Wealth of Wisdom

This podcast demolishes the myths that family businesses are beset by conflict and poised to fail. Instead, Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer outline ways that family business owners can learn to practice "active ownership" and thereby materialize the true value that they bring to the business. In this interview with Keith Whitaker, they also discuss the signs that you're losing control of your family business and what to do about it.

In the first chapter of the book, Patricia Angus tells a fascinating story about a conversation she had with a cab driver about wealth and life and asks the question – “Are you wealthy?” This question may seem at first blush easy to answer, just a quantitative matter. But of course it all depends on what you mean by “wealth”. In this conversation with Tom McCullough, she invites listeners to think through that question in ways far beyond money, including the impact that each of us has on the world around us.

What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What opportunities--and challenges--does financial wealth pose for living well? These are just some of the questions that Rev. Scotty McLennan takes on in this wide-ranging discussion with Keith Whitaker, which also makes the case that reading well is key to living well.

Jennifer East, advisor to business families, discusses the importance of improving family communication. She offers practical steps such as good planning, structure, and the courage to take action. The podcast explores the common challenges faced by wealthy families, the role of a facilitator in family communication, challenges faced by the next generation, and strategies for improving family communication.

What greater asset can there be than our children? Yet the desire for "enrichment" can often lead to children feeling pressured by the expectation for achievement. Psychologist Suniya Luthar and her daughter Nina Kumar have studied, written on, and lived the complexities of this experience. In this podcast with Keith Whitaker, they share what parents should look for and practices that they can use to help young children and teenagers navigate the complexity of school, sports, friends, and wealth. 

Some families have determined that they could benefit from the integrated objective approach offered by a family office, which then leads to another set of questions such as “Should you choose a single‐ family office or a multi‐ family office?” In this interview with Tom McCullough, family office expert Kirby Rosplock walks us through a thoughtful, reasoned, and personally relevant way to make this decision. She also offers some handy evaluation tools to understand the choices.

Do you ever worry that you haven't found your philanthropic "passion"? Ellen Remmer, who has led one of the world's most innovative philanthropic consulting groups, challenges that concern right from the start of her interview with Keith Whitaker. Ellen talks about philanthropy as a journey that involves much experimentation, with learning from success and failures. She also supplements her chapter's definition of several key philanthropic terms with special attention to impact investing, which she sees as a way for families to make the most out of all their resources, not just their tax-exempt ones.  

Dirk Jungé is a leader and pioneer in the family office field, providing leadership to his family’s firm, Pitcairn, for many years. Dirk was kind enough to write the foreword for Wealth of Wisdom. In this episode, he talks to Tom McCullough about how wealth is an amplifier of all things and how, if not properly tended, it can be a family’s undoing. And he tells many stories about experiences of client families and of his own (like “Rock Acres”) that have shaped his views of families and wealth.

Jay Hughes, founder of family wealth, discusses the importance of elders in generational success. He explores the true meaning of 'shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations' and the practices families need to adopt for future success.

There are few assets that generate as much emotional heat as a family vacation home or estate. Jamie Forbes knows the power of family vacation property through his growing up part of the Forbes family, with their shared estate of Naushon Island off Cape Cod, which has been in the family for over 150 years. In this podcast Jamie shares specific practices that his family and others use to strengthen family communication and decision-making. He also talks about what it is like to grow up as a member of a prominent family, both the positive and negative aspects of the experience.