It was a routine activity that led to a life-threatening accident, a coma, and multiple cranial surgeries. Adam Farver, Chairman of the Board and fourth generation of his family enterprise, Pella Corporation, found himself eavesdropping on doctors who doubted his full recovery. Faced with frightening questions about his future, Adam took stock of his life before the accident, consulting his late great-grandfather and grandmother’s wisdom: what would he do now?

Listen as Adam tells the story of his realizations, recovery, and resetting his purpose. We are also joined by experts Dave Whorton and Jennifer Pendergast discussing how family enterprises can—and should—intentionally find their purpose to steel themselves from crisis.

Along with their younger sister Melissa Steiner, Stephanie Jackson and Kimberly Paxton-Hagner are co-owners of their multigenerational family enterprise, Kwik Lok. If you’ve ever bought bread, tortillas, or apples in a bag, you’ve already used their product! Their grandfather, Floyd Paxton, invented the plastic closure tab that keeps food fresh and tracks the supply of many of our favorite foods.

The sisters’ road to family enterprise leadership started as a total surprise: their grandfather and father never intended for women in their family to take over the business. But their father’s sudden passing left a leadership gap, and the Paxton sisters had to ask themselves: What do we do? How will we do it? And why should we do it?

Listen as our guests discuss their trepidation and inspiration finding their purpose within their family enterprise, in roles they never thought they’d take on. We are also joined by experts Rob Lachenauer and Jennifer Pendergast, who offer thoughts on organizational change, defining purpose, and winning employee buy-in.