Francesca Scarpa, Group Product Manager of Da Paolo Group and her husband, Guillaume Pichoir, share how they strike a balance between the sometimes conflicting domains of family and business

As if running a successful business and maintaining harmony in the family are not hard enough to achieve individually, these siblings, parent-child pairings and husband-wife teams make juggling both seem like a piece of cake. In celebration of the International Year of the Family, we speak to the dynamic people steering prominent family businesses in Singapore.

Francesca Scarpa and Guillaume Pichoir

The daughter of Judie and Paolo Scarpa, founders of the Da Paolo Group, Francesca Scarpa has spent the past nine years with the Italian F&B group as its Group Product Manager. Her younger brother Andrea also works with the group as an executive chef, while her husband Guillaume Pichoir is its CEO, working on a new flagship Gastronomia Store opening at Paragon.

 

1. Describe your working relationship with your husband.

Francesca: As the Group Product Manager, I take care of the core of the business: food. I work closely with my husband, the group’s CEO, who gives me direction for each concept, shares ideas whenever he comes across anything inspiring, and ropes me in whenever we take on new projects or open new outlets.

Since my role is focused on food while he has to manage all other aspects of running the company, we don’t cross paths every day. However, we have weekly catch-up meetings and communicate daily via email so he knows what's happening on my end. We don't see each other at work on most days. That's also why we tend to talk about work outside of work!


2. What are the pros and cons of working with a family member? 

Guillaume: On the plus side, there is instant access to a key person in the company so I can share ideas or get information at any point of the day. Francesca is the main person who determines what our customers get to enjoy each day in our restaurants as well as at Gastronomia Deli-cafes, so she's a very important person for me to work closely with to ensure that we're putting our effort and resources where we should.

However, sometimes it can be hard to switch off. We could be in a restaurant in America, France or Hong Kong, and our experience with the food or service would spark off a heated debate on a specific aspect of our business.

Francesca: The pros are 1) I can contact him about work issues anytime and anywhere because there isn't really any "end of work day"; 2) We are driven by the same goals – when we don't see eye to eye on a matter, I remind myself of this, and that's when I find myself opening up to understand his point of view; (3) When we encounter “brick walls”, we can find support and comfort in one other. Working together allows us to easily understand the other's frustrations straightaway.

Like with any working relationship, we have our share of arguments, which can get personal at times or also be taken home, interrupting precious family time. But, as husband and wife, we have the advantage of knowing each other's habits, strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else. So, knowing what makes each other tick, we can manage the situation.

I don't see anything wrong with talking shop at home, as long as we understand what each of us wants to do in our rest time. If my husband doesn't feel like talking about work at a particular moment, he'll just ask me if it can be discussed the next day, and vice versa. There has to be that mutual respect for personal space outside of work. Most of the time, we enjoy talking about work, anyway.

 

 

3. How does this working relationship affect your family dynamics? 

Guillaume: It's a blessing that we can continue building something as exciting as Da Paolo together. It's certainly a privilege and this has a positive impact on the family as it gives a unique sense of purpose to our work. Yes, there are very tough and tense times, but the rewards of standing on the shoulders of the founders, growing the firm together, and watching our son Malo devour Da Paolo food and being at home in our restaurants are all very unique and special.

Francesca: While work can be stressful, I cannot imagine working without him. We depend a lot on each other, and I believe that as long as the familial relationship is strong, we can continue to work together.


4. What did you find out about him/her after you began working together?

Guillaume: She has a very developed sense of taste, which is not the sort of thing you necessarily notice in everyday life. She's also disarmingly disorganised, more so than I had noticed before!

Francesca: I always knew that he was a passionate person, as he always does well in everthing he takes an interest in. For example, skiing and wakeboarding. But I didn't realise he had the same fire in his work. It's very motivating and definitely rubs off on me. He's a strong person with an insatiable hunger to do well; this complements me and the company very well.

 

5. What are the rules for running a successful family business while having a strong family relationship? 

Guillaume: I think the most important rule is to first be successful at keeping a tightly-knit family, and don’t let business matters strain family relationships too much. It’s also important that the family members' roles within the company are clearly defined, and for all to understand that each person has a set of roles that is very different from everyone else’s.

Francesca: Open and regular communication is very important to avoid misunderstandings. I would say the biggest lesson that I've learnt from my husband as our CEO is the importance of working as a team, not just within our family but with the key employees in our company. He reiterates endlessly to me about team communication, and this has definitely helped me make progress. We organise regular meetings with the entire family specifically to talk about work.

We also plan fun time as it’s important to get together to "let loose" in between work and family obligations. We enjoy spending time together on my husband's speedboat. Some of us wake surf, while the rest of us kick back and enjoy a drink, the sea and the company.