Keeping it in the family: The five kids channelling their parents’ business acumen

As reported in Real Business, Bowen Boulianne, the step-son of “Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort, has started a business degree in Australia intent on following in the footsteps of his dad.

He said he had been inspired by his step-dad and had seen first-hand what it would be like to be an entrepreneur.

He is following a number of kids who wanted to share the fun, excitement and riches enjoyed by their dads or mums in the world of business.

Here are some other examples of kids following in their parents entrepreneurial footsteps.

(1) Dad: Tom Yeardye, a former stuntman, who partnered Vidal Sassoon to build his hairdressing empire. Daughter: Tamara Mellon of shoemaker Jimmy Choo fame

In an interview with Forbes magazine in 2011, Mellon said about her father: “I have distinct memories of being in his office and thinking this is huge, this is amazing. I remember sitting with him when he would be giving motivational talks to all the hairdressers in the salons. Whenever you had a meeting with my father, even if you didn’t get what you wanted, you walked out feeling great.”

(2) Dad: Michael Eavis: Somerset farmer and founder of the Glastonbury Festival. Daughter: Emily Eavis who has been helping her dad run the event since coming home from university in 1999 when her mum died

She told the Independent earlier this year that her role has steadily increased. “It doesn’t feel like there is going to be a dramatic handover moment or anything like that, because in a way it has already happened. A lot has changed for him. He didn’t have these constant corporate approaches to deal with 20 years ago, or even ten years ago, where we have media and corporate brands trying to cling on. He just doesn’t understand it.”

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(3) Dad: Ralph Lauren, fashion designer. Daughter: Dylan Lauren

Dylan Lauren founded Dylan’s Candy Bar in 2001. It has stores in major US cities such as New York, LA and Miami.

The New York flagship store is visited by 2.5m people a year and shares the many flamboyant touches of Ralph Lauren’s fashion.

Dylan Lauren says the store is the “modern day version of the Willy Wonka factory” with lollipop trees, candy staircases and dripping chocolate shelves.

It has 7,000 different sweets and other products such as stationery, jewellery and handbags. But parents be warned the prices are not so delicious – $3.25 for a milk chocolate bar and $4 for a lollipop.

(4) Dad: James Dyson, inventor of revolutionary cleaners and hand-dryers. Son: Jake Dyson, inventor of LED lamps

In April this year Dyson bought his son’s company Jake Dyson Lighting. He said Jake would continue to develop his lighting technology working with his firm’s 2,500 engineers.

He said of his son: “Jake is highly competent, loves technology, and has good business sense and marketing sense. He’s got all the things I had and more, because he’s more inventive. So he will take it to places I couldn’t.”

Jake Dyson remembers teenage years making vacuum cleaners and watching the frustrations of his dad working in their basement.

He recently told the Guardian: “What I have learned is self-taught but what I have taken from him is perseverance; that can-do-and-won’t-give-up. We don’t talk about our work but he is very proud of me, I am very proud of him. It is great. But I have done this on my own completely, right from the word go.”

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(5) Mum: Anita Roddick – founder of The Body Shop. Daughter: Sam Roddick founder of lingerie retailer Coco de Mer

Sam Roddick’s Coco de Mer incorporated many ethical principles from the Body Shop such as leather handcuffs sourced from Brazil. She sold the firm in 2011.

About her mum she told the Daily Telegraph in 2013: “She taught me how to survive. She gave me an internal map. When things get tough I can tap into the map to get through them.”

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