The Muscle Milk Legacy and Finding Your Niche (If You Employ Family Members in Your Business, Read this Now)

I recently met the founder of Muscle Milk, Greg Pickett, in the airport. He’s a friendly and delightful guy.

Greg sold the company for $400M, but before he did, he did something really smart and significant for his family.

He spun-off a small business that supplied the flavors to Muscle Milk and other drink companies.

Here’s why that simple idea and opportunity is so important.

$400M is “ruin-their-life” money. He won’t be able to spend it all, and if it goes to his kids and grandkids in a lump sum, it will ruin their lives. (If you question that, do some research. I’m not going to provide the social proof of how obviously true that statement is.)

Instead of ruining them with money, he empowered them with work. The money from the sale is enough to support multiple generations. But if people don’t work they don’t contribute to society around them. If they don’t contribute to society, they don’t experience fulfillment. If they don’t experience fulfillment, they develop destructive habits that erode their lives. We all need to contribute.

They found a niche aligned with the Founder’s legacy. He told me that his son (or son-in-law–I can’t remember) has an affinity for developing flavors. He’s good at it, and then the daughter is good at operating the business. It’s a family effort. And hopefully the grandkids can one day find meaningful roles to play. We all need to find our niche–our own uniqueness. But drafting off the momentum of those who came before us is just wise.

Don’t ruin your family with money that makes them lazy and entitled. Help them find their niche and spin off a business that affords them the opportunity to build something for themselves.

It’s better this way–for everyone.