Left to Right: Julian Schmidtke, Kim Stokke, and Leslie Schmidtke

One of those businesses is the Beach Basket in Gig Harbor. Julian and Leslie Schmidtke have grown a successful retail business in downtown Gig Harbor after first setting up shop in a leased 400-square-foot space in 1969. Since then, downtown businesses have come and gone or changed hands, while the Schmidtkes’ original Beach Basket has expanded several times.

A year-round Christmas Shop, a garden store and a women’s clothing shop are now part of the Beach Basket name. The Schmidtkes own the buildings, located in a historic corner of downtown, not far from where their business success began.

The couple is partially retired, with daughter Kim Stokke running the Christmas Shop. Their son, Mike, runs another retail shop that is located in Tacoma.

Stokke used to come to the old shop when she was in middle school, which was located within walking distance. She has watched her parents work really hard for their business, and enjoys her role at the Christmas Shop, where she can use her creativity.

Leslie Schmidtke says the fact both their children went into the business makes them proud. “There’s been a sense of pride to have our second generation involved in the business,” she says.

Schmidtke says family has always been a priority with the business, including when it comes to employees. “We have been blessed over the years, and felt our business was in good hands with our employees,” she says. And when employees had family emergencies or family needs, they could rely on their employers as well.

“It’s like a family of employees,” Stokke says.

Having a family business, however, requires a balancing act, especially in separating the two words (and their respective worlds).

“We make a conscientious effort not to talk about the store (at home) because it’s such a big part of us,” she says.

Mother-daughter team Laurie Ellis and Genevieve Ellis also find it difficult not to talk about business at home. “We do have Sunday dinners, so we talk about business,” Genevieve says.

Their relationship within Ellis Accounting, however, is a bit unusual: Laurie owns the firm and employs her mom. Although they are not partners in the business, which has an office off State Route 302 on the Key Peninsula, they make major decisions together.

“She treats me more as a partner than an employee,” Genevieve says.

For Laurie, the team work is ideal: She does the accounting while leaving tax preparation to mom. Laurie loves to crunch numbers but doesn’t like taxes so much, but providing that service is crucial to her business. With mom working by her side, she can provide more extensive services.

The mother and daughter’s entry into the same industry is coincidental. Laurie opened her business in 1991 in Tacoma after working as an auditor for the Army. Genevieve started in banking, took a break to raise kids, then got into bookkeeping and later worked for H&R Block. Unlike Laurie, she loves to do taxes, and working for her daughter suits her well because she can have downtime during the summer.

The employment arrangement “wasn’t planned, it just happened,” Laurie says.

The two seem to complement each other well — one likes to work with people, the other with numbers, but both are focused on solving a puzzle for someone else.

Soon, Laurie hopes to take the next step in her family-based business: She plans to hire office help, and eventually hopes to employ several tax preparers. “Every year, we pick up more clients,” she says. And while her job is to look out for her clients’ bottom line, she keeps a keen eye on her own. “The bigger you get, the better it is,” she says.