NewHavenBIZ

n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 9 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 17 F a t h e r / D a u g h t e r CONNECTICUT + MASSACHUSETTS + NEW YORK MURTHALAW.COM at District New Haven 470 James Street ▶ Creative legal counseling for entrepreneuers ▶ Intellectual Property & patent strategies ▶ Cost e ff ective business solutions ▶ Complimentary Business Seminars: Visit bitly.com/LawLabSeminars ▶ LawLab@murthalaw.com Anthony P. Gangemi agangemi@murthalaw.com David A. Menard dmenard@murthalaw.com "In 2004, Lori's health took a turn for the worse and she had to retire," Bigelow says. e predicament led to a soul-baring conversation with her mother and father about the future of the company. "ere was no screaming and yelling," Bigelow says. "We said things that needed to be said about what was best for the business. "My dad was always 'Mission over self,' and I was always 'Mission over self,'" Cindi adds. "And that is how they were able to pass the baton." In 2005, Bigelow became presi- dent and CEO of the Bigelow Tea Co. Its ongoing mission under her leadership, she says, is "to grow an ethical organization that allows us to produce amazing products and employee amazing people." Bigelow currently oversees 400 employees at the company's Fair- field headquarters, a blending fa- cility in Louisville, Ky. and another manufacturing plant in Boise, Id. By now, 13 years into her tenure in the top job, "My fingerprints are on the company," Bigelow allows. "We've launched products, and we've focused on channel develop- ment, sustainability and involve- ment in the community." Bigelow describes family businesses in general as "absolute jewels. "Very few make it from one generation to the next," she says. "I know they're hard, but they're well worth it." Asked whether her children might follow in her footsteps, Bige- low replies, "I don't want to put any pressure on them. "But within five years, we will have that sit-down discussion." Who's the Boss? K ristin Geenty grew up watching her father, Kevin, weather the "ebbs and flows" of his commer- cial real estate business. Not for her, she thought at the time. "I really thought I wanted a job with a guaranteed salary," she recalls. Aer graduating from George Washington University, where she studied foreign languages and international economics, Geenty set her sights on a career in Washing- ton, D.C. with a highly low-risk employer: the U.S government. She changed direction when she found out she needed a law degree to get into the FBI, and decided she wasn't eager to become a cog in a sea of cubicles. So Geenty returned to Connecti- cut, where she coached gymnastics, earned a master's degree in liberal studies at Wesleyan University and worked as a catering chef until 1999, when she joined the Geenty Group, Realtors, the Branford re- al-estate firm founded by her father in 1986. "When I started, I just wanted to be an agent for three years," she explains, "which I then extended to five." Geenty earned her real estate license in 2000, and quickly realized she liked the business –– and was good at it. Even her father was impressed. "Within the first five years, she qualified for the SIOR [com- mercial real estate] designation, which requires high sales, tests and recommendations from other SIOR members," Kevin Geenty says. Kevin also knew his daughter had ambitions to take charge of the company — and not just at some vaguely defined future date. "When I returned from a vaca- tion in 2006, I found a new box of business cards on my desk that said I was president," Kristin Geenty re- calls. "I was really excited my father was entrusting this to me." Kevin Geenty stepped down a notch with the title of vice presi- dent, and continues to work with his daughter. "Of course he's involved and has opinions, but any major decisions come down to me," she says. ey divide their duties and do things differently, explains Kristin, who handles day-to-day opera- tions while Kevin focuses mainly on managing his own commercial real-estate portfolio. "One of the things I've learned from him is how to be direct with people," she says. "My father says what he thinks, and he is honest. People may not like it, but it's better to rip the Band-Aid off." "Women face gender differenc- es in the way they navigate the commercial real estate world," Kristin adds. "When I started out, I was young, and looked young, and needed to say something technical in the first several minutes of a conversation" to show other more veteran professionals that she knew what she was talking about. "Sometimes we forget that we are being company president and vice president, and not father and daughter. It's a fine line, and one that has to be walked carefully. We have a mutual respect for each other, as father and daughter and as business partners." n ' T h e r e w a s n o s c r e a m i n g a n d y e l l i n g . We s a i d t h i n g s t h a t n e e d e d t o b e s a i d a b o u t w h a t w a s b e s t f o r t h e b u s i n e s s . ' - Cindi Bigelow

• Cover