Melanie Hellwig White is the CEO of Hellwig Suspension Products. Founded in 1946 by her great-grandfather and grandfather, the duo went door to door selling helper springs to improve the ride and handling of heavily loaded cars. After making a sale, the father-and-son team installed the new springs in the customer’s driveway. From those humble origins, Hellwig Suspension Products has become one of the most recognized names and a leader in developing sway bars and load control products for OEM and aftermarket applications.
Leading the innovative company since 2019, Melanie is the fourth generation of her family to run the business. Adding to the uniqueness of that legacy is that Hellwig Suspension Products manufactures all of its products in the United States and it is still privately held. However, Melanie wasn’t just handed the family business. She had to work her way through the ranks and prove her mettle. In this episode of “Only The Strong Survive,” Melanie talks with host Dan Kahn about what she learned from her climb to the top of the family business and from guiding it through challenging times.
Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode. Here are our top five takeaways from their discussion:
The modern business landscape requires more than just technical skills.
How pressure works to build better brands and people.
Coaches aren’t just for professional athletes.
The right feedback is critical to growing as a leader and a business.
Tribal knowledge needs to be passed on to others and not contained.
Running a Modern Business is Different
Melanie wasn’t always sure that she wanted to run the family business. In college, she pursued a degree in psychology instead of the “usual suspects” of business, finance or marketing. However, that choice proved to be a positive one, as running a business today is different. Now, understanding how to motivate and interact with a wide range of employees is just as important as technical business know-how.
“I feel like it (the psychology degree) has helped me quite a bit,” says Melanie. “Now, it is a very different time when businesses are lucky to have team members. So, it is a shift that we have to make that is subtle but really important. As a business, we have to look at how to motivate our team members, attract them and be a really good place to work.”
Get Uncomfortable
Some strive to get their businesses and themselves to a “comfortable” place and then hit cruise control. For Melanie, not getting outside one’s comfort zone is a surefire way to let your competition eat your lunch. Just like a pressure cooker can speed the cooking process, operating under pressure helps constantly push your brand forward. Striving to do the uncomfortable can also mold you into a better person.
“It is saying yes to the uncomfortable things, and that is hard. If I am comfortable, I am not doing it right. Honestly, as a business owner, if you are fat and happy, you are not doing it right,” says Melanie. “I step into positions that put me under pressure but force my growth. If I am uncomfortable, I know I am moving forward.”
Get a Coach
Behind every great athlete, there is almost always a great coach. Many business leaders think they must know everything and forge their own path. Some even see reaching out for help as a sign of weakness or showing a lack of knowledge. However, it is hard to grow as an individual and a leader if someone isn’t helping you along the way.
“I think there were a lot of times when I thought I should know this or have it figured out, but it is not like that,” says Melanie. “The best athletes have coaches. Whether you have the natural talent or not, you are going to have blind spots.”
Always Look for the Right Feedback
Business leaders can get themselves into a position where the only feedback they receive is positive. Sometimes, that is by design, hiring only “yes men” who agree with a leader's every move. Other times, it happens when employees don’t want to “rock the boat” for fear of losing their jobs. Either way, it is a trap that should be avoided. While getting only positive feedback might be great for one’s ego, it is not great for one’s business.
“What I have seen as I have risen through the company is that you get to a certain position, and people don’t give you feedback anymore. That is why I work with a coach because you need that honest feedback,” says Melanie. “I want the real feedback and I want someone to feel safe enough to give that feedback. It is not always fun when you get the feedback from the team, but it is important.”
Tribal Knowledge Shouldn’t Be Kept Tribal
A business like Hellwig, which has been in business for almost eight decades, naturally develops a lot of tribal knowledge. Having that knowledge is great, but it needs to spread to new employees beyond the core members of the “tribe.” Otherwise, it is only contained within a small group and doesn’t help new members of your organization. Recognizing the employees who have that knowledge and helping them to share it is just as important.
“In our company, because we have been around for so long, we have really leaned on tribal knowledge. For myself, even I have leaned on that,” says Melanie. “A big part of the mission I am on is to be more process-driven because we have leaned on that too hard. Not understanding some of the talent that is inside my organization has been one of my biggest mistakes and a hard lesson.”
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