Family Businesses & Estates
The greatest risk to your family's business and wealth isn't financial. It is the quality of the relationships entrusted to carry it forward, including intergenerational considerations.
Book a confidential conversation →This is for you if:
Several family members are involved in running, managing, leading or owning the business, and conflict is arising between them.
Succession is approaching or already underway: who benefits, what roles are involved, and how do we work together as a family to support wealth and the transition of leadership across future generations?
Wealth is being transferred while the founder is alive, and every structural decision requires 100% alignment to ensure the transition is strong.
A parent built everything; their way has always been the highway, and the family is paying for it in silence and distance.
In-laws and partners are in the mix, affecting relationships.
You are the adult son or daughter who can see where this is heading, and you are the one reaching out.
Many times the person who contacts me is not the founder. Sometimes an adult child insists I come in to support. However it starts, it starts with one conversation.
Why the usual paths don't reach it
Families in this situation are usually surrounded by advisers - accountants, lawyers, financial advisors, office managers – and they are still stuck, because the real issue is not structural.
Legal processes escalate conflict; they run on who is right and who is wrong, which is precisely the frame that keeps families gridlocked. Governance brings welcome clarity, but a family charter does not stop conflict, and rules that feel unfair inflame it. Mediation settles a single subject without growing anyone's capacity, so the next issue arrives with the same dynamics. And therapy moves slowly and looks backward, when what a family in transition needs is skill, in the present, together.
What none of these reach is what sits beneath the words: the years of things unsaid that accumulate in the space between people. That residue erodes trust quietly, and then we wonder why we don't trust. It keeps coming out sideways, in board meetings, during family gatherings, at weddings, in a will.
How I work with families
Family, business, estate: whichever arena your situation lives in, the work is built from three parts, blended to fit your family.
Training
First, your family learns the foundations of The Living Work together, so everyone can see the method and its principles before anything sensitive is on the table. It levels the ground: no one is the patient; no one is the problem. And you have the skills to navigate with whenever you need them.
Supported Conversation/s
With the foundations in place, I facilitate the conversations that matter, sometimes decades overdue: specific family members truly hearing each other around an important topic and finding new ways forward together. My role is to help each person move beyond judgment, deeply hear and understand one another as they have never been before, and find new ways forward together.
One-on-one coaching
Alongside the shared work, I coach individual family members privately, getting clear on what is really at the heart of what's going on for them: where they feel stuck, and the judgments running beneath what they are saying. As each person gets clear, and takes responsibility for themselves, and reclaims their own power, previously stuck issues can shift. Not power over anyone, but inner alignment, and the ability to speak from it.
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This is especially valuable in intergenerational wealth transfer, and it strengthens three times over: stronger family bonds, a unified vision to carry the intention forward, and stronger individuals with more resources to meet the world, including as entrepreneurs.
Coaching is also often how someone prepares for a Supported Conversation: getting clear on what they want to be heard about, what judgments they are still holding, and whether they are genuinely open to hearing others.
How much of each part your family needs depends on your current skill level and how much remains unresolved in the background. Discovering that mix is part of what the exploratory conversation is for.
A family member was nominated as CEO, but the main shareholders' requests and preferences were being ignored, creating tension in the family and an experience of disrespect on everyone's part. We learnt the skills and had Supported Conversation/s to have the difficult but real conversations they'd been avoiding. Rather than jumping to judgement, blame, and criticism, a respect developed - they could see each other's perspectives and came up with new solutions that worked for everyone.
Peace was restored in the family, along with new respect and understanding of each other's roles and constraints. Every person involved has been thankful for this new way of seeing and being with each other... Especially at family gatherings... and the business has thrived with this newfound understanding.
What working together involves
A confidential exploratory conversation.
One hour, with me. I listen. It is not a pitch, and there is nothing to prepare unless you want to complete the optional preparation form, which simply helps us make the most of our time together.
A personal written proposal.
Within 24 hours, you will have a note from me: what I heard, what I propose, the options and the investment.
The engagement.
Typically, The Living Work foundations training for the family, followed by Supported Conversation/s, designed around your family's situation, timeline, and geography. I work with families across Australia and internationally.
Confidentiality is absolute at every step, beginning with your very first email or call.
Families often experience shifts during training, as they begin to see and understand each other differently. Then, in the Supported Conversation/s, it is often the first honest exchange in years without escalation. The deeper work, rebuilding trust and embedding the skills, unfolds over months, shaped by your situation.
What I ask of a family is base goodwill: you actually want to get along, and from there I can show you how. Where every connection is truly gone, or someone is committed to harming another regardless of the impact, I will say so, and I won't take the engagement.
A reluctant participant is workable. Embedded contempt is not.
Family engagements are bespoke, and this is deliberately a high-investment, high-touch engagement: one of a small number I take each year.
The investment is confirmed in your written proposal after the exploratory conversation, and the full amount is invoiced on agreement, with travel and expenses billed separately where relevant.
Book a conversation →Frequently asked questions
Is this mediation?
No. Mediation resolves a defined dispute and leaves the family's capacity unchanged. My premise is different: not "we have a conflict to sort out" but "how can we make life more wonderful in this family?" You keep the skills long after the current issue is resolved, which protects the next decision and the next generation. Once we have the skills, Supported Conversation/s help us bridge and re-perceive issues that have been avoided and remain unresolved. And Shari remains an ongoing resource if needed in future emerging situations.
Does the whole family need to participate?
No. Willingness matters more than unanimity. I regularly begin with the members who are ready, and reluctant relatives often join once they see the conversations are safe and no one is being blamed. Quiet non-participation is workable. Active undermining is the one thing that isn't.
Is this family therapy?
No. This is skill-building and facilitation in the present, not treatment of the past. It doesn't therapise, doesn't pathologise, and no one is cast as the problem. Families are often surprised how much healing happens as a by-product of this approach.
We have lawyers and advisers involved. Does this replace them?
No, it completes them. Your legal and financial advisers structure the wealth and structural agreements. I work on the alignment and relationships those structures depend on. The two together are what actually secure a legacy; either alone tends not to.
Do you work outside Sydney?
Yes. I am based in Sydney and the Sunshine Coast and work with families across Australia and internationally, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Supported Conversation/s can run in person, via Zoom, or both.
Does this have to be in person?
Yes, initially. For training and early Supported Conversation/s, it's important to meet in person to build trust and foster openness: we meet as humans in the same space. Once that trust and skill set are developed, we can transition to online, especially for the Supported Conversation/s.
Take The Family Legacy Health Review.
A short, private self-assessment of the relationships your legacy depends on, across six areas: trust, communication, conflict avoidance, decision-making, family alignment and repair. An honest reflection of what is at risk and what is possible. No selling.
Take the review →The conversation your family has been avoiding is the one that will protect everything else.
Book a confidential exploratory conversation with Shari Elle. You will leave that hour clearer, whatever you decide. This is what it means to get to the heart of things, together, and it begins with one unhurried hour.
Book a confidential exploratory conversation →