Removing the Mask: Empowering Family Enterprise Leaders to Thrive

Welcome to Legacy Builders, strategies for building successful family enterprises. Brought to you by Beacon Family Office at Assante Financial Management Limited. I’m your host, Cory Gagnon, Senior Wealth Advisor. And on this show, we explore global ideas, concepts, and models that help family enterprises better navigate the complexities of family wealth.

Today, we welcome Danielle Saputo, President and Owner of Danielle Saputo Legacy Coach & Family Enterprise Advisor. With a strong academic background and certifications from prestigious institutions, Danielle brings valuable expertise as a Family Enterprise Advisor Designate and Certified Coach. Her experience in a prominent Canadian Family Business informs her holistic approach to wealth management, emphasizing family harmony and legacy. Danielle is the author of “I am Enough: Emerging from the Shadows into the Sunlight of My True Self” and owner of Rivertay Facilitation. As an advocate for financial literacy and personal growth, she is dedicated to guiding families through complex dynamics and wealth transitions.

My goal is to be the most curious person in today’s conversation with Danielle Saputo, as we explore her journey from a member of a prominent Canadian family business to a pioneering legacy coach and family enterprise advisor. We’ll delve into how Danielle’s experiences have shaped her unique approach to guiding families through complex wealth transitions and personal growth. Together, we’ll uncover Danielle’s insights on finding one’s voice within a large family dynamic, the importance of self-discovery in family enterprises, and her strategies for turning family members into assets rather than liabilities. 

Now, let’s dive in!

Cory: Welcome, Danielle. We’re excited to have you here today to share your wealth of knowledge and experiences with us. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Danielle: Absolutely, Cory. Thank you very much for having me here. 

Cory: Danielle, imagine you’re delivering the commencement speech to the graduating class of 2024, and you have the chance to inspire them with your story. How would you begin your speech to convey the incredible lessons and expertise that you’ve gained throughout your career?

Danielle: Thank you. When I think of that, the first thing that comes to mind is courage. 

Now, have the courage to walk through those many doors that open along your journey.

I think of where I would be today if it wasn’t for all the opportunities I’ve taken along the way to enhance my experiences in life. I think all those pieces sort of came together for me to be able to deliver what I’m able to today.

Have the courage to have a conversation so that you can expand your network, use your voice, and share your perspective on life and I think I was an individual who for many years one of 5 siblings, a family of 21 cousins, always surrounded by lots of people.

It took me a long time before I felt I had the courage to use my own voice. When I was finally able to step into that ability, it was incredible what all of life had to offer because of that courage.

I would also say to have the courage to share your perspective and know there is something to learn from everyone. 

I have an example of a taxi driver. We were caught in a car for two hours, and the lessons he was able to bring forward were to listen to the younger generation, to each conversation, to each encounter, and to have the courage to share your own perspective as an individual. It is incredible what you can pass on as a lesson or learn from another.

Have the courage to know yourself and truly know you are enough. I think that sort of brings me to the journey I took to, write my book, titled I am enough and emerging from the shadows into the sunlight of my true self, it’s each one of those pieces sort of, really make the lessons of life very valuable.

Cory: Wow. I love that. I love how you took that main theme of courage and so many different stories there, Danielle. Tell me about the doors because sometimes we see, as you say, opportunities.

Sometimes, it takes the guts or the courage as you say to walk through them and sometimes, life smacks you in the face as you walk through that door.

Danielle: You’re in that revolving door, and you don’t know when to stop and step out. Yes, down some lounge.

Cory: Yes. It can feel like a carousel, and people can get dizzy. So how do you in your life, in your experience, in the work that you’ve done, do you see that as differentiating and understanding what’s courage and maybe what feels a little bit like insanity because you’ve seen that door before?

Danielle: And it’s just that, like, I’m thinking of all stages of life.  I advise families, and I would say there’s an opportunity to have a conversation or talk with other colleagues, other advisors, and they say shocks, how do we bring in the hard topic of will they bring their children into this conversation, or, I don’t get into the emotional stuff.

What do I do? I say you look for those doors; you look for those moments. It really is to be able to go about your relationships with an open mind and say, “Okay.”

What’s here more than I’m prepped for? Because we can’t prep for everything. I’ll give you examples of advisers, for example. They say we never get into the emotional stuff. I said, but there’s always an opportunity to get into it.

You might be having a conversation with a client, and they’ll just sort of say, and my son and I say, there it is. There’s your door. There’s the opportunity to say, “You want to tell me more about that, or what exactly is happening there?”

In life, there are always these doors with our children. You have young children, minor-like, becoming all young adults. Just to take those opportunities, I say if you’re from a family enterprise or family of affluence background, and we say, well, when do we start the money talk? When do we start the life lessons?

Throughout life, there are always those opportunities to have that conversation. The first time you’re taking your child to the grocery store, they’re pointing at the gumball machine, saying, “Can I have?” and it’s like, well, there’s a door to have a lesson on. Okay.

The next time we come, we’ll give you a nickel or give you the quarter or give you whatever it is, and it’s starting the conversation on things that don’t come just because you want it.

Things come because you work towards it and everything costs something, and you just open that door to conversation. I say that is life, and that is the courage to be able to see those opportunities when these potential doors open. Have the courage to say, even when you’re uncomfortable having that emotional conversation or even if you’re uncomfortable bringing up the money talk or even if you’re uncomfortable experiencing something new that you’ve never experienced before, even just the simple opportunity to your face to face to somebody and a thought crosses your mind and say, I have a thought, am I willing to share it.

And yes. Those are the opportunities or those doors that constantly present themselves that I’m referring to, that I say to have the courage to step through and gain a new experience from it.

Cory: I love that and also taking the pause. What I heard from you is that even that gumball machine shows how busy we are in life and how people say, “Can I teach that lesson tomorrow?”

We just need to get out of here, and that door presents itself. It’s important to take that, so I love that story as well.

Danielle: I love the way you commented on the pause, and I think I  want to reemphasize that. We all live very busy, very full, very packed lives. And the sad thing is that we pass through life without pausing for these opportunities that constantly show themselves.

And that’s where I say yes, and I agree with you, Cory, 100%. If we are mindful in every relationship or every encounter we’re with, with that openness to say what will present itself here today, and we are willing to grab those opportunities that present themselves, we fill our lives in tremendous ways.

Cory: Absolutely. Yes. And so tell me, you have your own voice. A cousin of 21, that that is a big family, and it’s pretty easy to have your voice washed out amongst the noise that exists in that group.

How did you come to understand the importance of individuality in that group?

Danielle: Yes. That was a very long journey for me because I lived most of my life as a quiet individual in the background. How many family events do I remember sitting at? I’d be placed at a seating of 8 to 10 people, and I very frequently found myself sitting alone.

So I, throughout my life, had always been taught to be respectable of my elders, to be respectable of the people around me. Part of that to me was that I had to sit quietly and listen. And, till today, I have fairly good listening skills.

On the other hand, I had lost the opportunity to use my voice, and that came when it was 2016, I attended a next-generation leadership program. There was an exercise that was put forward to everybody to create the mask we wear and write out what it is that is that inner voice or that what we are hiding behind.

I realized that for me, it was not using my voice, and it was that opportunity to create this mask and be in an environment to dive deeper into, realizing how I have never used my voice to its fullest capacity that I left there saying I’m removing this mask.

I’m not going to hide behind my silence. Let me build on my intuition, speak the thoughts across my mind, and share them. It took me a whole growing process to move from being the quiet girl in the background to confidently sharing my voice and teaching the lessons that I’ve learned in my life.

Cory: Right. And so I like that you bring up respecting your elders because it is ingrained in families. It is a script that we have, and it can sometimes damage relationships. It can really have an emotional toll on the next generation.

So, you also received a bit of the positive side of that experience, which is how much you listened and learned from that.

So how do you think that balance if we’re thinking about a family member listening to us who is thinking, yes, we have that script, and we do tell our kids to respect their elders and be quiet, but maybe we do need to give them a voice. It’s okay that they learn to listen. How can that opportunity be executed?

Danielle: I do believe that when we talk about family enterprises or each individual who’s part of a family and having to deal with the transfer of wealth and everything else, I’d say there is a paradox of when it’s about me and when it’s my growth and when I got to focus on myself.

On the other hand, when I’m part of a family, we’re a unit, and we’re going together. There are all kinds of paradoxes in a family enterprise that we have to deal with. 

When do we keep growing, our investments or our wealth, versus when do we start harvesting so that we can give back to other family members? So, the paradoxes go on forever.

But the one I’m going to focus on here is the paradox between when it is about me and when it is about us. 

I would say that every individual in a family needs to go through their own growing process. There’s beauty in being part of a great unit of a family, of a cohort, of a clan, or whatever term you want to use there. There is a great benefit of being part of a whole of something.

I love the beauty of being able to grow yourself, to do that deep dive to know who you truly are, and to reach a level of comfort that within your own voice, you have so much more that you can bring as an individual that then enhances and strengthens that unit. I sort of use that example of every individual is either an asset or a liability.

And when you do the hard work to dive deep into yourself, you can transform yourself from a potential liability into a great asset.

It’s that whole individual self-work to really be able to know that you are enough just as you are and that you have so much that you can bring to the unit of your family. And it’s taking those opportunities to work within yourself, knowing where you stand on your own two feet, and having the courage to use that voice to share your perspectives and your thoughts. So as a unit of the family, you just strengthen all of the relationships that can be there.

Cory: Right, Danielle. Tell me about the mask. Once you identify your mask, I want to go back to that. Did that help you identify other people?

Do you see the mask that some people within your family or the families that you work with the mask that they’ve built?

Danielle: Going through the exercise. So this was the next-gen program that took place in Scotland, and it was called the SCOAN Project. It was a fantastic experience for the next gens who were ready to step into the position of leadership potentially.

And what it brought to me that particular access was not only the mask I could be stood behind but also the recognition that we all hide behind this mask.

So it just brought me the awareness, not that I can necessarily point out what the individual’s mask is, but it’s brought me to the awareness to know let me ask the some of those powerful questions to find out what is the mask that they are hiding behind.

Because if I experienced it, if this whole cohort I was with experienced it, chances are there are a percentage of us that are all almost hiding behind a mask of what we perceive we should be in this world that we live in.

Be it because of the shoulds and coulds and woods that our upbringing has brought us, the respect that we always feel that we need to have for our elders or the people around us, or whenever those external things, pressures, and images that that society places on us, it’s going and saying, what are the stories I’m telling myself?

What is it that I think I’m supposed to portray versus am I aware of who I truly am, and can I have that courage just to portray who I am because I am or who I am?

And I don’t have to be a persona because of what society, family, or whoever I have around me is telling me I should be.

And lots of work I do is with the so-called saboteur. And if your converse self conversation with yourself is using the words should I, could I, or it would’ve been, those are your keys to being aware of your own internal language, and that’s where you should ask yourself, okay. Am I truly being true to myself, or am I playing a part that truly isn’t me?

Cory: Right. And so when somebody finds themselves a character that they don’t want to be in their story, how do they start to work to become the character that they want to be rather than what they think they should be?

Danielle: I put credit to the fact that if everyone can have a coach or a bouncing board, an accountability partner, it might be a sibling that you really are attached to.

It might be an aunt or an uncle that you’re truly attached with, or it can be an actual professional coach who knows the appropriate questions to help you to get through this.

If you are aware and willing to dive deep—I give the analogy of an onion—you’re trying to get to the core of this, and every layer you’re going to peel is going to bring tears. It’s hard work, it’s pungent, and there’s a lot that could come from it.

But if you have the courage to reach out to someone to help you be accountable for taking this journey to self-discovery, do it. If it’s hiring a coach to help you go through it, do it. 

I would really talk highly of having a therapist or an external third-party individual who can help me on this journey of self-discovery. If so, I would say be strong enough to say, “Hey.” If that’s the journey I want to take, I will reach out to someone to help me through it.

Cory: Right, and as far as some of those contributors to being a liability versus an asset when you made that comment, how are we identifying this as what? This might be a liability. This is holding us back.

And I love that it is about me or about us because if we’re all strong, then we can make way more progress together. So, how do you identify where and what? That is a liability; maybe we need to strengthen that a bit.

Danielle: When families do so, I’d say that it’s two journeys. There’s the journey of self-discovery and self-worth, really getting your feet under you and getting the courage to use your voice, have your voice, and bring it forward.

And sometimes it takes one of those individuals of the family who’ll take the so-called I mean, there are all kinds of books out there, so I’m going to use, and I don’t remember who wrote it, but you can be the champion of the family.

You can say, hey. I took this journey. I want to share what I’ve gained or the difficulties I’ve experienced on this journey, and I see value in what I’ve done.

Is anyone willing to listen and want to know more?  You open that door to converse to get the others. Sometimes, you end up with a family you get depending on how large or many you are.

You might get a percentage and say, “My gosh. That sounds so interesting, and I want to know more. I’m interested.” Others say, “I have no interest in even going anywhere close to that.” So no. Thank you.

The question is, what do you do in that case? When there’s part of the family who’s all gung-ho and willing to take a journey, you might have one or two who are lagging.

And you’re like, do we let the 1 or 2 stop us from any journey going forward or not? And, right, this is a great point where you bring up that question. Okay. So, are there areas here that will make us more liable, and where can we classify shucks?

That can be an action, that can be a liability versus what do we need to help us all be a value and a greater asset to the family.

But to answer your question, I would say sometimes, even using simple examples, we want to ask ourselves whether there are areas in our family where we potentially create ourselves to be a liability to the family versus where we can build ourselves to be the greatest asset to the family.

The more you involve the multiple members of your family in these kinds of conversations, the stronger you’re building yourself to be an asset to your family unit. And if you have the courage again to say, hey. I came across this piece of material or came across the street or, my gosh.

I learned this and whatever I was exposed to. Are we willing, as a family, to dive into this conversation? Sometimes, it just takes one family member to bring forward that question, and it can create a beautiful conversation that strengthens the family.

I will say that every family member will always believe that they’re an asset because we all believe we’re worth something. I’d like to think that everyone believes they’re worth something, and we should encourage each other to feel significant, worthy,  and beautiful just as we are human beings.

And I think as families, if you’re able to get into those group conversations to help each other feel that fullness, to feel that you’re valued to be part of the family, it just helps encourage, I would like to think the thought towards, we’re talking here is an asset about being a liability.

It builds us to really feel that we are truly an asset to the conversation. I will use the example of my daughters, which was about whether they are an asset or a liability. So, It was incredible when my daughter was preparing her budget to head off to university.

She comes, and she goes, Mom. I think I’m truly a liability right now to the family because this is costing a lot, and I love the way that conversation turned to say, “Well, yes, sure.”

There’s a cost to you heading off to university, and the education you’re getting from that will make you an asset in the long run. So, everything has two sides to consider.

So the question you brought forward is when you think of chucks, there’s a liability here. I’d say remember to put on the perspective of what the other side of it is because everything has another side that you can turn on when you’re saying shocks.

Like, we’re. There are a whole number of reasons why someone might be a liability, and I’ll keep to the example of my daughter being an expense to head off to university.

So she’s on the liability side, but we can turn that around and say yes. But this is for a long-term gain with education and everything else you get. 

Cory: And that perspective, Danielle, of we invest in assets and liabilities or costs. And so that education isn’t a cost. It’s an investment in our assets.

Danielle: Absolutely.

Cory: Yes. And so I think of the fact that we can’t do this in a vacuum or a silo that there are so many guests who have talked about utilizing either other community events or coaches or bringing outside perspectives into the family.

So, thinking about next-gen events, I’m sure there has yet to be one for you. But when the family council decides it’s time for this member or this group to experience this, how does that decision-making come about?

How did that really work when the collective decided that we needed to increase capability or bring that resource to our family?

Danielle: So I like the way you had said, hey. The kid in the family council brings it in. I have experienced many families who still are not set up with family councils, so they don’t have a governance structure that clearly identifies who brings in this information, who decides that this is going to happen, who knows where the who’s going to cover the cost for bringing in such an expert or outside organization or even pay for a workshop to go to or whatever the case is.

I’ve encountered many families that need to be set up in a way that the governance structure allows a very clear format of who and how those decisions are made.

I hope that more and more families are talking to set those things up. My present experience has been more with what I had previously called having a champion in the family.

Someone who might have just that little edge more in being exposed to what is out there and how there are many, many tools available to families to help them through this process, be it the hiring of a personal facilitator who can come and help the family be facilitated through a first family meeting so that they can then set out guidelines of how such decisions are made.

It’s getting a potential reach out to have someone as your family’s learning officer who can help set up a year’s worth of education that can come forward and what that can look like.

So there is no one answer to how the best way forward for a family is here because you see one family, it’s one family, and their process is very different.

If to all family members who may be listening to this, I’d say, again, bringing back to the very first way or to the first thing I open up to, have the courage that if  that something’s out there and you believe in from all your heart that this is something, a process worth taking your family through, have the courage to present it to your family.

Cory: yes. Absolutely.

Danielle: Open that door to say, I heard about this. Are we are we interested? And I take that one step further because it’s one thing to talk about things. It’s another thing to actually see us take action upon those things.

I find very often where many families are lacking is we can talk and talk and talk and bring all kinds of ideas to the table, but very often, we’re missing that step of taking action on the things that we think might actually be good for us.

So, bring that back that if there’s one of you or if you’re bringing an idea forward to the family, also bring forward what I call the smart goal. For example, what time works well for you?

Really put out, we’re going to do this on this date and be accountable to each other to bring action to the talk that you’re having.

Cory: Right. I love that. And I use the comment of the family council, whether or not that official governance structure exists or not. The fact that the family cares for each other and maybe just has those conversations is very important.

And I want to bring back the comment you made about the advisers. Sometimes, advisers are uncomfortable when that door opens to have that conversation.

Maybe that structure doesn’t exist, but I think of how there are trustees in this world who are so focused on protecting wealth, and they don’t have any system to allow some of that wealth, that financial capital, to actually be used for the betterment of the family.

So, one of the things that I would want to encourage people to do is that trustees have a job to do, and I want to make them do that job. I want them to actually think about the people they’re holding that wealth for and managing it for rather than just saying no all the time or saying no.

This is the box we’ve created for our safety and risk management, so we’re not going to push the boundaries at all.

Danielle: You’re reminding me of  James Hughes, who has some great talks and material.

What you just commented on brings me back to his talk on really defining the purpose of your trust. And if, yes, the purpose is right, if it’s meant, is it if you’ve set something up and you have trustees in place? Is what you set up as a gift to your beneficiaries, or is it a transaction?

If it’s a transaction, you’ll end up exactly with the trustees with the image that you just portrayed, that they’re just for the growth of the wealth and don’t do anything and don’t care to do anything more.

If this is truly meant to be a gift to enhance the lives of your beneficiaries, it is key and fundamental that you put people in place there that truly open up that conversation and communication to those beneficiaries so that they feel ownership and see this truly as a blessing and not a burden that they’re tied to something that they have absolutely no say in and are not spoken to about and so on and so forth. That in itself can be a whole podcast.

Cory: Absolutely. Yes, James Hughes’s book The Cycle of a Gift is fantastic.

I was just going to say I just that, again, keeping that line of communication open if you’re set up where you’re leaving the responsibility to the trustees, let them be clear that if what you’re setting up truly is meant to be a gift to the beneficiaries, you need to build some kind of processes in there that really allows those conversations to happen to really build and grow, the individuals who will benefit from whatever structure you’re putting into place.

Cory: Yes, absolutely. I wanted to go back to your comment about sharing your perspective and being curious. You shared the taxi driver’s story, and I think of all the stories we accumulate in our lives and sometimes people think, yes.

What? That it’s not important? Then some people share openly and freely, sometimes a little bit too much.

There’s a spectrum there, but how do we create an environment for ourselves and our collective to ensure that those stories continue to be told and those experiences are brought forward to ensure that the next generation or the current generation is getting that experience from the individuals to better the collective?

Danielle: You’re creating an image of when I got my coaching certificate. We say that over time, we tend to put all these Post-its on the people we’re closest to.

We quickly assume that they do something, and I’ll tell a story. I remember being in a meeting with a family. There was a group of siblings together, and there was one particular sibling that everyone spoke to me about, saying, “Yes, we’re going to watch out for that one.”

And, so we were at this meeting, and I saw that this particular sibling’s eyes sort of went up, and I had noted.

It’s, but before I may comment, the other sister said, why do you keep doing that?

Do you keep rolling your eyes whenever we bring forward an idea like that? And that’s right, and she sort of this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and she blew up saying, I’ve had enough of you rolling your eyes every time I bring forward an idea.

The sister stepped back, looked, and said, “But there was a fly.” She was just her; her eyes lit up because a fly had passed before her. She had no intention of rolling her eyes, or that was the last thing on her mind.

But see one so in the post; I was talking about, very often, the people we’re closest to; we make assumptions of their behaviours because we’ve seen certain patterns over and over again, and we are quick to conclude certain things even though those are not the right conclusions.

And the example I just gave is one of those where they thought she was rolling her eyes again, but she was not rolling her eyes. There is a fly-eye that caught my attention, so I would watch out and be very aware that I’m under the belief that no family member ever means harm to someone else or another family member.

Cory: Right.

Danielle: We all mean to do things with good intentions. But very often, we interpret each other’s intentions, and we never take the time to ask or be mindful or breathe and say, so I saw your eyes move. What did they move for? 

And just ask openly rather than quickly, assuming there was eye rolling, but say, I just picked something up. Where is that coming from?

And as family members, the more we can do that with each other, the more it’ll help us get through all conversations.

The easy ones, the insignificant ones right into the deep ones and the most meaningful ones that if we can approach each other with that openness, try to go in without the pre-post, it’s on each other that we’re labelling everybody and saying you’re the firstborn; therefore, you’re this way, and you’re the that and this for you that way, or you’ve always been the troublemaker.

So I’ve labelled you the troublemaker, and no matter what, even though you’re trying to do good, you’re always a troublemaker. As family members, we should proceed together, be aware of our biases toward each other, and proceed with opening the door for asking. I pick something up. What does that mean?

I don’t want to assume that I don’t want to make the wrong assumption here, and that is a great way for a family to proceed together and know that we all mean good for each other. We all have something to learn from each other.

Let’s be open to hearing someone else’s perspective, removing any bias we might have toward those individuals.

Cory: I love that. And on that, it’s a great time to transition as we near the end of our conversation. Danielle, I ask each guest a few questions before we wrap up. Are you ready for the tough ones?

Danielle: Go ahead.

Cory: Alright. What is one key strategy you believe is essential for building a successful family enterprise?

Danielle: When I think of that, continuity comes to place, continuity planning; we’ve always heard about succession planning, and we often just take in the 1 or 2 people we might have in mind for succession planning, but continuity planning brings everyone to the table.

It’s also important with continuity planning to build a cadence for bringing all your stakeholders to the table together to talk things through. And when you as a family are able to do that, it’s incredible how you build on your relationships and just make your family stronger to stand whole as a family enterprise.

Cory: I love that. So, building almost that muscle together when you say that cadence is not just a one-and-done thing. What is the most common challenge that you see family enterprises encountering when it comes to wealth transition and generational continuity?

Danielle: What’s coming to mind right now? There are probably a number of things, but right now, what’s coming to mind is getting every stakeholder’s voice heard, and I think that is difficult.

Sometimes, if you’re a larger family and you’re trying to bring everyone together, timing doesn’t work. So do you go ahead, don’t you? I guess if I’m going to put something to this to answer this question, I’m a true believer that families that play together stay together.

So, bringing back to the first question, the more you can keep yourselves coming together, not only to talk about the wealth and the governance and the so-called family business side of things but if you can also bring together the side of play, of fun, of the things that you truly have an interest in together as a family, be it while you’re water skiing at the cottage or doing pottery together or learning a new craft of some sort that you’re coming together to play, that that’s so I’m always wanting to take the negative and turn into a positive.

Although it’s hard to get everyone together, the more frequently you can get yourself as a family to play together, the greater you build your relationships to stay together.

Cory: I love that. That’s a great strategy, for sure. What is it that connects us in as interest, not just in blood, and how can we use that as, yes, as the oil that keeps things flowing? That’s great. 

Danielle: Yes. I will add one other thing: families who try to come together might start a process but then don’t continue the process. I would say that there is a fundamental essence to knowing what you as a family stand for and being clear on purpose. , that if you’re able to because sometimes, sometimes most of the time, there are always hardships that one has to go through.

There are past things that might come up that you need to prepare to go through.

The water you think is nice and clear turns mucky, and you think, “I don’t want to go through this.”

So even when you’re experiencing some difficulties, potential conflicts, or differences of opinion, you’re not actually going in that same direction. When you have that north star, what your purpose is as a family, it helps you say, we’re here with a purpose.

We’re here because this is what we’re aiming to gain from each other. When everyone’s on board and in line with that purpose, it allows each individual sometimes to put aside where they might feel that there are differences and say, “Okay.” We are meant to do this because this is where we’re headed.

When we’re clear on where we’re headed, it’s incredible how different the process is than if you’re entirely unaware of what you stand for as a family and what your purpose is.

Cory: I love that. That keeps it going. So many times, you hear the start and stop or the start, and it never continues, and, yes, it’s great. That mission or purpose is important for sure.

Danielle: Very much.

Cory: And Danielle, in your experience, what would be the top three qualities that successful family enterprise leaders possess?

Danielle: It’s funny. You did share this question, and I stopped. I said, “Boy, that one takes longer to come to me.”

However, the top key quality is that you must be compassionate to every stakeholder in what you’re trying to lead forward. You have to have a certain level of openness and the ability to share your own vulnerabilities so that you can help others come through.

And don’t think that just because you might be seen as the leader, you need to be the one to know it all.

When you’re able to work together with all your stakeholders and be the one who keeps the process going, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the one who needs to know everything.

Reaching out to other family members, experts outside the field, and other individuals can put you in the position your family needs to be in. That tops off your ability to be a great leader for your family.

Cory: Fantastic. Before we conclude our discussion, I’d like to highlight where our listeners can engage in more of the conversations you’re having because we had a fantastic conversation today, Danielle. I’m sure that your book is a great point, and I want you to plug that one more time for us. But can you provide us with where our guests can find you?

Danielle: Excellent. I’m very easily found. Email me at [email protected]. I also have a website at daniellesaputo.com.

You can find me there. There are lots of links to some other podcast webinars that I’ve been involved in that can be listened to. There is my book, and I believe in my book.

There’s also some contact information about me and what I do, titled “I am Enough Emerging from the Shadows into the Sunlight of Your True Self” under Danielle Saputo, which can be found on Amazon.

If anybody wants to continue the conversation, they need some guidance for taking those first steps with their own family, saying, I have the I don’t even know where to begin.

I’m open to that first conversation and see if there are any resources I can share with you to help your family down this path of continuity planning. I say it is a key part, but any family enterprise, any information you can bring to your family members, I say is a bonus, and I’m more than happy to be of help if I can.

Cory: Fantastic. And I wanted to make sure that we covered everything today. Is there anything else that you’d like to touch on that we didn’t get a chance to share with the audience?

Danielle: The topic can be endless, but Cory, no. I think we well-rounded today’s podcast, and what a great message to bring forward.

And if I can make a full circle and say for each and every one of you listeners, have the courage to take the steps forward, not only for yourself but for your family enterprise. I’ll be your cheerleader if you need one.

Cory: That’s fantastic. Awesome. Well, thank you, Danielle, for taking the time to share all the stories, experiences, and expertise that you’ve gained. Your insights have been incredibly valuable to me. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our conversations, and your contribution will be very grateful to our audience. So thank you.

Danielle: Thank you, Cory.

As we wrap up this episode, we invite you to reflect on Danielle’s powerful insights about courage, self-discovery, and the importance of open communication within family enterprises.

Whether you are part of a family enterprise or provide consulting to family businesses, Danielle’s emphasis on recognizing opportunities, finding your voice, and balancing individual development with family unity provides valuable guidance. 

Throughout our discussion, we explored the multifaceted nature of courage within family enterprises and personal growth. We delved into recognizing and seizing opportunities – those “doors” that present themselves in various aspects of life and business. We examined the delicate balance between respecting family traditions and finding one’s voice, particularly in the context of large, multigenerational families. These insights offer a practical framework for families and individuals striving to navigate the complex landscape of personal development, family dynamics, and wealth management, ultimately fostering resilience, understanding, and shared growth across generations.

For those seeking expert guidance on family enterprise continuity planning and personal growth within a family business context, Danielle Saputo and the team at Danielle Saputo Legacy Coach & Family Enterprise Advisor are ready to assist. Danielle’s book, “I am Enough: Emerging from the Shadows into the Sunlight of Your True Self,” offers valuable insights for individuals navigating their roles in family enterprises. We’ve included Danielle’s contact information, links to her website, and additional resources in the show notes to support you on your journey. 

Disclaimer: 

This program was prepared by Cory Gagnon who is a Senior Wealth Advisor with Beacon Family Office at Assante Financial Management Ltd. This not an official program how Assante Financial Management and the statements and opinions expressed during this podcast are not necessarily those how Assante Financial Management. This show is intended for general information only and may not apply to all listeners or investors; please obtain professional financial advice or contact us at [email protected] or visit BeaconFamilyOffice.com to discuss your particular circumstances before acting on the information presented.