Pictured above: Chelsey Bode and her father Mike Kelly.
Last time we spoke with Chelsey Bode, president of Pearson-Kelly Technology in Springfield, Missouri, was earlier this year for a CR-CONNECT Dealer Tour profile that appeared in our June Young Influencers issue. If you missed that profile, do yourself a favor and click on the link above and give it a read. It’s an inspiring story about how the next generation ascended to the helm of the dealership her father Mike Kelly acquired in 2005.
Bode’s story just became even more inspiring because as of today, September 30, she has taken over as sole owner of the dealership, the culmination of a 10-year succession plan. The final buyout and transition of power was finalized this morning. While Mike had been semi-retired prior to the buyout, he will remain as an employee, focusing on business development and expansion initiatives. “He’ll still be my safety blanket to bounce things off of,” said Bode. “He’s not going to have anything that puts pressure on him to come to the office. If he wants to come in and kick around some dirt, that’s on him.”
This transition has been in the works for the past few months. “We’d been marinating on it for a long time,” revealed Bode who added that there was a succession plan in place since she and her Dad had started partnering, but that was focused on how the business would continue in the event of Mike’s sudden passing.
According to a Pearson-Kelly press release shared with The Cannata Report, the day before the official announcement, “Bode’s new role as owner places her in a prime position to build up female leaders within and outside Pearson-Kelly Technology. Since she began to accumulate shares in 2011, Bode has worked to foster an inclusive culture. Pearson-Kelly’s leadership team has continually curated 40-50 percent female leaders from 30 percent female staff overall.”
Asked why this was the right time to take over as sole owner, Bode replied, “With some of the growth that Pearson-Kelly has set its sights on, it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense if you’re [Mike’s] age. To mitigate some of that risk-taking going forward, he got to the point where he wants to keep some of the excitement, but he’s here to support me and not hinder me.”
Bode admits there will be additional complexities as sole owner, but overall, she doesn’t expect things to be all that different. “Once we partnered, he stayed in that business development lane and had me working on the operations and growth and structure of company. A lot of it is more of a formality and I don’t think there’s going to be a whole lot of change. I’ll still have him to collaborate with.”
Bode is enthusiastic about the next stage for herself and Pearson-Kelly as she emphasized how thrilling it has been to work alongside her father and grow the business. “We accomplished as a duo what we wanted to do and he’s super excited to see it continue and be a part of it.”
For Mike, having someone in the family business to pass the reigns along to has been an asset—an asset most dealers don’t have. “A lot of people over the years would contact my Dad,” said Bode, “and say I have this kid, they’re not really interested in getting in the business, or I need them to have a passion for this industry because I want to hand it over to them, but they’re not motivated. How did you do it? He’d say, ‘That’s just Chelsey, I didn’t do anything.’”
Added Bode, “There’s no secret math to making your offspring love this like you love this. I don’t know if my kids will be interested in the industry, they might or might not.”
When asked if Pearson-Kelly will still be considered a best place to work under her sole leadership, Bode replied, “I certainly hope so. I’ll be working on my own list of things to tackle to make sure we protect the employees, business, and customers.”
One thing that might change is the dealership could become more aggressive. “We take calculated risks, but we’re still Midwest and conservative in our approach,” observed Bode. “I’ve held back a little because I didn’t want to do something that was too aggressive and not in my Dad’s best interest, and he also pushed me a little bit because he didn’t want to hold us back from doing something that was in my best interest.”
For the last word, Chelsey shared with me a document written by Mike titled, “A History of Chelsey (according to Dad),” which sums up this latest chapter in the Pearson-Kelly Technology legacy. Here’s a brief excerpt from that document.
- I couldn’t be any prouder of Chelsey and how she has embraced the industry and PKT.
- The company is positioned to grow at an increased pace.
- The employees will enjoy business as usual without being disrupted by an unknown ownership who knows nothing about PKT Culture. This was always my plan!
- I will retire as an owner but still get to work with Chelsey and all of the PKT family
- CHELSEY WILL HAVE HER DREAM JOB AND CONTINUE TO OVERACHIEVE!!!!
The only negative item was the identity theft. I am now known in the Technology Industry as “Chelsey’s Dad!”
Best of luck from The Cannata Report to Chelsey, Mike and the rest of the PKT team going forward.
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