Daughter Dearest

THE DAY RUTH Torgeson threw three customersout of the store, her mother's concerns about thefuture grew. Well, Ruth didn't exactly throw themout, but that's how they felt about what had happened. They were executives of a Midwestern firm on an outing in the state of Washington andhad come into Karen Torgeson's Seattle store, SummitSports, after some trout fishing and beer drinking. Theywere loud, in a playful mood. One of them wanted to buy afly-fishing vest for his wife and asked Ruth to try it on for size.Ruth, who is 33 years old and chief buyer for her mother'sfour Summit Sports stores, happened to be the only womanpresent and agreed to model the vest.

She didn't like it when the customer remarked that shefilled it out better than his wife would. His friends laughed,but not Ruth. When he suggested in a mock whisper that sheretum to his cabin with him to take more precise measurements, Ruth called him a “sexist pig.” Angrily returning thevest to the rack, she suggested that he and his friends getlost until they could show more respect for women. Retreating to the door in a huff, the offender shouted back, ‘Young lady, you have a chip on yourshoulder. You can be goddamned surewe'll never set foot in Summit Sportsagain.”

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About the Author(s)

John A Davis

Professor John A. Davis leads the family enterprise programs at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is chairman and founder of the Cambridge Family Enterprise Group, a global advisory, education and research organization for family enterprises (JohnDavis.com).


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