Abby Connolly
Taking part in a family business comes with its challenges. Some may not pull their weight, and others think they’re more valuable to the business than they actually are.
One woman is in turmoil with her family after her uncle left his successful company to her after passing away.
She’s 31 years old and has a complex past. Her mom passed away when she was four, and because her dad was never in the picture, she was left under the care of her uncle, Jack.
Jack was a college graduate then and had just started working at her grandparents’ watchmaking company, which they’ve had for over 50 years.
Instead of hiring a babysitter to take care of her, her uncle would often bring her to work with him, and she learned all about the family company from a young age.
Things changed for her when her uncle married his wife, Marissa when she was 12. She had a good relationship with Marissa until she and her uncle had their son, Mark, who’s now 20.
She feels that Marissa treated her like she didn’t exist once she started having her own children. After Mark, Marissa and Jack had two more sons.
Over the years, she still remained heavily involved in the watchmaking business. Her uncle Jack took it over about 10 years ago and expanded it tremendously.
It became very successful, and he even opened a watchmaking school. After she had graduated college, she began working full-time at the watchmaking company as a designer.
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