From a trucking outfit to a Fortune 100 company: how lessons from my father shaped my career

Even as the boss’s son, I didn’t escape the tough jobs at my father’s trucking business, Acme Transfer & Trucking in Milwaukee, growing up. Starting when I was 13, I cleaned the bathrooms, gassed up the vehicles, and scraped paint off the exterior of the warehouse.

By the time I was 17, I was working at the company full time during the summer and on holiday breaks from school and college. Over time, I took on more responsibility, including driving the forklifts, and kept learning along the way.

While my professional career has evolved significantly since I was working for my dad, the lessons I took from that experience still guide me. Here are some key things I learned from my dad (and that I’ve tried to instill in my own children).

Take care of other people

Working in a family business taught me that I wasn’t working just for myself. I was part of a business that touched three generations, numerous employees and a community. That view—that we are responsible for something greater than ourselves—has never left me. In fact, it’s been a touchstone of my career.

I chose to grow my career at a company, Northwestern Mutual, whose mission is to help individuals and families build financial security. I know firsthand how challenging this can be. I was a teenager when the 1973-74 recession hit. I remember my dad coming home one night and saying that after he paid the employees, he had earned just 22 cents that week.

Financial security isn’t something we can take for granted. As a result of that experience, I decided I personally wanted to work for a large organization as my first job after college—but even more important, watching what my dad went through as an entrepreneur is why I’m so passionate about the role our company plays in the lives of clients and helping people become more financially secure.

Just like many people today, my dad didn’t have a pension plan or anyone else managing his retirement for him—he was on his own. That sense of responsibility for the future was a guiding principle for my dad and is a core tenet of Northwestern Mutual. We’ve helped people for generations and plan to do that for generations to come.

Humility leads to growth

I wasn’t treated differently than anyone else at Acme. Humility wasn’t an option, it was a given and it gave me the opportunity to learn from the people around me. Even though I grew up around the business, there was so much I didn’t know when I started working there. Others have a lot to teach us—we just need to be open to it. And we have to be willing to openly ask questions and listen.

My dad expected it of me—not just working for the company as the son of the owner, but rather joining the company because I was ready to learn and be part of a team. Frankly, when you’re scraping paint off the exterior of a warehouse in the summer heat, it doesn’t matter whose son you are—humility is inherent and you’re eager to listen to any tips or tricks from your fellow employees to help get the job done. You have to learn from everyone around you.

That was a formative experience for me. As a company, it’s critical that we work together as a team across all roles and levels. I have sought to build a culture where that kind of learning happens across the organization. Throughout my career, I actively listen to feedback from stakeholders throughout the organization—and hope others do the same.

We expect our new teammates to learn our business from our long-tenured employees—and vice versa as new employees arrive with fresh perspective that can make us better. We have reverse mentoring programs where people in senior level positions are the mentees to others in the organization, so we thoughtfully understand the perspectives of each other regardless of level or title. Our culture is one where you can acknowledge when you either don’t know the answer—or don’t have the right answers. That openness and humility leads to growth and success.

An “abundance mentality” builds careers

Throughout our organization, we have a notion that we call the abundance mentality, which is that people support and help each other, and recognize that everyone can become better in the process. Success at Northwestern Mutual is not a zero-sum game. For example, our veteran advisors work with young advisors. They mentor them. They coach them. They do joint work with them. The same thing happens in our corporate office. We focus on helping our talent develop, so much so that our senior team is evaluated on how well they prepare people to move up in the organization.

My belief in this abundance mentality stemmed from my upbringing. My family might have gone through hard times but there was always a sense that by pulling together and supporting one another, we would prevail. We didn’t have to get ahead at the expense of someone else – but rather by generously lifting up others around us. It’s an approach to working that truly pays off and leads to long-term success.

When I step back, I’m so deeply grateful for my upbringing and what I learned from those early experiences. When it comes to my own children, I have tried to pass along the values that I learned from my father. I want them to understand that every job is an opportunity, that humility and an abundance mentality led to growth, and that every generation has a responsibility to the ones that come after.

I’ve come a long way since my early years at Acme Trucking & Transfer Company. Although it didn’t always seem like it at the time when I was scrubbing bathrooms and scraping paint, my dad did me a great service. He shaped the person I am, and I have had the privilege of shaping a company with the values he instilled. And I still have fond memories of driving the forklift.