Honour what you've built. Shape what comes next.
Family businesses are built differently.
The decisions are rarely only commercial. They carry history, relationships, responsibility and often generations of expectation.
I work with family business owners and next-generation leaders at moments of growth, transition, and change, bringing an independent perspective to help clarify what matters, navigate difficult decisions, and create a path forward that works for both the business and the people behind it.
When business is also personal
Building a family business can be one of the most rewarding things you do. It can also be one of the most complex.
Questions about strategy become questions about ownership. Decisions about leadership become conversations about family. And what worked for one generation may not be what carries the business successfully into the next.
Sometimes what is needed isn't another technical adviser. It's someone independent who understands both what it means to build a business and what it means when that business belongs to a family.
I help create the space to step outside the immediate issue, see the bigger picture and make thoughtful decisions about what comes next.
Where I can help
Growth & Strategic Direction
The business has reached an inflection point and the next chapter isn't yet clear.
We can step back from the day-to-day, examine where the real opportunity lies and establish the priorities that will create sustainable value.
Succession & Generational Transition
Succession is about much more than transferring ownership.
I work with founders, owners and next-generation family members to think through roles, expectations, leadership and what each person wants the future to look like before those questions become decisions made under pressure.
Next - Generation Leadership
Joining, leading or choosing a different path within a family business comes with a unique set of expectations.
I provide an independent sounding board for next-generation leaders as they define their own role, build credibility and decide what they want to carry forward and what they want to change.
Ownership, Legacy & the Next Chapter
Sometimes the most important question isn't how do we grow this?
It's what do we actually want this business to become?
That might mean evolving the existing business, changing the ownership structure, preparing for a transition or sale, or deciding that the next chapter should look entirely different from the last.
An independent perspective
Inside the family. Outside the dynamics.
When you are deeply involved in a family business, it can be difficult to separate the immediate problem from the larger question underneath it.
I bring an outside perspective without arriving as an outsider to the realities of family enterprise.
For more than two decades, I have been an owner and operator of my own multigenerational family business in Napa Valley, navigating growth, major disruption, changing markets, ownership, and transition. Alongside that experience, I have built companies, raised investment, and worked across industries and institutions in the US and UK.
That combination shapes the way I advise: commercially minded, deeply practical, and sensitive to the fact that the right answer on a spreadsheet isn't always the right answer for a family.
I don't arrive with a predetermined playbook. We start with what you're trying to achieve, what is getting in the way, and what matters to the people involved.
How we might work together
Every family and every business is different, so the work is deliberately tailored.
Sometimes that means working closely with one family member or next-generation leader as a confidential strategic sounding board.
Sometimes it means helping an owner think through a specific transition or decision.
And sometimes it means bringing key family members together around a larger question: Where are we going, what do we want to preserve, and what needs to change to get there?
Engagements can range from a focused strategic session around a particular decision to ongoing private advisory through a period of change.
I work with only a small number of families and leaders at any one time, allowing the work to remain personal, thoughtful and genuinely useful.
Is this the right fit?
This work may be particularly useful if:
✓ Your family business is approaching an important transition or decision.
✓ The next generation is stepping into, or questioning, its future role.
✓ You know something needs to change, but there isn't yet agreement on what.
✓ The business has outgrown the strategy or structures that got it here.
✓ You're considering succession, sale or a different future for the business.
✓ You need an independent perspective from someone who understands the emotional and commercial realities of family enterprise.
You don't need to have the answer before we speak.
Often, finding the right question is where the work begins.
Start a conversation
What does the next chapter look like?
If your family business is navigating growth, transition or generational change, I'd be delighted to hear a little about where you are and what you're working through.
I work with a small number of families where I believe my experience can make a meaningful difference.