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As co-founders of a mother daughter hospitality marketing firm, people frequently ask me what it’s like to build and run a business with my daughter. My response is two fold. On the one hand, it is amazing to work with a person that I helped to create and nurture throughout her journey. On the other hand, it has presented us with several important life lessons.
Lesson # 1: Respect boundaries.
Respect boundaries. This one is mostly on me. I have learned that as long as she does her part in building the business and taking care of our clients, the rest of her life is off limits. For example, I no longer comment on pictures that I saw on Instagram Stories last night. Conversely, she is learning to respect the fact that my day begins at 5am, even though hers does not.
Lesson # 2: Recognize that even though I may be the experienced marketer in the room, clients value youth.
Recognize that even though I may be the experienced marketer in the room, clients value youth. Particularly in today’s digital age. I can’t tell you how many times I have wondered whether or not to include my daughter on a new business call for fear that she may not say something the way that I would, and the first thing the client says is, “It’s great that you have someone young on your team. Millennials and Gen Z are so important in marketing our brand today.” The reality is this. Clients, particularly those targeting a younger audience, (and who isn’t?) feel that you need to be young to understand the younger market. And maybe they’re right. I mean, do I really want to be a master at Tik Tok at this point?
Lesson # 3 : We all need to learn from each other!
But by far, the most important lesson of all - we all need to learn from each other! I think my daughter has always recognized that she could learn something from me. I’m lucky in that way. But It has taken me longer to grasp the fact that although her ideas are different - she may be right. More and more, I’m learning to back down and embrace her way of thinking and it’s greatly benefiting our company. For example, I have always been one to plan and prepare. She is more likely to meet our next client while talking in the line at Starbucks. We have to respect and embrace our different ways of getting a job done.
Sadly, I have mentored other young adults in the past who simply feel that they have nothing to learn from a ‘seasoned’ boss. A boss who is somehow not wiser, just irrelevant. What a mistake. Remember the movie, The Intern, where Robert De Niro teaches Anne Hathaway the value that he could bring to the table? By the way, seasoned is my new word for older! Even though De Niro was tasked with filing and note taking, he basically saved Anne’s company. Lesson learned.
For me, the bottom line is that we should never stop learning in life. And whether you are just starting out in your career or are a seasoned executive, never underestimate the power of listening to others in your orbit. You never know how someone of any age, background or experience in life can make a real difference in yours.
Janet and Sydney, a mother-daughter marketing duo, founded Eason Branding in 2021. Eason Branding is a boutique marketing agency specializing in hospitality, travel and lifestyle brands. With deep roots in both the advertising agency and hospitality industries, Eason Branding was created to be able to offer smaller brands the level of creativity and thinking that has historically been limited to larger brands with large budgets.
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