Family ties
We’ve all watched Succession and the fictional fall outs of the Roy family. But what is it really like to work with family members in a highly pressurised environment?
The events industry can be a melting pot at the best of times, especially in the countdown to ‘showtime’.
Would working alongside a close family member magnify the stress, or does it pay to have somebody in your corner? And if it’s your business, is there a risk of nepotism? Or is it in fact the opposite? Are relatives more tough on one another in the workplace?
Goldie Chadowitz, daughter of award-winning events planner and founder of the Taylor Lynn Corporation, Liz Taylor, recently joined the company to oversee the development of the London branch of the business. Here, Liz and Goldie reveal the truth behind working with family members and share their thoughts on how to make a success of working side by side as mother and daughter...
Goldie Chadowitz and Liz Taylor
Goldie Chadowitz and Liz Taylor
“The jury was always out regards whether either of my daughters would join the business, although secretly I wanted them both to be a part of the journey with me.” begins Liz. “But they are single minded and independent, and after watching me, as a single mum, work so hard to carve my own career path, they wanted to go their own way.
“With Goldie, it was more a case of right place, right time. Along with her having the right skillset to do the job of course. The southern arm of the business was growing thanks to some very successful events. Word travels fast. It was taking a lot of time and resource for the team to keep travelling down and it didn’t make financial sense. We needed somebody on the ground to oversee relationships with clients and suppliers. To network and grow the business.
“As it happens Goldie is at a point in her life where her children are getting older, and she was looking for something to channel her energies into. Goldie has built her own successful career in the events industry and as a high-level PA. She knows the business and has the organisational skills to succeed in event planning, but crucially she also has the contacts.
“It came about through a casual conversation, but it just felt right.”
As Liz alludes to, Goldie has lived and breathed the events business from a very young age. As well as forging her own career, she has watched her mum build one of the UK’s most successful luxury event businesses from the ground up, a feat that didn’t come without hard work and sacrifice. And during her childhood, Goldie learnt first-hand about Liz’s exacting standards and eye for detail.
“The reality was that as a single parent trying to get her business off the ground sometimes, we’d have to go along to work with mum”, says Goldie. “I spent many an afternoon folding napkins at a venue while she oversaw the event set up. I was in awe of her to be honest, nobody can command a room like Liz in full ‘boss mode’.
“If we did them wrong, she’d make us do them all again,” she laughs. “So, I did know what I was getting myself into this time around. I’ve always appreciated the hard work and the sacrifices she made to build the business, even more so when I read her autobiography recently which really illustrated just how much went into getting where she is today.”
For Goldie, one of the toughest parts of working for TLC has been differentiating her own working style from that of her mum.
“People expect me to be a carbon copy of Liz, she continues. “Although we’re very close, we are completely different personalities. That’s taken time for some people to get used to. I guess people would say my style is quieter, less forthright, but that’s not to be mistaken for a lack of ambition. I definitely get my determination from my mum.”
Goldie is based in London, where she lives with her husband and two children and runs the TLC London office, whilst Liz lives in Manchester and works from the company’s central Manchester HQ.
Work is now a huge part of their relationship, but what is their advice for maintaining a healthy personal rapport away from the office and how have they made sure that the team and stakeholders accept Goldie in her own right?
“Boundaries have been very important for us,” Goldie adds. “I made it clear from the start that I wanted to report into TLC’s events director. And at work, it’s Liz, not mum. We want to keep our work and home life completely separate. We’re very close and I’d hate for that to change. But it’s not just that, I wanted to earn my place. And I am still working to prove my place at the TLC table. I want to be seen as a contributor in my own right and not because I’m related to the boss.
“As it happens, more of a challenge than working with Liz, is the distance from the rest of the team. It could be easy to feel isolated or like the London office is a separate entity, but we’ve taken lots of steps to mitigate that.”
Both Liz and Goldie are keen for the TLC team not to feel nepotism is at play - Liz admits that she is probably tougher on Goldie than anyone else in the business, trying to avoid any feelings of favouritism.
“It’s a difficult balance,” admits Liz. “I’m known for being direct and honest. Sometimes I have to stop myself from being harder on Goldie than I would be on other members of staff. I try to apply the same level of support and leadership to my entire team though. Relation or no relation.
“But that’s the challenge. And I respect the fact that Goldie has worked to become a part of the team. I know it’s come with issues along the way. I’ve worked with suppliers for over 25 years, and you develop a short-cut in communication. They know what I expect of them. Many applied the same philosophy to Goldie, who of course, needed to start from grass-roots and develop her own way of working with them.
“So yes, it’s brought difficult scenarios, but nothing insurmountable. And the bonus – my very talented daughter is part of the TLC family.”
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
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