Welcome to my home page! I’m so glad you’ve come!

If you’d like to know more about:

  • The Hidden Healing Wounds YouTube Project, click here. It’s an emergency first aid program involving 65 Western mental health professionals who are donating time to help the millions of Ukrainians who are enduring mental health issues like sleeplessness, panic attacks, or depression.
  • I’ve written 248 articles, which you can find here. These are stories from my experiences on trips to Ukraine, with several written while sheltering in bomb shelters in cities under active attack.
  • The 214 Podcasts I’ve been on, click here. Again, these are based on my recent trips to Ukraine.
  • Lastly, if you’d like to know more about me, click here for the Meet Mitzi section.The link will take you to a clever mixture of tedium and irrelevance.

– Photo by Sasha

Mitzi introduces Mayor Eric Adams at New York’s Freedom Gala for Ukraine

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Mitzi and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson discuss support for Ukraine

– Photo by Sasha

Mitzi was the moderator for former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov’s talk on supporting Ukraine

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Mitzi gives a talk, THREE THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT UKRAINE at a New York club that does not allow its name to be used. Past speakers there include Winston Churchill, Henry Kissinger, and Tom Wolfe.

Let me help you. Enjoy any or all of these free downloads

52 Items To Keep That You May Not Have Thought About!

A Legal Dispute? Fix it faster, cheaper, and with less agony!

4 Lessons your family can learn from a homeless shelter.

“Mitzi has keynoted several of our family office conferences both in the US and in Canada and we are very pleased with her performance and grateful for her friendship. Mitzi is very professional, brings us interesting and varying content every time, and she has the ability to hold the audience’s attention from the beginning to the end! She is a happy person to be around!”

 

– Linda Sandstrom Director of International Events, DC Finance

 

“Mitzi was the most highly rated speaker on stage at our March 2018 Single Family Office Summit out of 35 speakers. Her real-life experiences, insights, and genuine passion for the topics of family culture, family values, and long-term enduring family office best practices shows in many ways. We would recommend others to have Mitzi speak and we plan on having her back again to speak for a longer session.”

 

– Richard C. Wilson CEO of the Family Office Club

“I heard Mitzi speak at an industry event I attended. Within the first 10 minutes, I knew I needed to book her for an event I organize, the Executive Women in Agriculture conference. Mitzi is the perfect combination of actionable information, heartfelt messages and pizazz. Our attendees immediately related to her. They found her message inspiring and applicable to their family businesses. She was one of our agenda’s highlights.”

 

– Sara Schafer Editor, Top Producer Magazine, Farm Journal

“Mitzi Perdue’s presentations were the highlights of our 2017 annual conference. She brought an unbeatable combination of personal grace, her experiences as the daughter of Sheraton Hotels founder Ernest Henderson and wife of Frank Perdue, and unique story-telling ability. Connection with the audience was virtually instantaneous and personal due to Mitzi’s warmth and genuineness. She masterfully used stories about her father and husband to make powerful business points. Mitzi also shared with us personal stories about her commitment to family cohesiveness over generations and some of the things she does to create and nurture that cohesiveness in her own extended family. It is not easy for a speaker to captivate an audience of attorneys and other professional advisors, but Mitzi did that, and so much more.”

 

– Andrew N. Karlen and Peter P. Dougherty Co-chairs, AFHE 2017 Annual Conference

“Mitzi Perdue was one of the most vibrant and interesting family business speakers that we have featured at a Transitions Conference. As a member of a successful family business and a married – in to another successful family business, Mitzi’s helpful tips for running a family company truly provided a wealth of knowledge. From her creative ideas on the family and childrens’ newsletter to suggestions on embedding the family culture, Mitzi’s passion for maintaining family harmony really resonated with our 280 family business CEOs and their families. We were lucky to have her presentation and hope she will return again to speak.”

– Caro U. Rock Family Business Magazine

“Wow, Mitzi’s keynote was a hit with our conference attendees. She provided practical, thoughtful ideas for complex family business challenges. Her warm, engaging approach radiates a genuine passion for all things family and business. Mitzi was diligent and detailed in her preparation, making it fun and effortless to work with her.”

 

– Peter Begalla Education Director, Family Business Magazine

“After hearing Mitzi speak at a conference, I was convinced that my family business client would benefit from her hopeful message about proactively creating a positive culture in a large and complex family system. I asked the family office director to trust me. Mitzi enhanced my relationship with my client by delivering a powerful experience that exceeded expectations. Watching Mitzi light up the room at a family retreat for 28 family members ranging in age from toddler to 87, was a wonder to behold. Her special touches with the children will live on in family stories for years to come. As a collaborative advisor, working with her was a dream come true!”

 

– Don Opatrny LMFT, Owner-Lovins Group, LLC

“Mitzi Perdue was the perfect speaker for my audience of agribusiness professionals. She gets it! Her professional background enables her to really understand the issues my audience faces on a regular basis and, in turn, they trusted her and what she was saying. Her presentation was energetic and fascinating, and she kept the audience at rapt attention for the full hour she presented. She is a true force, and a wonderful addition to any conference speaker line up. “

 

– Rebecca Grubbs Director of Meetings & Event Marketing, National Grain and Feed Association

“She has a tremendous stage presence and is truly a stage natural. Her advice, with clear and actionable steps, was awesome. And, I absolutely loved that she asked each person in the room to say “YES”!! Joyful. She was the talk of the night!”

 

– Wanda Ortwine Chief Family Officer, Luck Companies

 

“Mitzi Perdue’s keynote speech on culture and values, and her working roundtable on ethical wills at our forum of NYC area families were both outstanding! Everyone said her keynote speech and her energy were the highlight of the day. All family businesses can benefit from Mitzi’s inspirational family business experience, practical tips and rich stories.”

 

– Warner King Babcock CEO, New York City Family Enterprise Center Inc.

 

“I highly recommend Mitzi Perdue as she struck a grand slam as keynote for our March 2018 Family Business Mini-Conference! Our members gave Mitzi the highest marks for practical content, relevance, and delivery, as well as keen attention to time. Mitzi has deep personal successful experience with developing a high-functioning family culture through her own intentional work in her Henderson & Perdue families; both families well-known to the business world. She shared both a strong family culture is foundational to business sustainability & family health, as well as to do it. She brought authenticity, humor, and plenty of take-home value through her presentation and Q&A time, with members looking forward to delving into her books!”

 

– Sally Derstine Managing Partner, Delaware Valley Family Business Center

 

Frequently Asked Questions

When Mitzi is not on stage speaking to audiences about success tips, family business, and company culture—she indulges her love for writing. Mitzi’s years of experience as an author has produced 27 books, hundreds of articles and blogs, and continues to result in engaging story-telling magic that turns success goals into reality for people everywhere.

Born into the Henderson family, married into the Perdue family—that’s a fair amount of luck, isn’t it?

I can’t believe my good luck.

How do you define a successful family?
I’ll instead define a high-functioning family. You enjoy each other. You don’t engage in public family quarrels. You believe you’re a part of something bigger than yourself—namely, the family. Selfishness is discouraged, because you’re stewards, and your job is to hand it over in better shape to the next generation. One value both the Hendersons and Perdues have is that we’re frugal. We just came back from a family vacation, and every member traveled economy class.
How would you compare the two family offices you’re a client of?
Each grew to meet the needs of the respective families. I like to compare it to the way the British versus the Americans handle things. The British don’t have everything spelled out in a constitution, but they somehow manage to make decisions and move forward based on precedent. That’s how the Hendersons do it. Just, after 182 years, we have ways of doing things. We’ve been around so long, that culture works for us. The Perdues are 102 years old, so not new at this. But since it has an operating company, it has got to be a whole lot more formal. (Note: The Hendersons sold Sheraton Hotels in the late 1960s, while Perdue remains a family business.)
What’s the latest purposeful investment you’ve made?
The Hendersons tend to be quite high-tech. My nephew Eric [who runs the office] is quite comfortable with all the FAANGs [Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google]. He operates out of Cambridge, Massachusetts; and I don’t know how he did this, but he’s surrounded by the FAANGs, and he hangs out with them. I know that when he gives a report at the next Henderson family reunion next Saturday, he will keep us on the edge of our seats, telling us about the things going on in ultrahigh-tech. The Perdues, on the other hand, are completely different. We get excited about investing in a new grain facility.

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