Continuity Family Business Consulting

10/16/2026

The hire looked perfect. Strong track record, great references, a clear mandate. Eighteen months later, the executive is gone and the family is left wondering what went wrong.

Usually the problem was not the executive. It was the ground they were asked to stand on.

Doug Baumoel and Bill Stranberg explain why skilled leaders struggle in family businesses, and the nine conditions that give them a real chance to succeed.

Read more: https://continuity.global/why-great-executives-struggle-in-family-businesses

Skilled non-family executives often fail in family businesses. Doug Baumoel explains the landmines and quicksand behind it, plus 9 conditions for success.

09/17/2026

Joining the is rarely a simple yes or no. For a rising-gen member, the same opportunity can feel like a privilege, a trap, or a real calling. Often all three at once.

In a new article, Continuity's Doug Baumoel and Holly Eddleston work through those three paths and make a point families tend to skip: the decision runs both ways. Family membership may open the door, but it should not guarantee entry or determine the role.

If you joined a , what question do you wish someone had asked you first?

https://continuityfbc.com/family-business-privilege-poison-or-purpose

Joining the family business isn't just a yes or no. Learn how to weigh privilege, poison, and purpose before you commit, plus the questions to ask first.

09/08/2026

A founder splits ownership equally among three children. The documents are flawless. Then one child wants to run the business, one wants to sell, and one wants a voice but no job.

Nothing went wrong technically. The family just never answered the harder question first: what does this transition actually need to accomplish?

A recent article in FamilyBusiness.Org asked nine consultants, including Continuity's Doug Baumoel and Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre, what families most often misunderstand about this work.

Five paradoxes emerge, and they point to the same thing: the structures a family builds only hold once someone understands what is actually happening beneath them.

Read it here: https://familybusiness.org/content/can-a-family-business-consultant-really-help-nine-experts-explai

Family business consultants often create their greatest value in unexpected ways: helping families uncover the real reasons they're stuck, have difficult conversations, and make better decisions.

08/20/2026

Why is it so hard for families in conflict to accept help?

Often because the disagreement itself is the obstacle. Stakeholders who cannot agree on ordinary business decisions face a real dilemma when it comes to hiring someone to address that very problem.

In this new commentary, Doug Baumoel examines what holds these families back, and what it actually takes to move forward. The path forward starts with something more modest than reconciliation.

Learn more: https://continuityfbc.com/the-family-business-catch-22

When family conflict blocks agreement on business, accepting outside help feels impossible. Learn 3 fears that keep families stuck, and the path forward.

08/18/2026

Many can tell you what conflict feels like. Very few can tell you what it costs.

Continuity's Phelps Wood returns to The Disruptive Successor podcast to make that cost visible, from the price of losing key talent to the decisions that quietly stall when a family cannot talk through its differences. He also shares why an estate plan is not a succession plan, and why the strongest families build the ability to disagree well in every generation.

Worth a listen if you own, lead, or advise a family enterprise.

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Discover what unresolved conflict quietly costs a family enterprise, from lost talent to stalled decisions, and how to address it before it threatens continuity.

07/07/2026

Welcome to the team, Holly.

Holly Eddleston joins Continuity this summer as our Strategic Operations and Marketing Associate. She's a fourth-generation member of her family's real estate business, the founder of Key Deer Adventures, and VP of Marketing for NEXGENS, a national organization for next-generation family business leaders.

Please join us in giving Holly a warm welcome!

Holly Eddleston supports marketing, operations, and growth at Continuity, informed by her family's four generations in real estate.

07/02/2026

that family businesses help America celebrate the with a bang? 🎆

Most of the consumer fireworks lighting up backyards this weekend come from Phantom Fireworks, America's #1 retailer, run by the Zoldan family. And many of the professional shows dazzling audiences on TV come from two family-owned rivals: Fireworks by Grucci, a sixth-gen business in the industry since 1850, and Zambelli Fireworks, a fourth-gen enterprise founded in 1893.

Behind every iconic celebration is a family that navigated succession, ownership transitions, and the work of building something meant to last.

Happy Independence Day from Continuity!

06/29/2026

"You need to retire to something, not from something."

It's well-intentioned advice—but for many leaders, it misses the deeper question: Who am I when I'm no longer in charge?

Continuity's Blair Trippe and Doug Baumoel explore how departing leaders can exit gracefully, transition from doing the work to sharing the wisdom, and set the next generation up to thrive.

Read more:

This brief commentary offers insights and a framework for how family business leaders can exit and leave their business—and family—setup for success.

06/15/2026

Missed our recent webinar? The recording is now available.

Wealth can bring opportunity and connection, but it can also raise questions that no estate plan is designed to answer — questions about identity, purpose, and what it means to live well alongside significant resources.

In this session hosted by Family Business Magazine, our own Doug Baumoel and Shay Harris-Pierre, PhD, LPC, CFT introduced Wealth Integration: a structured process for aligning a family's financial life with its identity, relationships, and sense of purpose.

A new lens worth exploring — for family members and advisors alike.

▶️ Watch the recording: https://continuityfbc.com/wealth-integration-webinar

Learn how enterprising families can align their wealth with identity, purpose, and relationships—so the family directs the wealth, not the other way around.

06/11/2026

Paying a family employee "what you'd pay anyone else for the role" sounds fair. But it overlooks a key truth: family employees aren't like other employees.

They're on the clock at Sunday dinners. They carry the weight of family values into every meeting. And the right family leader often walks away from career paths that aren't easy to return to.

In this article, Continuity's Doug Baumoel rethinks the conventional approach to family compensation and offers a more thoughtful framework for families navigating these decisions.

🔗 Read more: https://continuityfbc.com/beyond-the-box-thinking-for-family-business-compensation

Best practices ignore the complexities of attracting and retaining employees who are family members. Here are 5 things to consider for your strategy.