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Mike Trueblood: Hi I'm Mike Trueblood. The mission of the Family Business Council at
Cal State - Fullerton is to help your business grow and thrive as a family enterprise. We
accomplish this through monthly workshop forums, peer discussion groups, professional advisers
and courses in family business.
Professor Tom Schwarz: And there's a trust and an understanding from others just like
you in their sharing new experiences. And together you build a camaraderie and you're
able to grow and lead to success for you, your family and for your employees.
Family businesses need to succeed both in their family and in business. And so it's
a special challenge, but special rewards as well.
Veronica Muth: I decided to became member because my dad has been a member since the
foundation of the Council. And I thought it would be a good opportunity to interact with
other family business personnel, especially meeting younger generations. Kind of seeing
what they had to offer, what guidance was available and it related to what I was doing
as an undergraduate in college. There was a family business course that I had been taking
and thought it helped strengthen some of the principles and some of the activities that
we were doing there as well.
John Summerfield: And we decided that there were a lot of things about family business
that were unique and we wanted to really find out more about it other than just business.
Cindy Ayloush: I was invited to one of these meetings. I realized my challenge was the
legacy of the company and how we're gong to pass it on. I come to every meeting. I get
something out of every one of them.
Ron Hill: I became a member of the Family Business Council about 12 years ago. And it
was primarily because I discovered a real lack in my education having to do with family
dynamics. But I had gotten a good handle on the technical aspects of the company.
But I was completely at sea when it came to family dynamics. And when I heard there was
a resource available to enable me to learn how better to deal with these things, I jumped
at the opportunity. And I've been very satisfied with what I've learned ever since.
And having access to their experience and their academic research and just the whole
academic availability of it. You know, I haven't been in college now for 40 years, but I feel
like I'm back in college now because I have access to all of this great learning.
Professor Tom Schwarz: One of the most valuable services that the Family-Owned Business Council
provides is the affinity groups of its members, of its family business members. These are
small groups of family business executives that gather together on a monthly basis. And
to serve as a sounding board, as a mentoring board, as well as to be an accountability
board. And it's a group of individuals that have learned to trust each other with confidential
information.
So you have a group of advisers that are like yourself that you can take your challenges
to. And you can also help them. So it's a very powerful resource that complements your
advisers and the families and the managers that you have. But it's often times a place
that you can go and talk about anything that you're facing.
Ron Hill: The Family Business Council very specifically addressed a lot of what I was
struggling with in their workshops. And so the benefit for me was attending the workshops,
getting useful information, tools that I could bring back and improve that segment of our
business.
MaryEllen Galuchie: I've seen families help each other and CEOs rely on other CEOs as
an informal advisory board. It's just, it's invaluable.
Professor Tom Schwarz: It's best to learn from your peers, those that have gone through
the similar processes that you're experiencing. And they can tell you what they have learned
along the way, the challenges they faced and how they overcame them.
So you gain comfort not in being sold information but by talking to those of you that had similar
issues. And there's a validation and a trust that's developed.
John Summerfield: I think that generally there are so many family businesses out there. A
lot of them have problems. Most of them have the same situations that we do and they could
really benefit from an organization like this.
One of the reasons that a lot of family businesses fail is because they can't get from one generation
to the next, or the second generation to the third, or on like that. And we're really trying
to make an effort to do that. And that's really what's important.
Ron Hill: It is a good networking opportunity. It's almost like a support group.
Cindy Ayloush: I get so much more back.
Mike Trueblood: As you have just heard, families that belong to the Council confirm many benefits
of membership. If you'd like to become a member, visit our website or call us at area code
657-278-4162. We look forward to hearing from you.