Confessions of a Gen-Nexter: I’m 25… and Still Have Rules to Follow



Kate Groshong
Elizabethtown College
Class of 2008

by Kate Groshong '08,  Brand Specialist, North Star Marketing

When working along side a family member there are certain rules that one should follow. Certainly you think that at this age you shouldn’t have to follow many rules anymore, but growing older I have realized that sometimes the rules later in life are just extensions of the ones we learned at home or in the sandbox.

The following are 5 rules I follow when working with my mother . . . or at least try to follow.

1. Call your parent by his or her first name – It is hard after 25 years of saying Mom all the time, but at work I have learned that my boss is Kae. This keeps things professional and helps to remind me that I am in the confines of our business, not our home. This is also very important so that you don’t immediately show your cards. Clients or people who aren’t aware that you’re family should find out in time, not immediately. It helps to build your credibility.

2. Don’t barge in - Remember that when you’re at work your office is your personal space, just as your boss’s office is their personal space. I always knock before entering Kae’s office as a sign of respect and to make sure I am welcome at that moment. I will admit that if I am very excited about something I sometimes knock as I’m entering her office, but in that moment I am sure she wants to hear the information just as much as I want to tell her!

3. There’s time for work talk and time for everything else talk – When Kae and I spend time together in our off-time we allow certain time to talk business. Once that time frame, or topic, is completed we don’t discuss business anymore. For instance, I cook Kae dinner about once a week, so we agree that we can discuss work during prep time and eating. After that we move on to subjects that aren’t work-related.

4. You’ll have to work twice as hard – When you enter business as “the boss’s kid” you automatically have a stigma. People think you’re making more than them for half the work, when in reality you’re probably faced with more pressure and more work than others with similar work experience. Remember that you’ll have to work twice as hard to earn an equal amount of respect, and don’t be mad about it. At the end of the day your work will be better and you’ll gain trust from your colleagues. It may not be fair, but it is the way it is, and you’ll end up better for it.

5. Family comes first – Of all rules, I believe this is the most important. You can lose your home, you can lose your car, you can even lose your business and you will survive without all three. But you can’t survive without family. Remember that your family always comes first. Do your best to protect your family’s values and the traditions they hold sacred. If you do this with honor, at the end of the day everything will always work out.

 

Kae Groshong Wagner



**If you like hearing about me and my mom, you should come hear my mom! She’ll be sharing the importance of building your Family Business’s brand on May 5, 2011. We look forward to seeing you there!

Expect to see more of Kate's "Confessions of a Gen-Nexter" posts on High Ground.









Confessions of a Gen-Nexter: Being the Boss's Kid

Kate Groshong, class of 2008

by Kate Groshong, Brand Specialist, North Star Marketing

Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by business owners and high-ranking corporate executives. Fortunately I didn’t have to call them sir or ma’am but rather mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and so on. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family definitely has its advantages, but also presents challenges to the next generation that the “kids” typically don’t think they have to deal with. The first big question being “What do I do?”

I followed in my uncle’s footsteps by attending Elizabethtown College and thrived in their Business Department. Majoring in Business Administration and concentrating in Marketing and Entrepreneurship was a perfect fit for me, and I was able to learn about industries outside those that my family conducted business in, and markets outside the tri-state area where my mother and father primarily held business deals.

After graduation I entered a job market that was extremely less than ideal and settled for a sales job, for which I had minimal interest, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Why didn’t I just work for mom or dad, you ask? I wasn’t allowed. One of the greatest things my parents did for me was not provide me with a job opening.

After toughing out the financial sales industry for 14 months I decided it was time to move on. My mother had asked me a few times to consider joining her marketing company, as they were restructuring and she had a need for my expertise. After declining on two different occasions I took a leap of faith and accepted the third. I didn’t jump at the first, or even second, opportunity because I wasn’t sure I was ready to take on the responsibilities of joining a family member in business.

Working with family takes a certain, or different, kind of love and patience. It takes the ability to be able to call mom “Kae” during the hours of 8 and 6 and then smoothly transitioning to “Momma” in our off hours. It takes restraint to keep personal and family situations outside our building parameters and keep work issues away from family lunches and dinners. It also takes a tougher and thicker skin to understand why colleagues would be wary of your entrance and somewhat cynical about your abilities.

Being the “boss’s kid” has its challenges for sure, but there is no one I would rather call report to every day than my mom.

Kate Groshong is a 2008 alumna of Elizabethtown College. Expect to see more of Kate's "Confessions of a Gen-Nexter" posts on High Ground.