LIHUE — Jeff McGee actually wanted to spare his son from the lifestyle. Because living the life entails long hours, back-bending lifting and the need for an accountant’s awareness on the finances. Everything has turned out spades, but way back
LIHUE — Jeff McGee actually wanted to spare his son from the lifestyle.
Because living the life entails long hours, back-bending lifting and the need for an accountant’s awareness on the finances.
Everything has turned out spades, but way back when, Jeff wanted to steer his son Tyler away from the demanding life required to run and operate a furniture store. He certainly didn’t set out to groom his kids to take over the family business.
“It’s been the opposite,” said Jeff, who runs Aspire Furniture with his wife, Cindy. “We didn’t want the kids in the business because it was hard.”
Very, very hard.
As Jeff explained, the job, with a small staff, doesn’t have the luxury of titles. That’s to say, they make the sale, the delivery, balance the books and everything else.
But when Jeff expanded the San Diego-based store to Kauai in 2010, Tyler jumped at the chance to make the move, too. Working as a lifeguard in California, Tyler knew the demand of the furniture job, having helped around the store while growing up. A valuable lesson, he said.
“It got me really good experience as a younger child, especially working with my dad, who has a very high work ethic,” the 29-year-old Tyler said.
Working side by side on island has been a great experience, both father and son said. Jeff knows he can expect more from his son than a regular co-worker and Tyler knows he can deliver on those expectations having his dad’s work ethic instilled in him at a young age. And then there’s the unspoken understanding of, well, the father-son connection.
“It’s natural. He looks at me, he knows what I’m thinking,” Jeff said. “You work together well because you’re already anticipating the question.”
Since becoming full-time co-workers, Tyler said he’s actually learned new things about his father. Or at least, he has a fuller understanding of what he thought he knew before.
“I definitely learned that he knows a lot about business,” Tyler said about running the store on Nawiliwili Road, from the financial component to the old-fashioned muscle. “Even at his age, he’s up on the containers unloading furniture. He just doesn’t get tired.”
