Told by a Teen / Female Founder Stories
The Legacy of Happy Eggs: leading with family values
“Business is people to people. At the end of the day, it’s all about relationships.”
Sarah Dean, Noble Foods / Happy Eggs
The conversation
Sarah Dean chairs Noble Foods, a 105 year old family business, and she talks about it as something she is looking after rather than something she owns.
Nobody wants to make a phone call
The thing she has noticed with her own kids is that nobody wants to make a phone call any more. I thought she was being a bit unfair about my generation. I checked my call log. She is not.
Her point is that the power of talking to people cannot be underestimated, and that it is a thing you lose by not practising.
Profit is part of sustainability
Sometimes in the sustainability discussion, she said, people forget that you have to make a profit. She means economic sustainability as well as environmental, and she was not apologetic about saying so.
Am I a good ancestor?
That is her measure, rather than the year’s numbers. She talked about having to make the people who work for you feel valued and feel heard, and then about legacy, and the question she actually asks herself is whether she is a good ancestor.
What I took from it
More and more we’re turning to screens rather than face-to-face interactions.
We’re all turning to screens instead of talking to each other, and I’m as guilty as anyone.
I call my friends now rather than seeing them, because it’s easier. Sarah runs a 105 year old business and she says the single thing her younger employees won’t do is pick up the phone.
I thought she was being unfair. I checked my call log. She is not.
