FOR SOME PEOPLE, DAD IS an even larger than normal presence in their lives because they work with him or pursue the same career and are often compared to him by others.
In honor of Dad`s special day, we talked to nine fathers who share this type of relationship with their children and, in one case, grandchild as well. All the fathers were happy that their children had followed a similar career path, though most said they didn`t do anything special to make it happen. They all believed that working together, or in the same profession, made the family bonds stronger.
The children who work on a day-to-day basis with their fathers all say that the lines of communication have to be kept open if the arrangement is to work. None would admit to any problems, but when asked to give advice to other young people going into business with Dad, virtually all of them said,
”Get your own apartment.”
John Ward, professor of private enterprise at Loyola University Graduate School of Business, estimates that of the 50,000 businesses in the Chicago area, 30,000 have fewer than 20 employees and most of those are family-owned. And of the 20,000 businesses with more than 20 employees, approximately one- third are run by a parent and a child-and in most cases the parent is the father. In any event, Ward says, whether it`s a family business or the same career, ”There`s a tremendous urge to follow in the footsteps.”
The Campbells
Wendell Campbell, ARCHITECT/PRESIDENT, Wendell Campbell Associates, Inc.
I never thought Susan would be my partner in business. I believed in letting her find what she wanted to do and giving support toward whatever she wanted to be. We do have strong ties in this family to construction and architecture. She is the third generation involved in this business in some way. I guess it`s deep in her blood.
My father and my grandfather were carpenters, and my father was a contractor. I worked with him from the time I was about 9. I remember the problems I had in working with him. He was a very strong disciplinarian, but I felt he could have spent more time teaching me how to do things. He`d tell me to paint a closet, and when I was finished, he`d tell me to clean the floor. That`s how I learned that you had to put a drop cloth down when you paint.
At home our family members are all pretty outspoken. If they disagree with me, they tell me. Here most of the staff has been in the position of receiving direction and not questioning my decisions. Now we`ll be in a meeting and I`ll say something and hear, ”But, Daddy . . . .” Suddenly I find that some of the others are starting to question my decisions. This is something I have to get used to. But it`s been a very rewarding experience.
Susan M. Campbell, VICE PRESIDENT, Wendell Campbell Associates, Inc.
I never planned to be an architect like my father. I guess just being around it all my life had some influence. I studied urban planning and became interested in economic development, and then I saw the interrelationship between planning and architecture. I already had a master`s degree in urban planning when I decided to study architecture, and I`m about one-third of the way through the master`s program at IIT.
The problem I have in the firm is gaining my own recognition and getting the rest of the firm to accept me for my abilities. These people have seen me grow up. I joined the firm in 1981, and it`s taken just about that long for them to actually deal with me one on one as a professional and as an equal.
I think any young person who is going to work with his or her father has to remember that, while there is a blood relationship, when you enter the office, you`re in a professional environment. Often you`re not going to be treated as a relative, and you can`t take things personally.
When I first started working here, I was living at home (for) about a year. I moved out because I feel it`s healthier to have your own environment when you leave the office. But I`ll call him some mornings and ask if he wants me to bring some fruit for breakfast, or I`ll offer him my lunch if I think he`s not eating right.
The Velasquezes
Arturo Velasquez, Velasquez Automatic Music
I wanted my children to be in business with me, but when I started with my first son, he didn`t like the business at all. Ed loved it, and Maria Elena loved it. But Arthur went into business for himself.
My wife and I own the company, but I`ve given Ed and Maria full responsibility. They saw me operate for many years, and I`ve given them all the rope they need. . . . If they want to ask me about some decisions, that`s fine, but I feel very comfortable with what they`re doing. If the sons and daughters can get along with their father, as mine do, it is an advantage to the father to have his children in the business with him.
Ed Velasquez, Velasquez Automatic Music
I never gave any thought to joining my father`s business. In our family, education was the No. 1 priority. My father pushed me to be a lawyer. But I just wasn`t interested in it, and so he asked me to come and help him. At that time the business was really growing, so it was a good time to do it.
My father has a knack for handling people. When I came here from college, I`d had all the book work, but my father, who didn`t have the educational opportunities he gave us children, showed me how to handle people. He always told me to handle people the way you want to be handled. He knows human nature very well, and I learned everything from him. After a while he let me have a free reign, and he let me make mistakes. I think a lot of family businesses don`t take off because people don`t like to let go of that power. My father was never like that. He knew I`d tell him everything I did, and if he didn`t think something would work out he waited and let me learn on my own what went wrong. Then he let me try again.
Sometimes people compare my style to my father`s, but that doesn`t bother me. It`s a positive comparison. I learned from the pro. If I`m not doing something the way he does, I feel I`m off the track. Because he`s very successful.
Maria Elena Hanson, Velasquez Automatic Music
I never thought I`d work with my father and, in fact, I worked somewhere else before I came here. But my dad needed someone in the office, and I took a leave of absence to give it a try. It worked out so well that I never went back.
My dad and Ed work with the people, and I do everything behind the scenes: accounting, book work, receptionist, secretary. It`s a lot of fun. I don`t feel any pressure from being the boss` daughter. We`re like a family here. It`s very casual. Working with my father and brother has strengthened the family ties.
The Carays
Harry Caray, CHICAGO CUBS BROADCASTER
I never expected my son and grandson to go into this business. But I wanted it to happen. I kind of framed my son when he was a junior in high school. At that time all the fathers I knew were having trouble interesting their offspring in their own businesses. I didn`t want to push Skip because I was afraid he would rebel. Rebelling seemed to be the thing to do in those days.
I had a friend trick Skip into announcing a high school program. And I called everybody and told them, ”I don`t care where you are, but at 5:30 Saturday be sure to call Skip and tell him what a great job he did.” After the program, Skip said he`d be glad to continue if they couldn`t find anyone else, and that`s how I knew that he had the bug.
Skip Caray, ATLANTA BRAVES BROADCASTER
As a child I wanted to be an athlete, like so many people in this business, but I wasn`t good enough and got into announcing instead. I never tried to encourage my son to do the same, though. In fact, there was a time when he was interested in communications law, and I really hoped that he would stay with that. But he chose not to, and it`s his life, and I support him 100 percent. He`s doing very well, so I guess he was right.
I felt some pressure when I started. Nobody knew my name; I was Harry`s kid. That`s not Dad`s fault. That`s a great compliment to him. But when you`re a young guy and you want to make your mark, it really hurts. It`s a funny thing. If a doctor follows his dad into practice-or a lawyer or a plumber- everybody says, ”Isn`t that wonderful?” But when you follow your parent into this racket, it`s a little different. People charge nepotism. I moved to Atlanta because nobody had heard of cable then, and it got me out from under. I knew if I made it, I would make it as me, and if I didn`t make it, it would be because I was lousy, not because of who my father was. It`s worked out pretty well.
Chip Caray, ORLANDO MAGIC BROADCASTER
My aspirations were to play baseball, and I got hurt. I was a catcher, and a kid cracked my kneecap with a bat, and that pretty much ended my playing days. When you do anything you love, it`s hard to stay away from it, but I knew I wasn`t going to play anymore. So I figured a logical way to stay involved was to talk about it or to write about it. This was all in high school, and I told my dad I wanted to do what he did.
I think he was happy that I had some direction, but I don`t think he was thrilled that I wanted to get into the same business he was in, because of what he had gone through. Both he and his father had had a tough time being on the road so much, (with) the constraints it puts on family life.
I`m being compared to my father and grandfather all the time. I think it`s an inescapable observation that people will make. I don`t try to not sound like my dad or my grandfather; I concentrate on just sounding like me. I`m very proud of Harry Caray and Skip Caray. I love them very much. But I also have to make a name for myself. As time goes on I worry less and less about sounding like a Caray and I just go out and have fun and try to do my job well, make the right calls and make as few mistakes as possible.
The Pucinskis
Roman Pucinski, 41ST WARD ALDERMAN
I never groomed Aurelia to follow in my footsteps. It was her choice, and she groomed herself by being very helpful to everybody in my campaigns. She was very bright, very precocious, a good typist. She was all over the place, so everybody used her services. She was helping me as far back as 1958 when I won my first race as a congressman. At the time she was 11, and she`s been a kind of manager ever since.
I realized that she was going to be an active participant in politics when she cut her honeymoon a day short in 1975 in order to come back and appear before the slate-making committee as a candidate for the Sanitary District. I`m very pleased about her decision to go into politics, though I stayed out of the making of the decision. Politics is no sport for the meek. It`s hard and tough work. You`ve got to be tough, and you`ve got to be kind and understanding and conciliatory. You`ve got to maintain your integrity. Aurelia has all those traits. I trust her judgment, and I seek her advice frequently.
Aurelia Pucinski, COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT CLERK
I think I always knew I was going to do something in politics. When I was growing up, little girls grew up thinking they were going to be Donna Reed. So I was probably thinking I would be a politician`s wife or an office worker. I don`t think it really occurred to me that I would run for office myself until I was in law school and became more interested in this as a profession. . . . Law school gave me the opportunity to develop an independent credential. I could be proud of the heritage that my father had given me and at the same time establish myself as a separate person. To me that was real important.
I`ve learned everything I know from my father, in one way or another. He`s taught me not to let anger force you into decisions that you wouldn`t otherwise make. He`s demonstrated to me that you can be successful in politics if you`re willing to take the trouble to figure out what the other guy needs.
There really aren`t a lot of comparisons made between my dad and me. The people who like my dad will tend to ascribe to me the values of him that they like. And people who don`t like him, for one reason or another, will tend to hold me responsible for that. And I`ve never minded that. I`ve just always been glad that more people like him than don`t.
The Frigos
Johnny Frigo, VIOLINIST
I never thought my sons would be in the music business. I never asked them to play, but when I saw they were getting interested in music and in performing, I didn`t want to do anything to discourage it.
Rick locked himself up in the bedroom and played records and played drums like crazy, and I just put up with it for a long time. Eventually I saw that he was improving, and I was happy that he kept up with it.
When Derek was in his crib, he used to listen to me play the violin. He used to be there when we were recording. So it`s not surprising that he wound up in this business. Rock is so different from the music world that I grew up in and that Rick is in that Derek needed much more help. I feel that not only is Derek paying his dues but I paid his dues, too.
Rick Frigo, DRUMMER, Peter Polzak Trio
I`ve always been in awe of my father. He is probably one of the most revered musicians in Chicago. Everybody likes my dad. He`s a real gentleman in the business and a great artist. My entire career has been under his shadow, so to speak. I long ago accepted my place in this regime. It`s never bothered me because I`ve always been the kind of person who stays in the background.
My own son has been practicing his music down in the basement for about 4 years now. But I find it hard to try and muster any enthusiasm to urge him to go on. I don`t encourage him because I don`t think the music business is that promising a profession nowadays. But if he wants to do it, he`ll do it on his own.
The best advice I can give anybody who wants to follow in his dad`s footsteps is to listen to the advice your father gives you. . . . My father gave me nothing but good advice.
Derek Frigo, LEAD GUITARIST, Enuff Znuff
When I was a child, I wanted to be a plastic surgeon. I really did. And I was heavily into sports. When I saw the movie ”A Star Is Born,” with Kris Kristofferson, I knew I wanted to be just like him, and I was into music from then on.
My father gave me plenty of advice. He always told me I should learn to read music and continue school. He always warned me that even though I`m sure I`m going to make it, I might not, and I should have something to fall back on. I know I`m a good rock guitar player, but I have a long way to go. Now I`m beginning to see that everything my father has told me was true.
