How Family Business Governance Helps You Grow Without Breaking the Family | The Family Biz Show Ep. 127

Growth is hard.

Growth inside a family enterprise is harder.

Because in a family business, every strategic decision carries emotional weight. Every acquisition, every hiring choice, every leadership disagreement touches not just the company — but the relationships that built it.

That’s where family business governance becomes the difference between sustainable growth and generational fracture.

In Episode 127 of The Family Biz Show, Christina Armentano, third-generation leader of Paraco Gas Corporation, shares what it really takes to grow a multi-location energy company without breaking the family behind it.

Her insights reveal that family business governance isn’t theory. It’s daily discipline.

 

The Founder’s Grit Is Not a Governance Strategy

Christina’s grandfather was born in 1929, the year of the Great Depression. He didn’t finish grade school. He started working young. He built the company through charisma, salesmanship, and relentless drive.

That founder grit built the foundation.

But grit alone doesn’t sustain three generations.

As family enterprises mature, family business governance must evolve beyond personality and instinct. What works for a founder rarely scales to siblings, cousins, and future generations.

Growth demands structure.

 

Why Outside Experience Strengthens Family Business Governance

Christina didn’t step directly into the family company.

She spent nearly a decade outside the business:

• Executive search
• MBA
• Internship at the largest propane company in the U.S.
• Turned down multiple early opportunities to join

Why?

Because strong family business governance requires competence, not entitlement.

When next-generation leaders build experience elsewhere, they return with:

• Credibility
• Financial discipline
• Confidence
• Perspective

Governance begins with earned authority.

 

Two Roles. One Discipline.

One of the most powerful lessons in this episode:

“You have your shareholder role and then you have your employee role. Those are two very separate roles.”

This distinction is the heart of effective family business governance.

Ownership thinks long-term.
Employees execute short-term.
Shareholders protect capital.
Employees protect performance.

When these roles blur, conflict accelerates.

When they’re clearly defined, growth stabilizes.

 

Communication Is the Engine of Family Business Governance

Christina shares her grandfather’s advice:

“Do right by the business and the business will do right by you.”

That statement reflects mature family business governance thinking.

Open lines of communication.
Business lens over personal lens.
Disagreements that are never personal.
Clear separation between family emotion and enterprise decision-making.

Without disciplined communication, growth becomes personal.

With governance, growth becomes strategic.

 

Acquisition Growth Without Governance Is Dangerous

Paraco has completed more than 60 acquisitions.

That kind of expansion requires structured family business governance.

Christina breaks acquisitions into two stages:

1. Due diligence
2. Transition

Strong governance means:

• Written checklists
• Clear deal leadership
• Objective financial review
• Emotional detachment from transactions
• Written transition plans
• Ego left at the door

One critical lesson: retain what you have first.

Retention is governance.
Foundation is governance.
Infrastructure before scale is governance.

Without disciplined family business governance, acquisition momentum becomes chaos.

 

Selling a Business Requires Governance Discipline Too

Christina emphasizes something most owners overlook:

“The deal is never done until the deal is done.”

During a sale process, owners must continue running the business as if no deal exists.

Why?

Because strong family business governance protects optionality.

If performance slips, leverage disappears.
If emotion rises, valuation suffers.
If the owner becomes dependent on the deal, negotiating power evaporates.

Governance protects freedom.

 

Industry Leadership as Governance Maturity

Christina serves as President of the New York State Propane Gas Association.

When propane faced regulatory bans in New York, competitors collaborated to protect the industry.

This reflects expanded family business governance thinking.

Governance is not just internal.
It’s external influence.
It’s political awareness.
It’s industry collaboration.

Mature family enterprises understand they are stewards of an ecosystem, not just operators of a company.

 

Coaching, Peer Groups, and Governance Accountability

Christina credits her Vistage experience for sharpening her leadership.

Peer groups:

• Call out blind spots
• Pressure-test strategy
• Provide emotional separation
• Create accountability

Outside perspective strengthens family business governance by preventing insularity.

Family enterprises that refuse external input often stagnate.

 

The Three Rules That Protect Growth

Christina’s closing advice distills governance into three principles:

1. Family members must want to be there.
2. Separate personal from business.
3. Give yourself grace — but earn your seat.

Each one reinforces family business governance at a human level.

Engagement.
Clarity.
Discipline.

Without those, growth fractures relationships.

With them, growth strengthens legacy.

 

The Real Purpose of Family Business Governance

Family enterprises are uniquely powerful because they combine trust and long-term thinking.

But that same proximity creates risk.

The purpose of family business governance is not control.

It is alignment.

Alignment between:

• Ownership and leadership
• Growth and stability
• Family values and enterprise vision

When governance is intentional, growth compounds.
When governance is ignored, conflict compounds.

Episode 127 is a masterclass in how disciplined family business governance allows you to scale acquisitions, navigate succession, develop next-generation leaders, and protect the family behind the enterprise.