October 2026 · University Center of Greenville, Greenville, SC
Stride founder and CEO Jason Packer traveled to South Carolina this week to speak to members and guests of the Kim S. Miller Family Enterprise Institute of South Carolina at Anderson University. His talk, “18 Lessons from a 118-Year-Old Family Business,” drew on four generations of his own family’s story — and the hard-won lessons of 16 years as CEO of Hill & Markes before its sale in 2022.
Eighteen lessons, one family’s story
Rather than a lecture on best practices, Jason walked the room through what his family actually lived: the stories that shaped its culture, the day his grandfather’s cash-and-handshake way of doing business collided with his father’s every-dollar-through-the-books way, and his first assignment on coming home to Hill & Markes in 2009 — which was not sales, but helping keep peace between his uncle and his father.
From there, the lessons covered the full arc of a family enterprise:
- Governance that promotes succession — giving every generation a voice, and the next one a way in.
- Non-family executives, peer groups and mentors — the people outside the family who give the family the confidence to let go.
- Preparing the next generation — listening to them early, having successors report to non-family managers, earning credibility through hard problems, and building an identity inside and outside the business.
- Life after the sale — being aligned and transparent around an exit, preparing for the loss that follows, and finding purpose and community afterward.
The Avery family case
Midway through, attendees paired up to role-play Avery Building Supply, a fictional sixth-generation family business facing a buyout offer, a patriarch suddenly unable to vote his shares, and two generations that had to reach one recommended path by consensus. The debrief that followed — what pairs agreed on, what they fought about, and what would have changed the story — was one of the liveliest moments of the afternoon.
Southern hospitality, alive and well
Our thanks to Dr. Brad Bechtold and the Institute for an incredibly warm welcome, and for the engaged community of family business members they have built. Jason was especially honored by the kind words of Ron Reece, his family’s longtime advisor during the Hill & Markes years — and grateful to Deb Ayer of Ayer Leather for a thoughtful gift. Thank you as well to event sponsor Greyrock for supporting the program and the Institute’s work with South Carolina family enterprises.
Attendees — and anyone curious — can find the slides, the Avery case and all 18 lessons at anderson-university-18-lessons.netlify.app.
Interested in bringing Jason to speak to your family business community? Reach out at jpacker@stridefba.com.