Family-owned firms are the backbone of the North American economy, and important sources of HNW wealth. They have business transition and succession needs. Understanding the "narratives" of such firms, and the value of their owners and successors, is crucial. We talk to the author of a book who is also a CEO.

Building a successful family-owned business that can survive generations, creating an engrossing set of stories to inspire people clearly motivates Julie Charlestein.

Charlestein is a fourth-generation CEO of Premier Dental. Recently her firm was named a 2023 Top Ten Most Innovative Company, by the Fast Company publication. The family that owns the dental business traces its origins as a business dynasty to 1913.

Determined to share her insights, Charlestein has developed strategies for navigating the choices facing family businesses. Her new Wall Street Journal bestseller is called How To Lead Your Family Business: Excelling Through Unexpected Crises, Choices, and Challenges (Ben Bella Books/Matt Holt, February 14, 2023).

“I enjoy reading business books and learning from them,” Charlestein told Family Wealth Report in a recent call when asked about what motivated her to write the book.

Storytelling is a vehicle for conveying ideas in digestible and accessible ways, she said. “I wanted to create a relatable and actionable business book.”

In all the conversations these days about sustainability, it is insufficiently appreciated that family-run firms are exemplars of this concept in action, Charlestein said. 

These ideas, she stressed, aren’t new. Notions of stewardship and legacy go back centuries.

The book touches on how business owners' ownership and work gives them a source of pride, of validation, and a sense of community. They can make a difference to their families, communities and wider regions. 

Charlestein said the book teaches the importance of learning, the need to learn and evolve and not stand still. Another takeaway, she said, is that “pressure is a privilege…[owning a business] is an awesome responsibility.” 

Another lesson is that resentment and jealousies in families are a drag and it is important to move beyond them, she added.