GreatConversations With GreatAmerica - Episode 6: Siblings to Business Partners | Kennedi Aguilar and Sloan Varing, IBE Digital

Welcome to GreatConversations, a podcast about leadership and life from GreatAmerica Financial Services. Mitch Leahy, Vice President and General Manager for our office Equipment Group hosts our NextWave series of talks with thought leaders and innovators from across the business world. 

On this episode of GreatConversations, Mitch chats with siblings Sloan Varing and Kennedi Aguilar from California. As the Controller and Vice President of IBE Digital, they talk about growing up in their family business, taking different paths after college, and eventually joining forces at IBE. Their complementary personalities and roles play a key part in IBE's success.

Listen to the full podcast or read the abbreviated interview about the sibling pair below! 

Siblings to Business Partners - | Kennedi Aguilar and Sloan Varing, IBE Digital

Mitch: Welcome to another episode of GreatConversations. I'm Mitch Leahy of GreatAmerica. Today, I'm excited to have our first sibling duo on the podcast, Kennedi Aguilar and Sloan Varing from IBE Digital in sunny Southern California. Let's dive into their journey across generations and family dynamics. Hey guys!

Sloan: Hey Mitch. We're excited to be here.

Peer Group Value

Mitch: Before we started recording this episode, we talked about the importance of having a peer group and a network of generational leaders within the channel. Could you share your experience and the value you find in peer-to-peer learning and opportunities?

Kennedi: For us, having a network of passionate peers in the industry has been incredibly valuable. With new and fun topics like IT and AI, being able to call or email others for advice is essential. Even just asking them what their approach is and understanding someone else’s go-to-market on some of these solutions can be extremely helpful. Recently, I needed help with an ITT and found someone in the area through a peer. The knowledge shared among us within this channel is vast, and it's great to have others equally eager to learn. Beyond business, it's also fun to attend events and connect with those who understand our family dynamics. Our father started as a solo copier dealer and expanded significantly. By bringing others in, we've become stronger, and I believe peer groups are invaluable to that end because they allow us all to share knowledge so everyone can succeed.

Mitch: Sloan, I’m curious to hear from your perspective. I know you’re an introvert by nature and I'm sure going out and meeting some like-minded peers in similar situations was an adjustment for you.

Sloan: Oh, very difficult.

Kennedi: We joke that he has dinners lined up for the whole time when we go to an event or somewhere. Usually, Sloan's got plans so I’ll just tag along!

Sloan: We make a good team, that's for sure. We bring different things to the table, which is the blessing of being able to work together. We both have very different strong suits and together we're able to combine and be much more effective as a team.

But back to your point, it's been a joy to go events or conferences and meet up with friends or make new ones in this industry. My friends here in California aren’t in this industry so they aren't dealing with the same challenges in their business. There’s been nothing like creating a network of people that are dealing with the same challenges you are and being able to share best practices or enjoy each other’s company. I've been able to build phenomenal friends in a short period of time and I'm super grateful for opportunities to connect, network, and learn from others. For example, the NextWave group that GreatAmerica put together a few years back brought a bunch of “next-genners” like us together. Additionally, Mike Reardon has created a Next-Gen peer group which been phenomenal for us both to be a part of so we can really learn from each other and understand what others are doing inside their businesses that drive value for their customers. At the end of the day, Kennedi and I are really focused on driving a better experience for our customers, and most importantly, providing greater opportunities for our team by continuing to grow the business.

Mitch: There is a willingness to engage with others who are in a similar type of business knowing that there's a lot of evolution happening, and some folks are at different ends of the spectrum in terms of where they're at in the evolution. This gives individuals the opportunity to reach out when they have an issue and figure out how others have delt with it. I think having that group of resources is incredibly valuable.

Sibling Working Relationships

Mitch: You mentioned you've got a good working relationship between the two of you. Sloan, you’re on the sales relationship side of the business, and Kennedi you make sure everything's running right from an operations perspective. You're also close in age. What has that sibling relationship looked like over the years?

Kennedi: We’ve worked hard at it; we've made it a point to be siblings first. At the end of the day, business or not, Sloan's the first person I call. Being there for each other in that way makes it way easier to be there for each other in a work environment. Sloan's always been the guy who makes friends with everyone. When we’d go on vacations for instance, we would walk out, and he'd be friends with the valet guy instantly. It just comes easy to him. So, that side of the business is very fitted to his personality. I think that that's where I fit best in the office. We still have a very dynamic relationship that we continually work on.

Sloan: I will mirror Kennedi's perspective. We are 13 months apart; Kennedi led, and I followed shortly behind her. So, we've been close our whole lives, both in age and in our relationship. She’s always looked out for me.

As kids, we even had a system where I'd forget my books to go to class and she would remind me to bring them. We never shared the same friends really, but we always shared a strong personal relationship between each other. We make it a priority to maintain our personal relationship and I think that’s a big reason for our success. In the beginning of our professional relationship, we had some challenges when I came in the business. She had been there for a little over five years before I joined, so she had a lot of institutional knowledge that I didn't have. I'm a little eager beaver sometimes, and I get ahead of myself. That really challenged our relationship initially. To fix that, we leveraged some outside help to recalibrate our professional communication channels and that was the biggest blessing because ever since we've done that we've stayed consistently aligned. We have our challenges occasionally, but we both know that our vision is the same, we're here to work and help each other no matter what. We don't doubt that with each other. So, no matter what the challenges are, or what the disagreement is, I think we hold that very center as a North Star.

Mitch: Kudos to both of you for being willing to put that first, because I'm sure others within your team can see that you work on that and that is a priority for you all. Not all businesses can say that. There can be a polarizing dynamic there and almost a struggle for control, so, Kennedi, great job in shepherding Sloan when he came into the business.

Children of Small Business Owners

Mitch: Sloan, you took a different route after college. How did you find yourself in being the next generation of leadership for IBE Digital? Was there an expectation that you’d follow in your dad’s footsteps?

Kennedi: My dad has never put any pressure on us. He has always been very supportive of what we wanted to do and above all wants us to be happy. He had a mentality of, “Go do something, and if you want to come back, it's here. But, if you don't want to, no problem. I just knew I always wanted to and came back right after I graduated college. I’ve never felt pressured to stay or be here.

Sloan: I agree with Kennedi. We grew up around the business with much of my dad’s family working in the business. It was a huge part of everybody's lives. Our family is a close-knit group, but, my dad, Ron, has always supported our education. He didn't have the opportunity to go to school, so education was always first for him with us. My parents made lots of sacrifices, so we were able to get the best education possible for us from kindergarten all the way through college and further. He always encouraged us to follow our interests. I was always interested in finance, and I traded commodities out of college. I did the internships and did everything to get myself there and then once I was there, I realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do. I looked around the office and picked a guy who was around 20 years older than me, and I just thought to myself, I do not want that to be me. I was in New York City and different circumstances brought me back to Southern California when I started working for my dad. It's been the best thing that God's done for me; having perspective from that time working out of the business gave me immense gratitude for the opportunity I have today through the platform that my father built for us. I look at it as a responsibility to steward this gift we have been given, and that is not only to the trust of my father, but our team most importantly. We take that responsibility very seriously and we take great pride in what we get to do every day.

Mitch: It sounds like Ron's done a nice job not setting strict expectations but giving you the flexibility to land where you want to be, and I think it’s very telling that you both kind of took different paths to get to where you are today.

Kennedi: Yeah, we're very different people, but have the same values which our family instilled in us.

Leadership

Mitch: From a leadership perspective, being part of the family and having some tenured team members, what's been the biggest learning opportunity that you have had as you’ve become more involved in the business over the last couple of years, Sloan? Are there things that have gone well that you would want to try again, or have you made mistakes that make you think you should never do that again?

Sloan: I've learned the importance of being prepared and working harder than everyone else, which has earned me respect from our tenured employees. Building relationships and rapport with our team didn't happen overnight; it was key to put them first. Mike always says, "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care." By prioritizing their needs and being present in their lives, I've built stronger relationships as a leader. As I mature, I increasingly value my father's experience and often rely on his insights, as he's faced many of the same decisions I'm making now. With my father stepping back from day-to-day operations, I'm enjoying taking on more decision-making responsibilities.

Mitch: Ron seems to be doing a nice job easing that transition for you and everyone at IBE, and it sounds like you both have taken on more responsibility. Kennedi, I'm curious from your perspective, what's been your biggest learning opportunity you've had since your time with the company?

Kennedi: Managing people as a younger woman has required earning respect and learning team management. If someone calls about a forgotten doctor's appointment now, I empathize and tell them to take the rest of the day off. At 23, I might have responded with frustration. I'm still growing and learning to manage people. I love learning from my technicians, especially when they explain their fixes. Taking interest in both their jobs and personal lives, like knowing their kids' Halloween costumes, builds trust. My biggest challenge is ensuring employees are happy to come to work, which has positively impacted our culture at IBE. Every day, I continue to learn and grow in this role.

Mitch: Kennedi, you highlighted two key points: First, the humility to admit you don't know everything about everyone's job and the openness to learn from them. Second, leading with empathy—being less critical and more understanding of your team members' situations. Over the past few years, we've learned the importance of not assuming the worst, meeting people where they are, and ensuring they feel supported and have the flexibility to manage their personal lives.

Kennedi: We want them to want to come to work each day. Sloan and I like our jobs, and we like coming to work. We have fun here, and we want everybody else to feel the same way.

Outside of IBE Digital

Mitch: When you think of your life outside of the office, Sloan, where do you find your happy place or that work-life balance?

Sloan: My most common way to center myself is to run. It’s where I find a lot of peace. Exercise has always been something that's been very calming and positive for me. I'm also starting to get a little better at the golf game finally. It's been a journey, but I'm doing weekly golf lessons right now. I feel like I'm getting worse, but hopefully it turns around here sometime soon.

Mitch: Yeah, that's anytime you're going through the change. There's always that dip where you get a little bit worse and then it starts to swing up. But hang in there. Like leadership, golf is a lifetime work in progress. Kennedi, how about you?

Kennedi: I'm a big animal person. I have two cats and a dog. So, when I come home from work, they really help me decompress. That and being with my family.

Mitch: My wife and I joke how I think we were some of the only people who made it through the COVID window without adopting or acquiring an animal. Though she's lobbying hard for it now, currently we're pet-less.

Learning and Listening with Leadership

Mitch: Kennedi do you have any tips that you would give to a new leader, whether they’ve joined your company, or you were talking to someone in your peer group, that would give them an opportunity to go into their new leadership role on a positive note?

Kennedi: Be ready to learn and understand that you don't know everything. Everyone on the team has something to teach you, so be humble and listen. Build rapport by taking in what they say and don't introduce changes immediately; learn first, then act.

Mitch: That's great advice. Sloan, would you add to that?

Sloan: What Kennedi said is incredibly important. I'd add that putting your people first and maintaining humility is essential. When you prioritize your people, everything else falls into place. Leverage your available resources to guide your decisions; that’s been very helpful for me.

Mitch: Those are all great tips for leaders. Thank you so much, both Sloan and Kennedi for joining us. I really enjoyed getting to know both of you more today!

Kennedi and Sloan: Thank you, Mitch.

This has been Great Conversations, a business podcast from GreatAmerica Financial Services. We hope you found some helpful takeaways from this episode as you're charting your own leadership journey. We'd love to hear your feedback for future episodes. Reach out to us

n Facebook and LinkedIn or learn more at our website. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time for more GreatConversations.

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