[Music] [Applause] the American dream a treasured ideal for our nation and a shining Beacon of Hope to people everywhere the notion that through hard work and dedication anyone has a fair shot at success in life has long stood as a calling to the rest of the world of what makes our country worthy of the title land of opportunity making that American Dream an American reality however can prove to be an arduous and difficult journey and for my family that was definitely the case it was a path that was unexpected and surprising and let me tell you how we've come to know the American dream at the age of six my family had a garage sale my mom was 8 months pregnant with my sister and as we laid out tables and blankets full of stuff I remember finding the whole experience novel and fun I couldn't quite figure out why we were selling the Nintendo my dad had just gotten for Christmas the year before but was nonetheless excited that we were the house in the neighborhood prestigiously selling our excess items like most kids on the poverty line I didn't know that we were poor and it wasn't until many years later I found out that garage sale was to help cover our $700 mortgage that month we always had extended family and friends living with us stood in line for government cheese shopped at thrift stores and used food stamps at the market but I just figured that was the way life was and never really questioned what it meant on a larger social scale we weren't the poorest of the poor and were far more fortunate than many but I was in the dark when friends at school would reference shows from cable TV talk about where they were going on vacation or what extracurricular activities they were involved in when I would ask my parents of our financial standing my mom would tell me Tales of her youth with skipped meals and living in cars and I would feel comforted knowing that we were at least wealthy in comparison to her upbringing the ideal that everyone has an equal opportunity at success and prosperity through hard work determination and initiative is known as the American dream and as I was growing up this was not only a defining National character trait but a familial one as well during those garage sale years my parents scraped everything together so that they could send my mom to college so that we could come out of poverty to live that American dream in 1993 she graduated from the University of Nevada Reno and by the time I started high school we had moved out of that old tiny house and into a two-story track home that looked and felt like a mansion my dad got his dream truck and my sister and I started cheerleading we went to San Diego on vacation and for the first time ever we stayed in a hotel and not with relatives or friends it was a total paradigm shift and significant milestone for all of us career parents nice cars new house PM poms we thought we were finally living that American Dream but the Decades of manual labor were wearing on my dad and my mom's high power high stress position at an advertising agency was starting to give her heart palpitations and anxiety my sister seven years my junior was growing up in a different environment than I had where Friday night dance parties and backyard play with cousins and Friends ruled my childhood she was increasingly bogged down with extra activities and spending more and more time alone we started fighting as a family and drifting apart we were showing signs of depression and distress what we thought was the American dream was turning into the American Nightmare then in 2003 my parents had their prayers answered the little restaurant in trucky California that they had always dreamed of owning was for sale so they did what any rational person would do they cash in their savings and retirements quit their careers called in every favor they could and bought the little 45 seat breakfast lunch restaurant called The Squeeze In famous for the best omelets on the planet and full of character and charm The Squeeze In was exactly what our family had been waiting for they had no idea what they were doing but they knew like Tony Robin said in his Ted Talk that what matters more than resources is resourcefulness and so they began learning the business from the ground up immediately after the purchase I began working with my parents in the family restaurant as did my sister some of my aunts and several of my cousins we were working our taals off seven days a week then going home to bake biscuits Balance Books pay vendors and wash aprons but we were doing something together and having fun again too what we had stum upon was The Not So secret secret of family business the fact that you can incorporate your personal life into your economic necessity and end up spending your time with the people you love and care about the most everyone has to have an economic engine to fuel their lives and for us it makes sense to do something together and share an engine a few years and many lessons later we were ready to expand the business and so my parents brought on my husband and I as partners to open a second location in my hometown of Reno Nevada since then the business and family have grown tremendously and what continues to be at the heart of our growth is a profound appreciation for spending time together there's a saying in small business circles that the best part about being a business owner is that you're in charge of your own time meaning you'll get to pick which 16 hours of the day you have to work and though it does come with steep commitments and different tradeoffs for us this liberation of time and schedule have been absolutely essential when one of the children is sick or injured we can be there immediately and with three kids under the age of five that's fairly often if an emergency pops up at one of the restaurants we can respond and react quickly by having our family and business Blended both end up getting the best from us and when things do come up as they always will our support group can pull together together to solve the problem family business isn't for those afraid of taking risks or for those who can't handle criticism and it's definitely not for those who have strained relationships trust me I and you probably do too know plenty of families who should never ever under any circumstances work together even for the most functional families it's not all eggs and bacon for example when I was 27 I took over the presidency of our company and was in a training transition with the outgoing president my mother after two or 3 months I was ready to take over and she wasn't quite ready to let go or rather wanted things to be absolutely perfect before handing over the rains and in business well there is no such thing as absolutely perfect needless to say that wasn't the easiest of conversations and now it's the big family joke that I fired mom who's here today by the way love you [Laughter] Mom now don't feel too bad for her though she had once fired me years earlier and my dad rehired me a few hours later so now we like to say we're even it can get tough when you have to give critical feedback to your sister or reprimand your cousin family dinners can be a little awkward when it's been a particularly rough day in the business we've had our fair share of raised eyebrows and heated discussion so it certainly comes with its challenges but for the most part we love it when my aunt has a bad day and needs some encouragement I'm not only helping one of my family members but one of our managers as well the biggest catering event in 2013 my sister's wedding family traditions become company traditions and when our kids need a babysitter it's the board chair and CEO AKA gagan Papa on duty and happy to help company morale and family morale are practically the same thing and our family is so infused into this business the lines are blurred they're practically non-existent all those blurred lines mean a family business will always reflect the family's values culture and style strong family strong business smart family smart business hippie family well even a hippie business since we were always growth oriented in our lives naturally we took the same approach to business and in the 11 years that we've had the squeeze in we've gone from one location to five and are now offering franchises to like-minded families and friends we thought the American dream was years of toil offering careers with rigid schedules resulting in middle class success when we got there we realized it wasn't all it was cracked up to be and we had sacrificed more than we bargained for what we really wanted was to be financially stable of course but above that to be doing something meaningful together and having a positive impact on the people around us and in our community the pillars of hard work Integrity initiative and good oldfashioned grit are what give the American dream its legs substance and power but and here's the part we had backwards your why is so much more important than your what or even your how you could say I'm advocating a type of responsible netism and I'd say you're absolutely right you're smart wouldn't she like to spend more time with the people you love don't you want to help those that you care about there has to be boundaries strict ones even but it's not only possible it can be incredibly fulfilling and rewarding we're doing our best to look out for the folks who would do the same for us and as a result our little tribe continues to grow and prosper when we think about who we are and what matters most in our lives certain people tend to top the list our parents children significant others siblings cherished friendships loving relatives the people that make up the fabric of our social existence and to whom we dedicate a great deal whatever it is you do if it doesn't benefit your family is it really benefiting you your answer might be yes and it might be no but I think it's worth at least considering we're certainly not the only family to have figured this out and this definitely isn't a new idea but it's one we didn't realize would impact our happiness so much when I was the six-year-old at the garage sale I had no idea what the American dream was what I did know was that I loved my family and the time we spent together and what I've come to realize is that for us that's the heart of our American Dream what is it for you than