Transition or Sell: What To Do With Your Family Business

Payal focuses on general corporate and transactional matters. She represents clients from inception to exit, including matters of corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, private equity transactions, minority investments, secured financing, and debt and equity issuances.

Dan is a Transaction Advisory Analyst in the firm’s Tax Group. He has more than 17 years of experience in public accounting, working with corporations, individuals and partnerships in several industries, including manufacturing, e-commerce and technology. Dan is skilled in handling a wide range of mergers and acquisition matters for closely-held, middle-market and private equity clients, including planning to minimize taxes and leading tax due diligence engagements. Additionally, he is proficient in managing the income tax compliance process and providing tax advice to minimize or defer federal and state income tax liabilities for his clients. Dan is also experienced in representing clients before the IRS and state jurisdictions in examinations and other tax controversies and performing client engagement activities.

Jacob Herschend is a Principal at Brightstar. Jacob leads Brightstar’s Business Development across the Midwest. He is a third-generation owner and steward of a family-owned business, Herschend Family Entertainment.

Prior to joining Brightstar, Jacob was a Vice President at Marsh & McLennan Agency, working in Business Insurance and specializing in strategically owned and family-operated businesses serving as the Director of the Multi-Generational Family-Owned Businesses Strategies Vertical. Previously, Jacob owned and operated three restaurants in the St. Louis area. Additionally, Jacob has worked for three United States Senators and a U.S. Attorney General.

Jacob received his M.B.A. focused on Families in Business from Kennesaw State University. He received his B.A. from Gordon College. Jacob serves on the boards of The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Forest Park Forever.

Adam Lerner is a Partner at McNally Capital. He joined the firm in 2009 shortly after its founding.  He currently represents McNally Capital on the boards of Advanced Micro Instruments, Dedicated Computing, and Re-Sourcing Holdings.

Prior to joining McNally Capital, Adam held varying roles within financial services, including operations, sales and trading, and investment research, in the private wealth groups of Wachovia Securities and UBS. He began his career as an operations analyst at Lehman Brothers.

Adam received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his BA in Organizational Studies with concentrations in economics and organizational behavior from the University of Michigan.

Nicole is the President and CEO of HM Manufacturing. With a background in engineering and finance, Nicole joined HM in 2009, working a variety of departments including accounting, quoting, sales and marketing and was later promoted to Vice President of Operations in 2015. Nicole has over 10 years of experience in manufacturing including in-depth training on manual lathes and milling machines, and she is NIMS and CAD certified. Since starting at HM Manufacturing, Nicole has overseen a complete renovation of the company's technology and manufacturing processes. In addition to the redesign of HM’s manufacturing strategies, the company has also added several new technologies, including a new ERP system.

Nicole has also been instrumental in expanding HM Manufacturing’s marketing and social media presence in an effort to broaden its reach, increase sales and instill a team mentality amongst employees. Nicole’s leadership and vision has helped HM Manufacturing to thrive and become a leading manufacturer in the power transmission components industry. The company's mission is to provide exemplary service and unmatched quality to our customers.