owned Canadian company dedicated to providing innovative, premium health products to help inspire people to live healthier lives. Growing up in the business motivated Aaron to build on what his father started over 30 years ago. To prepare, he studied at UBC, then earned his Master’s in International Business from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business, in France. Since assuming leadership of Organika, in partnership with his brother Jordan, they have increased business seven-fold and have grown the company into an award-winning, globally recognized brand, focusing on innovation and a vibrant company culture.

Mayumi Allison

Mayumi Allison is a second-generation family business owner and the chief executive officer for Hosa Technology, Inc., a leading worldwide supplier of analog and digital connectivity solutions to the musical instrument and professional audio industries. She joined Hosa in 2010 and took over the business from her father, Sho Sato. a Japanese immigrant who came to America over 55 years ago chasing the American Dream. Mr. Sato founded Hosa in 1984.

Dennis Jaffe

Dennis T. Jaffe is an organizational consultant and clinical psychologist who helps multigenerational families to develop governance practices that build the capability of next generation leadership and ensure ongoing capability of financial organizations and family offices to serve their family clients. He is the author of Borrowed From Your Grandchildren: Evolution of 100-Year Family Enterprises and Wealth 3.0: The Future of Family Wealth Advising.

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Here’s a summary of the podcast by interview, with key takeaways for each section:

Dennis Jaffe: On Trusts and Family Dynamics

• Summary: Dennis Jaffe, contributing editor and family business expert, discusses how trusts often create disputes in families due to a lack of communication. He emphasizes the importance of involving beneficiaries in discussions before setting up a trust.
• Key Takeaways:
  1. Open Communication: Trust creators should engage in discussions with family members about their intentions and plans.
  2. Avoid Misunderstandings: Excluding beneficiaries leads to resentment and confusion.
  3. Facilitation Helps: Using a professional facilitator can make conversations more productive.
  4. Legacy Through Inclusion: Writing a letter explaining the trust’s purpose can add clarity but lacks the benefit of give-and-take discussions.

Mayumi Allison: Leading Hosa Technology

• Summary: Mayumi Allison, CEO of Hosa Technology, shares her journey from mortgage banking to leading her family’s business. Initially reluctant, she embraced the opportunity, learned the business, and implemented cultural and operational changes.
• Key Takeaways:
  1. Learning Before Leading: Mayumi focused on listening and learning from long-tenured employees before making changes.
  2. Building Credibility: Establishing trust and relationships with employees and industry stakeholders is critical for new leaders.
  3. Balancing Family Culture and Growth: She maintained a collaborative, family-oriented environment while introducing accountability and market-focused strategies.
  4. External Support: Peer groups, mentors, and consultants provided her with valuable insights and support during her leadership transition.

Aaron Chin: Innovating at Organika

• Summary: Aaron Chin, CEO of Organika, describes how he and his brother transformed their father’s health product business by modernizing operations, focusing the product line, and maintaining their father’s mission to help people live healthier lives.
• Key Takeaways:
  1. Earning Credibility: Despite criticism, Aaron stayed focused on delivering results to prove his worth as a leader.
  2. Balancing Legacy and Change: Aaron retained his father’s mission while cutting unnecessary SKUs and shifting from pills to powders and liquids to meet modern consumer demands.
  3. Inclusive Decision-Making: Bringing his father into key decisions eased the transition and maintained the trust of long-time stakeholders.
  4. Startup Mindset: Aaron fostered a culture of continuous improvement by combining legacy with a startup mentality, emphasizing hunger, humility, and smart decision-making.

Conclusion

• Summary: The episode highlights the complexity and rewards of leading family businesses. The common thread among the interviews is the importance of communication, inclusion, and innovation in navigating generational transitions.
• Key Takeaways:
  1. Open communication prevents conflicts in both trusts and business decisions.
  2. Building credibility is essential for next-generation leaders to earn respect.
  3. Balancing tradition with modern practices ensures long-term growth.
  4. Leveraging external resources and support systems can ease transitions and foster leadership growth.

Zack Needles: This episode is brought to you by Deloitte Private, serving family-owned companies, family offices, and privately held businesses and advising them on addressing a range of issues from growth, talent, and succession to the potential and perils of AI.

Aaron Chin: You know, the best way I explain what my brother and I came into at Organika was, we really needed to chop the roof off the house. We needed to keep the foundations that my dad built, but we really needed to turn the house upside down and shake out every single lamp, lighting fixture, carpet, and couch, and really reset the whole business.

Zack Needles: That was Aaron Chin, CEO of Organika, talking about balancing innovation with legacy preservation in his family business. We’ll hear more from Aaron later in the podcast.

Happy New Year and welcome to the first episode of the Family Business Business Family Podcast of 2025. I’m your host, Zack Needles, Editor-in-Chief of Family Business Magazine. We hope you had a great holiday!

In this episode, contributing editor Dennis Jaffe is back to talk about trusts—specifically why they tend to cause so many disputes in families and how to prevent that from happening in your own family. Also in this episode, Mayumi Allison, CEO and second-generation owner of Hosa Technology Inc., stops by to talk about how she learned to be a leader in the family business her father founded. Building on that theme, Aaron Chin, CEO and second-generation owner of Organika Health Products, stops by to talk about innovating as a next-gen leader in the company his father founded.

Zack Needles: Mayumi Allison is the CEO of Hosa Technology Inc., the leading supplier of analog and digital connectivity solutions to the musical instrument and professional audio industries. When Mayumi took over the business from her father about 15 years ago, she had a business degree but very little knowledge of—or interest in—the family business or the industry in which it operates. In this interview, she talks about how she learned to be a leader and how she developed a love for the business, the industry, and the people in it.

Hi, Mayumi. Happy New Year. Thanks for joining me.

Mayumi Allison: Hi, Zack. Happy New Year to you, too.

Zack Needles: Thank you. I’m really excited to have you on the podcast. You were one of the first people I met when I started this job, and I got to hear your story. I think it’s a great one to share with our podcast audience here.

Mayumi Allison: Thank you for inviting me. I’m honored to be here.

Zack Needles: Let’s start with talking about the path that led you to taking over your family business.

Mayumi Allison: Well, I actually had no plans or interest in taking over the family business. I was on my own career path in mortgage banking, and I loved my job. I was moving up there. But with my dad’s health declining and encouragement from my mom, I decided to step in. I was the one with the business degree, so I was naturally the next person in line.

It all fell into place. It was right after the big financial crisis in the late 2000s. My life was changing with family, and I happened to be on maternity leave. That’s when I decided to check out the business, and I was impressed and surprised by what my dad had built. What seemed boring—selling cables and adapters—turned into something fascinating. It became about building on my dad’s business and seeing how I could make a difference and grow it.

Zack Needles: That’s very cool. You mentioned you came into this with a business degree but no background in cables, adapters, or the industry. Was there skepticism from employees or external stakeholders when you first took over?

Mayumi Allison: Absolutely. Nobody threw it in my face, but I’m sure there was skepticism. I don’t blame them. I didn’t know anything about the musical instrument industry, hadn’t worked in the family business, and I was the owner’s daughter. But I approached it by sitting back, listening, and learning.

I learned from the people who had been there for years. I didn’t come in with a strong hand. Once I understood the business, I started suggesting changes. That approach really helped make the transition smooth.

Zack Needles: I love that point because building credibility is hard, especially for a family member taking over. Part of that is being open to learning and listening instead of acting like you know everything.

Mayumi Allison: Exactly. Building relationships also helped. Our industry values one-on-one relationships. My dad and the team did a great job building those. My first years were spent traveling, meeting people, and building relationships internally and externally.

Zack Needles: Once you got comfortable, what changes did you make? Did you encounter pushback?

Mayumi Allison: Change is constant. Even 15 years later, I’m still making changes. The biggest challenge has been shifting from a family-oriented, collaborative culture with little accountability to a more market-focused culture that fosters growth.

Getting buy-in upfront and involving people in decision-making has helped. But yes, there’s always some pushback. Some staff didn’t align with the vision and had to move on.

Zack Needles: Was there a time your dad disagreed with a change?

Mayumi Allison: Yes. For example, he thought meetings were a waste of time because if you’re in a meeting, you’re not working. But I believe communication is critical. We talked it through, and while he didn’t always agree, he supported me because he knew I was in charge.

Zack Needles: Aaron Chin is the G2 CEO of Organika, a family-owned Canadian company dedicated to providing innovative premium health products to help inspire people to live healthier lives. Speaking of innovation, Aaron joins us today to talk about how he and his brother shook things up at the company that their father founded while still honoring his legacy. Hi, Aaron. Thanks for joining me today.

Aaron Chin: Thanks, Zack, for having me. I’m super pumped to be on the show.

Zack Needles: Absolutely. It’s great to see you again. You spoke at one of our conferences recently, and it was fantastic. I want to recreate some of that here, if we can. Why don’t we start by talking about how you got involved in the family business and your path to becoming CEO?

Aaron Chin: Yeah, I think for us, what my dad was incredible at was never forcing us into the business. He was very methodical and strategic about exposing us to it, getting us excited by inviting us to trade shows, Christmas parties, and summer picnics.

Hearing my dad’s stories about how he built the business and the hardships he endured inspired me. For example, the natural health world in the late 80s and early 90s was predominantly Caucasian. My dad was an immigrant from Malaysia selling health products in places where Asians were rarely seen. He faced catalogues ripped up in his face, every obscenity in the book, and was told to leave stores. Despite all that, he persevered and built the company to what it was when we joined.

Working summers in different departments and at shows cemented my desire to join the business. I knew Organika was where I wanted to be and grow.

Zack Needles: That’s awesome. It’s cool how that love for the business grew organically—no pun intended. It’s inspiring that you were exposed to it without being pressured into it. But obviously, when you became CEO, there were changes you wanted to make. What were some of the first big changes you tried to implement, and how were they received internally and externally?

Aaron Chin: Organika was in a unique position when we joined because my dad had stepped back and hired a management team to run the business. I remember my first day—fresh out of university—I was put in purchasing, though I wanted to be in sales. My dad made strategic moves in assigning our roles, and I later saw the wisdom in it.

However, I quickly realized there were cultural issues in the business. For example, the person running purchasing at the time didn’t seem engaged, deleting voicemails without listening to them. My brother and I knew we had to shake things up.

We kept the foundations my dad built but metaphorically turned the house upside down—resetting everything from people to products to distribution. While employees didn’t like it at first, and there was pushback, we stayed bold.

Being young and hungry helped us navigate criticism that we didn’t deserve to be there or had things handed to us on a silver spoon. We focused on results, and over time, people recognized the impact of our decisions.

Zack Needles: That’s so important. Building credibility as the next generation is hard, especially when you’re the child of the outgoing leader. You can’t let criticism paralyze you, right?

Aaron Chin: Exactly. It took about seven years for me to feel fully confident, knowing I truly deserved to be here based on results and milestones. Even so, that doubt can linger in the back of your mind. You have to tune it out and focus on proving your worth through action.

Zack Needles: You mentioned shaking up everything while keeping the foundation. Was it hard to balance modernizing the business with upholding your dad’s legacy?

Aaron Chin: It was challenging. My dad launched Organika with a simple mission: to help people live healthier. But when we joined, we had over 600 SKUs—way too many for a company our size. We knew we had to cut back.

My dad resisted because he wanted to keep niche products that long-time customers loved. For example, he argued that a product bought by one person in Saskatchewan was worth keeping. Those conversations were tough, but we showed him how focusing our product line would ultimately allow us to scale and help more people.

Aligning all stakeholders—employees, customers, and my dad—around the vision of staying true to the mission while evolving was key.

Zack Needles: That’s a great example of tough conversations leading to better outcomes. How do you foster a culture of innovation and willingness to shake things up as CEO?

Aaron Chin: It starts with mindset. I describe us as a 35-year-old startup. We have the legacy and track record, but we approach challenges with the hunger and humility of a startup.

We constantly ask, “What can we do better?” That self-reflection helps us evolve. One tool that’s been invaluable is Patrick Lencioni’s The Ideal Team Player. It emphasizes building teams with people who are hungry, humble, and smart. That framework has guided our culture.

Zack Needles: Let’s close with advice for young leaders facing the challenge of modernizing their family business while honoring its foundation.

Aaron Chin: Go back to why the business started. For us, it was about helping people live healthier. That clarity guided tough decisions, like saying no to profitable products that didn’t align with our mission.

It’s also essential to bring the older generation into your decision-making process. For example, before we joined, Organika’s business was 100% pills and tablets. One day, my younger brother, still in high school, mentioned having a smoothie at lunch. That moment was a lightbulb: a whole new generation was embracing healthier lifestyles differently.

We pivoted to powders and liquids, which now make up 60% of our business. Bringing my dad into those conversations helped him see how evolving didn’t mean abandoning the mission—it meant growing it.

Zack Needles: That’s such a great anecdote. It highlights the importance of being open to change and looking at the next generation’s needs. Thanks so much for your time and insights, Aaron. This was fantastic.

Aaron Chin: Pleasure, Zack.

Zack Needles: That does it for this episode of the Family Business Business Family Podcast. Once again, Happy New Year! We’d love to hear your ideas for future episodes and guests. Please reach out to me at zneedles@familybusinessmagazine.com. Talk to you soon!