Passion Leading to Motivation

Listen to Randy as he describes how his passion for hockey motivated him to join, Itech Hockey, his family business. When considering to join a family business it is important to be passionate about the industry in which the business operates. When the next generation is passionate about a family business, it makes for a smooth transition as well as motivation to contribute to the company.

I think when it came to our family business the easiest thing in terms of any type of motivation was that it was the hockey business. And I was an athletic kid growing up, passionate about hockey and it was a no-brainer for me. It was something that I was very interested in and certainly something that I wanted to be a part of. My father was very adamant that he wanted us to try something else prior to joining the business, in my case it was teaching for a few years. But in doing so, I was always being pulled back into the business, I was working at it when I wasn’t teaching, and finally it came to the point in the early 90’s where the time was right to make the move and jump in. Certainly the company was enjoying some success, it was no longer a new company, it had started in 84’ and now we’re talking 5, 6 years into its existence, but expansion was big. We looked at opening an operation in the US, I was born in the US so I had US citizenship so it was an easy transition for me to be part of that facility that was opening up down there. If my father had started a widget company, I don’t think I would have got into the family business. But the fact that it was hockey, and hockey product related and something that I was passionate about was a very easy transition for me, and something I was passionate about. So there’s no question that you have to have some passion for what you’re doing, I hear and see a lot of stories, people that go into a family business and they’re not necessarily passionate about it and it ends up being a struggle for everyone. Key Takeaway: Make sure you are passionate about what you are doing.