Apart from some weekends and holidays, Jennifer Liang never really saw her parents growing up. This is because her parents own their own restaurant, Cheng Wong, in Milwaukee. For Liang, this has been reality for her as long as she’s been alive. 

“My parents started Cheng Wong about eight years ago but they have owned other Chinese takeout restaurants for the past 15 or 20 years,” said Liang. 

“They moved here [from New York] two years before I did so they could start the business. I didn’t see them at all during those two years which made that time of my life difficult. Now it’s kind of always like that so you get used to it.”

Wauwatosa West is home to several students whose parents own and operate family businesses. 

In addition to school, extracurricular activities, and having a personal life, these kids have to juggle their parents’ business. 

This presents a wide range of challenges and opportunities.

Small family run businesses are often busy during the holidays or when clients want large projects completed on short notice. Oftentimes this urgency can lead to stress on family and home life.

”My dad works almost every single holiday, especially the winter ones. It’s hard because we don’t see him for most of those days and getting time off is difficult,” said senior Ella Struve. 

“It takes a lot of work from everyone in the family but we all help out in any way that we can.”

Struve’s family owns and operates Interiorscapes, a plant interior design company that rents and services plants in commercial locations in the Milwaukee and Madison areas.

Senior Jack Monagle’s dad, Bob Monagle, started Tanner Monagle Incorporated, a recording studio and Audio Visual Production agency, in 2005.

Clients often request television or radio commercials with a very tight deadline. This requires Bob Monagle to compress two weeks worth of work into a single week. 

“When this happens, I may have to work 14 to 16-hour days for one week in order to meet the deadline. That is a lot of time away from my family and can cause scheduling problems for other people in the house.” said Monagle.

Owners must do everything from paying employees to overseeing operations to maintaining facilities, all while making enough money to keep the lights on every month. 

The responsibilities and obligations from running a small business can impact other areas of life. 

Senior Brecker Drews’s parents own a branch of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation based in Wauwatosa WI, which they opened in 2017.

“Sometimes when we’re at dinner, the company comes into the conversation and my parents will talk about things like whether they were able to close a certain deal or sometimes my mom deals with people that don’t know how to do their job which frustrates her,” said Drews. 

Other students feel similarly about having the business bleed into their time with family. 

“Honestly I think when I do talk to my parents probably every conversation that we have revolves around the restaurant. Now that you’re asking I don’t really think I talk to them about anything else except school sometimes,” said Jennifer. 

Of course, parents do try to keep work and home separate.

“I try not to work on business projects at home. There is a fair amount of equipment required to work on the video projects, so it makes it more convenient to do that at the studio location. That helps separate work mode from family,” said Monagle

Due to the fact that conversations often focus on the business, kids have a heightened awareness of their parents financial situation. 

“I do think I’m more aware of my parents’ financial situation than other kids because my parents own this business and it comes up a lot in conversations at home. I try to be very grateful for it though because it means we’re able to go on nice trips,” said Drews. 

Knowing the economic status of the company also presents challenges.

“Money gets tight sometimes which can be stressful and I can’t always do everything I want to,” said Jack Monagle, whose father owns Tanner Monagle Incorporated.

The second-hand business-related stress is a common thing students experience. 

“When I’m thinking about my future, what with college and all, I know I probably can’t go to a school that’s really expensive because I don’t know if we’ll be able to afford that. It can be uncertain at times because some days we’re not making any money and then other days we’ll do really well,” said Liang.

Despite all the struggles, there are positives to having parents who run a business. Growing up in that environment can inspire, give direction, as well as open paths for the future.

“My dad hires me to record stuff sometimes and I’ll help with sound equipment or setting up for big recording sessions. Having my dad be a musician and own the studio has inspired me to follow him and become a musician,” said Jack Monagle.

Jack Monagle has had the opportunity to help with sound equipment and set up for big recording sessions. His fathers love of music inspired him to pursue his own drumming career.

“My dad knows a lot about the recording business and all the equipment, which is helpful for me since I do a lot involving music. It’s also made me want to be a part of the company as an adult one day and be a co-owner if it’s still around,” said Jack Monagle

Students are exposed to learning about how a business operates in very personal ways.

“If the opportunity is there I would like to take over the company one day. I’ve been taking business classes in school and trying to gain knowledge about that area so I can get to that point. It would be nice to get into that with my parents and they help people which I want to do as well,” said Brecker. 

There are positives and negatives living in a family that is running its own business. But for these kids, that’s the way their families work and anything else would be abnormal. 

“That’s just what I’m used to. That’s the way it’s always been,” said senior Jack Monagle