Who We Are   

Ernie and his partner, Lee Hausner, collaborated on the landmark family business book: Hats Off To You: Balancing Roles and Creating Success in Family Business. He has authored numerous articles on family business and has consulted with family businesses in a variety of industries including farming, health care, manufacturing and distribution.   He wrote and hosted Livelihood and Legacy: Inside the World of the Family Business, a video/workbook learning system. Ernie was also a contributor to the book: Your Family Business-A Success Guide to Growth and Survival, and wrote a business column, “The House Rules, “ which was a regular feature in Printing Manager magazine.  A popular speaker to business groups, family forums, and trade associations, Ernie lectures and leads seminars on the most relevant family business topics.

Ernie’s Background

Ernie received a B.A. in business economics from Claremont McKenna College and an M.B.A. from the University of California-Los Angeles. He has completed post-graduate courses in psychology and family systems through Pepperdine University. IMC accredited Ernie as a Certified Management Consultant (CMC).

Prior to joining with Lee Hausner to found Doud Hausner & Associates, Ernie was Associate National Director of Family Business Consulting for a major international consulting/ accounting organization.  Preceding that he co-founded the Wald Consulting Group where he served as Executive Vice President for 13 years. He began his consulting career as a principal with Fry Consultants.

Ernie’s community involvement includes service as a director of the Glendale Memorial Health Foundation.  He has also served on the Board of Hillsides Home for Children, has been a trustee of Claremont McKenna College, president of that college’s Alumni Association, and president and director of the W.B. Stevens Foundation.

Ed Cox, Ph.D.

Ed has written numerous articles on family business and has consulted with family businesses in a broad range of industries.  A popular speaker to business groups, family forums, and trade associations, Ed lectures and leads seminars on a wide variety of family business topics.

Ed’s Track Record

Ed earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); his Ph.D. in Family Therapy and Sociology from the University of Southern California; and completed the Executive Management Program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Business.  He also holds a Certificate in Family Business Consulting with Fellow Status from the Family Firm Institute. Prior to devoting his full attention to family business advising, Ed spent 18 years as president and trustee of Phillips Graduate Institute in Encino, California.  Phillips provides master’s degrees in organization behavior and family therapy and trains executives in organizational effectiveness.  This school was founded in 1971 by his father-in-law.  Ed continues to teach classes at Phillips in organizational behavior and family business.

Ed serves on the Board of Directors of the Family Firm Institute (www.ffi.org) and is a chairperson for TEC, a worldwide organization of business owners and CEOs who want to grow their businesses and outperform their competitors (www.teconline.com). Ed is on the Board of Advisors of the California State University, Fullerton, and is a fellow in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

The Encino, California Chamber of Commerce recently named Ed: “Business Person of the Year.” 

Ivy Gordon, MSOD

Ivy focuses her consulting on change management and leadership development through appreciative inquiry and experiential learning. She is also a chairperson for TEC, the world’s largest membership CEO organization. Through TEC, Ivy helps members grow their companies and become better leaders, make better decisions and get better results. She has consulted with a variety of corporate, entrepreneurial and non-profit organizations.

Ivy's Track Record

Ivy co-founded Datafaction, which became the industry leader in database, business management solutions. An early pioneer in the computer industry, her clients included Fortune 500 companies and several of the then top six accountancy firms. She maintained an IT consulting practice for over 20 years with offices in the three major business centers of California: San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. She currently co-owns Saddle Sojourns which uses horses to create outdoor experiential workshops grounded in cutting edge theory that enhance leadership development and team performance for better personal and business results.

Ivy is a member of the Organization Development Network, a member of the Family Firm Institute, a past board member of the National Association of Women Business Owners in San Diego, and a founding member of the southern California MSOD regional alumni group.

Ivy has a Masters degree in Organization Development from Pepperdine University. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the State University of NY at Stony Brook. Ivy teaches organization behavior in the business school at Pepperdine University.

Glenn Ayres

Glenn Ayres has been consulting to families, executive teams and businesses on matters of family business succession, change management, and governance for more than 20 years. He brings extensive experience in business management, family systems, strategic planning, communication, and the art of small and large group facilitation.

Glenn’s practice ranges from succession and strategic planning for family and closely held businesses, to working with successors on leadership development, senior generation couples on life/career transitions, and work with both profit and non-profit organizations on implementing major change initiatives.

Glenn is a founding member of the University of St. Thomas, Center for Family Enterprise where he served for several years as a professional-in-residence and as a member of the Center’s advisory board. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the business school at St. Thomas where he teaches family business management to undergraduate seniors and MBA’s.

Glenn is also a founder of the Family Business Alliance and is currently serving as a board member and the President of the Family Firm Institute (www.ffi.org). He is a Fellow of the Institute and a former member of its Body of Knowledge Committee.

He is a frequent speaker and lecturer on family business, governance, the wisdom of multi-disciplinary teams, and the professional’s role in dealing with grief. Glenn is currently a doctoral candidate in Organization Development, working on his dissertation.

Rosa Carrillo, MSOD, Consulting Associate

Ms. Carrillo specializes in leadership development, executive coaching and culture change. Her clients include family owned businesses as well as fortune 500 companies.

“I am passionate about helping individuals and companies reach for excellence and achieve their goals.”

A noted expert in how people and organizations change, she is able to guide individuals and organizations through transformational change. As an executive coach, she provides concrete tools that help managers and executives acquire the capabilities to inspire high performance in their colleagues and organizations.

She is fluent in Spanish and English.  Raised in Mexico and educated in the United States, she is uniquely qualified to coach men and women of Latino background.  She has helped numbers of entrepreneurs and corporate managers understand and cross the cultural boundaries between U.S. and Latin America.

Rosa’s Core Competences

Trust is the oil that makes the machinery behind the family owned business work. Ms. Carrillo has both consulted and written about how to break cycles of mistrust to establish high functioning organizations and harmonious relationships.  Her other consulting experiences include the design and implementation of culture assessments; facilitating group processes; team building; strategic planning and coaching key executives to support the implementation of strategic action plans.

She has also published four books and a number of articles on the subject of leadership and culture change.

Rosa’s Track Record

Her consulting experience includes working with employees, managers and executives in pharmaceutical research and development, retail marketing, chemical, oil, power utilities and manufacturing industries. She has worked with companies throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the Latin American Divisions.

Rosa is on the Board of Directors for the Latin Business Association, USA and Hispanic Business Association of Greater Long Beach where she works with Latino entrepreneurs to achieve their business objectives. She holds a Masters of Science in Organization Development (MSOD) from Pepperdine University.