Michael and Kiffie Hester break the mold on this one. The couple admits that they do in fact take work home with them, and it’s not a problem at all. Sometimes they even talk business in the hot tub.
“It can be hard to turn off [work mode],” Kiffie explains. “But we roll with it.”
What makes their arrangement work is a different rule. The pair decided that if either person says, “I don’t want to talk about this now,” they stop, no questions asked. But rare are the times when they don’t continue to discuss ideas and plans past 5 o’clock, and they enjoy it.
It seems simple, but the lesson here might be to find what works best for you personally, and then not fight it.
Family, Faith and Funny Faces
Sometimes, company culture can be the glue that holds an intricate and delicate situation together.
Buffy and Bruce MacLelland say it was never a part of their plan for the whole family to work at AVT. They didn’t initially want it to be a “mom and pop” organization, but little by little, especially after their children grew and joined the business, they began to embrace the idea.
“Now we flaunt it,” Buffy says proudly. Family business is their culture — and their employees love it. They respect their grown children’s work ethic and embrace the family atmosphere, the couple says.
In the beginning, their daughter Ashley called Bruce and Buffy by their names at work, instead of Mom and Dad, but this eased up over time. Now, Bruce says he has even heard other employees call Buffy “Mom.”
Instead of bringing work home, the MacLelland family brings home to work.
“During holiday work gatherings, [the environment] looks similar to what it might be at home. Last year we all painted a mural and ate and drank all night. We’ve created a family environment in the office,” says Buffy.
The culture works so well that the MacLellands have had people inquire about job openings when they witness it. About a year ago, an employee at one of their competitor companies contacted AVT out of the blue because she had heard about the fun sales meetings and close, caring culture.
“We ended up hiring her!” says Buffy.
Down in Georgia, Ron and Angela Prier also have a tight-knit company culture that they say enhances and protects their relationship, in and outside of the office. In fact, its basis is what they consider the No. 1 reason they are so successful working together: their faith.
“Without faith, we can’t take care of our family, and without family, we can’t take care of our work,” says Ron.
The couple is religious, and says faith is an important hiring factor as well. They say they pray often, about home and work alike, and “thank God every day for what [they] have.”
They attribute their success to the order of their lives: faith, family and work. The Priers also have two dogs, two cats, a baby lamb, and many horses on the 40 acres where they live and work; who wouldn’t love it there?
