In this episode, Riham shares her journey of navigating digital transformation and governance reform. From implementing ERP systems to restructuring authority and redefining leadership, she reveals the emotional battles, strategic compromises, and bold vision that are guiding Nassar Group into a new era. Her story is a testament to the power of persistence, the importance of clarity, and the necessity of preparing a family business for the future – even when the road is anything but smooth.

The numbers tell a compelling story. Only 70% of the respondents in this survey knew in advance that they would inherit ownership, while nearly half entered leadership roles unexpectedly, often to support their families. What does this mean for how family enterprises prepare the next generation? From informal entries to hard-won authority, we’ll explore the patterns, the surprises, and the lessons that emerged from this global survey.

Laura’s connection to her family’s past deepened during childhood visits to their ancestral home in Norrmark, Finland, where she uncovered historical letters and photographs. These discoveries revealed the powerful resource the family archive represented and how it could inspire and excite both current and future generations. Today, Laura harnesses this rich legacy — blending tradition with innovation — to unify the family’s voice and articulate its values across generations.

In this episode, Laura Meyer Ahlström reflects on her role as Family Functions Manager for Ahlström Corporation, a global leader in fibre-based specialty materials. She shares her experience using the family’s films and biographies to create multilingual narratives that resonate with and unite family members at home and abroad. Laura also discusses her family’s belief in entrepreneurialism and individuality, and how passion is always prioritised over obligation.

Nadine began her career in finance, excelling at Dubai’s NASDAQ and quickly climbing the corporate ladder. However, she soon pivoted to join her family’s engineering business, eager to apply her corporate knowledge in a new setting. After completing her MBA, she returned to the financial sector, fulfilling a dream by working at a private equity investment firm.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted significant health accessibility challenges, sparking Nadine's entrepreneurial spirit. In 2021, she co-founded Valeo Wellbeing with her venture partner, Sundeep Sahni. Valeo Wellbeing offers holistic healthcare solutions, diagnostics, medication, supplements, consultations, and medical history all through a user-friendly app.

In this episode, Nadine Karadag, COO and co-founder of Valeo Wellbeing and board member of the INCO Group, shares her remarkable journey from corporate success to family business and, finally, to launching a tech startup. She discusses how the lessons from each phase of her career shaped her trajectory, the challenges and rewards of founding a tech firm today, and the importance of fostering a culture of innovation for business survival.

Enter the world of open dialogue, where honesty and a united front can transform uncomfortable chats into pivotal moments of growth. But how do we get there? The path might be smoother than we think, built on the straightforward principles of honesty and the collective pursuit of a brighter future.

On this episode we are joined by Christina Wing, the founder of Wingspan Legacy Partners, a seasoned faculty member at Harvard Business School, and a business owner herself. Christina unlocks the transformative power of tackling tough conversations head-on in family businesses. From the nuanced role of timing in broaching sensitive issues to the enlightening impact of the COVID lockdowns on our understanding of mental health and the need to set personal boundaries, Christina sheds light on the conversations that can redefine the future of family enterprises.

Often a product of their era, culture, and economic environment, successful business leaders also possess strong strategic compasses that enable them to balance current priorities with long-term objectives. In today’s business landscape, that means maintaining a global perspective while adapting to local contexts – and successful leaders must find the courage to navigate and take decisive action in both environments.

Constant shifts, geopolitical instability, technological disruptions, and economic uncertainty will shape leadership in the 21st century. The next generation of leaders will be defined by their ability to chart a course through turbulent periods and their readiness to adapt to the growing drivers of significant global change.

Whether gender bias exists within the world’s family enterprises has been unequivocally answered. 

Yet, despite the gender barriers they face – or possibly because of them – women are amplifying their voices and advocating for themselves within their family enterprises and the male-dominated boardrooms of businesses globally. Many women are actively demanding the change they want to see, and the resources they need to excel, as they increasingly recognise and understand the value they bring to every organisation and, maybe most especially, the family business.

In this episode, Meghan Juday, Chair of Ideal Industries Inc., governance advisor, and founder of The Lodis Forum, and Marina Vaughan Spitzy, founder of legacy planning firm, Tecolote Advisory, and fifth-generation family business stakeholder, and Ramia El Agamy, Co-Founder of WiFB, discuss the results of their recent study entitled ‘Women in Power’ for which they interviewed near a dozen women who told their stories of bias and success in the family enterprise. In this episode, we discuss the emotional and professional challenges women confront when first taking on a leadership role in their family firms, as well as the strategies that can help empower them. We also talk about how the boardroom has become the final frontier of diversity in many organisations and emphasise the importance of continuing the conversation surrounding workplace bias for everyone in a family business, regardless of gender.

The reasons families choose to sell their businesses vary, but the subsequent, often distressing, process of moving on and navigating the unknown is an experience every former family business owner will inevitability face. For Eva Fischer Hansen, the strain of selling her family’s firm was so great that it left her incapacitated and in debilitating pain. 

Eva hadn’t originally intended to join Brunata, her family’s intelligent energy metering solutions enterprise, but she found herself stepping into a key leadership role to save the business after her father’s sudden departure. Serving as board chair, Eva helped her family turn the firm around and oversaw its successful sale, but the mental and physical toll had a profound effect on her well-being. After a period of recovery and reflection, Eva established her own consulting business to help other family-owned companies confront the unique challenges they face while staying true to their core values. She has since also founded Balance2Perform, a school for holistic body therapy that places great emphasis on psychological strength and mental well-being.

In this episode, Eva Fischer Hansen shares the personal and professional hurdles she overcame to safeguard the future of her family’s business, even after the decision to sell had been finalised. She also talks about the values instilled by her father that continue to guide her business decisions, and emphasises how focusing on a family member's shortcomings rather than their role within the family unit may indicate that it is time to sell the business.

Haleema not only managed the company’s fledgling property development business but also successfully turned it into a UAE success story, all while simultaneously establishing herself as a prominent entrepreneur in the region. However, Haleema’s journey was far from smooth. Unafraid of breaking convention, she often directly confronted those who questioned her credibility in the male-dominated construction sector. Ultimately, Haleema realised that building self-worth is what truly matters the most.

In this episode, Haleema Al Owais, CEO of Sultan bin Ali Al Owais Real Estate, talks about the challenges she faced while navigating the UAE’s construction sector at just 23 years old. She shares valuable lessons she learned through adversity and the pivotal steps she took after assuming her leadership position — including opening a family construction firm to mitigate the effects of gender discrimination in the industry. She also discusses the significance of family business stewardship as well as the roles hard work and humility play in achieving long-term success, and explains why she firmly believes that prosperity in a family business should not lead to a change in core values.

 In this episode, Dr. Yasmina Fechkeur, shareholder of the integrated logistics solutions company for Algeria’s energy sector, RedMed Group, and founder/CEO of medical analysis firm Fechkeur Laboratory, talks about the challenges she faced in her family business' industry, and how friction and conflict often fuelled the innovation that she feels is essential in every business. She discusses the importance of adaptability in today’s changing business and environmental landscapes, and highlights how building self-confidence is essential in fostering effective and innovative leadership.

In this episode, Muna Al Gurg, who is now Vice Chair and Director of Retail for the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, one of the UAE’s leading diversified conglomerates with a portfolio of over 30 companies, talks about the innovative mindset she believes has always been essential for family businesses to thrive, the new opportunities that exist for firms willing to challenge traditional models, and the ‘three Ps’ that she believes should be the ethos of every family business: Profitability, People, and Purpose.

In this episode, Nancy Gudekunst, President of promotional product speciality company Marco Ideas Unlimited, discusses her unique journey into leadership within the business her mother founded. She delves into the role her own entrepreneurial background played in modernising the operation and managing professional relationships. Nancy also reflects on the challenges of guiding the company through periods of economic uncertainty and the intricacies that arose as the third generation of the family became involved in the business.

In this episode, Shaikha discusses how investing in the development of people leads to dedication, commitment and, ultimately, success. Shaikha also details the many important lessons she learned from her father, company co-founder, Nasser Al Nowais, and how he helped shape her strength and conviction, especially when facing adversity. Shaikha believes that accessibility and engagement are key to generating the new ideas that businesses need to confront the inevitability of change.

In this episode, Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson of energy and environment solutions company, Thermax Ltd, talks about the lessons she learned working her way up through the family business, and the challenges she faced when her mother unexpectedly asked her to lead it. Despite feeling the pressure of following in the footsteps of her visionary parents, Meher focussed on what she believed was one of their greatest gifts to her — the wisdom to make decisions that reflect who she truly is.

In this episode, Cecily McGuckin, CEO of Queensland Steel and Sheet, one of Australia’s longest-running, family-owned steel distributors, talks to us about her extraordinary journey to becoming the first female CEO in Australia’s steel industry, how to build on the first generation’s legacy while managing necessary change, and why a people-centric culture is a winning formula. 

Technological advances coupled with societal and environmental forces have upended the status quo of how business is conducted, and catalysed a growing number of mega-trends that will likely continue to influence all commerce globally.

The entrepreneurial ethos of family enterprises enables them to think laterally and perform with agility in circumstances that are beyond their direct control. They can, however, often do more to ensure successful outcomes and transitions in uncertain times.

In this episode, KPMG Private Enterprise partners Camilla Cullinane, Robyn Langsford, and Karmen Yeung discuss how family businesses are responding globally to trends and strategies, and the foundational approaches that can lead to success.

On this episode of WiFB, Joumana Hosri, CEO of Sacotel ZNSHINE, and a “Visionary Leader of the Year” award recipient, talks about joining her family’s firm at age 24 and spearheading initiatives in a male-dominated business environment. Joumana also talks about the critical decision-making process and passion that fuelled her enterprise’s transition to sustainability, and the first-of-its-kind joint venture that made her family’s company one of Lebanon’s top solar power and green energy businesses.

In this episode, Smruti Sriram, CEO of leading sustainable packaging and merchandise manufacturer Supreme Creations/Bag of Ethics, provides a unique perspective on how her ethically driven family business continues to innovate and adapt in an era of change while remaining true to its core principles. Even when confronting today’s challenging uncertainties, Smruti believes respect and kindness is the strategy that brings success both in leadership and life.

Marina Vaughan Spitzy, Director and Founder of Tecolote Advisory, a firm that specialises in helping women and their families take stewardship of their finances, experienced the struggle with wealth management first-hand when her family was faced with the sudden loss of her father — an increasingly common succession scenario. In this episode, Marina talks about how her family’s experiences motivated her to help others build healthy relationships with wealth in the family, what kind of education is required to give everyone the same level of understanding and access, and why it all is so essential for the success of multigenerational legacies. 

[1] https://www.ubs.com/content/dam/WealthManagementAmericas/documents/2018–37666-UBS-Own-Your-Worth-report-R32.pdf

[2] https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/managing-next-decade-women-wealth

In this episode, Li Tan, Chief Strategy Officer of Asia Green Group, Co-Founder of Rare Whiskey Holdings, and Co-Founder of Audacy Ventures, discusses the expectations next-generation members confront after joining the family business, what lessons they can draw from building their own business, and the crucial role communication plays in enabling healthy family-work relationships.

In this episode of WiFB, Meghan Juday, Board Chairman of Ideal Industries, a diversified family-owned business that designs and manufactures products for electrical, lighting, and infrastructure industries, discusses the challenges she faced and the revelations she boldly acted on when becoming the first female Chairman for her family’s 107-year-old company, in an industry overwhelmingly dominated by men.

In this episode of WiFB, Naomi George, founder of Optimum, which equips people with the positive mindset and enhanced wellbeing that enables them to thrive, discusses unrealistic expectations and how to manage them. She speaks from experience, offering advice to those who feel they don’t have enough energy or time to accomplish what they think they need to and how to deal with their guilt when they ‘fall short’.

In this episode of WiFB, Kholoud Mousa, Partner & Head of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity and Buthainah Albaity, Director Private Enterprise – Family Business & Family Offices, share insights and findings from KPMG’s recent publication, The Power of Women in Family Businesses. The study was local to Saudi Arabia, featuring in-depth interviews with 14 female family business leaders from across the Kingdom and focuses on the changing role of women in these enterprises.

In this episode of Women in Family Business, Sana Jubaili, Group HR Director of Jubaili Bros, discusses how companies can embark on ESG and sustainability initiatives to drive growth. She draws from her experiences to offer advice on promoting and establishing change in a way that attracts talent and grows profits while simultaneously benefitting the wider community and environment.

In this episode of WiFB, Nupur Pavan Bang, Associate Director at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, explores the role and status of women in family businesses in India, partially through the lens of her experiences.

Nupur examines the specific challenges these women face and how those challenges can be overcome by both genders championing equality. She also discusses how these women’s roles are beginning to change and offers advice for those who wish to amplify their voices.

Founded in Lebanon in 1947, the HOLDAL Group has embedded IMPACT in their everyday operations. Despite the difficult circumstances in Lebanon’s recent history, the healthcare, beauty, wellbeing, lifestyle and luxury group has managed to prosper while staying true to its core values and “raison d’être”.

Maissa’s experiences with the HOLDAL Group and beyond are proof of the transformative potential of ESG. Hers is a strong case for others who wish to add resiliency to their communities and by extension, their organisations.

Koninklijke Van Wijhe Verf, currently led by fourth-generation CEO Marlies van Wijhe, is one of these companies. Not only was Van Wijhe Verf the first company in the Netherlands to achieve B Corp status – an accreditation that guarantees performance, accountability, and transparency through ESG metrics – it was the first chemical company in the world to do so.

In this episode of WiFB, Marlies van Wijhe discusses her family enterprise’s journey towards this sustainability milestone, the leadership practices that got them there and what’s next for Van Wijhe Verf.

Even today, women are frequently type-cast in positions that provide emotional support to other family members — chief emotional officer, for example — while positions of greater responsibility or influence are taken by husbands, brothers, or other male family members. And for those women who do ascend to top tier positions within their family firms, an entirely new set of complex hurdles lay before them. But even with these persistently familiar impediments, women are steadily transforming the family business space.

In this episode of WiFB Conversations, Fredda Brown, Founding Partner of the family consulting firm, Relative Solutions, and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss how women are leveraging catalysts, such as inheritance and generational wealth transference, in conjunction with self-reliance and their formidable skillsets to reshape family businesses around the world. Fredda and Ramia also talk about adaptation, preparation, and key strategies women can use to navigate through and upward in their organisations, along with the steps that lead to success once they arrive at the top.

Ekta Tolani is the Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of Astrolabe Holding and runs the Family Office for one of Kuwait’s largest families. She has seen the challenges that still exist for women in MENA, and how technology and startup culture has become a popular option for women who face the region’s barriers of entry into finance and investment.

The opportunities are growing for women, but more support and sophisticated conversations are needed to elevate their contribution in the investment sector and the Family Offices within it. It can be a fight, but women must advocate for the education they need and the business positions they want.

In this episode of the WIFB podcast, Ekta and Farida speak about how the finance sector is changing, why education is the engine driving that change, and what her journey to the top of one of Kuwait's largest family offices was like.

Financial expert Elaine King, CFP® , founder and president of the Family and Money Matters Institute, is no stranger to these myths. As a Latin American woman in a male-dominated industry, she has had to break through many stereotypes to be treated equally as her male counterparts.

Despite the steady progress in creating a more gender-inclusive environment, many women in Latin American family businesses still experience stigmas and expectations that hinder families from tapping into the full pool of diverse talent potential. Redefining the structure of family businesses as a whole and encouraging evolution will help create a lasting legacy for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

In this episode of WiFB Conversations, Elaine King and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss the myths surrounding Latin American family businesses, women’s role in those businesses and how that role is evolving.

Daniel Trimarchi, Director of Family Business Advisory at KPMG Private Enterprise in Canada, conducted in collaboration with the STEP Project Global Consortium, a survey of family business leaders to understand the various perspectives that affect the structure of their companies. These perspectives change from generation to generation and are often influenced by the relationships people form within the family and the business. What’s more, each perspective determines women’s roles, as well as the rate of change attributed to those roles.

In this episode of Women in Family Business, Ramia El Agamy and Daniel Trimarchi discuss the difference in generational perspectives, the way in which we define our roles and how we can empower the next generation of leaders – both men and women.

Through intimate one-on-one conversations with the participants, a collection of stories of how women in the family business are evolving, learning, adapting and succeeding comes together. For the first time, this year’s study featured male as well as female family business members, focusing on next gens and their perceptions of both their predecessors and their own future in family business.

In this episode of our WiFB Conversations, Jean Santos, Celine Casamina of Business Consulting Resources and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss the results of the latest research, how the impostor syndrome impacts women and the way in which women in the family business are adapting to create their own success.

While the transition into the formal workplace has not always been easy, Perryman Construction has a history of adaptation, with the very foundation of the business being built on disruption. Through mentorship, the incorporation of technology and a reassessment of the basics, Perryman Construction has overcome every challenge along the way – including the recent global pandemic – to ensure the success of the business for generations to come. 

In this episode of Women in Family Business, Ramia El Agamy and Angelina Perryman discuss the transition to a formal role within the family business, the female millennial perspective and how family businesses like Perryman Construction are safeguarding their future.

One of the major flaws that the worldwide lockdown has revealed is our dependence on the global supply chain. With minimal access to international products, many businesses have had to rely on increased supply chain localisation, benefiting businesses and communities.

The pandemic has also shed light on inequality in women’s roles, both within the family business and in the nuclear family. With women realising the need for greater balance in their roles, there has been an acceleration towards a movement for change.

In this episode of WiFB Conversations, Susanne Bransgrove and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss the current COVID-19 situation, its effects on family businesses and how families can cope with the surmounting changes.

This episode of Conversations with Women in Family Business is co-produced with Susanne Bransgrove, director of LiquidGold Consultants.

Nike is the founder and CEO of Nike Anani Practice, Ltd., in Lagos, Nigeria, where she helps second-generation family business members collaborate with the founding generation in an effort to build sustainable family enterprises in the region. No more than 2 per cent of African family businesses successfully transition power to the second generation, and Nike has made it her mission to facilitate this generational merge.

Family business has always been central in Nike’s daily life. Her parents were in their twenties when she was born and wanted to give their newborn a better life. They decided that launching a business was the best way to do so.

When she was nine, the family relocated from Nigeria to the UK, where Nike spent her formative years. After graduating university with a degree in Economics, she began working at Deloitte. While she loved her colleagues, she found the work itself dull. Her true destiny was beckoning, and she could not ignore the call any longer.

Nike returned home to Nigeria for what was meant to be a three-month break from work. More than a decade later, she is still there. After working in her family’s business for several years, she decided to follow her passion for helping other African next-gens, like herself, and thus created the Nike Anani Practice.

Women in Family Business sat down with Nike Anani to discuss the specific appeal of working with next-gens, the factors in Africa’s low succession rate and how the unique cultural landscape of Africa impacts family business development.

Full Professor at Italy’s University of Urbino and co-author of “Do dreams always come true? Daughters’ expectations and experience in family business succession”, Professor Cesaroni has interviewed countless women around the world about the challenges of manoeuvrability in their family businesses.

For many, unequal expectations for sons and daughters continue to colour the family business experience. However, Professor Cesaroni believes that to achieve success and sustainability, families must level the playing field by adopting an inclusionary approach that taps on all available talent.

WiFB spoke with Professor Francesca Maria Cesaroni about her research and how she believes it will influence the future of women in family business and entrepreneurs alike.

Over the last three years, Jean and Ken conducted a special research project to document the complex nature of family-owned businesses. The first year of the initiative focussed on the founding generation and the issues that impact their ability to navigate succession. The following year, they examined the successors' perspective: how does the second generation build on what is handed to them? 

This year, Jean, Ken and Celine Casamina conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with women in leadership positions to better understand the specific challenges they overcome on their journey to family business success. 

The testimony they heard includes stories of women expertly juggling roles as mothers, sisters, partners, CEOs and managers of their family businesses. Unlike those with non-family employers, women in the family business do not have the luxury of leaving their work when the day is over. Regardless of their familial obligations, their work is often a 24/7 proposition.

For many, the journey to family business success is defined by struggle against harmful stereotyping, the compulsion to overachieve, impostor phenomenon and, often, time itself. Sharing their stories creates the awareness needed to help mitigate these obstacles for others on the path.

Sharon’s passion for traditional fermented foods stems from the positive effects on our health her family experienced first-hand. In 2013, she founded The Fermentary to reverse the trend of highly processed food consumption by spreading the concept of “gut democracy” – a term she coined to describe an ideology for improving our diet.

Sharon is also blazing a path forward for women in business. The success she has garnered in a male-dominated field is a testament to her leadership style. Her collaborative approach and relationship-building skills are just some of the ways she is modernising business practices.

Sharon Flynn discussed with WiFB’s Ramia El Agamy and LiquidGold’s Susanne Bransgrove a return to traditional foods, gut democracy and women leaders in business.

This episode of Conversations with Women in Family Business is co-produced with Susanne Bransgrove, director of LiquidGold Consultants.

After a long and comprehensive reflection, it occurred to her that the issue was not related to the trainer or the trainees; it all came down to what the training was focused on. Traditional leadership training was centred around hard skills and a logic-centric approach. What was missing, she determined, was leadership training that incorporated empathy and other “soft skill” emotional qualities.

In 2012, Christina Foxwell took this newfound insight and founded Ignite Purpose, a professional coaching operation based on the notion that people are central to the success of every organisation. At Ignite Purpose, Christina Foxwell seeks to help businesses reach their full potential by helping employees reach theirs.

Rather than denying the importance of skills and logic, Christina Foxwell believes that, at its core, skill is derived from a logical and emotional connection. Those two facets have to come together for an individual to truly find wisdom.

The results of this approach speak for themselves. Since launching Ignite Purpose in 2012, Christina Foxwell has helped several huge businesses such as Clorox, Newscorp and GSK to improve their overall leadership capabilities.

Christina Foxwell discussed with WiFB’s Ramia El Agamy and LiquidGold’s Susanne Bransgrove the disconnect between theory and practice of leadership best practices, the difference in coaching men and women and coaching to bridge the generational divide.

This episode of Conversations with Women in Family Business is co-produced with Susanne Bransgrove, director of LiquidGold Consultants.

Today’s generations are more mindful than previous ones. With greater awareness of diversity, they are more aware of the necessity to modify their behaviours to live together peacefully. Mindfulness is also a useful tool for business leaders to outgrow limitations and create a thriving workplace.

In this episode of our WiFB Conversations, Amy Katz and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss what it means to be mindful and how to take advantage of mindfulness to improve the workplace.

Family businesses also need to establish governance frameworks and a shared vision. Women can use their empathy and deep understanding of emotions to keep balance in the family during difficult transitions.

In this episode of our WiFB Conversations, Susanne Bransgrove and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss how bringing up the subject of love in a family business context can help resolve conflict and dysfunction.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash Music: My Home by Serge Narcissoff | https://soundcloud.com/sergenarcissoff Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

In this episode of our WiFB Conversations, Amy Katz and Ramia Marielle El Agamy discuss how women can implement new technologies into the family business more smoothly and efficiently.

María Camila is an economist and business administrator with an MBA from Duke University. Her younger sister Daniela works in public relations for fashion and luxury brands in Paris and is a graduate of ESMOD (the École supérieure des arts et techniques de la mode). With a concept as unique as their contrasting personalities, the first-time business owners secured financial backing for their idea through a remarkable programme offered by María’s in-laws.

The two sisters launched fashion brand BothCollection in 2017, following through on their long-time dream of creating a company together. Theirs is an extraordinary journey born within the family, with the help of family, for the benefit of other families everywhere.

María and Daniela spoke with Women in Family Business host Ramia El-Agamy about the advantages and anxieties associated with building a family business and facing cultural roadblocks head-on.

This episode of Conversations with Women in Family Business is co-produced with Amy Katz, founder of coaching-business Daughters in Charge.

For more information go to: www.womeninfamilybusiness.org www.daughtersincharge.com