Working with Family & Friends and Dealing with Nepotism in the Workplace with Clate Mask

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You want to hire people you know, love, and trust, and quite often those are friends and family members, but how do you avoid favoritism and nepotism?</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On today’s episode, host Jeff Mask is joined by his brother, Clate Mask, CEO and co-founder of</span> <a href="https://keap.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Keap</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">(formerly known as Infusionsoft), a sales and marketing automation platform. Clate loves entrepreneurs and has great respect for the grit and tenacity and perseverance they show as they build their businesses. He built a company that helps entrepreneurs overcome the challenges and frustrations that go with the territory. Automation helped him and his business, and now he shares it with others.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clate and Jeff have a lot of experience working together in multiple companies over the years. They’ve seen what works really well and what can be really painful, creating family strife.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So how do you work with family and friends? How do you lead through nepotism and favoritism? How do you avoid those horror stories we all hear about when family members work together and end up ruining their relationships outside of the office?</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listen in for some encouraging stories and practical tips—all born from years of experience, both good and bad.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>What NOT to Do When Working with Family</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Years ago, during the dotcom era, Clate was Jeff’s boss in a company he didn’t own. It was a lot of fun, and they learned a lot. Jeff is six years younger than Clate and idolized him. They had a good relationship, but as Jeff started tasting success, he got prideful, and Clate would try to keep him in his place. Clate had the mental game and knew how to push