Peter Alemis is the chief development officer at Family Dental Care, a family-owned company and the largest, privately owned dental group in Chicago. The group operates dental offices through acquisitions and new builds, and controls dental office real estate in Illinois and Indiana. In his search for a program targeted to next-generation family business leaders, Alemis came across Rising Generation in the Family Enterprise at Harvard Business School, and decided that it was, in his own words, "just what I was looking for."
Why did you choose to attend this program?
There are so many courses out there that are very broad, with no special focus on the younger members of a family business. But the Rising Generation in the Family Enterprise program is unique because it’s specifically tailored for up-and-coming family business leaders.
I also liked the fact that I would be learning not only from the HBS faculty but also from a global group of peers with a family business background in common, who were also in the same age range as I am. All that combined made it the perfect program for me.
How would you describe the program's value to someone considering it?
The program is immensely valuable—it actually exceeded my expectations. The connections you make are unbelievable. You're going to meet people from all over the world who are in the same shoes. That alone is so valuable, and you're not going to find that anywhere else. It's been almost a year since I participated in the program, and I’m still connecting with the friends I made.
If you're coming from a family business, you're typically young and trying to figure it all out: Should I move into the family business? Or, if you’re already there, should I continue working in the family business? It was a game changer in terms of the content in the case studies and the insights from the guest speakers.
It's a very intensive week, and we covered a lot of data. We learned so much about family governance principles and succession planning, how to deal with family disagreements and how to help family members who want to do different things.
How did the faculty contribute to your learning experience?
The faculty are very much like orchestra conductors in terms of how they weave the cases in to the class discussions and how they bring in guest speakers to share their insights. Just having the opportunity to spend all this time with them and pick their brains was amazing.
Having the faculty as a resource is awesome. You spend almost a week with them, every single day. I got a lot of valuable data out of that, which I have been implementing in my family business. And we're still in touch.
What impact has this program had on you since you attended?
When you're in a family business, it's a little lonely, because your network is your siblings, your mom, your dad, and other family members. Rising Generation in the Family Business broadened my network, personally and professionally.
The program space made it easy for me to meet a lot of peers who are running into similar situations. During group chats, we bounced ideas off each other. In class, we did a lot of cases about different families that have been around for generations. Through that, we learned how to apply best practices, which was super valuable.
What surprised you most about the experience?
How open everybody was. Being with people of a similar age group and experiencing similar things really made us want to get to know each other. We became really good friends in such a short time. Another thing that really surprised me was how much there is to learn.
Being able to stay at HBS for the week and spend all that time bonding with each other was also incredible. I definitely made some lifelong bonds with the people I met. If you're coming from a family business and are part of this next generation, this is a must-do course.