Transcript
Michael (00:00.0)
Welcome everybody to the Family Biz Show. I'm your host, Michael Palumbos and we have Megan Lynch from Six Point Strategy back with us for another episode. Megan and I saw each other at a family business event, the Purposeful Planning Institute's rendezvous in Denver, and we actually had a wild ride and went whitewater rafting together, so that was wicked cool. Welcome back, Megan.
Megan (00:33.336)
Thanks so much, Mike. I'm so glad to be on the show.
Michael (00:35.724)
Yeah, we, you know, it's really neat because you and I, though much different in kind of a parallel, you know, work and universe and what's happening. When we met eons ago, we talked about branding and you had just really started to dig into working with family businesses and even mentioned some of the areas that you were
Michael (01:05.216)
you know, diving into and the Prairie family business event, not event, but it's there.
Megan (01:13.462)
Yeah,
Megan (01:13.744)
their association.
Michael (01:15.532)
Yeah,
Michael (01:17.724)
and I was just really impressed where you were taking and diving in and learning tons about this stuff. So why don't you update me and the audience a little bit about what has your journey been over the last couple of years now?
Megan (01:34.446)
Sure, yeah. when Sixpoint was founded, it was founded by my partners, David and Marcia, and it was really all about creative, Sixpoint creative. We did brand work for businesses, but we were in that startup mode of like, you know, if you need something and we can help you, we are happy to do that. And a lot of
Megan (02:03.436)
my journey as a next-gen leader of the business when they started talking about retirement, I started thinking about, what's our next iteration? What's our evolution? And as part of that, I joined a family business center to get help with succession. And the more time I spent in that arena talking with family businesses, the more I realized that
Megan (02:29.964)
Working with family businesses is a discipline in and of itself. And they are dealing with so many different poles. It's not as simple as a strategy that works in business school. You can just take on paper and apply to a family business and solve their problems. In fact, you can make them a lot worse. And so it was kind of that realization combined with realizing that
Megan (02:57.012)
about 70 % of our clients were already family businesses. And also that I didn't really see that family business education and mindset and discipline being applied to brand strategy. And so it felt like an opportunity of like, hey, we're already serving this market. I think we could do it smarter and better. And I don't see anybody else doing it.
Megan (03:23.51)
And so yeah, it's really been a journey to get myself educated and get our team educated on family business best practices, understand more about what other advisors are talking to them in other realms, and then figure out how to apply some of those same frameworks to the brand strategy space and hopefully be more of service and more value to generational businesses.
Michael (03:49.218)
I love that. And you said the magic words and the magic words is you can actually do harm. The complication that you know, that John Davis and Renato Tagari came out with a three circle model, which is, you know, ownership and family and business and all those interact or all those where they intersect, you know, that's where all the conflict comes from. There's so many different ways where a normal business just doesn't have
Megan (03:54.037)
Exactly.
Michael (04:19.053)
that here's what's really neat about that is that you and I know this, you know, it's it's something like, and I'm not going to put the number out there, but 50 % of the US GDP is coming from family businesses in the the world, you know, in the US today and across the world. In some countries, it's even higher than that. So
Megan (04:38.862)
Yeah, and I think because family businesses, because they are privately held, because they don't have to publish a lot of information, I think it also creates this false sense of their importance to the economy, because everything that we read and everything that's public and published is all publicly traded companies. But that's 2,000 companies versus 60 million. It's like information.
Megan (05:05.89)
bias in, I think, for the general public about understanding exactly what their impact is and also the importance of this really diverse but also very complicated group of businesses.
Michael (05:25.068)
Yeah, so I was surprised that you were, you know, had signed up to go to the Purposeful Planning Institute's rendezvous. I'm very excited to, you you and I only knew each other virtually from conversations and things that we've done, you know, throughout the time together. It was really cool to get to know you, personally, but more importantly, the Purposeful Planning Institute's rendezvous, you gave a really good
Michael (05:50.654)
Explanation to me in terms of what you found there. I want to share that because I think it's important to talk to speak to who you are and what you're learning and what you can bring to the table for families that you serve. Remember.
Megan (06:03.726)
Yeah.
Megan (06:05.867)
So, yeah, I was very pleasantly surprised. I almost didn't know why I was going to that conference either. You know, it's a lot of wealth advisors, you know, like I was definitely the only brand person there. But I did find just a great group of like minded people. And the way I've been describing it to people is that
Megan (06:29.964)
It's almost like academia in that it felt like everybody there that at least that I spoke to was really invested in advancing the field. Like how do we serve families and high net worth families more effectively? And also how do we do, how do we make each other better, right? Like what do I know that I could share with you because it would benefit the field.
Megan (07:00.418)
But they were not doing it like academics in terms of like, I'm gonna do research and publish a paper. Instead, it was a lot of like hands-on collaboration, real example sharing, framework sharing, just practical tools. So it was like, it was almost a mix between like an academic conference and also like this really.
Megan (07:22.606)
like roll up your sleeve hands on mentality. And I just, loved it. It was like, oh yes, these are, these are my people. That's what I've been looking for. So it was really fun. Yeah.
Michael (07:33.326)
I thought, you the reason why I wanted to make sure that you talked about that is because I think that speaks to who you are being that curious about learning as much as you possibly can about the families that you serve and understanding, you know, the fact that you know you could do harm with, you know, how you enter these conversations and who the players are. And I think it also is wonderful that, you know,
Michael (07:59.246)
It's possible that you could be sitting here saying, oh, wait a minute, I see something going on that I can't help with, but I know who can. And you're building out your Rolodex, I know I just dated myself, but your contact group, your LinkedIn profile to have, who can I call if and when we need these things.
Megan (08:19.426)
Yeah, exactly. And I think particularly for family businesses, no problem is in a vacuum. You know, that three circle model, the whole idea is that they're interconnected circles, right? So like none of them are existing in a vacuum. And I think when we're talking about brand, a lot of times with family businesses, I won't even use the word brand, I'll use reputation or I'll use trust because...
Megan (08:42.696)
what we're dealing with is not, again, kind of like a logo or a tagline. We're dealing with generations of relationships, trust, reputation, legacy that's been built up that people are feeling the weight of. And so when we get involved, it's not we're in the marketing bucket, but it really does start to get pretty messy pretty fast. And so that's where I feel like, you
Megan (09:08.558)
the work that we're doing is definitely dovetailing with the work that other advisors are doing. And so to the piece of like, do no harm. I just want to make sure that I know what those advisors are likely saying to them, that we're not doing anything that's counter to what they're trying to advance. And then also to your point that I can be a help to say,
Megan (09:29.838)
I see you're dealing with this dynamic over here, or you're dealing with succession, or whatever. Who else can we bring into the table? Because some of the family businesses that we work with don't yet have all of their advisors figured out, or haven't even really been as much into the family business ecosystem as I am. So anytime we can be a resource and bring extra value, it's always great.
Michael (09:56.974)
Awesome. All right, so I can't not talk about this with everything that's going on in the news right now with the Cracker Barrel debacle and branding. And I know it's just the logo piece that's out there, and that's not what you do. But my gut says, Megan and Six Point Strategy would have approached this a little differently than what's happened. You've had some time to think about,
Michael (10:26.124)
what's going on out there. And again, for those that don't know, you know, the, the, the Cracker Barrel logo was the guy at the country store. It's that place where everybody kind of meets and chats and talks and feels good about everything. And they switched that to just the words Cracker Barrel. And it looks like without a lot of research and without a lot of, you know, why, who are we, what do we stand for kind of a thing. Megan.
Michael (10:55.064)
Tell me, give me your take on this, you know, just from a high level. We don't have to go too deep on this.
Megan (11:01.07)
Yeah, I I think that like a lot of the feedback that's been coming out is, oh, you know, the, you know, it's a publicly traded company now, sales were going down.
Megan (11:13.684)
Oftentimes the solution to that is we've got to rebrand, we've got to update. And I think that that can be true in family businesses too, that it's sometimes kind of like a go-to solution that feels like it's a panacea for like, if we just rebrand, if we just update our look, then we're gonna attract new customers. And that's, I mean, we all know that that's not realistic of how it works. If it was that easy, then everybody would be rebranding all the time.
Megan (11:43.57)
But I think the emotional reaction that people have had is something that we do often see in family businesses and particularly in these kind nostalgic brands where the kind of like character that was in the brand, like it definitely does not look clean and modern. Like that is true. And also
Megan (12:12.204)
people have this emotional connection to nostalgia. so thinking that just cleaning it up is going to engage people in it is not always the right thing to do. That sometimes, you know, thinking about like, you know, what is the nostalgia here and how do we amplify that as opposed to how do we strip it away can be a really fruitful conversation.
Megan (12:41.666)
And then also, think it just shows too the emotional connection that people have with brands and their symbols. That is again, like one of the reasons why I love the work is because it's not logical. Like it is very emotional. And so again, sometimes a strategy that looks great on paper or looks great on a deck.
Megan (13:10.944)
is not the same when you roll it out. so thinking about how that's done and who you're engaging in the conversations and things like that becomes a really important piece of making it successful. It's one that I look at that says like, well, maybe if it was rolled out differently, it could have landed differently. Sometimes the how is as important as the what.
Michael (13:34.968)
Yeah, and they're not the only ones. We've had a few of these over the past couple of years where it was like, whoa, what were they thinking? And I think to your point, one of the things that I've learned from you is brand is not the logo. It's not. But at the same time, it is. It's that look and feel of how I'm connected emotionally.
Michael (13:56.066)
To this company, you know people are if you're a Harley Davidson fan, you are emotionally connected to Harley Davidson. You are not changing that logo. You know overnight without you know lots and lots of work working with.
Megan (14:09.326)
Yeah. And I think people have like the brand also or the logo becomes a shorthand also to that emotional connection and experience that people have with it. And so I think the sense of loss can be really high, you know, that that loss bias really kicks in. So it's like, we lost that character out of it.
Megan (14:30.814)
the fear that that triggers is what else are we going to lose? Like, I park my RV there for free overnight. Is that going to go away? It starts to feel too corporate. What else am I losing? Is my favorite meal going away? Are prices going up? Is it going to be... So I think that that becomes the symbol for...
Megan (14:55.124)
all of the other things that people associate with the brand that then they're afraid they're also going to lose.
Michael (15:01.558)
Yeah, when we did some work with you, was one of the things that you taught us was it's not just, brand is not just who you are, but it's what you do and how do you connect to these people and how do we weave into their lives on a regular basis and become part of the ethos, so to speak, of this family that we serve.
Michael (15:26.638)
And so it's like, yep, we've got this logo where, you know, if you look at the logo, it's looks like three people holding hands, three generations. I have lots of little symbols to what goes with that. But none of my clients probably care if I change the logo 14 times because they want to know, you know, as long as I explain to them just what like you said, everything is staying the same.
Michael (15:54.092)
We just, there's a reason why we changed the logo, yada, yada, yada. Here's it, you know, here's why. And as long as it made sense and all of what we bring to the table for them and who we are, how we show up for them was staying the same. That makes all the difference. But if you're going to change those things, then you better put two and two together. Cause like you said, that's what they're feeling. What if, what else is changing? I love that. I didn't put that connection together.
Megan (16:20.172)
Yeah, it's like the what else are we losing? If we're losing this or this is changing, what else is changing that you're not telling us about that it's going to be what I really care about? Sure.
Michael (16:31.98)
And that
Michael (16:32.48)
feeds right into the fact that their reputation, the trust is an asset that they have. Then you taught me that. Let's talk about that, dig into that, and help people understand how is reputation an asset of this family business.
Megan (16:51.628)
Yeah, I mean, I think it's an asset in many ways. one is I think that that's something that family businesses know almost on gut, you know, that like we'll talk about again, they may not say.
Megan (17:07.778)
brand as an asset, but if I talk to them about, you know, what are the biggest assets of your company? They'll say like our reputation, the trust that our customers have in us, our relationship with our employees. They'll talk about all of those things. And that is brand, right? Like that, you know, what other people say about your company is the brand. And so I think that there is a piece that they understand on gut. Then there's also...
Megan (17:35.052)
the piece about when you value a business, there is a line item that is intangible assets. And so that is the brand. It can be intellectual property. It can be the reputation. It can be your clout in the market, your positioning, your relationship with customers and how strong and sticky they are, how irreplaceable you are. But all of that goes into this very nebulous valuation.
Megan (18:04.3)
that especially for families who their biggest asset is the business, understanding what goes into that valuation, again, like even if you're not thinking about selling the company anytime soon, it still is the asset that you're passing on. so how are you thinking about how how knowledgeable are you about how you can affect that valuation in the most positive way possible? Because the other thing is that
Megan (18:34.542)
the things that you would do, again, just like any business valuation, it's like the things that you do to strengthen that valuation are also the things that will strengthen the brand and the business overall. So I think that like understanding what goes into that and being thoughtful about it becomes a great way that leaders can be stewards of their brand and stewards of the business in a way that's really thought.
Michael (19:03.36)
It's almost, it sounds like family businesses, you know, where we take for granted all of the things around trust and reputation and, our integrity of how we do things. It probably would be worthwhile from a valuation perspective, just looking at things to say, what is our inventory around
Michael (19:30.656)
reputation around trust and what are all the things that we do that really start to set us apart and understanding that so that, you know, the things that you do really well, you can amplify and the things that maybe you don't do so well, you can at least be know that, we don't do these things so well. So either I have to fix these things to increase enterprise value. can, you know, or I just need to make sure that I don't step on anything.
Michael (19:59.936)
so to speak, in those areas.
Megan (20:02.518)
Right. Yeah, exactly. And I think like around brand, the things that we see that really impact the enterprise value specifically as it relates to brand is the transferability of the brand. So that trust, that reputation that I have, how easily does it pass from
Megan (20:22.902)
let's say the founder or the leading generation to the next generation or to the next owner or to a non-family CEO, is it living with a really charismatic founder or is it something that
Megan (20:36.172)
belongs to the company, belongs to the team that other people can access. So that transferability is a really big piece. Also, the systemization of it kind of dovetails with the transferability. But if we do have things that can be legally protected, that can be intellectual property for us, have we done that work?
Megan (20:58.508)
Do we have systems around how we communicate, how we show up together so that we're building equity in the symbols of our brand, whether it's language or whether it's colors or whether it's things like logos? And then also, how are we incorporating the voice of our customer into our systems and process? So like that relationship with our customer that we might say, we know our customer so well.
Megan (21:24.226)
Well, how do we systematize that? How are we regularly getting that voice of the customer into our business? How are we surfacing insights? And then how are we operationalizing and acting on those insights? So those three things, that transferability, that systemization, and that voice of the customer are really kind of like the three pillars of how you can build brand equity, know, kind of make that into more of an asset or an asset that's working harder.
Megan (21:52.3)
both for your business and for your family and for your legacy.
Michael (21:56.184)
Yeah, so let's take a peek at that and go back to the Cracker Barrel thing for a second. We know that the founder, you know, for succession planning purposes, you know, sold it and it became a publicly traded company. And that mindset, that thinking of, you know, in decades, kind of thinking that a founder might have or the family business might even be thinking in generations.
Michael (22:24.494)
when you go to that publicly traded company or you go to a private equity group, they're now thinking about how do we get the most out of this in this quarter or in the next two to three years? And they're just not thinking about this in the same way that a family business has to.
Megan (22:43.104)
Right. Yeah. And I think that that becomes the opportunity, Is if you can, family businesses know these things by gut, right? Like we, like they have relationships, they have instincts, all of these things are emotional for them. But when you start to look at these things on paper, they start to take a view. And so the question is like, how do we do both of those things? It's not one or the other, but how do we do?
Megan (23:09.848)
both and, and so a big piece of that becomes like, hey, if you have a gut feeling that people really connect with this character, who I understand was like based on the founder's uncle, if you have a gut feeling that people connect with this character, how can you document that? How can you show that this character has equity beyond just.
Megan (23:34.168)
we like it, or it's always been that way. Because those arguments aren't gonna play, you know, if you're a publicly traded company or if you sell to private equity. But if you have documented systems around, you know, we know from our customers that they love this character, we know how much, we know what they would feel if, you know, if it went away, then it gives you the ability, if you do sell, to safeguard some of the brand elements.
Megan (24:02.126)
Or if you don't sell, it gives you a reason to engage the next generation and educate the next generation about why these things are important. It's not just because we've always done this way or because mom or dad said so. It's because they truly have value beyond us.
Michael (24:22.806)
You know, one of the things, and I see this a lot in family owned construction companies, I'm not going to poke any fingers at anybody, but when we start talking about culture, which brand, you know, comes from within at some levels, there's a culture that the company is that fits with the brand. And culture is that core purpose or that vision of the future, you know, that long term vision.
Michael (24:52.71)
it's the core values of the business that are bled through that the customers see, the clients see as they're doing things. And then that BHAG or that mission of what they're trying to accomplish right now when you blend those things together. And when I start talking about that a lot of times with construction companies and something or manufacturing think would be another one where we're hands on, we're making widgets, we're doing that stuff. We're not maybe, we're not maybe as...
Michael (25:22.702)
It's that.
Megan (25:23.086)
not
Megan (25:23.406)
selling a consumer product or, you know, we're not cracker brand. We're not Apple. We're not Coke. Yeah.
Michael (25:29.718)
And so the point I'm trying to make is that, you know, they never did that work. Or when you start talking about that work, that's like, it's not that big of a deal. But now in what you're talking about, if I'm taking this culture, which has become my brand, which, you know, which has become my reputation, and if I don't go through and systematize it and understand what does that mean, you know, and if I don't go through and understand the voice of the customer,
Michael (25:58.772)
it's going to be very difficult to transfer it. that, am I,
Megan (26:02.514)
Exactly. Yes, you nailed it. 100 % because as long as if brand is your culture made visible, right? Like that's basically what it is. It's that external manifestation of your internal culture. If that's what it is, but it's not systematized and it's not clear and it's not articulated and it continues to live in the world of gut, then it's
Megan (26:32.214)
it's not going to live beyond you. And I think for generational companies, that's the goal is that this doesn't end with me. And if it doesn't end with me, that also that there's a through line, that we don't have a drastic change in culture, in reputation, in relationships every time the leadership changes. We want people to feel continuity. And so like I think
Megan (27:00.802)
that I often hear like a false, that I would call like a myth of like, you're the only person who can represent your brand. You're the best person to represent your brand. If that is true, then it's going to end with you. And I know that it doesn't have to be true. And so I think that people often kind of like, people say it to be kind and to be flattering.
Megan (27:26.594)
But I think it can have a really negative impact on leaders and their headset of like, especially if you're in a relationship business like construction or something that, I have to be the one to do this. My team can't do it. But we see all the time of brands scaling and growing and that not being the case. So just applying some of those same frameworks, but doing it with, again, kind of like that family business lens, I think can make a huge difference in value and continuity.
Megan (27:56.43)
just the business lasting from generation to generation.
Michael (28:00.078)
Michael (28:00.598)
Yeah, know Harley-Davidson just jumps out from a brand perspective. Yeah. You know, the brand advocates are out there every single day on their motorcycle when the sun is shining and the wind is in their, you know, in their face and they're feeling that stuff and they're proud to be on, you know, that motorcycle. Go ahead.
Megan (28:23.95)
Yeah.
Megan (28:24.61)
And well, I know I was just going to say, from that standpoint, again, I think that for businesses who think that they are the sole carrier of leaders, that they think they are the sole carrier of your brand, that's also false. Because to your point, your customers are the best carriers of your brand. They're the ones who are really spreading.
Megan (28:46.056)
what the brand means to them, what it stands for for them. And so how they can articulate it and how they do articulate it becomes one of the most powerful tools that you can have to grow. But also it's a great like pressure test for your brand, like do your customers talk about you in the way that you want to be talked about or
Megan (29:08.342)
Are you that best kept secret that your customers still don't quite understand what you do and who you do it for? They just know that they get this one service or product from you.
Michael (29:18.03)
And then to bring it back in-house and talking about culture, then it's, doing, you use that voice of the customer and systematize it. I think on top of that, it's voice of the employees.
Michael (29:31.886)
and measuring employee satisfaction and what do they think about the brand and what do they think about our reputation and who are we? is it, know, the real easy one is the employee net promoter score and the question we usually ask there is would you refer a friend or family member to come and work here? Go ahead.
Megan (29:54.958)
Yeah, it's huge.
Megan (29:58.541)
no, I mean, it's a huge stress test for it, right? Like if they're not going to recommend it, then how could a customer, how could, you it's like, you got to kind of get your own house in order first. And I also think another interesting stress test for it is can your employees say your strategy in one sentence? Can your customers say your strategy in one sentence? Like your strategy shouldn't be a secret. It should be something that
Megan (30:22.126)
everybody should know and everybody be able to repeat in really simple language about like who what is this company and like what are they on earth to do and how are they the best suited to do it and again family businesses don't like to brag they don't like to to like kind of toot their own horn but when it comes down to that like that is it's not it's not bragging it's really about making sure that everybody's aligned and
Megan (30:51.214)
clear about why you should be here. And that helps your mission.
Michael (30:56.302)
100%. And when you have the employees being a great brand ambassador, you don't need to be the only one carrying the flag any longer. that's creating, the way to do that is creating incredible culture that is really, you know, harnessed and focused on our, you know, what is that vision statement? What is our purpose? Why do we exist beyond money? Right?
Michael (31:21.1)
And then what is, I love what you said. How can I, how can me and my employees and my customers articulate our strategy in a sentence or two tops? It should be that simple and that boil down. And now you're really starting to build in to what this brand is all about.
Megan (31:38.188)
Yeah, yeah. And then that is what helps create that longevity, as you were starting to get at, is how do we welcome that next generation into the business? How do we help them see not only how to move it forward and what should change, but also what do they need to protect and steward as part of their next generation role? And so brand can be a great way.
Megan (32:04.866)
to do that, to start to create those conversations with next-gens, get them excited about the future of the business, get them to really see themselves as being a part of it, and also give them a sense that there's something here to protect, that there's something here of value that they want to make sure stays safe and stays strong.
Michael (32:25.346)
Yeah, so talking about the Rising Gen and how as they're coming up to be stewards of this, what are some of the things that help with transferability as you're talking with different families? What have you found through all the research and talking with families and going to family business centers and?
Megan (32:47.084)
What? Yeah, it's a great question. think there's two main kind of avenues that we see next gens can really use and the rising gens can really use to engage them in this conversation. So one is educating them about the brand and what it stands for, what the company does, who they do it for, why they do it. And that can start.
Megan (33:13.578)
at any age, know, that like the earlier the better you're engaging them in that conversation. And what it starts to open the door for conversations about is, hey, you know, especially when you start entering that cousin consortium size stage where you may have owners who don't work in the operating business, how can they still see themselves as being a face of the brand? You know, like you think about social media and you know what if they're posting something on social media?
Megan (33:43.106)
how that has an influence on the brand and what it stands for if they're a part of the family. It can all get kind of tracked back, but you can't have those conversations just as like, we're gonna put rules about you can't post on social media, cause blah, blah, blah. You have to get them to understand what do we stand for and have them feel a stake in it and part of it so that they want to be part of that conversation. And so we see that as being.
Megan (34:10.772)
a great avenue to start to open up some of those conversations and to start talking about how they can take care of that brand. And then the other one is a more strategic approach to philanthropy is starting to, again, create that through line between where we give money, how we're a part of the community, how that tracks back to our values, how that tracks back to our reputation.
Megan (34:36.302)
and start to create a through line because philanthropy is a great way to have the next generation feel, again, involved in what's going on and also understand that it's not about just passing on wealth, but it's also about passing on relationships in the community and a legacy and really helping to make sure that they understand that there's more people counting on the family than just
Megan (35:06.07)
themselves. And so I think that it becomes a great opportunity to have some of those conversations. And again, it was one of the reasons why I was excited to be at PPI at Rendezvous and be in the room on some strategic philanthropy conversations. Because I think that there's a definite through line to brand reputation trust that is directly related to where we give, who we give to, why we give, all of those things.
Michael (35:32.104)
I will share with you. You didn't even know that I was going to say this or what I've done. so like to me, and I've been saying this and now I'm hearing other people saying it. I don't think I don't believe I was the one that said this phrase first, but I definitely have used it for many, many years. And people looked at me cross-eyed saying, I don't get it. Philanthropy is the sandbox for entrepreneurship and leadership. So we
Michael (35:59.35)
You know, we learned from Jay Hughes, one of my mentors, he wrote the book, Family Wealth Keeping in the Family, and a bunch of others. But Jay, you know, wrote a white paper many years ago called The Grandparent Grandchild Philanthropy Project. And I introduced that to all of my clients. I've had one that has taken it to the nth degree and really done a great job with it. I'm going to send you a link to it. And anybody, you know, that's out there, should, if...
Michael (36:27.968)
If this is of interest to you whatsoever, especially for those family businesses where you have the cousin consortium coming up as the next gen or you're going into fourth, fifth, sixth, whatever the complication level is, getting family members to learn how to trust each other, learn how to communicate. the earlier we can start that, and you can do this at any age. If they're in their 20s already,
Michael (36:54.498)
This is a great time to start. You what do they say? The best time to plant a tree is when? 20 years ago. The next best time is today. So it doesn't matter what the age are. But my client, Megan, and I want you, you're going to watch this because I know you've got a young man who's pretty incredible, Henry, your son. I'm to send you a link to this, this interview I did. And grandma and grandpa started the Grandparent Grandchild Philanthropy Project when the four grandkids
Michael (37:22.456)
She had two at six and two at nine, different households, and they were growing up in different households in different states, and she wanted to find a way to connect them. She also wanted to find a way to build them up as leaders. when you see the video of these two young men, four young men rather, the four of them, you can immediately start to see the impact of gratitude in that they are more,
Michael (37:48.974)
Gracious and they're more, you know, they have they have gratitude for things that they that other kids don't have There's some really neat stuff that's happening and I just found out one of the kids is dating a young woman You know, say dating and air quotes, know the first crushes and whatnot But the young woman is you know, she had a childhood disease and started her own 501 c3. She started a philanthropy. So like
Michael (38:16.95)
rule the two of them together a little bit like, you know, minded people thinking about other people instead of just thinking about themselves. It's the best way to get to, to inoculate against entitlement is gratitude and, and giving and taking care of other people. So you struck a chord for me in that, and I will echo and say Megan's a hundred percent right. And my opinion, from what that's worth that, you know,
Michael (38:45.678)
Philanthropy is a great way to start thinking about how do I transfer all of these things that are nebulous around brand and reputation and trust and integrity. Just a beautiful way to do
Megan (38:58.01)
Yeah, yeah, I love that idea of it being a sandbox and also it being a little bit play. I think that there's something nice about philanthropy and that it does feel generous and open and more fun sometimes than the business because you can, you know, feel that connection of making an impact much more directly sometimes than in the operating company. And so I think it does put people in more of that.
Megan (39:25.934)
play space, which I think then makes it more open for the next gen to be able to come in and access it. Sometimes then like the complexity of the operating companies or other aspects of the family enterprise. So I love that. I will definitely look forward to that video.
Michael (39:45.066)
And as the ages grow, you can change the parameters of what this year's gifting looks like. So when they're six and nine, just getting them interested in picking a charity and figuring out why and doing some things at that level is great. But when they're 16 years old, then it's like, you know.
Michael (40:05.11)
Did you look at their tax return? did you check out their values and what do they stand for and why is this so important to you? And just keep elevating that conversation. Have you looked at how they do their investing? All the conversations that don't, I think it's difficult sometimes to have with a young adult these conversations, but when they're doing it,
Megan (40:23.074)
Mm-hmm.
Michael (40:34.11)
for somebody else and they're doing it together sometimes that's creating some different pieces. What grandma did is she made each of the grandchildren give a presentation in front of the full family when they got together. So one of the things that's in the video, the boys talk about the fact that it's not so hard for them to talk in class in front of their peers because we've been doing it for eons because grandma made us do it.
Megan (40:57.23)
That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, and I would also put on there of like, you know, getting them to connect it back to the brand of the business, you know, that, you know, again, seeing that through line of like, how does what we're giving connect to what we do so that it's not this sort of like siloed, we give a one time gift, but that it's about connecting the values, the story, the history, the relationships.
Megan (41:26.766)
And thinking about that all as like one continuous story, not like, we do giving over here and we do operate, you know, we make the money over here and then we give it away over here. Instead it's all part of a continuum, right? And so helping them tell that story and internalize that story, again, I think has all kinds of benefits in terms of getting them to be excited about the business and also excited about the impact on the mission.
Michael (41:55.596)
love that and the connector for me is when your purpose beyond profit is so powerful it makes that continuum very easy to explain to a five-year-old a six-year-old. Do this because and by the way someday you might get a chance if you so choose to come into the family business and if you work really hard and become a part of the business then you might be able to do that over there maybe that's not you know there is no there is no
Megan (42:06.504)
Exactly.
Michael (42:21.944)
for sure's, you know, you've got a work card, you've got to prove it, and all of things that you're supposed to do.
Megan (42:27.209)
Exactly. Love it.
Michael (42:29.036)
This is super exciting. You have now been in front of how many different family business centers and conferences and things do you think you've been to over the past three, four years now?
Megan (42:45.566)
my gosh. Definitely like more than a dozen. I'm definitely like a life. One of our core values at Sixpoint is be passionately curious. And it can almost be like that dark side of like, okay, like Megan, you got to stop going to classes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. But, yeah.
Michael (42:50.242)
Yeah!
Michael (43:01.762)
show for one of these days.
Michael (43:06.394)
I asked because I knew the answer to that question. I know how passionate you are about this. But I think it becomes really, really evident how well you've listened to the needs of the family business and how to connect these pieces. I think it's important because the average brand consulting firm
Michael (43:34.402)
doesn't get all the things that you just shared. And so I want to give you props to you and your team for really digging into that stuff. And I think for many family businesses doing, you know, a brand planning session to figure out, you know, how are we going to systematize all this stuff? What is the voice of our customer and how do we do this? And how do we think about, you know, transferring it? It's not just about like, you know, it's not the logos.
Michael (44:03.618)
The logo could stay the same, but how do we capture all this stuff? Is that?
Megan (44:09.132)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I see it also as a big piece of it is just like, it's a way that I show respect to our clients, right, is to, dog barking. But yeah, a way that I show respect to our clients is to understand the complexity that they're dealing with and to that I feel like it's the least that we can do is to educate
Megan (44:37.888)
ourselves on what they're dealing with and to make sure that what we're providing is of value to them in the most meaningful way possible. So yeah, I appreciate you saying that.
Michael (44:51.596)
love it. Anything else that we should hit on? We're close to time, but if there's anything else that you think that we should hit on?
Megan (45:02.668)
No, think we covered a lot of ground. think this was all good stuff, and I appreciate the connections that you helped to make and also all the great questions, really good stuff.
Michael (45:16.544)
Awesome. Megan Lynch, Six Point Strategies, the name of her company. You can find her on the internet, sixpointstrategy.com. You can find her on LinkedIn, and it's Megan, M-E-G-H-A-N. I always have to, might mentally have to change that, because I know a lot of Megan's the other way. Really, really appreciate this, and I don't bring guests back a second and a third time.
Michael (45:44.654)
too often. Jay Hughes probably is the one that I brought back the most often. You can understand why. I think he's kind of been, you know, super influential in my life and many of the family businesses that are out there. Your transformation and evolution in working with family businesses, I think is commendable and that's why I wanted to bring you back again. You're sharing something totally different.
Michael (46:08.982)
than the first episode, than when we got together. And I just want to say thank you and congratulations to all the work that you've done.
Megan (46:17.516)
Well,
Megan (46:17.776)
thank you so much, Michael. You've been a big influence in that work. And I've learned a lot from you and look forward to continuing to learn with you as we, I'm sure, will bump up in many future conferences. Plenty of places.
Michael (46:31.982)
Michael (46:32.743)
Thanks everybody for listening. This has been the Family Biz Show. I'm your host Michael Palumbos with Family Wealth and Legacy in Rochester, New York. And we look forward to having you listen in on future episodes. Have a great day everybody. We'll talk to you soon. Take care.
