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October 20, 2026

When a Family Member’s Personal Life Affects Your Business

October 20, 2026

When a family member’s personal life starts affecting your business, covering for them is the right call. The problem is there’s no timeframe around it. No structure. No plan both of you agreed to. Here’s how to fix that.

October 20, 2026

October 19, 2026

When You Have to Demote a Family Member in Your Business

October 19, 2026

When you have to demote a family member, the title isn’t the problem — the silence around it is. Every week the role stays mismatched, the business pays for it and every non-family employee in the building adjusts their expectations down. The demotion isn’t the conversation that breaks things. It’s the one that stops the damage from compounding.

October 19, 2026

September 29, 2026

When a Family Member Is Mistreating Your Employees

September 29, 2026

When a family member mistreats employees and ownership says nothing, the business doesn't stay the same — it reorganizes around the absence. Here's what that silence is actually costing you.

September 29, 2026

Jillian Smith M.A. 9/22/26 Jillian Smith M.A. 9/22/26

When a Non-Family Employee Complains About a Family Member

When a non-family employee files a complaint about a family member, most owners make one move that compromises everything — before anyone investigates anything. Here's what the business is actually required to do, and what it costs when that process gets skipped.

Jillian Smith M.A. 9/21/26 Jillian Smith M.A. 9/21/26

When You Have to Put Your Kid on a Performance Plan

You've had the conversation. More than once. Nothing changed. Here's why the document keeps not existing — and what it's actually costing you every month it stays unofficial.

Jillian Smith M.A. 8/13/26 Jillian Smith M.A. 8/13/26

When You Fire a Family Member, and Everyone Takes Sides

You fired a family member. You did it right. And now the family has split and the business is still running underneath all of it. This is what firing a family member in a family business actually looks like — and what to do about what comes after.

Jillian Smith M.A. 4/27/26 Jillian Smith M.A. 4/27/26

Family Business Boundaries: When Guilt Starts Running the Business.

Guilt is not a leadership strategy. But in family businesses it functions like one — and the business pays for every decision it makes.