Takeaways
- Stories of company origins & examples connect today’s workforce to the “why’s” behind your culture.
- A hands-on publishing exec and wife launched a niche media company in 1981 – and struggled, put up their home (again) and ‘boot-strapped’ their way to rebuild a company that is 45 years old and counting.
- A clear mission & reputation for doing things a certain, purposeful way also attracted the talent who valued the same things.
SANIBEL, Fla. -- Hello from Florida, where Dad and I retreated this weekend after our quarterly CORE WEEK (weeklong meetings with all remote staff at our Wisconsin HQ) and to celebrate Lessiter Media’s (LM) 45th anniversary.
A little background … On March 6, 1981, I at age 11, stepped off the bus to find my late mother Pam Lessiter at the door with a glass of champagne to toast the new media business she & Frank Lessiter founded that day. They bought two titles and a national trade show from Dad’s employer in Milwaukee.
Watching the Gulf waves roll in this week brought a reflective mood, not only from a 45-year milestone but also because last Sunday was the one-year mark of Mom’s passing. She was the co-founder of LM in 1981 and, as Dad says, the unsung hero of cash-flowing the business through the tumultuous 1980s. Just 8 years in, they were forced to sell off the company’s largest division and rebuild with just 3 employees — Mom, Dad and a part-time subscription clerk.
(Mom, by the way, was a disciplined CFO who possessed the foresight to set up individual profit centers as they were added — to keep an accurate score of labor, effort and return. She was also among the best I’ve seen in reading people, ethics and balancing fairness with accountability.)
Despite the founders’ complementary talents, there was no reason to think the business — with its untimely start with the ag depression of the 1980s — would ever see 45 years.
The Unwritten History
Warning … you’ll need to “buckle in” if you ever ask me about my parents and their dream, vision and grit that became official on March 6, 1981. But the interest in reflections last week prompted “a few” words here (upon reading this, Dad will remind me that “any fool can write long”) and I’m proud to share their story.
Some chronological history is found here. But it only tells part of the story. Because there are other things you can’t easily see or feel — yet have served us so well and in more lasting ways than early wins could have brought, or taught.
Things like: Grit. Resolve. Resiliency. Commitment. A “stick-to-it-ness” that is rarely seen nowadays.
45 Years Later and We’re ‘Still the Same’
Had outside business advisors seen the LM’s 1988 financial statements, they might’ve suggested a “waving of the white flag.” After all, Dad surely could’ve returned to an executive publishing post again. Instead, they threw their chips in (mortgaging the family’s home a half-dozen times over the years). And they shared what I’d call an unwavering belief in themselves and their mission.
They chose to work the problems to death and to demonstrate that their knowledge-building product was EVEN MORE necessary to their audience when the chips were down. They yoked themselves to their loyal farm subscribers (subscriptions provided the only revenue to keeping the business afloat) to fight and live another day.
Fifteen years ago, Bree Greenawalt (now the Director of Data for the business) compared what she’d learned about the company to a seedling’s survival.
“The greatest oak was once a little acorn who held its ground,” she said.
Mom & Dad held their ground. As some learned, it wasn’t smart to bet against Pam and Frank nor the team who got behind them.
My parents taught me to write clearly and plainly, so the best way I can describe the couple, and their new company, is to say that they had “a set that clanked.”
“Visions will change but missions need not…”
A Higher Calling
Dad is an ag journalist — not a salesman, or general manager or bean-counting type. He grew up on a 6th-generation Michigan farm and uniquely brought his Michigan State Univ. dairy science education to the media world. Unlike his classmates who returned to the farm, he pursued a different path to bringing change to farming — to unearth and share ideas and best practices that could help farmers “farm better and more economically.”
Since leaving ag extension 61 years ago for a journalism career, he has served nearly 2 million different farm operation subscribers across several segments. Few have made the connections and impact on practical farm knowledge than has Dad.
The Formula
If you knew Frank then or today, you know he hung his hat on content that could be put to immediate, practical use. His reputation as a writer emerged from curiosity, trust and rapport – and he benefited from many farmer and supplier friends who also wanted to see his little company take root and make it.
He instilled a “meat and potatoes” approach to reporting that excluded fluff pieces and “dessert” items. It would be about the sustenance — feeding subscribers the actionable knowledge they needed to refine their bottom line to keep going.
He cleared the way and set the mission and purpose — instilled in me via osmosis and observation while I was still in my teens — long before I returned to the business 22 years ago.
His model was easy to comprehend but hard to execute or duplicate. That is, if we get the content part right, we will be in position to earn the dollars to support the larger enterprise.
“What are the stories from your past that inspire your business of today?…”
He’s been the only editor-in-chief of No-Till Farmer since its founding in 1972, and was declared the “Johnny Appleseed of no-till agriculture” for sharing the practice’s merits — unpopular and unproven in the early years — as a tool for farmers’ survival amidst increasing labor and input costs.
Deep Content for Specific Niches
Specific coverage of a subject or segment cannot be taken lightly in a time when others have given up. LM’s timeline shows the acquisitions of 3 shuttered titles that had been left for dead.
Several niches would not have dedicated publications or conferences if it wasn’t for the company’s commitment — because the return is measured more than EBITDA alone.
Being the last man standing means we must measure and benchmark against ourselves and continually improve, not because of competitive forces, but to remain relevant to the subscriber. As one of the last remaining monthly ag publications requiring a paid subscription, we must do better than “good enough.”
A Business to Come Home To
At Dad’s insistence (both for professional and economic reasons), I needed to work elsewhere after graduation. I cut my professional teeth in Chicago on metals engineering and manufacturing publications. After 12 years there, I answered the call to “come back home” as executive vice president in late 2003 and started on strategic planning and acquisitions.
Our styles were different, but the mission was secure — and not to be messed with. Content for specific niche markets (not trying to be all things to all people) was our calling card, and how we’d continue to approach our subjects.
After earning my stripes, I was promoted to president in 2007. At my first gathering of the staff to share that news, I reinforced how Mom and Dad’s vision for the then-25-year-old company was about impact, not the bank account. If it was only about the dollar, I said, they could’ve put out their whole investment in mutual funds and been farther ahead.
It was about something more, and there was a lot of head-nodding from the team in that small conference room that day. My belief only grew and I would buy into the company a few years later.
Lessiter Media Today
LM still operates true to that original vision, and with a purpose and higher calling than the quick buck. That is why I rarely return calls from the “always-dialing” private equity firms. From what I’ve seen, they wouldn’t understand nor properly appreciate our not-so-secret sauce.
Forty-five years show 9 acquired brands, 15 launches and 13 award programs to recognize the industries and its people at its very best.
“Forty-five years show 9 acquired brands, 15 launches and 13 award programs to recognize the industries and its people at its very best…”
And hard decisions, too, including a Covid-era layoff that pained us deeply. And of course, the decisions, when necessary, to separate from staff, association partners and even customers – when standards or values could not be realigned.
All three of my sisters (Debbie, Susie and Kelly), all 3 of my sons and most of my nephews/nieces their gleaned work ethic and professional skills while earning tuition money. Two of Frank’s grandsons, Logan Fitch and Drew Lessiter are LM full-timers, too.
Our audiences regularly tell us at our hosted events how our brands kept them encouraged and determined to improve. Some even credited our pages or conferences for their own survival.
And then there are the many hundreds of staff — past and present, who invested their time and gifts to go to work for their customers and teammates.
Along the way, Mom & Dad taught us all about grit, purpose, perseverance, perspective, faith and the pursuit of giving your best to your customers and teammates.
It remains a privilege to do it together. That was the primary goal when I moved my young family north 22 years ago. And there is great pride and affection for the 86-year-old Frank who still comes in 3 days most weeks to write his stories and, as I joke, to tell me what I’m doing wrong.
Legacy. Impact. Integrity. What more can anyone ask than to be a part of these things every day?
The Song Remains True
Visions will change but missions need not.
I’ll leave you with the words of Bob Seger (who grew up in the next county from our family’s Michigan farm). He and his Silver Bullet Band released a hit single, “Still the Same,” released 3 years before the company was founded. Give it a listen at the link below..
You're still the same, Lessiter Media. And you still aim high…
