Next-Gen Inheritor: Kate Gardner’s Story

Hey, we’re out here. People who inherit, people who step into family business and next generation stewardship. Part of my story is that I come from about four generations of family business, and at age 21, my parents sat me down and gave me a stock portfolio that was fully in my name.

One of the things I’ve tried to do again with my story of inheritance is to reach people who would be considered next generation givers, inheritors, even entrepreneurs at times. Another phrase that I say a lot is the burden of blessing. Because of course it’s a blessing, of course I’m so grateful to my parents and for the opportunities that wealth provides. But there’s also a lot of thinking and planning, big questions, nuanced areas of relationship as well that go into the journey of stewarding resources.

I’ve had to deeply wrestle with how I can do that in a way that’s sustainable, and in a way that doesn’t leave me feeling like I’m constantly being asked for things or being expected to serve in certain roles. There’s been a lot of times where I felt alone, uncertain about the dynamics of what was going on behind the scenes with people that I’m giving to. So there have been many pieces of the journey where I feel like I’ve grown a lot, and so what I’ve been able to do is build a community of Christian inheritors to, invite people into a group. I think we’re up to almost 200 who really sense that this is something that they want, and to provide them a sense of being seen, of being met, of being able to ask each other questions and have private, safe dialog about some of the areas of struggle.

And then also co-authoring a book and co-hosting a podcast about being an ascendant, which is the idea of being a descendant of a successful family ascending into your own identity and purpose.

There’s a lot of statistics out there that shows that wealth transfer can be one of the most sensitive and difficult, areas to see thriving across generations of inheritance. And one of the main encouragements I would give to the older generations who are considering passing down inheritance is to involve their kids as early and as honestly as possible. Now, that’s assuming the children are of a good age to involve them and in good standing with their own character and their own life journeys. But I’ve seen a lot of fear, rightly so, of what money can do to kids.

It’s possible that passing down inheritance can actually help the next generations grow. My story is one where receiving resources in my 20s caused me to become even more passionate about generosity and making impact as a giver. And I think that families can focus on as much as possible, developing trust, developing avenues of loving each other, serving each other in ways that wealth transfer can be an overflow of already thriving as much as possible, communication dynamics and relationships that are present.

I sometimes encourage parents and grandparents why not ask these young adult, next gen family members what they want in terms of philanthropy, in terms of making impact and really providing a sense of cohesion? Some families will even go on to create a family mission statement or a list of family values, and having the opportunity that stewardship provides to refine a sense of calling and vision as a family, I think, is so inspiring, and it’s not going to be possible with every family.

Obviously, many families have family members who come from very disparate perspectives on making impact in the world. But as much as possible for families to talk, for families to open doors of conversation around impact with family resources, I think there’s so much joy to be found there.

When I tell my story of inheritance, one of the things I love to share is one of the statements that my dad made to me when he gave me my stock portfolio and he said to me, we’re doing this for you because we believe in you and because we want you to pursue your dreams. And to me, that’s actually also a bit of a picture of the gospel where Jesus does everything for us and gives us the opportunity to step into it and to make impact out of that.