Excerpt from Appalachian Kid

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"Growing up behind the local Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere, I never imagined I’d someday be CEO of a company. I certainly never dreamed that representatives from companies as substantial as Goldman Sachs would be interested in flying to the middle of nowhere, to meet me and discuss business. I was flabbergasted when I was invited to a meeting at the White House–I took my nameplate with me as proof I hadn’t hallucinated! But the realization of previously “unachievable” dreams didn’t stop there.

While attending my first year of business school at Harvard University, I posed a question that triggered a landslide of discussions about certain aspects of family businesses that outsiders simply don’t see. This dialogue laboriously monopolized the class segment, but captured, in great depth, the tribal troubles and why generational businesses have difficulty passing their prized heirloom down the bloodline. After this class, I began to sincerely question my career in the family business. These?class interactions directly translated into an enlightening discovery: my own story was unique and compelling."

-- John Boyle, author