Cort Brazelton on How to Own a Family Business Without Having to Run It | The Family Biz Show Ep. 135

What if protecting your family business for the next generation means accepting that your family doesn't always have to run it?

What if stepping out of the CEO role isn't giving up control—but becoming a better owner?

"I want the business to stay in the family, but does that mean a family member has to lead it?"

"How do we bring in outside executives without losing what makes our company ours?"

"How do we prepare the next generation to become responsible owners—even if they never work in the business?"

"How do we build something that can thrive long after today's leaders are gone?"

This conversation gives you a different way to think about the answer.

In this episode of The Family Business Show, Michael Palumbos talks with Cort Brazelton of Fall Creek Nursery, an Oregon-based family-owned blueberry genetics and nursery company with operations around the world.

Cort and his sister returned to the family business in 2008 and helped transform it from a primarily Pacific Northwest company into an international organization. Since then, the business has grown more than 39X while remaining family-owned.

But the bigger story isn't simply growth.

It's how the Brazelton family learned to separate family, ownership, governance, and management—and why Cort ultimately stepped away from the CEO position while remaining an engaged owner.

As Fall Creek strengthened its governance, the family began building a board primarily made up of independent, non-family directors. Being based in Oregon also gave them access to accomplished business leaders from the broader community surrounding major companies such as Nike and Intel—the caliber of people Cort once wondered would even be interested in joining the board of a family-owned company.