When I told my business partner that I had talked with the CEO of Jelmar, he
responded enthusiastically: “You mean the company that makes CLR? THAT
company? I LOVE CLR!”
Perhaps you use CLR products too…and Tarn-X, one of Jelmar’s successful products
for over 50 years. If you’ve spent some time on CLR’s website, www.clrbrands.com,
you certainly know the name Alison Gutterman, Jelmar’s current CEO. Alison’s
grandfather founded Jelmar and her father and uncle worked hand in hand to sell it
across the U. S. successfully. But when Alison took over, she focused on her
customers in a way that had not been done before—bringing a unique and personal
style to the way she promotes her business and its products.
Unlike her father and grandfather, who viewed themselves as “salesmen” or “peddlers,” Alison has embraced her role as a very public CEO, becoming “the face” of Jelmar. She writes regular blogs on topics ranging from parenting to women in business and her passion for both shines through. Alison, a single mom, often draws upon her own family as a source of her insights.
“Life is about connection and approachability,” she observes. “I’m comfortable weaving my story into my business.”
I loved hearing Alison describe how her marketing savvy and passion for the
business evolved. She memorized commercials as a young child, and, in 7th grade,
thoroughly enjoyed the assignment to develop a product and create a marketing
campaign around it. Although her father led the business, Alison’s mother also
played a key role. “She was our first PR person,” says Alison. “She created a
newsletter for our sales force that featured their stories, and while she didn’t get the
recognition she deserved, she was very business-savvy.”
Back to CLR: Alison recognized consumers’ need to have environmentally safe
products in their homes, and worked to reformulate many of the CLR products to
align with EPA standards. She convinced her dad that it was important to emphasize
the benefit in marketing CLR. She took CLR and found just the right way to market
it to current and potential customers. And it’s worked! CLR products have been
very successful, and Alison has been recognized as an entrepreneur by Ernst &
Young—quite an achievement.
How have you brought your unique talents into your family’s business? Alison is a
thoroughly modern leader. She’s ambitious, authentic, transparent and personal.
You can be, too.
My brother, who evacuated to Atlanta, told me that one of the most important questions his family dealt with was “what do we take with us, and what can we leave?” It’s a question that quite literally “cuts through the clutter”, forcing us to make choices about what we truly value. Since the weekend I’ve thought about what I would take and what I would leave if I had to leave my home, but I’m still not quite sure of my answer.
Mackey’s daughter, Sarah Grace Mohr, works with and for her mother as the Operations and Communications Director at Mackey Advisors. She also lent her design talents to creating a very modern and upbeat and playful office space.
I hope that those of you who are working with your family never underestimate the value of what you learned from listening to your parents talk about their business. Being financially savvy is a true asset, just as a stock or bond or a home or land is-a source of confidence and independence that many women don’t have.
There are a lot of very impressive insights in Laura and Kate’s brief but meaningful conversation. Two ideas struck me. The first is that these sisters recognize that some kind of “sibling dynamic” characterizes all siblings. That may seem obvious, but I wonder if most siblings truly understand or are prepared for their “dynamic” when it transfers from their childhood home to the workplace. What are the patterns? How do they change? Does the dynamic work for or against the siblings-and their business?
In my work with women in family businesses, I’ve noticed that my clients often focus on the relationships within their business. They talk about conflicts among employees, among family members, and between both groups–and frequently about feeling caught in the middle. But there’s one thing I rarely hear: how their work leads to meaningful business outcomes.
I firmly believe that every family-and every family business-is unique. It is way too easy to generalize about how firstborns, middles, and “babies of the family” are likely to behave when they join the family business. That being said, the lens of birth order may lead you to consider your own attitudes and behaviors toward your siblings at work-that’s why I think it’s important.