Ashleigh Walters of Onex, Inc., talks about making her family business employee-owned!

Some years ago she had left her engineering career in corporate America to be a stay-at-home mom. But then her father-in-law came calling; he needed her to sort out the finances at his company, Onex, Inc., in Erie, Pennsylvania which is both a product and service outfit for refractory materials and systems for the steel industry and others. Unfortunately, things were a mess, but Ashleigh buckled down and enlisted the frontline workers to help right the ship. She felt so good about the new direction, when the opportunity came along, she and her husband bought the company.

Then they decided that it was only right that all those workers share more fully in Onex's success. So Ashleigh did some studying and set things up to convert the company to employee ownership.

Then she took a long rest. Nah. just kidding! Actually, she set out to write a book to share her experiences in saving the firm and having her good folks get a part in its ownership. *Leading with Grit and Grace: A Journey of Organizational Culture Change* came out in 2020.

Tune in to Episode 21 and hear all about all of the above!

This episode aired originally on YouTube on July 19, 2022.