The Power and Process of Transitions
The Power & Process of Transitions
A 5-Part Workshop Series Guiding Families and Businesses Through Change
Transitions, whether generational handoffs, leadership changes, or shifts within the business itself, are defining moments in the family business journey. Yet they are often treated as logistical hurdles rather than powerful opportunities for renewal, creativity, and resilience.
This 5-part online workshop series explores The Power & Process of Transitions through a blend of lived experience, practical frameworks, and interactive reflection. Each session combines live teaching with guided conversation, offering participants a safe and supportive space to explore their own transition experiences while learning tools that can be applied to both family and business contexts.
Participants will:
- Understand transitions as cyclical processes with distinct stages.
- Learn how to approach endings with intention and grace.
- Gain strategies for sustaining themselves and their families during uncertain times.
- Anchor into new beginnings with clarity and commitment.
- Differentiate between personal transitions and business transitions.
- Build confidence in their ability to steward both family and enterprise through change.
Series Format
This 5-part online workshop series features 60-minute live sessions combining teaching, reflection, and discussion. Each workshop includes:
- 30–40 minutes of live teaching grounded in family business practice and research.
- 15–20 minutes of guided reflection, group dialogue, or breakout discussions.
- 10 minutes of live Q&A.
Participants also receive a digital reflection guide for each session, including key questions, journaling prompts, and practical exercises.
By the end of this series, participants will have:
- A clear, shared language and framework for understanding transitions.
- Practical strategies and reflective practices for navigating change.
- Confidence to support themselves, their families, and their businesses through cycles of endings, middles, and new beginnings.
- A stronger sense of community by engaging in dialogue with peers facing similar challenges.
Session 1: The Nature of Transitions
Why change is both inevitable and powerful.
- Introduces Bruce Feiler’s (with a sprinkling of Martha Beck’s) transition frameworks.
- Explores why transitions are often resisted and how to reframe them as opportunities.
- Live Reflection Prompt: Share a past transition and map it through The Long Goodbye, The Messy Middle, and The New Beginning.
Webinar details:
Date: April 1, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.(CT)
Session 2: The Long Goodbye
Letting go to make space for the new.
- The identity and emotional layers of endings.
- Navigating voluntary vs. involuntary goodbyes.
- Tools for resourcing yourself and others during loss.
- Live Reflection Prompt: What am I holding onto that no longer serves me or my business?
Webinar details:
Date: April 8, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m. (CT)
Session 3: The Messy Middle
Leading through uncertainty.
- Normalizing the “in-between” as fertile ground for growth.
- Staying resilient, curious, and open.
- Creative practices for finding clarity in uncertainty.
- Live Reflection Prompt: Where in my leadership am I resisting uncertainty or rushing for answers/decisions before it’s time?
Webinar details:
Date: April 15, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m. (CT)
Session 4: The New Beginning
Anchoring into what’s next.
- Managing relief, anxiety, and pressure of arrival.
- Avoiding backsliding into old patterns.
- The role of celebration as an energetic anchor.
- Live Reflection Prompt: What rituals or commitments can help me fully step into this new role/phase?
Webinar details:
Date: April 22, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m. (CT)
Session 5: Beyond Generational Shifts - Business Transitions
The business itself evolves.
- Recognizing the enterprise as its own living entity.
- Six generations of Racket as a case study in evolution and adaptation.
- Listening to what the business itself is “asking for.”
- Live Reflection Prompt: What transition is my business calling for now?
Webinar details:
Date: April 29, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m. (CT)
Workshop Series Facilitator
Meet Anne
Anne Bauer is a certified coach and 6th-generation president of Racket Merchandise Co., her Kansas City-based family business that has grown over 130 years from a frontier supply store into a multi-industry enterprise. With a background in psychology, coaching, and energy work—plus decades of firsthand leadership—she helps family businesses navigate transitions, communication challenges, and generational shifts. Her work is grounded in three pillars: healthy boundaries, clear communication, and healing historical patterns to ensure long-term success.
LinkedInTransitions, whether generational handoffs, leadership changes, or shifts within the business itself, are defining moments in the family business journey. Yet they are often treated as logistical hurdles rather than powerful opportunities for renewal, creativity, and resilience.
This 5-part online workshop series explores The Power & Process of Transitions through a blend of lived experience, practical frameworks, and interactive reflection. Each session combines live teaching with guided conversation, offering participants a safe and supportive space to explore their own transition experiences while learning tools that can be applied to both family and business contexts.
Participants will:
- Understand transitions as cyclical processes with distinct stages.
- Learn how to approach endings with intention and grace.
- Gain strategies for sustaining themselves and their families during uncertain times.
- Anchor into new beginnings with clarity and commitment.
- Differentiate between personal transitions and business transitions.
- Build confidence in their ability to steward both family and enterprise through change.
Series Format
This 5-part online workshop series features 60-minute live sessions combining teaching, reflection, and discussion. Each workshop includes:
- 30–40 minutes of live teaching grounded in family business practice and research.
- 15–20 minutes of guided reflection, group dialogue, or breakout discussions.
- 10 minutes of live Q&A.
Participants also receive a digital reflection guide for each session, including key questions, journaling prompts, and practical exercises.
By the end of this series, participants will have:
- A clear, shared language and framework for understanding transitions.
- Practical strategies and reflective practices for navigating change.
- Confidence to support themselves, their families, and their businesses through cycles of endings, middles, and new beginnings.
- A stronger sense of community by engaging in dialogue with peers facing similar challenges.