Episode 103: 1 Family, 4 Generations, 100 Years: The Sprague Pest Solutions Story with Ross Treleven

Speaker A: Welcome to Family Business Today where we feature prominent local and national family business owners. We also talked of top family business experts to discuss relevant topics including communications, business culture, family relationships, succession and estate planning values, as well as conflict resolution. Brought to you by the Tennessee center for Family Business. I'm your host, Greg Lewis. Our guest today is Ross Trevlin. Ross was named president of Sprague Pest Solutions in January 2021 and named the CEO in May of 2024. Bevelin joined Sprague in 1998 for a summer job in high school, becoming a technician in college where he attended Gonzaga University, completing a business marketing degree. He also holds an MBA degree from the University of Denver. After graduating From Gonzaga in 2004, Trevlin moved from technician to sales, further learning the business from the ground up. He became the branch manager for the Seattle branch in 2006 and then the Denver branch in 2011 before being named district manager for the mountain region in 2015. He then went on to become the regional manager and built out internal operations center at the home office. In 2016, he was promoted to general manager before being named Vice President of operations in 2018 and executive vice president in 2019. Trevlin is the recipient of the 2021 Southbound Business Journals, 40 under 40 and a 2018 Visage Impact Award for the Puget Sound area. He currently serves on the Board of directors for Cambium Endeavors, Frog Pest Solutions, the TMC Corporation, and the Trevlin Family foundation, and volunteers his time with Degrees of Change and the Annie Wright School Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee in Tacoma, Washington.

Speaker B: Well, good morning, Ross.

Speaker C: Good morning, Craig.

Speaker B: Hey, I am so glad you could join me this morning for this edition of Family Business Today. I've, uh, looked at your website and, and I'm really looking forward to learning more about your family business and your experience as a family business CEO.

Speaker C: Well, I like telling the story, so I think we're in the right place today.

Speaker B: All right, well, let's, let's, let's jump right in. And that's a great place to start.

Speaker A: Tell us a little bit about what

Speaker B: your family business does and who you serve, and also, uh, just a little bit about what other family members are involved in the business.

Speaker C: Well, that's kind of fun. We're in a kind of unique space because we exist in the pest control business, which is a pretty big business that a lot of people know a lot about. Uh, but we only do commercial pest control, which makes us one of the very few companies who specialize in commercial pest control. So Think of that as like food processing, distribution and large facilities. We cover the west coast, uh, the 10 West coast states. We're a fourth generation business, uh, celebrating our 100th anniversary this year. Working with me inside the business, uh, in my generation, the fourth generation, we have my cousin AJ who's executive, uh, vice president, my sister Angela who's chief, uh, financial officer, and my brother Paul who's vice president of sales. So our fourth generation represents uh, really four of the six people from my generation who are the you know, direct children of uh, of um, generation three.

Speaker B: Well that's, that's great. You know, uh, uh, according to the small um, Business administration, only about 4% of uh, of um, family uh owned businesses make it past the uh, uh, third generation. So I want to congratulate you and your family on uh, um being able to make it to that uh, centenarian um, uh place. That's really great. Um, but since you have, we want to know a little bit about the secret of making it to 100th anniversary. Uh, from your experience and from your family's experience, what are some of the key leadership principles that have allowed your company to successfully transition through uh, multiple generations?

Speaker C: Well you know, if we think about how we uh, how we got started here, you know, my great grandpa bought the business in 1931 when it was five years old and grandpa bought the business from him in 1948. And what that has done for us over the course of time. And then my dad and my uncle uh, bought the business um, uh in the 70s and 80s from my grandparents. And so what that's done over time is we've had people who have stepped up and said let's, let's buy out our parents as part of their retirement, I'm sure. And also you know, that means that this is now my thing. So although fourth generation, we've, the transactions haven't been the way that you sometimes they are which is um, uh where you have a much bigger group of people uh, owning the business. So we're, we're in a cousin consortium at this point, you know, with uh, um, with ah, the six of us in this generation, uh, owning the majority of the business at this point. But it is a, um, uh. We're just lucky that some of those decisions were made uh, very early for us in that regard.

Speaker B: Oh good. So, so in other words, there was a, there was a plan in place that's been able, that's been sort of transitioning as the generations have gone forward. So you haven't had to Reinvent, um. Uh, reinvented after each transition. So that's good.

Speaker C: Well, and then the leadership part from my. My dad and my uncle, they started figuring out ways to talk about the business with us, uh, as two families together, usually on a ski when we were kids, you know, when we were in our teenage years, we would, uh, we would be on these trips where one of the hours on one of the days was about the business and kind of how we were doing because they were starting to prepare for the fact that it was unlikely that because of the value generation from their, um, generation. Uh, so the value they derived, I mean, from, uh, from building the business that they were. That we were going to be in a position to be able to buy them out of the business. Um, um, very well. So what. What we started doing was talking about how ownership could work from a very early age. And m. You know, we're really lucky that, you know, 30, 35 years later, we're, um. From when those meetings started, we have a much more professional way of doing that, a much more elaborate way of doing that. And we're still all talking about the business like we were then. So a lot of that leadership that they had about kind of seeing through generations and seeing through the future really set us up to be in this position today.

Speaker B: Well, um, very wise, uh, on your dad and your uncle's, uh, part to have that conversation. Well, uh, moving, uh, uh, uh, from that, uh. You know, uh. I worked. I worked with my father in our family business for over 17 years. And uh, you know, I, uh, think my first job was, uh, sweeping floors, uh, in the factory, if I remember correctly, is, uh. When I was five or six years. Six years old. Um, but I was always around the company just as you have been. But tell us, Ross, looking, uh, back over your own journey and your experiences, when did you first realize that you really wanted to take a leadership role and even a future ownership role of your family business?

Speaker C: It's funny you mentioned sweeping the warehouse. Uh, at 16 or so. I, uh, was. Well, right at 16. I was in there working for minimum wage, uh, trying to find odd jobs to do and try to find a way to get some hours. Um, I was raised by a couple of people who, uh, really like to hustle. My mom and my dad were. Were good at hustling and staying busy. And um. And it was sort of. It was. It was, um, a value that they had that I would get a job right away. And I thought, well, this is probably a place I could find a job and Find some hours. And it wasn't just sweeping the warehouse. It was cleaning up old, uh, old traps and bait stations and everything so we could redeploy them. And that's pretty gross job when you're sick. Well, it's a pretty gross job, you know, all the time. Um, but a nice introduction to the business and kind of what we were doing as well as, you know, like, putting stickers on the new vehicles and taking the stickers off the old ones, which is kind of hard work. It's a lot of using a. Back then especially, it was using a, you know, like a hairdryer and your nails to achieve the sticker removal. Uh, so some hard work, dirty jobs, uh, that kind of stuff. But it wasn't really until I became, um, um, a member of a different office far away from the home office. So I was working for the Tacoma office at the time, which was attached to the corporate office. And when I was in college, I had the same kind of problem. I needed to find a way to make a little money. And we had an office in Spokane, Washington. I went to Gonzaga University. For those of you who've heard of Gonzaga, I went there right as the basketball team. Yeah. Right as they got good. Right as they got their first runs. I happened to be on campus. So let's say that's a. That's a core memory, uh, for me. Um, and so finding a way to make some money out of the Spokane office was what I was up to next. And that office was very different. They. The Tacoma office probably treated me a little bit more like, uh, you know, the S.O.B. the son of the boss, you know, So I was a little bit, um. I was a little bit. I was treated a little differently and in a good way. A little hazing, but also like tough love. Um, the Spokane office just treated me like I was one of their family. And I just fell in love with being around the people and how they would take care of me and how I could help take care of them. And it was far enough away from the home office that I could. I could sort of earn my way onto the team. Um, and it was very cool for me. And so I. I think that's when I started to realize, oh, wait, this might be what I'm going to do the rest of my life. Um, because I think until that point I assumed I'd work in finance or something like that.

Speaker B: Okay, cool. So. So, uh, um, maybe expand on that just a little bit. Ross. Uh, uh, I know I work with a number of family businesses. Uh, uh, over the years on transition and uh, succession and everything and, and uh, one of the difficult situations, especially for families who have businesses in multiple locations and like you in multiple states even uh, is that they have this feeling of they uh, need to have a family member on the ground in every location. Um, you've already told me that you have a very um, small um family uh family uh platform ah footprint in your, in your business there. How, how did your family overcome that of, of knowing that you can take your values and, and uh, your mission and everything else and be able to bring in non family members into leadership roles in those other um, uh locations of your, of your business?

Speaker C: Well, I think we did that gradually, then suddenly. And I mean that when we think about. Yeah, I know, I know that's a famous Ernest Hemingway thing, uh, for how did I go bankrupt? Right. Gradually, then suddenly. And in this case I'm going to use it in a positive way because when we think about uh, how to scale the business, what we were thinking about early in the early 2000s is where are our future leaders going to come from? And we had a very talented person on our executive uh team named Jeff Miller who later was our COO of the business and uh, you know, was the you know, highest ranking non family member in our business's history, uh, still to this day. And he created the leadership development program which I was uh, lucky enough to be in the inaugural class of uh, at Sprague and what, you know, 20. We've now graduated 21 classes of that. So one class per year. It's a year long program and we've, we've not just taught the core leadership principles but in that all of the values of the organizations are embedded into the lessons, into the different places. And so we've been able to scale leadership in the way that we would like leadership to be. This program there are some people who are voluntold to go through it because they're new to the business. So no leader in this company, um, especially those who start as leaders is able to avoid being in the program. Um, but it was a volunteer army. It was something people could apply for and there were some barriers to entry, recommendations from colleagues, recommendations from customers, um, an essay about why you wanted to be in the leadership pool or leadership program and people would be, would start these programs all in and they would read the same things that people in the class uh, before them went through and they'd be cohorted into small groups where they could really experience what leadership and growth and leadership Was like. And of course, weaving in our mission statement, our core principles, the whole time. So that's how we scaled it to where we can feel the same in an office in a state 1,000 miles away, as we do, um, next door to the home office.

Speaker B: Oh, great. That's great. So making sure that those values, uh, and. And they're. They're constantly trained, educated, and what a great leadership program. I look forward to learning. Learning more about that because I have so many families that could. Could use more of that. Um, so. So I. Where a lot of conflict really comes in and a lot. And really a stress on, uh, uh, family relationships come in is when, huh, having to make tough business decisions. Uh, how did your family, uh, navigate that challenge while preparing future, uh, leaders, including yourself? Um, uh, in that.

Speaker C: Well, I think how that's worked, again, is one of those ones where our eyes were open gradually over time, uh, to the different problems that are going on inside the business and also the different things that we do really well. So when we first started having these meetings, our experience of the business was existential. You know, it was something our parents did, but it wasn't something we could feel, uh, very well. We didn't understand really what was happening in that. But many of us worked for the business in that high school, college timeframe for a summer or two and really got to see the impact we had on, you know, our customers, on, uh, the environment, on society, and the impact we were having on providing really great jobs for, uh, the community and for the people. We have as long celebrated tenure track for people at Sprague who have been here 20, 30, 40 years and made it their home. Um, and sometimes the longest relationship they've ever had is the one with Sprague. And we are really proud of that. And so we have this seventh, um, unofficial value, which is that the world deserves a great place to work. And it was one of those things that, uh, we sort of, uh, incorporated into, uh, our core language because of all these people who are coming through the leadership program who are, um, learning about the business and how we all, as family, uh, members get to learn about the business too. We realized that this is more than just a pest control company. This is something that millions of people rely on, whether it's us protecting their food or it's because they draw a paycheck from Sprague and it supports their family. And so that holistic view was instilled in us from a pretty early age.

Speaker B: Okay, all right, so, um, you've transitioned, uh, uh, uh, into the fourth generation now. So from your experience, is there a difference really between preparing a family member, uh, like yourself and your, uh, sister and brother and cousin to own the business versus preparing, uh, you to head the business, lead the business?

Speaker C: I think there's a pretty, pretty big difference there, yeah, because, you know, we. We got to own the business because of, you know, the ovarian lottery, uh, I think is the phrase I've stolen from Warren Buffett. The idea that, uh, we were just born. Born into the right family, you know, and so we. We. We get to, um, own shares because we are, you know, children of the owners. And I think that's a different mentality and a different hat to, you know, trying to be the steward of the business. You know, on the leadership side is a totally different hat to wear. That's. That's protecting more than the family's bottom line. It's also, of course, protecting the, uh, um, the company's bottom line and of course, all the people who work here and all the customers that we have as well. And we think about it in that order, like the people of this organization first. The customers of the organization second. The, uh. Cause if you take care of the people, they'll take care of the customer, of course, the financials of the organization third. We like to talk to everybody about how we're doing as a business, because the object of business is stay in business. And then our fourth objective every year is our strategic objective, the thing we can do and invest in this year that'll help the business into the future. We like to get everybody thinking about those four things. Of course, that doesn't really leave, uh, publicly a lot of space for how the ownership works. But as you've been around family businesses, the ownership sort of works itself out if you're taking care of the core entity and you're having the right conversations, uh, as a family. And through that, we've built some pretty good governance practices. And not a lot of people have, um, as diverse of an outside board as we do.

Speaker B: Uh, um.

Speaker C: And, you know, with committee structures and the whole nine yards, which is another way that we've gotten family members who are sometimes not in the business involved in understanding the businesses through, um, participating committees and participating in board structure and board governance.

Speaker A: Sure.

Speaker B: Say, in talking with, uh, in working with family businesses all the time, we always say there's three. Three. Three important things that you need to. To do. And first one's communications. The second one's communications, and the third one is communications. But, um, um, you you talked about a little bit earlier there. So I know some, some family business owners really have a problem about talking about uh, finances and being open about sharing that information with their key team members. Could you uh, share maybe some things that might um, uh, reassure them, uh, that uh, that's okay?

Speaker C: Yeah, Well, I think the, you know, we have a radically different approach to that than most companies I think. And that's, you know, that's just the way we take on it. I think that over the last 20 years, with the advent of social, ah, media and some of the ways that people can consume what's going on in the world so much faster through their smartphone, uh, and understand the complexities of business by not sharing it with them. We make them think either one of two things. Either that the family is making too much money on this whole thing and that's why we're keeping all the financials tight, or the business is about to go out of business and that's why we're keeping the information, um, uh, you know, to ourselves. So we just tell them the truth, which means that they can understand that, oh, okay, the business is safe, secure. We're not going to go out of business. And. Oh, I get it. That's why we target that number. Because if we target that number and we hit that number, we're going to get a bonus based on that number and then that'll leave us with enough money to reinvest into the business. And so by being open with it, we take both extremes off the table. And that's why we talk a lot about um, the numbers out loud. We tie everybody in the same company the same metrics and that way that they understand that the health of the business is first and foremost in the financial conversation and that we have to do our part each and watch the costs and uh, um, make sure that we're setting the business up to be good next year too.

Speaker B: Sure, sure. Well, uh, that's great. That's great. Uh, yeah, more uh, family businesses should take that advice. I commend you uh, for that. Well, along those same lines earlier, um, this week I met uh, with a family business owner, um, um, who's in his early 50s. He and his brother, uh, uh, own the company. Uh, they're. They're uh, third generation. Not, not looking to transition, um, uh, anytime soon. Uh, kids are young or whatever. Uh, but uh, but he feels it's really important to start talking about um, uh, a transition, uh, plan for, for uh, uh, him. Ah, and also for their business. And he asked me the question, um, when should I start? Uh, when should I let my uh, team know that uh, we're working on a succession plan?

Speaker A: What would you say?

Speaker C: Well, I think the time is now for anybody, whether you're in the period of transitioning the business or you're thinking about it into the future. Because the absence of that plan means people are making it up. They're assuming they are unsure about what their future looks like. Early 50s to me. Seems pretty young now that I'm in my early 40s. That seems uh, a little close to me these days. Um, and yet if I'm um, in my early 40s and my boss is 10 years older than me, who owns the business, I'm wondering what the last 10 years of my career look like because this doesn't match itself up very well. Um, is he going to sell the business? Is he going to pass, uh, it. Am I going to be working for one of his kids? Which one of his kids should I be worried about? There's a lot of things that are going on in my brain if I work for that person and I think that that's a scary place. We talk a lot about the fact that grooming the fifth generation for family ownership, that we're thinking about this through generations. Um, we recently had ah, a camp, um, for the fifth generation. So the oldest is 11, ah, about to be 12, and the youngest is three. Uh, so like that group isn't very soon to be working at the business. Um, um, but what we're doing is we're teaching them a little bit about the business in our business, of course. What does camp look like for these kids? It means the morning, uh, down at the home office, um, doing something to help the company out like uh, packing all the, um, uh, all the, all the gift bags for the new hires, um, and learning about, you know, entomology and insects and rodents and some of that stuff which they think is both cool and you know, sometimes gross. And I think that's an awesome thing for them to experience. We have a bunch of talented entomologists who really put on a really cool show. Ashley does an amazing job with them. And then the afternoon looks like uh, what we'd want it to look like for them. Understanding a little bit more about our philanthropic path in the community. Visiting with um, those uh, charities and places that we give back as a family and so helping them understand a little bit like there's a business. And also because of that business we're able to put ourselves in a position to be pretty generous in the community. And this is where that impacts the community. So really trying to give them that holistic view from an early, early age and when they're not ready to come to the family meetings and learn about you know, the strategy and the P L and some of that stuff. But that's only a few years away when we'll get them into that early so their context can grow over time.

Speaker B: M. Yeah, that's great. So, so you go through all of this and I know some, some um, you talked about earlier about uh, uh, the um, you call it the ovarian lottery. You're born in the family. And so I remember, I remember a family I worked with several years ago before COVID that uh, uh, the daughter said that my mother can't fire me because I'm family. How do you determine whether uh, a next generation family member is really even ready for leadership responsibilities or uh, just simply assume a role because of family ties?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean that's probably mhm. The hardest part of the, of the uh, equation of the math here is getting that right and understanding what that looks like. And I think that thank goodness for some help. Um, obviously I didn't know you during this process but we did have a really great um, person uh, helping us named Mark Green who passed away unfortunately last year, uh, and Steve Brilling and Rich Simmons and Joe Weinstein and now we have Allison Lewis to help us with that too. Because sometimes even having a conversation with somebody about not being ready and these are the things you need to get ready is an emotionally draining conversation. You know, we joke a little bit about the uh, what is the, what is the family business saying? Like you know, how to push each other's buttons because after all you installed them, I think is the phrase, you

Speaker B: know, I think that's brothers and sisters. You can yeah, push the buttons even when you're adults and even when you're working in a business together.

Speaker C: So yeah, so it can be an unsafe conversation to have. So I think that's, that's where we've had some really wonderful family business people like yourself help us, you know, muster the courage, stay the course, facilitate the conversation, uh, etc. Um, because it's not usually a no, it's probably just not a not yet. You know, these are the things you have to be able to do. This is the, this is the trust um, you need to build. This is the um. Because it needs to be a um. No doubter. You know, you have to, you have to be, you have to compete against really the field. And if we've, we're developing all these leaders, that means you have to out develop them to be the right person to be next.

Speaker B: Yeah, very good, excellent advice, excellent advice. Well you mentioned, you mentioned some, some uh, folks that you had worked with, uh, like Mark Green and uh, um. And um, I know one of the things that I find many times more so when all of a sudden the, the uh, next gen is just one person, uh, or two uh, uh, brothers or sisters or a cousin and a couple of cousins, whatever it is that they've always been able to depend on, uh, dad, uncle or whatever. But now they're no longer there and all of a sudden they feel sort of alone and isolated and making business decisions. Of course obviously one is having governance and a diverse ah, outside board. But just from your own experience, um, were there specific mentors, um, um, that could be inside or outside the company, uh, uh, who really helped shape your leadership development and what impact did they have on you?

Speaker C: Yes, of course. And uh, outside of family, because I think family has the biggest impact on you over the years, um, Jeff Miller, who I mentioned was our coo, was my mentor for a very long time and I uh, still have lunch or uh, breakfast with him in his retirement, uh, from time to time. Um, because I do think that thread, it's not just important to me, it's helpful for me because we have such context with each other. Uh, but outside of that, I um, did vistage for 10 years, um, probably when I was in a key group when I was really trying to understand a little bit about uh, how to take this to the next level when development needed to come from outside the organization. Then uh, uh, I got talked into doing YPO research recently and I think that's another fabulous thing. So I've, I've really had some amazing luck with um, inside mentors. And oh, I did grad school and I, I'm still in touch with my study group from grad school when I got my mba. And uh, and some of the professors. In fact I'll be in Denver next week and I'm gonna have coffee with one of my favorite professors there who's still an active mentor for me. When I can't think of what to read next. I'm in a reading slump. I text Carrie and say Carrie, what are you read? Kerry Plemons is ah, um, a professor over at University of Denver. And uh, he'll send me back a picture of his desk which will have like 15 books on it and I'll just pick one. And so I've just been really lucky to reach out and know that I need to find outside help. I come from a disadvantage in one way where I've never worked anywhere else. So I have to study all these other companies and understand these other systems for me to try to bring those ideas back to the business. Where the rest of my family has worked somewhere else and has, uh, ideas from the outside and it's. They make, uh, connections because of that differently than I do. So, um, you know, I think it's probably propelled me on this lifelong learning, um, where I could talk to somebody about their business all day. I just have so many questions.

Speaker B: Sure, sure. Well, it all starts with a question. Well, uh, so, uh, um, your family has been, um, successful at succession planning and leadership development. From your experiences though, uh, um, just a little bit of advice that you could give, um, to family, uh, business owners and to next generations. What mistakes do you commonly see family businesses make when it comes to succession planning and leadership development based on your experiences?

Speaker C: Well, I think the first one is, um, not talking about the company and how it's going to work down the road. And I think that sometimes owners and parents are a little. They're not sure about how it's going to work, so it makes it hard to talk to their kids about it. But a lot of times as a kid, I didn't necessarily need to know how it was going to work because it wasn't 100% up to my dad. We had a board and we had another family to consider, which was, uh, Alfie and Carolyn and that side of the family. And so it wasn't just 100% up to him, but I had questions, and my dad was really good about talking to me about those. I might have to isolate him on a golf course for him to talk to me about it, but he still talked to me about it. You know, sometimes a nice long chairlift to get, uh, get the right questions out there. And I think that's the thing that we're so worried about having that conversation or potentially breaking trust because we think it might go this way, but it's actually going to go the other way. Uh, that's. I think number one is talk about it and learn what if the kids are interested or not. Um, I think there's some parents too, who think that, you know, they, they're hoping their kids are going to go in it, but the kids are never going to, uh, um. That's never going to be their passion. I think that's okay too. I Was I look back on it and think about my teenage years and think I am surprised that that guy works, um, here because I don't think that was what my. That wasn't my plan, um, back then. So, uh, that's. The first one is talk to everybody about it. The second one is, um, share that plan. Whatever your plan is, when you have your plan with the people in the organization because it creates stability in their brains too. Even if the plan is to sell the business in the next five years, the executive team then can help somebody create a really successful exit and that can. They can be an advocate for that person. I think owners. And by the way, I wear this hat and I'll be, uh, somebody will point this at me at some point after this podcast comes out. But sometimes we take a little bit too much on where we think it's going to be our thing and nobody can help us. But of course we've got all these wonderful people around us that can help us and they want to help us. It's just amazing that we sometimes get in our own heads about it and we forget to ask for help. I think those are probably my two biggest things. Um, is talk about it with your kids right away and then look around. You can trust the people you're working with, um, if you decide to trust them, you know.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's, that's a, that's excellent advice. Yeah, we, uh, um, you know, again, going back that communications, it's so important to communicate. But um, and also, uh, transitioning is a, is a process, not an event. So, um, ah, you know, make it three to five years, uh, minimal, uh, to be. To that planning process so that when the event comes, uh, it's much smoother and everybody, both your team, your family and um, uh, your customers, your community, everyone, uh, it's not a shock to anyone on that. But I think the most important one is, and I have this, uh, more often than not is when I'm working with a family is I always say, have you talked to your wife or have you talked to your spouse yet about your transition plan? And I would say probably 75, 80% of the time is, is the answer is no, not yet. And I said, well, the first thing, uh, you're going to do is you're going to talk to your spouse and let them know what you're thinking. Um, you don't have to tell them what it's going to be, but you just want them. They need to know and they need. Because guess who's the one that's there, uh, with you day and night, uh, to support you is your spouse. So I think that's important.

Speaker C: I would agree with that. And I'll tell you occasionally, and I don't mean to throw my dad under the bus here. My mom has called me and said, hey, what does dad need to be at? What do I need to be at? I'm like, oh, he was definitely supposed to tell you, Mom. And so that's. That's a. That's a funny thing that happened. I have to give Alfie Alfietree 11 a ton of credit for. He settled on his plan for how he wanted to hand over, um, different parts of the business. And he lived by that plan. Um, he said dates out loud, told me let, uh, them settle, uh, and then told the family as a whole, um, about when he was going to step back at things. And he's done a really good job. He made one modification to that plan, which is he realized he was going to step down his chair when, uh, we were 99 years old. And he decided he. He really wanted to be there for 100th. And I think that was a great, uh, adjustment. I had no problem with it, you know. And so, um, he stayed on his chair one more year, um, before stepping down as chair of the board. And I think that's a by. We had developed so much trust in the process too, when he. This is true. He isolated me on a chairlift in, uh, Deer Valley and said, um, what if I stayed on till we turned 100, uh, on that regard. And I thought, what a. What a great way to celebrate that. Of course. Course. That sounds like an awesome idea. Um, and we had so much trust. He lived up to that. The following year in February, he, uh, stepped down as chair of the board and handed that to me as we had discussed, uh, and talked through. So I really, uh, really happy with the transition that's worked for me over the years and for our generation and looking forward to, um, doing that again and handing some of these, uh, awesome responsibilities that I have now over to my cousins and siblings over the next many years and hopefully, uh, to G5 at some point.

Speaker B: All right, that's good, boy. There's some great, great, uh, um, content and great advice, uh, for. For all those that are. That are listening, listening to it. But, uh, uh, we could go on for a while, but I, I know that our, uh, time's coming to an end, um, so. But let's. Let's talk just a little bit. So what's next for your family?

Speaker A: Business Sprout Pest Solutions.

Speaker C: Well, actually, that's a great question. A few years ago, back in uh, 2018, we had an idea for creating a holding company. Uh, we've accumulated other assets over the years that are disproportionately owned by different family members. Uh, and that came to um, be a thing for us in the beginning of 2020. And uh, we're starting to uh, be in a position that uh, we get to invest in other things beyond Sprague and kind of turn it into a family office at this point. We have a lot of real estate, uh, assets and other things that are more passive assets that uh, we've accumulated over the years. And um, you know, we're consolidating those um, annually into um, into our holding companies called Cambium Endeavors. And we're really excited about how that's going to um, be another version of um, uh, another thing to help the family into the future. Um, and another thing, um, that I think will help Sprague. I think we'll be able to make investments that Sprague would probably not be able to make that'll end up helping Sprague over the course of time and taking the pressure off of um, maybe family resources draining Sprague, uh, we figured out a really great way to uh, use the holding company to fund some of those family things for us. And so we're really excited about how that's going to be, um, uh, another kind of 2.0 version of family ownership for us.

Speaker B: That's great. Well, I just want to wish you the ah, very, very best as you uh, go through that planning process because, uh, it sounds like uh, your family uh, um, is on spot as far as the family side of it. So from a business standpoint, I look uh, forward to seeing where you are in the next 10, 15, uh, uh, years, uh, in my career to where you're going to be. So where can our listeners learn more about uh, uh, Spray Pest Solutions?

Speaker C: Well thanks Greg. You can check us out@spray pest.com. uh, we cover the 10 Western states for commercial pest control. We'd love to talk to you about that, of course, but on the family business side, my contact information's on there. I'd be happy to talk to any family business who wanted to talk about these things or anything else. And my shared experience, especially since I started this, uh, so long ago and I had a lot of angsty years where I was unsure about how my path was going to work, happy, uh, to pay it forward with all the wonderful People who've helped me over the years.

Speaker B: Well that's great. That's great because, uh, you speak with confidence, uh, uh, and you have that servant heart. I can, I can tell. So, uh, thank you. Thank you for that offer. So uh, thank you, Ray. So before we go, what are your final thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners?

Speaker C: You know, uh, one of the things I learned early on, uh, in my career was, uh, be reliable. You don't always have to be right, but you got to be reliable. And I think that when, uh, I've seen some of the family businesses that I've been associated with get a little sideways is that, you know, we didn't honor our commitments. And when we don't honor our commitments, it gets, uh, it becomes hard to trust. And so like, I really learned some pretty amazing reliability skills and um, being able to count on other people, which makes me, um, you know, I absorb those skills and I feel um, very, very passionate about the idea. Like, you know, we show up for each other, uh, even when we're not at our best and we show up on time and we're reliable for each other. And I think that's a really important thing for me, even if the thing that we're going to do is really hard. So that's the other thing I think is the trust is broken pretty easily when we um, when we can't be counted on.

Speaker B: I remember my father, uh, would tell me when I was uh, uh, younger, uh, uh, joining the family business. He said, son, it's taken me 30 years to build uh, our name in the business. Don't take uh, 30, uh, seconds and run it.

Speaker C: The great advice

Speaker B: and so they best give you some things there. But anyway, um, honor your commitment, uh, rely on other people, show up for each other. And I, I love the one that uh, we've lost some uh, in the, in the last, um, few uh, years as a show up on time. So um, thank you, thank you for sharing that. Well Ross, I just want to say that, um, uh, thank you for being my guest today and we want to wish you and your business continued success. To learn more about Ross and his

Speaker A: business, so, um, visit their website at www.sprogpest.com. to our listeners, thank you for joining us for the Family Business Day podcast brought to you by the Tennessee center for Family Business located in Nashville, Tennessee. Our uh, passion is to help families create a positive environment where the family thrives, the business performs, and working together they create a lasting family legacy. Whether you're a business owner looking to grow your family business or you're wanting to prepare to someday sell or transition the business to the next generation? Check out our free resources on our website at www.encfb.com. if you want to talk to a family business advisor about your specific family business needs, schedule a 30 minute no cost call by sending us an email to infoncfb. If you want to talk, we will listen. So until next time, thanks for joining us.