The Enlightened Family Business Podcast

The Enlightened Family Business Podcast
Ep. 162: You May Be Making Decisions in the Dark — Jacques Santucci on Financially Preparing Your Business for the Future
 

In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker sits down with Jacques Santucci, President of Opus Consulting, for a grounded, practical conversation about one of the most underutilized levers in family business: financial leadership. Jacques brings a rare combination of international business experience — from Ernst & Young in France to CFO roles in the US — and 17 years of consulting to privately held and family-owned businesses across New England and beyond. Together, Chris and Jacques break down the critical differences between a bookkeeper, controller, and CFO; why so many family businesses are making major decisions with months-old data; what the early warning signs of financial trouble actually look like before an owner recognizes them; and why the fractional CFO model has become one of the most accessible and high-impact resources available to growing family firms. They also explore what a meaningful financial education pathway looks like for the rising generation — not to make them accountants, but to ensure they can read a P&L, understand a balance sheet, talk to a banker, and make decisions grounded in fact rather than gut feeling.
Episode Chapters
·       4:10   Meet Jacques Santucci
·       7:12   From France to Maine: A CFO's Unlikely Journey
·       11:04  Bookkeeper, Controller, CFO — What's the Difference and Why It Matters
·       17:12  The CFO's Real Job: Looking at the Future, Not the Past
·       19:25  When Is It Time to Bring In a CFO?
·       21:33  Financial Reporting: What to Measure, How Often, and Why
·       25:31  Early Warning Signs Your Business Is Heading for Trouble
·       29:16  Customer Mix, Profit Margins, and Strategic Decision-Making
·       30:16  A Real-World Case Study: Seasonal Business, Six-Week-Old Data, and What Changed
·       31:47  Clean Data: Why Accuracy Is the Foundation of Every Good Decision
·       35:20  Developing the Rising Generation's Financial Acumen
·       40:08  What Every Next-Gen Leader Needs to Understand About the Numbers
·       42:16  The Fractional CFO Model: Full Expertise at a Fraction of the Cost
·       46:05  Resources and Farewell
 
Websites
·       opuscg.com
·       chrisyonker.com
 
About Jacques Santucci
Jacques Santucci is the President and Founder of Opus Consulting, a nationally recognized full-service business advisory firm supporting companies from start-up to turnaround, and offering management and fractional C-suite services to unlock performance. Jacques is particularly skilled in helping businesses navigate complex inflection points and difficult industries, with over 20 years of experience in turnarounds and restructurings. He frequently serves as a restructuring officer, court-appointed receiver, or turnaround advisor — bringing disciplined execution and a practical, hands-on approach to each engagement.
In his capacity as a fractional CFO, Jacques utilizes his strategic and financial expertise to help companies improve fiscal controls, cash flow, and align financial operations with long-term goals. From his frontline perspective in restructuring and turnarounds, he is keenly aware of the financial decisions and factors that lead companies into distress — and works with business leaders to avoid those pitfalls earlier in the business lifecycle. Jacques built his career as a strategic finance leader, holding senior roles at Ernst & Young and Universal Pictures in Paris, France, before bringing his expertise to privately held and family-owned businesses across the United States.

The Enlightened Family Business Podcast
Ep. 161: AI Is Coming Fast — What Family Businesses Should Do Now with Jack Potvin
 

In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker is joined by AI product builder Jack Potvin for a fast-moving, practical conversation about artificial intelligence and what privately held and family businesses need to do — right now — to stay competitive. Jack built his AI foundation working on one of the world's first computer vision models for sports before the rise of large language models, and now dedicates his work to helping independent businesses harness this technology before the window closes. Chris and Jack make the case for why family businesses — historically outperformers — are at a critical inflection point: large corporations are pouring tens of billions into AI adoption, and the playing field will not stay level for those who wait. Together they explore what AI actually is, the two core value drivers of efficiency and capability expansion, where to start when your team is at zero, why governance policies matter more than most owners realize, which specific tools deliver immediate value, and what AI genuinely cannot replace — deep domain expertise, broken process diagnosis, and nuanced human judgment. They also dive into real-world case studies from a beverage manufacturer and an insurance agency that have completely transformed their operations through AI, and close with a grounded, practical framework for family business leaders ready to take their first meaningful steps.
Episode Chapters
·       0:00   Welcome and Framing the Opportunity
·       1:00   Meet Jack Potvin — From Sports AI to Family Business Adoption
·       4:06   Why Family Businesses Are at a Competitive Inflection Point
·       7:28   What Is AI? Defining LLMs, Efficiency, and Capability Expansion
·       13:18  Should Your Company Have an AI Policy?
·       16:04  Addressing the Fear: Job Loss, Data Privacy, and the Real Risks
·       22:10  Where to Start: Daily Drivers, Existing Tools, and Filling the Gap
·       26:54  Best AI Tools Right Now: Read AI, Whisper Flow, Notion, Gamma
·       30:29  Operational Efficiency, Analytics, and Business Development
·       31:11  Two Real-World Case Studies: Beverage Manufacturer and Insurance Agency
·       35:23  What AI Is Great At — and Where Humans Must Lead
·       40:40  AI for Business Development, Outbound, and CRM Automation
·       45:59  Strategic Planning, Knowledge Bases, and Building Your Company's AI Brain
·       50:20  Q&A and Closing Resources
 
Websites
·       businessautomation.com
·       chrisyonker.com
 
About Jack Potvin
Jack Ryan Potvin is an entrepreneur and AI strategist focused on helping businesses adopt practical artificial intelligence solutions that improve efficiency, decision-making, and competitive positioning. As the founder of Business Automation, Jack works with companies to integrate AI into everyday business operations — from automating workflows and improving internal knowledge systems to enhancing marketing, sales, and strategic insight. Jack specializes in translating rapidly evolving AI capabilities into practical tools that business leaders can implement today, without requiring large technical teams or massive technology investments. He is particularly passionate about helping family-owned and employee-owned companies adopt AI in ways that strengthen their long-term competitiveness while preserving the leadership values and culture that make these businesses successful.

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.