Successful Generations

In this episode, Ellie interviews family business owner, real estate leader, and coach Chris Prefontaine. Ellie and Chris talk about what it's like to work in a family business. Chris explains how his kids became involved in the business and he shares how they make it all work. Get the show notes and links to resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode061.

Polo Tate, the author of Deep Dark Blue: A Memoir of Survival, shares her story of resilience. She describes how she found herself following a series of traumatic experiences, and ultimately how she rediscovered joy. Learn more and get links to Polo's book at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode060/.

When clients come to me for coaching and they express feeling overwhelmed, I begin by asking them to tell me about their priorities. Setting your priorities is essential, especially in this busy season of life. If we do it right and feel confident in our priorities, we have a framework for saying 'yes' or 'no, thank you' when something is not a good fit. In this episode, I describe my 4 steps to setting priorities and I give examples from my own personal experience.  Download my 4 steps to setting priorities workbook at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode059.   

What exactly is a community foundation? And why would a donor choose to work with one over starting their own foundation? To explore these questions, Ellie is talking with Neel Harja, CEO of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. Learn more at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode058.

In this episode, Ellie talks with Arlene Cogen, a certified financial planner and the author of GIVE TO LIVE: Make A Charitable Gift You Never Imagined. After spending 20 years on Wall Street working in trusts and investments, Arlene pivoted to a career in philanthropy. Her experiences working with families led her to write her book. We dive into the importance of personal, financial and legacy planning. Get the show notes and links to resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode057.  

In this episode, Ellie and Alisa Craig, Administrator of Wellness & Population Health with Hurley Medical Center dive into stress in the workplace. They discuss the dangers of stress, common health-related symptoms of stress, and touch on why and how companies are actively working to reduce stress for their employees. Alisa provides practical strategies anyone can use to combat stress in daily life.  Get the show notes and resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode056/.  

Ellie is joined by Dr. John Townsend, author of Entitlement Cure. He explains entitlement and offers tools to avoid it in your children, your family and yourself. Get the show notes and resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode055/  

Ready to finally achieve the goals you've been setting for yourself year after year? Ellie has a 12-step process to help you make sure you're working towards the right goals and get you on the path to checking those goals off the list. Make 2019 the year you finally did it! Get the show notes and a handout outlining the 12 steps at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode054/.

You voted and we listened. Here's the #1 Successful Generations Podcast Episode for 2018!  Mitchell Kaneff assumed leadership of Arkay Packaging in 1996 when he was 30 years old. He gained notoriety 14 years later following the release of his book, Taking Over: Insider Tips from a Third Generation CEO. The book shares his personal story, including a letter he wrote to his father asking him leave the business, along with stories from other families who struggled through leadership transitions. The media headline at the time was Why I Fired My Father From the Family Business. Get the show notes and links to resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/1bestof2018/.

When we talk about our health and wellness we focus on our physical bodies. We talk about things like diet and exercise. In this episode, we focus on a different aspect of wellness: our mental health. For this conversation, Ellie is joined by Christy Buck, Executive Director of the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan. Get the show notes and links to resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/2bestof2018/.  

You voted and we listened! Here's Best of 2018 Episode #3.  In this episode, Dann Van Der Vliet and I dig into family business from the family business center/academic perspective. Dann is currently The John and Dyan Smith Executive Director of Family Business, part of the Smith Family Business Initiative, at Cornell University. We discuss family business centers and their role as a resource for family businesses; Dann gives us his version of OMFG (ownership, management, governance and family); and we go deep on the link between family business and entrepreneurship. Get the show notes and links to resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/3bestof2018/.

Over the last year on this podcast our guests have shared an incredible number of resources related to family business, family wealth, family philanthropy and wellness for family business leaders. We've been compiling a list along the way, and it currently fills three pages! So, in this episode, Ellie is sharing her top picks from the list with you. She includes books, organizations, consultants, web resources and more. Ellie recorded this as a video, so be sure to check out the video in the shownotes: https://successfulgenerations.com/episode053.   Get links to all resources in the show notes at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode053.

In this episode, we explore The U.S. Trust Study of The Philanthropic Conversation with Rebecca Miller, Senior Philanthropic Advisor with The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI).  TPI and U.S. Trust partner on the study to explore the extent and dynamics of philanthropic conversations happening between high-net-worth individuals and their professional advisors. Get the show notes and links to resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode052.

In this episode, Ellie Frey Zagel, a Gen Xer, is joined by Colleen Mitchell, a Boomer and Paige Cornetet, a Millennial. Together, this trio has created 3Gen Perspectives—a program they’ve shared with several family wealth audiences this year. While they have a lot in common, their conversation demonstrates how their generation and life experiences influence their views on giving back and how they approach philanthropy. Get the show notes at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode051/.

We're celebrating our 50th episode! Ellie is joined by her husband, Chad Zagel who asks questions from our listeners. They look back at what we’ve learned at Successful Generations with one year and 50 episodes of the podcast in the books. In addition to fielding questions about the podcast, Ellie and Chad also talk about how they make it all work as partners, parents, professionals, and volunteer leaders. More at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode050

In this episode, we dive into Kristin Keffeler's research and subsequent Master's thesis titled, Becoming the Rising Generation: Uncovering the Path to Thriving for the Next Generation in Ultrahigh Net Worth Families. We explore her findings and why they matter. Kristin shares four key challenges of growing up in wealth and what we can all do to move from helplessness to learned mastery. Get the show notes and links to resources at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode049/

Joshua Nacht, Ph.D. is a consultant with the Family Business Consulting Group. He recently co-authored Family Champions and Champion Families: Developing Family Leaders to Sustain the Family Enterprise. In this episode, we define what a family champion is and review the traits these leaders commonly possess. Joshua also lists the seven hallmarks of a champion family.   Full show notes at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode048/.

Negative self-talk does not help us achieve our goals, yet I hear it all the time in my work with my coaching clients and from my peers who are fellow rising leaders. In this Power20 episode, I'm sharing why negative self-talk is so destructive and I equip you with an exercise to flip the script. Let's do this!

In this episode, we talk to Rochelle Clarke, CEO & Founder of Succession Strength and author of The 5 Critical Succession Conversations: A Comprehensive Guide for the Family Business. Get the show notes and resources at  https://successfulgenerations.com/episode046.

Bob Roth and his wife Marcy are business owners and philanthropists. The couple have a donor-advised fund with their local community foundation. In this episode, Bob shares why he likes this philanthropic tool and why donors might choose to establish a donor-advised fund over a private foundation. He also provides some great points to consider if you're thinking about starting a fund. Get the show notes at https://successfulgenerations.com/episode045/.