Browsing Tag

Family Business

Trust, Lies, and Ice Cream

When you grow up working in a family business, you quickly learn that trusting your family is central to success. More than once I heard my dad say, “Never trust anyone but your brother, and keep a sharp eye on him.”

Truth is he was speaking to my brother, so I was the one to be watched closely. Which makes sense because I was over a decade younger and far more prone to do something stupid.

But whether applied to him, me, my sisters, my uncles, or anyone in the family, the point was the same: don’t trust anyone but …

Family, Goble Properties,

Celebrating Shared Values

Seventy five years ago a young couple, soon to be a young family, launched a family business. Over the decades it took many forms, from sandwich shops to coin operated car washes to real estate development. Plus, of course, what we’d all call junkyards.

Today we call that small family business Goble Properties. And though that name only came into being about 40-years ago, it represents the ambitions of 75-years of hard work and investment. I run the company bearing that name today, but it has definitely been a family effort. Over the years my siblings, nieces, nephews, grandpa, aunts, …

Family, Generosity, Leadership, Philanthropy,

Crescent Wrench Generosity

Most of you who read this blog know how I worked at Goble Properties with my father, side by side, for 25-years. But of course I worked with my Dad long before starting my career. For instance, from the time I was old enough to read I was marking tires at the wrecking yard. One childhood experience with him taught me what I call Crescent Wrench Generosity.

I was young, probably 8-years old. For whatever reason Dad had brought home a tank of acetelyn and oxygen (used for cutting iron). The tanks were in the side yard standing against the …

Family, Junkyard Management,

Liars and Thieves

A few years ago I wrote this story, but it feels even more relevant today. Maybe because it’s an election year, or maybe because we have our own “alternative facts” to believe. Whatever the reason, it feels like we are hearing more lies than ever before.

One reality of this, as this story points out, is that someone who lies to you is just as likely to steal from you.

This story happened on a hot summer afternoon in the mid-1970’s. I was with my dad as he was negotiating a deal with a contractor. Let’s call the contractor John. …

Family,

Hair Tonic

It’s been ages since I wrote a family story. Recently I was editing my upcoming book Salvaged and a line about my shiny bald head reminded me of the time a package of hair growth tonic arrived in the mail.

It was my Senior year at Westmont College. Midyear my Dad came to visit for a weekend. We did all the stuff Westmont students do with their parents: sightseeing in Santa Barbara, going out for dinner, and conversations about the family. Then Dad headed home and my studies resumed.

About three weeks later a package arrived at the Westmont …

Wine Reviews,

Mi Sueno … An American Success Story

I grew up around small business owners, and my company works with hundreds of them. Most of them are driven by a love for work and a wish to move beyond their humble beginnings. The hope of “rags to riches” is a huge motivation and is truly an all-American dream.

Rolando Herrera is the living definition of that dream.

Rolando and his parents left Mexico and came to the United States when he was a young boy. Settling in Napa Valley, Rolando was raised around the wine industry. As a teenager he took every job he could find: dishwasher at …