This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

And we return to our American stories, and when you hear that music, it's time for our

final thoughts series, where we hear final thoughts about loved ones who've passed away.

And today's final thoughts is a bit different than usual.

It's a business story.

John Bryan was running his family's third-generation sausage company, Brian Foods,

until he moved to Chicago to become CEO of their well-known parent company,

Sarah Lee. But who would run their family business? George Bryan picks up the story

and honors his brother John.

When my brother went to Chicago and I became president of the company here and I was 29 years old, I guess,

and when he told me that he wanted me to run the business,

and of course I didn't want to run the business, I told him to give it to somebody else and I would back him up and give me two or three years, but he wouldn't

let me do that. He wanted me to take over. And of course, I doubted myself and I think he

doubted too, but I think he had enough confidence. He thought I could learn it pretty quick.

I'd been there, you know, 10 years working all in the plant, manufacturing, sales marketing.

I just hadn't run the business, but I knew a lot about the business and we had a lot of good people there.

You know, at the time, a lot of seasoned veterans there that he thought would better

support me maybe than somebody else. My name was Brian, for one, and I didn't understand

that. I didn't realize that. But he thought that if I didn't fumble the ball, that they would

support me. And he was right. They did.

You know, our people enjoyed working there and they took a lot of pride in it, which makes

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