For Jay and Jacob Jones, their respective transitions into the family business weren’t difficult considering their shared love for vehicles. They’re both family members and employees of Triple J Enterprises Inc. which has different subsidiaries in Guam and in the region. But how does this father and son dynamic play out in business? Let’s take a closer look.
Jacob Jones is the service manager for Triple J Ford in the Triple J headquarters which services Ford, Mazda and Volvo vehicles. He’s been involved in the automotive world since he was 15 years old. “I enjoy working on cars and motorcycles, so it was natural for me to move into the service and parts departments. There is always something new and an ever-changing landscape, which allows me to be creative and challenges my leadership skills,” he said. He has been employed in his current post for eight months.
Jacob’s father, Jay B. Jones, senior vice president at Triple J said he’s been into cars since he was a kid as well. He said from a young age his children have known that Triple J was intended to be a legacy business, and he encouraged them to get involved whether it be through summer jobs or through community outreach efforts.
Jacob — who is known as Jake — didn’t feel any pressure to work at Triple J. “I don’t feel like it was a decision to get involved or not. I knew I would move back to Guam after school, but I wanted to get some experience outside of the family business, and I worked at a dealership stateside for some time,” he said. Once he felt like it was time, he made the move back to the island and has lived in Guam since.
Jay and Jacob Jones are pictured at the 2023 Union Cycliste Internationale (International Cycling Union) Time Trials Cycling World Championships in Stirling, Scotland. Photo courtesy of Jay Jones
“Because Jake is also a motorhead and seemed to enjoy his part time work in the dealership I had a feeling from a young age that he might end up joining the team and was happy when he made the decision to do just that,” Jay said. “Maybe its corny but attracting at least one of my kids into the business is one thing that brings me a lot of satisfaction. I’m still working on my other two kids,” he said.
Jake started at Triple J in high school, first as a lot attendant. “I enjoyed the work, even if it was initially washing cars and ground maintenance,” he said. He feels starting early and getting experience outside of Triple J has been the best thing for his process. “It allowed me to relate to my team better in business and understand better where we excel and where we can improve,” he said.
Managing day to day operations doesn’t make it easy to carve out time to impart explicit business lessons. Sometimes, they have to be taught by example. Jake says he picked up how to be patient from his dad. He spent time in a fast-paced environment in the mainland and had to shift his expectations, but still ensure that the company was moving forward in a productive way. “I have always been very eager to get things done and move on to the next project, but over the last few years, I have had to learn to be far more patient and understand that things take time, especially in Guam,” he said.
Jay said honesty and integrity in business are values that his father, Robert H. Jones, chairman and CEO of Triple J; never explicitly taught his children, but they are values that they learned while watching him work. “I hope Jake has observed that those values are just as important to me as they are to my father,” Jay said.
Naturally, Jay and Jake have disagreements stemming from their generational differences — and it’s not a bad thing. Jake has learned to take a step back and understand their differing perspectives. “In my shoes, it's about understanding that he (Jay) has more experience and has seen much more than I have. I may have an idea I think is excellent and see no fault in it, but he has the wisdom to tell me differently because it has been done or because he sees it differently,” Jake said.
Jay asserts that if you don’t have disagreements in business, then you aren’t pushing yourself or others to improve. However, it is in the way you handle those disagreements that makes all the difference. He remembers 35 years ago when he was in the same place that Jake is in today. “I came into the family business with lots of ideas and ambitions and I remember how disappointed I was when some of those ideas were shot down or not taken seriously. I do my best to consider his (Jake’s) ideas and positions carefully before deciding how to proceed so, at the very least, he feels heard,” Jay said.
Jake said that allowing his father to filter his ideas through his experience, ensures they are sound decisions. “At the end of the day, it's coming back to the understanding that we both have the desire to grow the business and provide a better experience for our customers,” he said.
Jay said his son brings a fresh perspective and notices things he doesn’t, which is one of the best parts of having the next generation involved.
The family dynamic may be a tricky one to navigate in the workplace – mixing in non-related employees could complicate matters more.
For the two Joneses, the family environment has been more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Jak thinks it's easier for him to have a relationship with most employees because he has been around Triple J for many years.
“I believe they have seen my growth and progress over the past 13 years, and it can give them an understanding that I am not just coming in to take over. I want to hear and understand their challenges, many of which I have faced in their roles, and we can work to overcome them,” Jake said.
Jay feels that many employees appreciate the stability and continuity that a family business provides, he said. “As an employee at Triple J you can be confident that decisions will be made and operations will be run according to a very similar set of values regardless of which family member is directly involved.”
Jake is proud of a recent business-related success involving the introduction of new products. At a conference in 2021, Triple J developed a relationship with BG Products, allowing Triple J to provide a better experience for customers and employees. “It was something that worked very well for me in the States, and I saw the value of bringing it here, and we worked together to make it happen. It has allowed us to train our team members better and expand our offerings to our customers,” Jake said.
What’s in store for the next five years?
Jake said they are working on many different projects, which will lead to improvements for customers and employees. “With the implementation of our commercial service center and mobile services, we will be better able to deliver to our customers. I aim to provide outstanding customer and employee experience with lasting benefits, something we can all be proud of at Triple J,” he said.
Jay said they are looking forward to continuing the growth of Triple J’s newest ventures, Stroll ride hailing service and FlowEV, their EV charging network.
Jay decided early on that he would leave work discussions at work and focus family time on each other. This has proven to be effective. “In a family business it is very easy for the lines to become blurred and for one aspect to affect the other negatively,” he said.
Together, the father and son enjoy cycling, riding motorcycles and going off-roading, embarking in memorable adventures on and off-island. mbj
