Dear Jon,
I was going through my archived emails this morning and I came across this, our last communication from you from nearly 18 months ago. It reminded me of how much work you put into trying to mediate our family situation, and your warnings to us all, should either party decide to abandon the process.
It will come as no surprise to you to learn that after nearly 18 months we have only just now settled the matter – following 12 months of lawyers’ fees, court appearances and the commencement of a trial that ended in settlement on day one, immediately after our own barrister’s opening statement.
Ultimately, we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get only what we originally asked for, and the family has been irreparably broken in the process. It’s been horrendous.
Now that it’s all over and the dust can start to settle, I do want to pass on our appreciation for your immeasurable efforts in delving into and sorting through the challenges that our family were facing two years ago. Unfortunately, our family were inflexible when flexibility was required, arrogant when humility was needed, and unforgiving when forgiveness was called for.
I have occasionally seen your Facebook posts and thought that you’d written those pieces specifically about our family! On the one hand, I’m glad we are not alone, but it also makes me sad to think that other families are possibly going through the pain that we suffered.
If this message helps just one of them to avoid the same catastrophe, something positive will be achieved.
TD, Melbourne
We engaged Jon to help transition our 3rd generation family business, to the 4th generation. He helped us professionalise our operations and strengthen our family dynamics. Then he helped to launch us towards our next 88 years!
Joel Zimbler, Melbourne
As someone who’s worked in the family business for their whole life, the idea of succession was very challenging. Jon helped us to understand succession as an opportunity to renew and refresh our business, and to strengthen family ties. What started out feeling like a scary proposition quickly became a family business project that brought us closer together.
Jonathan Zimbler, Melbourne