For multi-generational family businesses
The work of building a business that outlasts a generation.
Diagnostics, governance, succession planning, and ongoing coaching — structured around the FAMILY framework and the DESIGN method.
The FAMILY framework
Six domains that decide whether a family business endures.
Every engagement is built on these six interlocking domains. Click a letter to read what it covers — and where the work happens.
The DESIGN method
How structural change actually happens.
Six steps applied with discipline — from naming what's actually going on to making the change last.
- D
Discover
Surface what's actually going on.
- E
Envision
Clarify the desired future state.
- S
Strategize
Plan the path. Make the calls.
- I
Implement
Activate. Move into motion.
- G
Govern
Oversight and accountability.
- N
Nurture
Reinforce. Sustain. Compound.
What clients tell us
The kind of work that takes 5 years and a lifetime of relationship — focused into one disciplined engagement.
We'd been talking about succession for nine years. In our first quarter with Brian we made decisions that had been pending since my father's stroke. The framework gave us a way to talk to each other that wasn't loaded.
Third-generation CEO
Manufacturing · 4 generations · 180 employees
Brian doesn't tell you what to do. He shows you the structure underneath what you've been arguing about for 20 years. That changes the conversation. The conversation changes everything.
Founder, second-gen ownership transition
Real estate holdings · sibling co-ownership
The diagnostic alone was worth the engagement. We saw three things our family was avoiding that we hadn't named to each other in a decade. Then we had a path to address them.
Family council chair
Agriculture · 5 generations · trust structure
How we work together
Three engagement shapes. One disciplined practice underneath all of them.
Where are we, really?
Health Assessment
A structured diagnostic across all six FAMILY domains, plus a written read with a 12-month focus recommendation. Right for families who want to know what they're working with before committing to a longer engagement.
4–6 weeks
- FAMILY Diagnostic across the family
- Written diagnostic brief
- Two strategy sessions
- 12-month focus recommendation
Most engagements
The work in earnest
Full Engagement
Quarterly strategic sessions, monthly coaching, ongoing access. The full FAMILY × DESIGN cycle, anchored by quarterly reports and decision memos when major calls are on the table.
12-month commitment
- Monthly coaching sessions
- Quarterly strategic deep-dives
- Full assessment library
- Governance document drafting
- AI-assisted prep + debriefs
- Quarterly engagement reports
On-call senior counsel
Strategic Retainer
For families who already have governance and operating discipline in place. Ongoing access for major decisions, succession milestones, and family-meeting facilitation as needed.
Quarterly renewal
- Decision-memo support
- Family-meeting facilitation
- Conflict mediation
- Ad-hoc strategic counsel
Investment is set per family based on engagement scope. We'll talk numbers in your discovery call.
Built for the work of family business — not generic management consulting.
Start with a structured diagnostic. Get a written read on where you are across all six FAMILY domains, and a plan for the next 12 months.