The Takeover with Tim and Cindy

Building & Scaling a Legacy Business You Can Pass Down to Your Children (with Julie Rotuno)

• Tim and Cindy Dodd • Season 2 • Episode 6

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What does it take to build a business that not only thrives today but stands the test of time?

In this episode, Julie Rotuno, CEO of Mid Atlantic Packaging, reveals what it’s like to carry forward a 44-year family legacy.

From painting office walls to leading a multimillion-dollar company, Julie shares her unfiltered journey of proving herself, sustaining culture, and innovating in a shifting market. She opens up about the pressure of being second-generation and how mentorship prepared her for leadership.

This episode is a masterclass in resilience, adaptability, and building a business that lasts for generations.


Chapter Markers:

  • [02:07] Julie’s first steps in the family business
  • [05:21] Learning every department from the ground up
  • [07:57] Culture and values that drive long-term success
  • [15:56] Major market shifts and how to adapt
  • [21:06] Overcoming the pressure of being second-generation
  • [26:45] Packaging as a branding tool, not just a necessity
  • [29:31] Julie’s advice on building a lasting business


Connect with Julie:


Website: www.midatlanticpackaging.com

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/midatlantic-packaging/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midatlanticpackaging/

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About The Hosts:

  • Tim & Cindy Dodd are the Co-founders of PEMA.io, based out of Miami, FL. Connect with Tim and Cindy on LinkedIn and Instagram:

About PEMA.io:

PEMA.io is an Inc. 5000 Outbound Agency specializing in helping Marketing Agencie...

00:00

Very candidly, it can be a lot of pressure when it comes to, oh your family has had a successful business  and it's like, you don't want to mess it up.  Right.  You've seen your parents  put  so much of their hard work, like so much hard work, blood, sweat, tears into it your whole life.  And the last thing that you want to do is fail.  And that's also a piece that can be hard.


00:29

as far as legacy. Welcome to The Takeover with Tim and Cindy, where we show you how to dominate every area of life and business.  Let's get winning.


00:41

In today's episode of The Takeover, we are talking about something I don't hear spoken about very often,  and that is  legacy business. Have you ever thought about potentially having a business that thrives today, but also endures for generations to come? That is exactly what Julie and her family have done. Julie Rotuno is the CEO of Mid Atlantic Packaging and a second generation business leader.


01:10

carrying forward her family's entrepreneurial legacy. From humble beginnings, literally painting the office, to leading the company through nearly two decades of growth, she's experienced every layer of the business. Julie is passionate about helping brands see packaging as more than a necessity. It's a powerful extension of their story. I'm excited for you all to listen in on this conversation with Julie where we talk all things


01:37

What does it take to build a lasting,  longstanding, successful business? Let's jump in. Welcome to the Takeover, Julie Rotuno. Hello, Cindy. Thank you for having me. So excited about this conversation for so many reasons.  I want to touch on this topic of the legacy business. We were talking a little bit before our conversation about how everything that's kind of put out there on social media and what we hear.


02:07

is the scale and then the exit and pushing for that exit.  And I think not enough people talk about what it takes to build a legacy business.  And Julie, you and your family have done that. So we want to pick your brain. You want to get all the knowledge and all the expertise out of it. But Julie, let's start at the beginning. How did you start and the kind of what propelled you into becoming the CEO of Mid Atlantic Packaging, which is a family business? Yeah. So my parents


02:37

Herb and Kim, they founded Mid-Atlantic Packaging, be 44 years this January. And then my dad's brother, my uncle, he joined the business a couple years later. And growing up, there was never any pressure on my cousins, my sister or I about joining Mid-Atlantic Packaging. They wanted each of us to pursue what we wanted in our lives and our futures.


03:05

We did all work here growing up like in high school in the summers or in college during the summers out in the warehouse or mowing the grass, different things like that. However, when I debated in high school, if I wanted to go to school for business  or for teaching at the time, I decided to go into teaching. So I actually have my education degree from kindergarten through eighth grade.


03:33

And  I was a school teacher for a couple of years.  And during that time, I was, I got married. My husband was active duty in the Air Force.  And I just started looking at what I wanted in my future  and started pivoting. And when I went to my parents  about if there was  any opportunities here, there wasn't at the time.  And so my dad was like, however,


04:02

Since we built the building, we have not painted it. And it really needs, like all the bathrooms, everything needs to be repainted if you're interested in that. And so that is actually what I did.  I took the opportunity, I painted the office to make some money. And  from there,  a month later or so, they came to me with an opening and asked if I was interested.


04:30

in the purchasing department as well as customer service. And so that's my official start here  as far as a full-time employee  was back when I was 24 years old, 25 years old, and it was in  customer service and purchasing. Wow. Talk about the journey starting at the bottom, literally painting.


04:52

That's incredible. I think your parents were intentional about having you start at a place where you could probably grow in the business, right? How important do you feel like it is as a leader of a legacy business to have that well-rounded view of whether it's purchasing, customer service, right? Being able to paint like you understand the warehouse, I'm sure the building more than anybody now. How important is it to have that well-rounded expertise on the things that go on in the business?


05:21

Knowing  all that I do about the business as a whole and overall working in some capacity in every single department here over the years has really helped me as a leader because I understand the workings of the entire company, the flow when  I took over as COO.


05:45

My mom before that mentored me for five years. So when I decided that this was really what I wanted to do was to stay in this business. Then my mom started mentoring me. She ran the operations of the company. So I really got to learn  the basics, plus the details  of running this company, the warehouse. I was out in the warehouse all the time.


06:13

Working with our warehouse manager, he reported to me as I climbed up the ladder, I literally just took on any opportunity I had to learn more.  I also got put into a business group that was for up-and-comers. So it was with about eight of us  that were in the next steps of eventually taking over the businesses. And that was  really powerful for me.


06:41

as far  as being mentored, being around other people and it opening my  eyes to what all I was being exposed to and taught within the company, but  also being well-versed and diversified as far as how other businesses do things  and getting ideas from that perspective. So that was a really big deal.


07:06

Because I compared myself to my mom with her knowledge of the P &L and the balance sheet and how she would negotiate deals with, you UPS, FedEx, all the different negotiating skills. I always compared myself to her. And so getting around other people, also allowed me the insight of realizing I needed to give myself more credit.


07:30

than I was  as far as my strengths and the value I brought to the business.  And that's so important, right? I think it can be easy to compare yourself and being able to identify what are Judy's unique strengths and what value you bring to the table. That's really powerful. I'm curious on the company's vision  and values, right? The culture. Has it remained consistent over the decades?  Overall, yes. So


07:57

Big picture Mid-Atlantic Packaging is a family owned and operated business that at the center of it is our customers. And my dad always talks and talked about how there's so many factors in a business that you don't have control over, but customer service is one that you do. And that has remained the same over 43 years, as well as the foundation of us being


08:25

that family dynamics. And while my team works incredibly hard every day, we also take the stance of that our families are very important and working with our team to also make sure that, you know, one of their kids has a baseball game for high school  or where you can go have lunch with your kids at school. That's really important as well. And so making sure that


08:55

that is a part of our company culture and that we really  have mutual respect for one another. We don't have to all be best friends here. However,  with the dynamics that we are, we do have to be all in and jump in and help one another, support one another. So being a workplace that has mutual respect has always been  a piece of this.


09:22

And that is extremely important to me. I get to joke around with people about how the cool thing about being the CEO is I get to create an atmosphere and a company culture that I can thrive in, which is 100 % accurate. It's just like as a teacher, you create that culture in your classroom. So that is a gift that I've received through this process is as I've taken on more in the business.


09:50

And I started like doing all the hiring and growing everyone, like growing our team that by the time I took over as CEO three years ago, while we've had some staff that have been here a long time, there's also a lot of staff that I hired. So there wasn't that weird shift  of first it was my dad is the CEO and like out of the blue,  stepped in and no one views me as the boss. Wow. That's so powerful.


10:19

I'm thinking about a lot of the guests that we've had on the show, very successful entrepreneurs, the foundation across  any successful company. And I think any long standing company  is the company culture, right? It's the vision, right? Strategies can change, markets can shift, different marketing and sales techniques come and go. But that foundation of having a very clear picture on where are we headed? What is the vision, right? And as well as values, right? What are.


10:46

the values that we live by and that are core to and centered to what we do. And it sounds like, Julie, you've created that environment, but you also hire based on those values and the culture, right? And I'm sure you're seeing the benefits of you actually doing the hiring with the values in mind, how powerful that is now for your team. It is extremely powerful. The laughter that we have around here  today, actually, we did dip day.


11:15

where my staff, everyone signs up for like different dips that they bring in. And during lunchtime, know, everybody just goes and grabs all their big plate of different dips and snacks.  And they get so pumped and excited about those kinds of things.  And so that's where I do bring a little bit of my past teaching experience into the mix here as well.  And as much as you go and you  work hard for your team and


11:45

I work hard with my team really matters to me, each one of them. I also know that they each have my back and that  they step in when something goes on and I'm not able to get somewhere. I'm maybe having  something like personal going on for a day.  I have a team that I know I can trust that's going to step in and handle it. Just like if the roles were reversed,  I would do the same for them.


12:13

So again, a hundred percent company culture  is at the core and it is  so important. We have staff, my COO, she's been here for 38 years.  of my sales team members, she's been here for 27 years. So yeah, it is really awesome when does not mean that it's not ever difficult because the hardest part of a business is the people.


12:43

It goes both ways. Think of those both ways. However, if you have to be at work and spend so much time at work, ideally, I want my staff and myself to enjoy coming to work. I agree. I 100 % I like co-sign that. I agree. We spend the majority of our time at work, right, with the people we're surrounded by. So why not pick one, amazing companies that have great culture, but two,


13:08

as leaders create the kind of environment where your team can get excited about showing up. That's amazing. You mentioned briefly  different people that have been in the company for 38 years, 43 years, and you also have some newer people in the organization.  As a leader, do you find that there's any tension with different generations being in one company?  How do you navigate those kind of dynamics?  I love having oh


13:35

that age diversity in my company because along with each stage of life, you are going to bring a different approach,  different knowledge. So,  you know, for my dad, for my uncle, he's about to, my uncle's about to retire. So in the meantime right now, it's how do I pick his brain  of 40 plus years of experience and understanding the why behind


14:04

why we do certain things.  And it was the same way for five years when my mom mentored me before she retired and I took over as COO first was how do I pick her brain and learn all those things. And because what goes around comes around. So when you talk about trends, when you talk about business style, so many things  once was does come back.


14:31

learning about that. That's something that in our industry, post pandemic, we've seen a big shift back to people wanting to have more of those relationships and appreciative of like the face to face conversations, where pre pandemic, it was the complete opposite. So being able to tie that in, as well as then younger people. So we have an intern that's in college.  And I


15:00

wants to have interns from that are in high school and college here as well, because they bring a different perspective. They might be learning something in class or they know the new trends or what will be eventually. So I think it's  really important to  have that diverse range because if you want to stay in business and last in business, you need to be able to pivot. You need to be able to see what's going on, what


15:28

is really happening where things might be headed  and be able to pivot, to change things up, to be able to continue to be successful. Have there been any  major industry or market changes that you all have had to pivot?  Hey there, I've got to stop here for one quick second to ask you this question.  Have you been enjoying the podcast?  If so, make sure that you are subscribed and take that one extra step.


15:56

to please leave us a rating and a review wherever you are listening to the show. Not only does it help us continue to grow and impact more people,  we'll make sure that we show up wherever you are listening as well.  Yes. So I feel like my whole time here in the past 17 years  has continuously been evolving. The retail world is constantly... m


16:24

evolving. We went during a stage  of where we used to sell a lot more boxes in gift wrap because everyone was wrapping everything. And then there was an introduction of gift cards. So then there was a lot more  of gift cards being sold than product themselves  and using bags. So a lot more people using bags than a box that is wrapped with


16:52

Now we're seeing, you know, of course, sustainability. So that's ever evolving  as far as what is the definition  of sustainability.  We have a different states in the U.S. Some of them have different laws that have been put into place over the past eight years due to like plastic and plastic bag and laws that has definitely impacted our industry as far as  knowing.


17:22

what types of businesses can still use plastic versus what businesses have to use paper,  the cost difference for businesses,  how much space  paper bags take up than plastic bags.  And then over the past few years, we have seen  with tariffs in our industry. where a lot of people are more exposed right now currently to tariffs.


17:49

In the packaging world, we've been dealing with tariffs for a few years now. So  certain types of paper bags. So seeing that pivot, seeing manufacturing pivot from certain countries to other countries  and getting that all figured out. And of course, based off of product availability, determines also what trends are out because it might just be that you can't support.


18:15

a trend any longer or something that used to be really popular because it's just not feasible anymore. And how is your team? I mean, how do you keep up with all these market changes? Right. Do you have people in place that are always looking for that next thing? Is it coming from you, the CEO? How are you all keeping up with all of these trends? Because you've done something well, which is you've been able to sustain past any of these pivots and changes and market shifts. What is your team doing differently?  I am very  blessed to have been


18:45

with my beginning here in the purchasing department that really  I was taught by my dad and others as far as the power of buying, the power  of purchasing, the power  of relationships with manufacturers.  That is super powerful as far as your margins, what is available, being able to pivot  and  move. So  I actually then took over product development


19:14

as I was climbing up the ladder here and looking out for trends, looking out for things. So I still do that. My dad, he's still here  and he's still always on the hunt for different things like that, as well as my team. So that's where I come into play and my dad comes into play before he's fully retired  is teaching what we know to our current purchasing department and team and the importance of having options.


19:42

You can't put all of your chickens in one basket as they used to say. It's really important to have options so that as things change  or say something happens at one of the manufacturers,  like a fire or anything like that, that you're able to  pivot and you're not completely stuck. Such good advice. are two things I want to highlight for short relationships.


20:09

Right. I think this can be set up any area of business and in whatever industry you're in, the power of having great relationships with your vendors, with strategic partners, right? Who are the people around you and how are you partnering? So as a leader, as a founder, being intentional about not only creating, but nurturing the relationships that you have around you. And then that second thing is right. Diversification. think that's so important, whether it's being reliant on like just one platform or


20:37

Like you're saying, maybe one supplier that can be very dangerous and risky when we're thinking about market changes and market shifts. So  such, such great advice, Julie.  I want to pivot a little bit. Tell me about a challenge that you faced within maybe it's the company personally,  and what are some steps that you took to overcome?  With being second generation,  I knew that


21:06

there, especially at the beginning, there was going to be opinions from certain, like from different staff members or maybe from the outside because I am second generation and they might not have known me very well. And the assumption that can easily be done as far as,  she's just given this job or this position, this opportunity.  And  I have always


21:34

put a lot of pressure on myself naturally. And so I know part of it was me putting pressure on myself to want to really show up and show what I can do. But knowing that there was going to be those perceived notions and it wasn't necessarily against me, it was just because of the situation and what a lot of things can be natural as far as that viewpoint. So knowing that  I stepped in knowing


22:04

for the good and the bad days I had to make sure I came when I stepped into work that I was showing up and that I was giving my all. And I think that's why I kept taking on more and more and more and more was because I wanted to learn. I wanted to know, I wanted to prove to myself as well as to others that I belong here. And a huge awakening call that I had for myself was


22:32

realizing and taking some the heat off of myself as far as I'm truly a Routino. I'm not my dad, I'm not my mom, I'm not my uncle.  And so while there might be some similarities with how I do things and how I lead, it is not going to be an exact replication of how my parents and my uncle led this company.  That was a big piece because once I really sat in that,


23:01

and owned it, then I could really start to show up truly myself  and lead like myself. So good. So good. think there can be so much like the misconceptions rides around like, she was handed this, but you just proving Julie, you put in so much work to get to the place that you're in. Right. And for the company to be able to still sustain and grow under your leadership is just a testament to.


23:28

the work that you've put in and that validation, like you're doing it. So I love that you're so bold in that and you've built up that self-awareness that you know your strengths, your skills and the value that you're bringing to the table. Yes. And I try to take those lessons. That's also a part of that work culture and how like we work as a team and how I try to build up my team as well as a mom of two daughters, you know, and because


23:54

It is part of also experience and getting older and being more comfortable in your own skin.  And  very candidly, it can be a lot of pressure when it comes to,  your family has had a successful business  and it's like, you don't want to mess it up. Right.  You've seen your parents put  so much of their hard work, like so much hard work, blood, sweat, tears into it your whole life.


24:24

And the last thing that you want to do is fail.  And that's also a piece that can be hard as far as legacy is that piece. Yes. Oh, I got chills. I'm getting emotional. I don't know why. It's like, so powerful and so beautiful. Yeah. Wow. That's really special. How do you balance the pressure? I have learned over the years  that there's no true word of valid.


24:52

I have tried to  balance my career being a mom, a wife, a daughter,  all the different things  and being part, like having mentors, having  other groups of people that are in similar situations as you that you can talk to and work through things and support you.  I'm blessed to have come to the realization that it's not about time to


25:20

really quite balanced. more about like there being a balancing  where there's going to be times where my girls need me and I need to show up for them. Just as like there's periods where my business needs me and there is something that I can't miss or there is a time period where I'm going to have to put a lot of extra hours because that's what the business needs right now. However, I can't just do one or the other for a long time.


25:49

because then things are going to fail. I'm going to drop the ball somewhere. So it's just trying to figure that out as well as  I have a husband  that is very supportive. He's an entrepreneur as well. So there's pieces of that that he understands in that juggling act.  My parents are very supportive. My mom has been retired and she's helped with my girls, also helped taking care of her aging parents. So


26:19

Also that support system  and knowing I can't do everything by myself. And that can be  tough because I like to take ownership. I like to be like, I can do this. But in order to do anything really well,  you have to be able to give yourself some grace  and know when to ask for help. I'm just seeing such a different side to you, which I'm loving, Julie, and getting to know you more. It's truly powerful to see.


26:45

what you've built, what you're creating. And so I'd love to know what does the vision look like from your perspective as CEO? What are you excited about in the business? Where is the business headed? Give us a little bit of insight into some of that. You know, marketing your brand, who you are as a company is becoming  more important than ever. And a piece of that is your packaging,  utilizing your packaging as an extension of your brand.


27:13

creating that customer experience. Packaging does sell your product. There's been a lot of studies about the importance of that. It helps with how I perceive value of products based off of the packaging. And  that  is to me so much fun. Like I joke around, but I'm serious about that I'm a packaging nerd because I have so much fun with the design and working with independent.


27:41

businesses like independent retailers and being able to hear their stories and who are they? What are the stances that they stand on? And what is the customer experience that they want for their businesses?  And how can we take their packaging and utilize it as a tool, as a marketing piece, as far as their brands? And that is becoming more and more important. 10 years ago,


28:07

only like 30 to 40 percent of our business was on the custom branded packaging.  The other majority was on plain stock. So plain bags, tissue paper, ribbon, bows.  And  now  it has completely not just  shifted, but transformed for branding. So more custom people are looking for more custom having your logo  on your product, like on your packaging, because it is a walking billboard.


28:37

If somebody's walking around with a bag, you need to have the name on it, have your business on it so somebody knows,  oh, I see a lot of people walking around with this. I need to find out where that store is or the excitement of we've all been there where we get handed a gift and it says where it's from and you can't wait to open it to find out what goodie you got from that place.


29:02

whether it's in e-commerce, whether  it  is with independent retailers,  we have a wide range of customers because  of the need for packaging.  And so that's where we get to have a lot of fun and the importance of that, and that it can be overwhelming. And that's where we come in to help as the people that know our stuff. And we're going to take care of the whole process for you.


29:31

Julie, if there was  one piece of advice you could leave our audience with in regards to building a legacy business, building a business that is lasting, that will withstand industry and market shifts, what is that one piece of advice you'd leave us with? You need to understand the why.  Why does your company do things a certain way?  And there are going to be pieces of it that are done a certain way.


30:00

because of mistakes or lessons that they've learned before. And they put things in place so that that mistake doesn't happen again. There's going to be other things that you can ask, why? Why do we do this?  And someone will say to you, I don't know why. Or you know what, it was because of a past system that we had. And you're like, okay, well then let's make this better. But don't step into  like.


30:26

with legacy business or with any other business that like an acquisition or anything to me and just want to like wipe the slate clean  and  just go at changing everything. Cause clearly that business has been there and has been successful for certain reasons. So you, it's really important to know what those reasons are and then to have that strategy to know, okay, how do you build upon that to then make it even more powerful.  good. Know the why behind.


30:55

the system or the process. It's so interesting.  I'm thinking about this one  story that's like, I think a daughter's asking her mom, she sees her mom always cut the end of the meatloaf. She always just thought it was something that she did. So she would also do it. And then she one day asked her mom, like, why did you do it? And then grandma said, oh, she said, cause I saw my grandma do it. She would always cut the end of it. And then she asked her grandma, why did you do it? She's like, oh, cause my grandma did it. And then she asked the great grandma, why did you do it? It's like, because I couldn't put it in the pan kind of thing, right? So.


31:22

It's like always know the why behind why somebody's doing it, right? Whether it's a system or process. I think that's such great advice because it could just be that it's valid. There's a reason why that's in place, or it could be an opportunity to rethink something in the business, right? Yes, exactly. I know briefly before the podcast, we were talking about baby boomers, right? And how a legacy business could be one that you build, but also could be one that you acquire or inherit. So let's talk a little bit about that and what you're noticing in that space.


31:51

Sure. So  the baby boomers were at that age where they are ready to retire. And so those business owners, if they don't have a succession plan, that they don't have someone else that in their family that wants to take over the business, they have two options. They can look at the possibility of selling if there's an interest buyer or depending on the size of the business, or they're just going to close their doors.  And so


32:20

After COVID with the pandemic, there were a lot of business owners that were like, you know what, I'm just ready to retire.  I don't want to have to rebuild again.  And so we started to see that trend of more businesses being sold.  And now it's just as they're aging,  it's a matter of do they have a succession plan? Is there someone else that would want to step in  or not?  Then


32:49

somebody else that could potentially step in. So there's a lot of opportunity there as far as being able to run or own a company that's been  open for a long time.  Now there's a lot of opportunities now to be able to step in and take on ownership. And actually I've seen that a lot more in the past year or so, even in retail where people they're like, well my store has been open.


33:16

you know, for 20 years, but I just became the owner two years ago. So that has been happening. So there is, and there's going to continue to be a lot of opportunity there.  very interesting perspective too. And this is something that hasn't been spoken about on the show. So I'm glad that you brought that to the forefront. Julie, the takeover is all about dominating your market. It is clear that you will have dominated the packaging space. So let me ask you last question. What does winning mean to you? Winning to me is


33:46

where we successfully step in and support a business into being a piece of their success,  where we can take a piece of their dream and what their vision is and fulfill it  and continue to do that or repeat over and over again while also having fun doing it. I love it. love it. This was such an insightful conversation, Julie. I know that our audience is going to get so much value from it.


34:15

Let us know how people can get in touch with you. Sure. So we have our website, midatlanticpackaging.com. You can also find me on LinkedIn to leave a to know. Amazing. It was so exciting. I'm so glad that you were here. Thanks again for all the value that we shared and we'll talk soon. Thank you so much for having me. I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. This is The Takeover with Tim and Cindy, where we show you how to dominate every area of life in business.


34:44

Make sure you are subscribed to the show wherever you are listening.  Apple, Spotify, Google, you name it.  Leave us a review if you found this episode insightful.  Okay, we'll see you on the next show. Remember, domination is not a destination. It's a way of life.  Stay winning.