I Never Wanted to Join My Family Business. Now I’m Its CEO.

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Tricia Wallwork, CEO and Chair of the Board at Milo’s Tea. It has been edited for size and readability.

When my grandad Milo returned from World War II, he married my grandma, Bea, the very subsequent week. He likes to say he solely had $20 and a footlocker, however he additionally had a imaginative and prescient: for a hamburger stand serving burgers, fries, pies, and candy tea to Atlanta’s steelworkers.

That was the start of Milo’s Tea. Since then, the enterprise has had three distinct iterations: the preliminary burger stand, franchise restaurants that my dad and stepmother ran, and now the tea firm that I function.

By all of them, we have been guided by my grandparents’ founding values: listening to clients, utilizing real ingredients, and treating folks properly.

I grew to become a lawyer, then joined the household enterprise

I by no means needed to work on the family business, so I grew to become a lawyer. I assumed I’d save the world, however actually, I used to be simply writing letters and representing firms. It wasn’t what I had envisioned, so I traded my excessive heels for steel-toed boots and began working at Milo’s.

My dad and stepmom had observed a pattern: folks would drive by way of their eating places simply to order sweet tea. Working a hamburger joint is troublesome, so that they determined to promote the franchise firm and use the proceeds to start out the primary model of our tea plant.

I noticed them consistently figuring issues out on the fly — like utilizing pantyhose to filter tea. Issues are far more refined at this time, however I nonetheless have that entrepreneurial spirit.

I’ve grown the corporate drastically over 14 years

I grew to become CEO of Milo’s Tea in 2012, and since then, our development has been like a hockey stick. In 2012, we did about $30 million in retail gross sales. In September, we surpassed $1 billion in retail gross sales, forward of our projections.

It is a very uncommon scenario to be in as a third-generation business owner. I’ve tried to search out mentors to assist me get forward of issues and handle this rocket ship.

I’ve surrounded myself with nice advisors, who’ve helped me and the remainder of the board (together with my dad, stepmother, and stepsister) be very intentional about household governance. We have created a household mission assertion and set a objective of remaining 100% family-owned. That enables us to take a long-term view of how we put money into the corporate.

We now have protocols for the following technology

Whereas I hope my youngsters personal the corporate sooner or later, I do not stress them to work right here. I do not need them to really feel an obligation to work at Milo’s Tea, as a result of that turns into a burden. I’d quite them see it as a chance to do one thing exceptional.

We now have common household conferences for the following technology to find out about Milo’s and a framework for getting concerned. After they’ve attended faculty, they will attend shareholder conferences. After two shareholder conferences, they will attend a board assembly. There is not any stress to have interaction, simply alternative. To this point, each my youngsters have taken benefit.

We have additionally created an internship program, the place our youngsters can find out about Milo’s by working an hourly job. In the event that they need to get employed right here, they should work some other place for no less than three years and get promoted earlier than they will apply. I prefer to say advantage, not inheritance.

Generally, in household enterprise, you see the older technology hanging on till the tip. My mother and father and grandparents weren’t like that. They’ve completed job of supporting the following technology whereas additionally getting out of the way in which so administration and the board can actually drive development. That mixture of honoring legacy whereas driving ahead has made Milo’s what it’s at this time.