Andrea Watson | Three Generations Evolving with the Family Business

Andrea Watson | Three Generations Evolving with the Family Business

Heather Murphy: Hi, Andrea. Thanks for joining me on the podcast today. I'm looking forward to hearing your stories. Could you start by introducing yourself a little bit please?

Andrea Watson: Sure. My name's Andrea Watson and thank you for having me. I live on Mercer Island in the Seattle area of Washington. And I joined this program because I have been in a family business for a very long time. While my w my brother is, is the third generation of running the business.

The business has been around since. 1929. So we're coming up close to the 100 year mark in 2029, which is really exciting. And so I've just kind of done a lot of deep diving into the history of the company and the history of my family's involvement in it. And what cultural trends in energy contributed to how the business changed. And, so that's, that's pretty much the gist of, of it. I'm involved in the company a little bit. I just do some small stuff, dealing with the website and the marketing aspect of it.

Heather Murphy: And could you tell us a little bit about what that company is?

Andrea Watson: Yeah, of course. so the company is, it's an energy company. It's an energy business. It's called Genesee Energy currently. And it started as a coal business. It was Genesee Coal and Stoker back when people heated their homes in Seattle with coal. So it's still a residential heating business, but obviously we don't use coal to heat our homes. And so it's changed over the years and, went to heating oil. And then now my brother is running it as a, still a heating business, but they use propane and biofuel. So the more environmentally, a lower carbon footprint impact on the environment.

Heather Murphy: Okay, could you start by telling us that first-generation, that moved to the Seattle area, can you tell us about them?

Andrea Watson: Oh, sure. Yeah. So that was my, so my great grandfather was a farmer in Canada and he homesteaded up there in Alberta outside of, or in Leduc, Alberta. So he had this big plot of land and he had three sons and he farmed this land, which, you know, as we all can imagine was incredibly difficult and it, and it was a homestead. So it was very raw. He, you know, he had to do a ton of work to get it to farmable. And he had to build his own house and that sort of thing. So I think he imagined passing that down to his sons, his three sons, because they all helped on the farm, and then at one point the sons decided, you know, I kind of want the American dream.

I don't really want to be a farmer in Canada anymore. And so, you know, I think that that's about the time when radio was picking up and they were hearing, they were getting a little more information about what was happening state side and, you know, in the bigger cities, of course too.

 One of the brothers had already moved down to Seattle and had had succeeded in kind of finding his spot. He had been taking some classes, some classes and in business and had been working for, , uh, Shell Oil. My grandfather was the oldest son and he and his dad decided, okay, it's time to sell this farm. They moved down to the states and just started looking for a business to buy.

And the two, two of the three brothers that were kind of, of age where they could do that decided to buy the business. So 1929 is when they bought it on the, verge of the, uh, market crash, which obviously they had no idea was going to happen.

Heather Murphy: Now, I think the oil industry in Alberta came later than this. So it just kind of a coincidence that in Canada it's energy now, but then they moved to Seattle and started an energy company?

Andrea Watson: Yeah. You know, what's crazy is they were in Leduc, Alberta, which is where the oil was discovered, big time, not until the forties. I think it was the mid forties when it was just, I want to say 47 is when they discovered oil in LaDuc, which is the town they left. And it was the farm property, not, not specifically their farm property, but you know, the community around it.

And so it is quite ironic that that's what happened is they came down. They'd at that point, they had switched over to being heating oil. And so then oil was discovered in the town they left. So yeah, I think it causes a lot of really interesting, um, you know, perspective on why they left when they left, how they felt about leaving so interesting.

Heather Murphy: And were there other family that had stayed in that area that didn't move to Seattle or had they just kind of, everyone left?

Andrea Watson: Nope. Their mother died and so they buried her and probably were there just a few more years after that, before they they decided to leave the farm. And I think part of that was because her husband, the father of these three sons was, uh, just kind of he had a hard time getting back to it, to the farming.

It just sort of crushed him when his wife died. And then, um, one of the brother had already left. they took the youngest brother who was 18 and having a hard time as well. he was getting into some alcohol and some disruptive behavior at school. So, it was just the three of, them that left the dad, the oldest son ,and then the youngest son, since, like I said, the middle one was already there. So no, they didn't have, they didn't have family specifically in Leduc. They had other relatives in Canada in other places.

Heather Murphy: So it was kind of a fresh start for more than one reason as they went to Seattle.

Andrea Watson: Yeah, it really was. they needed it at the time.

Heather Murphy: So what happened after they bought this company?

Andrea Watson: So yeah, so the fresh start was what they wanted and then it was a real hard road because, you know, like I said, in 1929, and it wasn't until October that they, they bought the company and literally, probably, you know, weeks later, actually it was in October that the, Um, that the crash happened. So, but it was just weeks prior that they had actually finished the transaction. And, of course that led to, uh, you know, a series of hardships and as much of us know that became the Great Depression. And so they powered through that, survived that, you know, and then of course the war came along soon after that. So it was, uh, it was not an easy transition for them to say the least.

Heather Murphy: Do you know how that those times affected that business specifically, like the Depression? What kind of things were they running against with trying to run their business?

Andrea Watson: They had a hard time getting people to pay, you know, so they, that that's what was hard is, you know, you deliver this to heat their home and they were doing all kinds of negotiations. you know, they, they even sacrificed paying themselves. People that they know and had become friendly customer with because you know, it didn't, take effect as much in Seattle until several years later. Right. So 1929 was the first year and then it was, several years that it was going down, down, down, down, down. Right. And so over that time, you know, people are continuously losing their job, but they're not, they didn't lose them all, you know, not everybody lost their job right now. You're 29. Right. So it was just sort of a, kind of a roller coaster going down. And, so they had customers that pay. They were very good customers paying, you know, all the time on time.

And then all of a sudden they lose their house and, they feel horrible too, you know, cause these are people they know. And when you deliver fuel, in, in any form, it, you, you get to know your customers. So, and, and that's the way they did business specifically to is that they, they got to know their customers.

In fact, one of the the sweetest stories I heard in, doing this research was I'm sure you're, you've heard of being in Washington, the Fred Hutch Cancer Research. You know, it, most people think of Fred Hutchinson as being the cancer research center and, you know, he must have had cancer and that's why the center's named after him, which is all correct.

He did have cancer and he died of cancer. but he also was a very famous baseball player before he got cancer and died at a young age. And he was from the Seattle area. And so a lot of people in Seattle knew, you know, Fred Hutch was like kind of their local hero. They call them Hutch. his dad, Fred Hutch's, dad was also a doctor and, a very, very well-known doctor in the area that, you know, the kind of doctor that was, from the eight late 18 hundreds, early 19 hundreds that comes to your house, does everything from deliver babies to doing surgery on the kitchen table, you know, that kind of stuff. and he, you know, he was very well-respected and, so this family was a very known family and he was one of, you know, one of the customers cause he lived just down the street from the company.

 And, you know, one day in the, I think it was in the forties, this was pre war. I believe. Dr. Hutchinson called up my grandfather and said, Hey, my furnace, isn't starting. Can you come help? And it was a Saturday, and he called him at his home, which happens like, you know, they just, were friendly with all their customers and they knew how to get ahold of them.

So he said, yeah, of course. So he puts on his tie and coat, which he always did when he went to work. I know my dad was a little kid out playing in the yard and he grabbed his baseball glove and said, "Dad, can I go with you?" And he said, "Of course, you know, we're going to the old doc's house." And he was like, "Oh, goodie!".

And so he, uh, he goes out to the, you know, the old doc's house and you know, who he really liked and not expecting to see his hero, Fred Hutchinson cause he was off playing baseball for the Detroit Tigers and he just was home on, for a little bit. And so he answered the door and there, my dad sees his hero standing there and he says, "oh yeah, you come to fix the furnace, you know, go ahead, come on in."

And so is this, is this this really sweet story of how, You know, he was this hero, but you know, my grandfather, of course, the way he runs his business is just, they're just a neighbor, They just need their furnace fixed on a Saturday on a cold October day. anyway, those are the fun stories that I've found in, in researching.

Heather Murphy: What is another challenge that came up as this business is progressing? They get through the Depression. What other things did they have to overcome?

Andrea Watson: They were brothers that were running it and there were definitely disagreements and, you know, they had. They kind of argued about certain ways to run the business. For example, in 1940, I believe this was right before they switched, Americans entered the war. Heating oil was a big thing and they were still serving coal. Houses suddenly were changing over and coal created this soot on everything in the house and, beating out the carpets and all that kind of spring cleaning was like serious business after the winter, when they'd been heating with coal.

When heating oil came along, it was the clean fuel and you know, it was very popular. My grandfather Gordon had said, maybe we need to add heating oil and not just do coal because you know, a lot of our customers are switching their they're changing over their furnaces from coal to oil, and we need to keep up with business here. And the other brother Russ, said, no, we've got plenty of people that need coal not everybody's going to switch, I just don't want to do that.

It's too much trouble to take on something. We got to then buy a new truck and we got it. There's just too many logistics to figure out. So they didn't and they went for several more years. And the the one brother Gordon kept saying, you know, I really think we need to change. I really think we need to change. Then, the American centered the war and everything changed because nobody was doing any upgrading, nothing was going on in that regard.

They couldn't, you know, do a business change when people are leaving to go to the war and the civilians were staying home and just hunkering down and, nothing fancy was going on. And so, they did not do anything for a while. Then after the war, of course, everybody was elated and ready to make changes and become modern.

And so, so they had to then revisit that, That conflict that they had. And finally they worked it out and they did add the oil and which of course was the best thing they ever did because of that allowed the company to move on and for another several decades in that in that phase. They actually kept cold for quite a while, which was interesting to me because I didn't realize that it was such, it went on so long. Well into the fifties that people were actually heating their home with coal.

So there were a lot of conflicts along the way, a lot of hardships, in transitioning from one, from one generation to the next. When my grandfather passed away, my dad suddenly inherited the company and he was not really wanting the company, just like the brothers in Canada didn't want to farm, My dad who was an only child and grew up around the business, wanted to do something else. He wanted to, he had just graduated from university of Washington with a degree in business thought maybe he wanted to go into law, go back to law school and then suddenly he can't because he's got this business that he needs to run, he needs to figure that out first. So there's just there a lot of, Of conflict in that way, not necessarily between people, but internally as well.

Heather Murphy: And how did that resolve? How did that play out? Did he always wish he didn't have the business?

Andrea Watson: I've never actually asked him that question, but, no, I think now, especially since my brother has now taken over the company and each of us, I'm one of four kids and each of us has a quarter ownership in the company and, and we're all really excited that it's still in the family and that we're bringing it to the hundredth birthday.

So, no, I don't think he I think there was a period of time where he regretted that he didn't do those things. He didn't go back to school to get his MBA. He didn't, get his law degree because even if he had done those things, he at least would have had them, but to fall back on, because there was again in the seventies when my dad was running, it really tough times where he thought he was gonna lose the business I think now in seeing how far the company's come and, he shocked when I wrote a book about it, so he's very proud of that.

And in the process of writing the book I talked to him a lot about it and all the stories and was trying to get everything straight. And, I think it helped him look back and say, you know what? This is amazing how it really actually survived these bumps in the road and are thriving, now, and he's like, I would never have guessed that that would have been the case even back as far as far back as the fifties, when natural gas came in and started taking all the customers away from heating oil. He heard hundreds of times from his uncle and the people in business, yeah, there's no way this company is going to last it's it's doomed.

 So there's a sense of pride that we made it and kept it in the family because there was time when it was possibly not going to stay with the third generation. My brother, none of us as my dad, didn't really want the business. And so, you know, he went to school and decided to pursue a career in finance and lived in Portland and was off doing that and doing, doing fine building his business. And then suddenly he sort of had this pang that was like, you know, I have this family business, my dad's getting ready to retire, I don't really want to see it go out of the family, so I think maybe I'll give it a try. And that was back in 1995. So here we are.

Heather Murphy: So as you've been doing the research for this book and really delving into these stories about not just the company, but your family as well. What are some of the big personal takeaways that you've had?

Andrea Watson: You know, the reason I started writing the book really is to preserve the legacy that they started and that my family members have continued. Because when our parents and our grandparents die, they take their, obviously take their point of view with them, they take their stories with them.

And, um, while I feel like I'd heard a lot of stories growing up, There's more to be told in a lot of stories that I didn't get get until I said, you know what? I'm writing a book I want to hear more about that aspect that I didn't really want to know about before.

 In hearing about those stories I really feel so much better about having them down in, on paper and into a book so that I can leave this to my kids and their kids and, it kind of culminated a sense of, pride for my dad too, and that his in his life as he's 86 now, You know, just looking back on things and like, you know, when you asked about, does he, did he regret that law degree? I don't think he does now. You know, when he sees you know, me writing this book and having this legacy that he's helped preserve.

Heather Murphy: So did writing this book in a way, help him to maybe value more his life and his contribution and what he's been able to do with his life?

Andrea Watson: I think so. I really do. I think that all of us, you know, my four siblings and their spouses and their kids. and I think we all, even my aunts and uncles who weren't on the side of my dad on my mom's side of the family, everybody kind of gave a, has now been able to say, you know, this is kind of a little gem that you uncovered, you know , and that has been preserved. You know, it's one of those things where, when it's in your family forever, you kinda just don't really think much about it. You know, it's like having a house forever and you're like, oh, this old house is kind of, you know, there's so many things wrong with it, there's this, there's that, you know, I've seen it so many times. It's not very good looking anymore. And then you move away from it and, you know, somebody restores it or whatever. And you're like, what a gem, you know, this was amazing.

And so, I think a lot of us, you know, we all, growing up in the company, it wasn't a flashy business. It wasn't fabric or something that was kind of trendy or, you know, something like that that handles, or I don't know anything. so we all just sort of like, oh, it's just heating oil, the heating business energy, you know, but yeah, there's a lot more value in it because there are the stories and the people that go behind it. it's been really fun to, to uncover all of that in writing this book.

So I'm really happy the way it turned out in the fact that it got off my computer, because for so long, it was sitting on my computer and I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but,

Heather Murphy: What is the message then that you want the future generations to take from all this research and compiling these stories?

Andrea Watson: I would say just follow the stories, like I said, they die with the people that die, you know, so listen to the stories, follow stories, and then, you know, looking into genealogy, you know, that was only entertaining for me when I knew there was stories that went with them. You know, I've, I've had, aunts or uncles that have created our family tree And you know, all, all the births and the deaths and the marriages and all that kinda stuff. And on paper, it just, wasn't interesting to me until I got to say, oh, that's the child that died or that's the woman who got cancer and at a young age and left her children, young children, you know, that sort of stuff. The stories that went with them are what brought that to life. So it's not just the family tree, but the stories that go with them, that you can, you know, the stories make the leaves almost, you know, they make it so much more beautiful and interesting.

Heather Murphy: Oftentimes when people write books or put together some type of writing, they have a reason for doing it. They have some type of moral or lesson that they want the readers to learn from reading that story. So what kind of a level deeper below the stories? What is that thing that you want, people who read these stories, whether it's your children or someone who's not related to you, what do you want them to take from knowing those stories?

Andrea Watson: What was profound in, what kind of triggered me into doing this is that I realized how every choice that my grandparents and great grandparents even my parents made, set me up and put opportunities in front of me. And had they made different choices I would not have the same choices and opportunities.

And so, in researching for this book, actually one of the reasons that I did launch into doing it is because my son was writing a research report on legacy and he chose to do his, his great-grandfather and who had moved from Canada, the one I'm talking about.

 And he said, what if he never sold the farm? what if he didn't come to see, why did he pick Seattle? , what if we stayed in Canada? Would I've been born in Canada? Does that mean I would be Canadian? And I thought, you know what? That's so interesting to think about because it's the little decisions and the big decisions that contribute to who we become. it's those decisions that put us where we are born and the environment we grow up in and what we're surrounded by that then cause us to go out into the world and make our own decisions and our own choices.

And we kind of forget, we kind of become self-centered in a way when we're making those choices, about what we're going to do with our lives and forget that, you know, what, if, grandpa didn't make that decision or great grandpa, or, if certain things didn't fall into place, then I wouldn't even. where would I be? You know, who, who knows? And I started thinking about that as I was probably in the midlife, like that was sort of my, you know, like, wow, you know, , this is crazy, amazing to think about because when you start questioning, you know, where you are and at this point in your life and how you've gotten here.

Heather Murphy: Yeah. One of the things I like saying is your story. Didn't start with you. And that to better understand yourself and why your life is the way it is you need to understand what happened in the generations before. And that kind of set the stage for what your life is starting out to be.

Andrea Watson: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah. And it gives you a deeper understanding for the characteristics that you possess, and those things that maybe we try and work on inside ourselves are like, oh, that makes more sense why, I'm so this way, because that problem we had to go, it goes way back to my grandparents or things like that. Cause we don't always think about those things. But they're very true in how we are as people, it's definitely doesn't start with the decisions we make and the choices we make.

Heather Murphy: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sharing your family story with me and my listeners. I look forward to sharing it with them and I will have links that people can contact you or connect with you in the show notes, like your website.

Andrea Watson: Okay, great. Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.