The Enlightened Family Business Podcast

The Enlightened Family Business Podcast
Ep. 160: The Family Factor: Why Some Families Survive Conflict and Others Don't with Doug Baumoel
 

In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker sits down with Doug Baumoel, Founding Partner of Continuity Family Business Consulting and co-author of Deconstructing Conflict, for a deeply honest conversation about what actually tears family businesses apart — and what it takes to hold them together. Doug's path into this work is personal: he grew up as heir apparent in a thriving multi-generational family business that ultimately collapsed under the weight of poorly managed conflict, despite multiple consultants attempting to help. What he learned from that experience led him to develop the Conflict Equation Methodology, a systems-based framework rooted in the science of identity-based conflict — the kind of conflict that can't be mediated, negotiated, or governed away. In this conversation, Doug and Chris explore the critical distinction between disagreements, disputes, and true conflict; the concept of the Family Factor and why it's the single most important variable in any family business engagement; why governance overlaid on top of unresolved conflict is like pouring gasoline on a fire; and how trust is rebuilt not through warmth or wishful thinking, but through predictability. They also dig into early warning signs of passive and active conflict, why the first phone call from a prospective client can make or break an engagement, and what it really means to sacrifice for family.
Episode Chapters
·       8:48   Meet Doug Baumoel
·       11:00  Growing Up as Heir Apparent — and Watching It Fall Apart
·       14:00  Why Most Family Business Consultants Made Things Worse
·       16:30  The Conflict Equation: A Systems Engineering Approach
·       19:00  Identity-Based Conflict vs. Civil Dispute
·       22:10  How Families Show Up: Stuck, Worried, or In Crisis
·       23:22  The First Phone Call and the Bias Trap
·       27:38  Family First or Business First?
·       31:08  The Family Factor: Compromise, Forgiveness, and Care
·       35:09  Are We Wired to Care for Each Other?
·       39:00  Early Warning Signs: Passive vs. Active Conflict
·       49:20  Why Governance Is Not a Conflict Solution
·       52:44  Building the Family Factor Across Generations
·       56:34  Resources and Farewell
 
Websites
·       continuityfbc.com
·       chrisyonker.com
 
Book
·       Deconstructing Conflict: Understanding Family Business, Shared Wealth, and Power — available on Amazon
 
About Doug Baumoel, MBA
Doug Baumoel is the Founding Partner of Continuity Family Business Consulting, where he specializes in conflict management and leverages his extensive expertise in family business, family office operations, and governance. He draws from over 25 years of business experience — including starting and managing businesses in both the U.S. and Europe, where he established and led the European offices of his second-generation family enterprise — to develop a robust process for analyzing the key variables that influence family business conflict. He co-authored Deconstructing Conflict: Understanding Family Business, Shared Wealth, and Power with Continuity Managing Partner Blair Trippe. His insights have been featured in Family Business Magazine, Thomson West's Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Guide, Private Company Director magazine, and Harvard's Negotiation Journal.
A nationally recognized speaker, Doug has presented at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Cornell University's Smith Family Business Initiative, the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the Family Firm Institute, the American Bar Association, Attorneys for Family-Held Enterprises (AFHE), and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP). He serves as a board member of One Family Inc., a Massachusetts non-profit supporting families facing homelessness, and sits on the boards of a private foundation and a technology firm.
Doug holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He is a Fellow of both the Family Firm Institute (FFI) and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), a Practitioner Scholar with Cornell's Smith Family Business Initiative, and a recipient of FFI's 2023 Interdisciplinary Award. Outside of work, he is an avid fingerstyle jazz guitarist who occasionally performs at charity events and jazz venues.

The Enlightened Family Business Podcast
Ep. 159: The Story Only Your Family Can Tell with Roy Moëd & Yvette Conn
 

In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker sits down with Roy Moëd and Yvette Conn, co-founders of Lifebook Memoirs, for a rich conversation about why documenting the stories of family business founders may be one of the most underutilized tools in the entire legacy planning space. Roy's journey into this work began with a deeply personal moment — repeatedly shutting down his blind father's stories until it was almost too late — and evolved into a global enterprise that has now chronicled over 20,000 lives across the world. Yvette, with her background in financial markets and business commentary, brings the lens of the family enterprise: how the unrecorded stories of founders get distorted over generations, how family myths quietly become sources of division, and how a book chronicling the origin of a family business can give an entire management team a living framework of values to build on. Together, they explore why so many people believe their story isn't worth telling, what it actually looks like to capture a 100-year-old family business history, the surprising emotional and relational benefits that emerge when stories are finally put to paper, and why a book — not a video — remains the most powerful medium for preserving a family's truth. This is a quietly profound episode for any family business leader who has ever wondered whether the story of how it all began still matters.
Episode Chapters
·       5:28   Meet Roy Moëd and Yvette Conn
·       6:07   The Genesis: A Blind Father and a Secretary Who Listened
·       9:34   From Memoir to Family Business Stories — How Lifebook Evolved
·       11:07  Who Am I to Have My Story Written? The Self-Worth Question
·       13:00  The Aha Moment: Why Every Story Is Worth Telling
·       17:42  The Value to the Reader — Not Just the Subject
·       19:00  How Founders' Stories Give the Next Gen Permission to Try and Permission to Fail
·       20:40  Passing On Values, Not Just Value
·       22:08  When the Family Story Gets Distorted — and Why It Causes Division
·       24:46  Capturing Stories of Founders Who Are No Longer Alive
·       27:21  You Can't Ensure Your Memory, But You Can Ensure Your Memories
·       30:42  How This Work Has Enriched Their Own Lives
·       37:11  What Families Ask: How Much Time Does This Actually Take?
·       39:46  Using the Book Project as a Legacy Role for a Retiring Founder
·       42:39  Why a Book Beats a Video
·       43:40  Resources and Farewell
 
Websites
·       lifebookmemoirs.com
·       chrisyonker.com
 
About Roy Moëd
Roy Moëd is the co-founder of LifeBook Memoirs, which he launched in 2010 alongside his wife Yvette following extensive research at the Toronto Brain Health Institute. The company officially launched in October 2011 and secured venture capital funding in 2012. Today, over 20,000 people worldwide own a LifeBook. Roy's entrepreneurial journey began in 1978 with the founding of Pourshins Limited, which he built — starting with just £4,800 — into an international enterprise employing over 600 staff across four factories in four countries. He later re-engineered the company into a global virtual logistics and BPO provider before selling it to gategroup in 2007. Beyond business, Roy is a passionate philanthropist and advocate: he founded a polo club in Windsor, participated in the London to Sydney air race to raise money for charity, volunteered with Crisis at Christmas, and assisted with refugee relocation efforts at the Polish-Ukrainian border. He has been an active YPO member since 1991 and is deeply involved in the Parenting Community, creating forums and events focused on ageing parents.
About Yvette Conn
Yvette Conn co-founded LifeBook Memoirs in 2011 after a distinguished career in financial markets. After earning her Economics degree from the University of Bath, she entered the City of London — then still heavily male-dominated — and rose through the ranks at Laurie Milbank and later Investec, becoming one of the first female partners in the City and a member of the London Stock Exchange. Today, alongside her role at LifeBook, she leads the company's prestigious OPUS Division, which works with individuals, families, and founders to capture their life journeys and preserve their legacies for future generations. Yvette's rare combination of financial rigour and emotional intelligence allows her to guide clients through the storytelling process with warmth, discretion, and authenticity. As she puts it: "While a balance sheet tells you what a family owns, a story tells you who they are."

The Enlightened Family Business Podcast
Ep. 158: You Can't Lead the Next Generation If You're Not Around For It — Dr. Mark Su on Longevity
 

In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker sits down with Dr. Mark Su, functional and longevity medicine physician, founder of RootSeek Health and True Wellness Clinic in New England, for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually means to take authority over your own biology. Dr. Su breaks down the three-category framework he uses in his longevity practice — age-related diseases, cellular root causes of aging, and lifestyle factors anchored by muscle health — and explains why your biologic age matters far more than your chronological one. They explore the groundbreaking science behind epigenetics, telomere health, biologic age testing, and VO2 max, and why moving just one category in your VO2 max ranking is statistically more protective than quitting smoking or eliminating heart disease. Dr. Su also tackles the overwhelm of the longevity information landscape, the critical role of self-advocacy in healthcare, the underappreciated connection between trauma, ACE scores, and chronic disease, and where AI fits — and doesn't — in helping individuals prioritize their health. A conversation for driven family business leaders who are ready to invest in their most important asset: themselves.
Episode Chapters
·       4:40   Meet Dr. Mark Su
·       8:07   Why Longevity Is Having a Moment
·       12:03  Genetics vs. Epigenetics: How Much Authority Do You Have?
·       17:29  The Three Categories of Longevity Medicine
·       27:36  The Four Horsemen: Age-Related Diseases
·       29:00  Cellular Root Causes of Aging: Telomeres, Biologic Age, and Immunity
·       32:00  Muscle as Your Longevity Organ and the VO2 Max Breakthrough
·       35:47  Testing: What's Available, What's DIY, and What Requires a Doctor
·       41:44  Trauma, ACE Scores, and the Stress-Longevity Connection
·       47:38  How to Find the Right Practitioner
·       53:00  The Role of AI in Personalizing Your Health
·       57:37  Hyperbaric Chambers and Emerging Treatments
·       58:46  Resources and Farewell
 
Websites
·       drmarksu.com
·       rootseekhealth.com
·       truewellnessclinic.com
·       chrisyonker.com
 
About Dr. Mark Su
Dr. Mark Su is a functional and longevity medicine physician with over a decade of practice experience in New England. He is the founder of RootSeek Health, a virtual practice specializing in chronic inflammation and longevity medicine with no geographic boundaries, and a co-founder of True Wellness Clinic, a brick-and-mortar longevity clinic offering in-person procedural treatments including hyperbaric oxygen therapy and IV ozone. Trained at Tufts and deeply influenced by the pioneering biological age research of his wife, Dr. Jessica Su of Harvard, Dr. Mark Su brings a systems-level, root-cause approach to helping patients understand where they are biologically — and what they can actually do about it. His work bridges chronic disease, longevity science, and the belief that every person deserves a clear map for living their healthiest, fullest life.

The Enlightened Family Business Podcast
Ep. 157: The Conversation Your Family Needs to Have Before You Die — with Attorney Don Ford
 

In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker sits down with Don Don Ford III, estate planning attorney and founding partner at Ford Bergner in Texas, for a candid conversation about the estate planning conversations most families are actively avoiding — and what it costs them when they do. Drawing on over 30 years of working with high-net-worth families and business owners, Don shares the real-world consequences of leaving heirs unprepared, how to think objectively about your children's attributes when designing an estate plan, and why putting the wrong people in the wrong roles can unravel decades of wealth building in a courtroom. They explore the danger of co-beneficiary trusts, the $88–$125 trillion great wealth transfer underway through 2045, and how the next generation can have respectful conversations with aging parents about the future. Don also offers practical guidance on how to select and vet your advisory team — and why introducing your kids to your advisors now may be the most important wealth transfer move you make.
Episode Chapters
·       2:01   Meet Don Ford
·       4:45   What Actually Keeps Families Together
·       7:42   When Wealth Lands Without Warning
·       11:04  The Burden Nobody Asked For
·       15:49  Fair vs. Equal: The Executor Trap
·       19:00  When the Board Destroys the Business
·       22:11  Trust Structures That Blow Up Later
·       25:43  The $125 Trillion Transfer
·       31:21  What Wealthy Families Actually Look Like Up Close
·       33:54  Advice for the Patriarch or Matriarch
·       36:46  What Next Gen Should Be Asking
·       40:02  Build Your Advisory Team
·       43:44  Resources and Farewell
 
Websites
·       fordbergner.com
·       chrisyonker.com
 
About Don Ford
Don Don Ford III is an estate planning attorney and founding partner at Ford Bergner, where he has spent over 30 years advising high-net-worth families, business owners, and multi-generational family enterprises across Texas on estate and trust planning, wealth transfer, and family governance. A graduate of accounting with a law degree focused on estate and trust work, Don brings both technical precision and a deeply human perspective to some of the most complex and emotionally charged decisions families face. He is a frequent advisor on trust litigation, family board disputes, and the design of governance structures built to last beyond the founding generation.

The Enlightened Family Business Podcast
Ep. 156: The Hollow Win: What a mid-eight figure Exit Taught One CEO About Money, Purpose, and What Actually Matters with Nate collins
 
In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker, interviews Nate Collins, of Raymond James on why family businesses should prepare for a potential sale even if they have no intention to sell. Collins shares his experience taking over a 170–180-year-old New York City licensing company owned by 16 families, receiving an unsolicited offer, and completing a financially strong but imperfect exit due to limited preparation and lack of independent board oversight. They discuss reducing key-person risk, documenting processes, upgrading accounting and systems, strengthening management teams, and regularly revisiting future org needs as markets change. Collins emphasizes clarifying business, personal, and financial goals; using advisors as investments; and starting with an exit planner to coordinate M&A, legal, tax, and wealth planning. He also addresses post-exit purpose, community, and wellbeing, and offers a free quarterly exit planning workshop.
 
·       02:35 Meet Nate Collins
·       03:59 Running a Multi Family Firm
·       05:53 The Unplanned Sale Lessons
·       09:40 Build to Be Transferable
·       15:45 Succession Org Planning
·       18:28 Next Gen Reality Check
·       23:00 Assemble the Exit Team
·       26:04 Wealth Without Ruin
·       29:53 Purpose After the Exit
·       37:46 Resources and Farewell
Websites:
·       fambizforum.com.
·       www.chrisyonker.com
·       Raymondjames.com
·       Linkedin: @nate-collins
 
Nate Bio:
Nate is a former CEO who managed a successful exit to a large, PE-backed media company. He now works with a limited number of business owners, CEOs, and their families to help ensure they are achieving their financial goals. As a Financial Advisor and Certified Exit Planning Advisor, he provides in-depth tax mitigation and estate planning strategies, as well as financial planning and investment management. Nate helps owners understand exit readiness and options, wealth transfer, gain family alignment, and prepare for "life after exit."