‘We flow together’: Local moms, kids share in success of business ownership

‘We flow together’: Local moms, kids share in success of business ownership



When Susan and Paul Oberbroeckling’s children were nearing the end of their high school careers, Susan’s mom helped her pick her next job.





Why did a woman with an almost empty nest and a prior career in telecommunications decide to work at a small-town jewelry store?





“She told me I had to,” Susan Oberbroeckling said of her mom, Beverly Flammang, who smiled.





“Mother said come,” Flammang remembered.





Flammang Jewelry has been located along Dyersville’s First Avenue East since 1911, and the family will celebrate 114 years of business this year. Henry Flammang, the father of Beverly’s husband, Jim, founded it and made a career out of it. Originally involved in cancer research before she met Jim, Beverly had planned to attend medical school. Meeting a guy with a jewelry store changed that plan.





She instead worked stints as a medical technologist and stayed home with the couple’s children while Jim focused on the store. Beverly started working full time at the store in 1981 when Jim’s brother-in-law retired.





“In March of 1981, Jim called me one day and said, ‘Listen, if you don’t want to come to work that’s OK, but if you don’t, I’m going to sell out because I can’t do it alone,’” Beverly said. “And I thought, well, that’s it. I’m a worker.”





They worked alongside one another until Jim’s death in 2002.





The business remains in control of the family thanks to the mother and daughter who take pride in their customer service and provide personal touches to the Dyersville staple. They have been there together since Susan joined in 2015.





“We flow together,” Flammang said. “We’ve never had a problem. (It’s nice because) I can see her, and I can see her family. And I know what’s happening in their lives. It’s a joy having her around.”





According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 27.3% of all businesses are family-owned — which is defined as having two or more family members owning the majority of the business. Most of those businesses are represented by small shops and services-oriented businesses with fewer than 500 employees.





In some cases, these businesses are helmed by moms and at least one child. Oberbroeckling and Flammang said working alongside each other is natural and oftentimes their differences of opinion are beneficial, especially when it comes to purchasing new pieces to sell in the store.





“A lot of the things I pick (to sell) we don’t agree on,” Oberbroeckling said.





“I wouldn’t pick them, but we have such an age difference,” Flammang said. “It’s good to have new ideas. Our differences complement each other.”




‘We have strong personalities’





In Dubuque, the mother/daughter tandem of Jan and Abby Gloeckner has operated Olive & Opal Clothing Boutique at 5025 Wolff Road in the West End since the summer of 2023. Jan brings a business background to the table, and Abby provides the vision for their store’s boho-style garb.





“I’ve been picking out my mom’s clothes since I was in high school,” said Abby, 31.





Both have a passion for fashion, and Abby also operates Blush Beauty Co. next door. The two stores are separated by a doorway, and the mother and daughter spend ample time together.





They admit some days working together are challenging.





“Have you taught a 60-year-old woman social media?” Abby said. “We’re so lucky to have that for marketing, but I also grew up with it. Teaching her that (was hard), but overall it was minor.





“We work well together. But, we also have our strong personalities.”





Jan was able to semi-retire to work with her daughter, which she said she absolutely loves. They have goals to scale up their operations and grow in both their business and relationship.





“We do almost everything together, even down to picking out the clothes (to sell),” Abby said.




Mom, son stay close to the hive





Chase Dittmar and his mom, B’Ann Dittmar, of rural Galena, Ill., also use each other’s skills to advance the shared business they own with a silent partner — and dad and husband — Dan.





Beekeeping and, later, honey making, originally was a passion project for Chase, a beekeeping connoisseur who became interested in the profession through 4-H when he was 13.





“I fell in love (with beekeeping),” Chase said. “I begged my parents to get me a hive. Somehow, at the age of 13, they let me. … Bee behavior is just really fascinating. There aren’t many other animals in the world that have such complex ways in organizing their societies and communicating with each other.”





The first hive came in the spring of 2018. Over time, Chase started selling honey to family and friends and began educating people about beekeeping through a YouTube channel. But, he and his mom knew there was potential for more.





B’Ann, who is an instructor of business management at Clarke University — which was preceded by a career in the banking industry — could see the possibilities. Using Chase’s expertise as an apiarist and B’Ann’s acumen in the business world, they hit the ground running in 2023 and formed Dry Creek Beekeeping, which offers tours of their hives, honey tastings and a new honey bar where folks can sample a “flight” of different honeys.





For them, it’s all about teaching.





“We share that passion for education,” B’Ann said.





That passion drives their partnership and takes advantage of their very different sets of skills.





“I don’t beekeep,” B’Ann said. “I am an apprentice at best. I do what I’m told. We have complementary skills. I respect him for what he does, and I am immensely proud of him. … As a mom you sit back, and it’s really cool to watch.”





And Chase, 20, is quick to admit the business wouldn’t be what it is without his mom.





“I don’t really get how a business runs,” he said. “She’s the business professor. It works really well.”





Their business is seasonal, which complements Chase’s schedule. Currently a student a Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he plans to seek a Ph.D. in entomology. His summers, though, are devoted to Dry Creek.





There are challenges to working together, some of which are attached to B’Ann’s heartstrings.





“I have to remember he’s 20 and not 12 anymore, and I have to not mom him,” B’Ann said.





Finding work/life balance can be difficult, too, given they are connected in more ways than their business.





“As business entrepreneurs, we have great respect for each other, and we work well, but it never stops,” B’Ann said. “It’s constant: At the dinner table, at night in front of the TV. We have plans and ideas that we are working on, and there is not a turn-off button. But the other thing for me, as his mom, is I have to worry about his well-being. A boss would never be like, ‘Hey, do you have your EPIPEN? Do you have enough water?’ It’s making sure he is busy but that he also takes care of himself. A boss wouldn’t do that, but a mom does.”