Jen McCain: 'Family business is a complex and fragile interconnected system'

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Jen McCain is the founder and President of Irie Capital Corp., a Toronto-based privately held investment and holding company focused on small- to mid-tier businesses.

The granddaughter of McCain Foods co-founder Wallace McCain and his wife, Margaret, Jen McCain worked as a consultant at KPMG before establishing Irie Capital, focusing on initiatives that generated positive financial returns along with social impact.

Her education includes a Master of Business Administration with a major in corporate social responsibility and sustainability from Simmons University in Boston, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a major in entrepreneurship and innovation from Dalhousie University.

McCain is a director on the McCain Foods Group holding company board, board director at Toronto-based Kennebec Investments Inc. (Real Estate) and serves as the vice-chair, board of directors, for Friends of Ruby, a Toronto transitional house and drop-in centre for LGBTQ2S+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning) plus other sexual orientations and gender identities) youth.

Here she discusses the impact her beloved grandparents have had on her philanthropic work, as well as how their care and guidance, as well as the family’s approach to succession, harmony and encouraging the next generations, have contributed to her trajectory within and outside the business of one of Canada’s most successful enterprise families.

Enterprise and purpose

What brought you to found Irie Capital Corporation, and why is it important to you?

“In the Jamaican dialect of English (Patois), Irie means good vibes or good quality. I believe in business as a force for good. In a more [traditional] example, there used to be two [metaphoric] trains. One train heads down a track where you go as fast as you can to reach your corporate goals and realize success; the other train leaves later and leads you to your philanthropic goals. In my view, both trains can leave the station at the same time, and they can intentionally merge. That’s my goal for Irie Capital – patient capital.”

Philanthropy and legacy

You are an avid supporter of the arts, of animal welfare, and of environmental causes. How has your philanthropic spirit been nurtured, and how have you brought familial influences into your own philanthropic passions?

“I was exposed at a very early age, particularly by my nanny and grampe, whom I continue to [hold dear and hold as important examples], to the concept of giving back and stewardship. Familial causes are a great way to stay connected to the work that founders cared about and brings you closer to them by continuing their cause.

“In time, unique paths will form and interests will change, but the most important piece is honouring the spirit of giving. Similar to other competencies and traits that are developed as part of early childhood development, so, too, is the concept of paying it forward. [Other next-gen colleagues and friends of mine, to whom I feel most connected, have spoken about it in terms of] three levers to pull – time, capital and expertise. Time is an easier investment early on in life and becomes more scarce as you get older. My family influence stems from a concept that business is a means to build community. Focus on identifying assets within your organization that can have a dual mandate: profit and purpose.”

Can you tell us about current philanthropic or business projects you’re excited about?

“I have been working on initiatives and causes that support the 2SLGBTQ+ community. I am currently the vice-chair of Friends of Ruby, a transitional house for folks who have found themselves in the shelter system, for reasons such as being displaced as a result of coming out. Giving back to the community of which I am a member of is very meaningful work.”

The family business and the business of family

How were family decisions made about whether you and other next-gens would be involved in the founding family business or encouraged to pursue your own direction, or both?

“To build credibility inside a family organization, it’s very valuable to build yourself outside the organization. Decisions around succession are very personal.”

Some multi-generational business families struggle to determine what is fair in terms of wealth distribution among extended family members, especially those who are wealth drivers versus those who collect dividends. Is there any advice you can offer?

“Fair is a relative term. Being part of a successful business seems like a fair hand in that it’s a privilege, but it comes with responsibility. Perspective is important. Think of this in terms of the principle of equalization and how you achieve that. Some folks place more on those who have a management position than a family role, but that’s a very costly transaction once you start to ‘weigh’ contributions. Not from a deal cost, but also from a family harmony cost. Harmony brings the highest return – but harmony doesn’t come without sacrifice. At the end of the day, happy shareholders create better business results – do what it takes to be happy, or ‘create a cap table of people who care.’ How does your social consciousness and purpose inform your investment thesis? Can capital be used to not only achieve business results, but also create other positive externalities?”

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Nurturing next generations

Can you offer advice to Canadian business families on how they can nurture the next generation’s ambitions and drive in the context of a comfortable upbringing?

“Engage early. Whether that’s engagement within the family business or outside the operating asset, the key is engagement. The best way to nurture is to connect and evolve through relationship-based exercises. You can’t wait until the moment of succession is to occur, as it’s a long runway until that point. Develop policies, process, systems, and frameworks from which you can address barriers with a degree of mutual understanding. Find peers – in the Canadian business space and across geographies and industries. Insert yourself in networks and communities of practice. Family business is a complex and fragile interconnected system. When managed effectively, it can be incredibly transformative.”

Do you have any advice on how multigenerational enterprise families can involve next generations in philanthropy in a way that both honours the founders’ intentions (if any) and allows for new directions?

“Values-based exercises are integral to build the family culture. What does the family business care about, and how does that shift the business of the family? [It’s important to] build the muscle early. Find thoughtful ways to expose next-gens to the family wealth over time. We cannot be reactionary, and we can’t look at social problems in a rear-view mirror – you have to tackle them head-on. [Of course], some social issues require exceptional patience due to long-term systemic issues, but you have to start by starting. Take interest in each other and report on each other’s work by communicating and sharing stories about what each member of the family is doing to advance their philanthropic aspirations.”

Family dynamics

Many of the professionals who work with multigenerational enterprise families say the family dynamics are key to preserving the family’s successful functioning and wealth. Do you have any advice about managing complex family dynamics?

“As much as every family business has common challenges and threads, how one deals with those challenges is quite unique to the DNA of the family. Crack your family business code by deconstructing who sits where and what value they’d like to bring. Capital comes in different forms and is not pegged to a single currency. Financial, human capital, social capital, intellectual capital, relationship capital.

“As Leonard Lauder has said: There are two things that can ruin a family business – the family and the business. The business is the easy part. [A book I have found invaluable and eye-opening is] Harvard Business Review’s Family Business Handbook. It states, for example, ‘The exercise of ownership power is very different from efforts to unify and develop the family.’”

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

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