Frigibar President Shuly Oletzky to Speak at Small Giants Summit 2016 in Denver
In-person events present a great opportunity to meet with and learn from others. Frigibar Industries President Shuly Oletzky will speak to fellow entrepreneurs and business leaders at the upcoming 2016 Small Giants Summit in Denver, Colorado, which will take place June 12-14.
Oletzky, who took over Frigibar Industries after her father passed away in late 2010, will share her experience, insight and advice for others on the important topic of succession planning.
Shuly left her corporate job in real estate to take over the business, but did so unexpectedly and without a clear path due to the lack of succession planning. Although her father Sheldon Oletzky had built a well-respected business and was an admired leader, as Shuly puts it, “he thought he would live forever.” When he fell ill, no plan was in place and Shuly was left to make a tough decision about the business without knowing what her father wanted (until later) and without guidance and time to prepare for the shift.
“Instead of being able to enjoy the last few months of my father’s life, we were scrambling to get as much in place as possible with the business and figure out what to do,” Shuly stated. The business was saved, but at a steep cost. About a year after taking over the business, Shuly learned from a family friend that her father did indeed hope she would take over the business, but didn’t want to put pressure on her, so he decided to keep his wishes a secret.
Unlike Frigibar, many businesses never recover after a business owner leaves behind a company without a plan. Shuly will try to leave summit attendees with sometools they can use to navigate the process of planning for succession. “If I can help even one business forego what I went through with my talk and ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the importance of succession planning, the time and effort I put into it will be more than worth it,” says Shuly.
Founded by entrepreneur and thought leader Paul Spiegelman, the Small Giants Community exists to identify, connect and develop values-driven business leaders. The community was inspired by author Bo Burlingham’s book, Small Giants: Companies that Choose to Be Great Instead of Big. The book profiled fourteen companies that had unique founders and processes that set them apart from the millions of small businesses that do business and management as usual.
For more information and to register for the 2016 Small Giants Summit, visit the Small Giants Community registration page.
Stay tuned for information about Shuly’s talk and a video of her presentation on succession planning. For more from Shuly, visit her blog at ShareIdeasWithPurpose.com.
This upcoming February, the 75th Miami International Boat Show will bring over 100,000 visitors to the area for the five-day event. As you can imagine, a show of this size yields benefits to not only the attendees but the entire state. “The show is a tremendous economic driver for the state of Florida with an annual economic impact of $600 million annually, creating in excess of $30 million in sales tax,” says Cathy Rick-Joule, Vice President of the Boat Show Division for the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA).
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