Not many people have stewarded century-old companies. We're lucky that Mike Jablonski, former owner-operator of Whitney Brothers, is one of them. He takes us through 121 years of American manufacturing—from making wooden toys with hydro-powered equipment to today's manufacturing methods. Mike shares the remarkable story of how Whitney Brothers survived the Great Depression, world wars, devastating fires, and the declaration of pine as a "strategic wartime material" that forced a permanent pivot to hardwoods. He opens up about the weight of stewarding a century-old legacy and the influence of technical tours to Germany and Italy. Mike reveals how Whitney Brothers reinvented itself from commodity toys to institutional-grade furniture, explains the company's unique "Whitney-ize it" product development process, and shares an emotional moment with a founder's descendent. Whether you're interested in manufacturing, family business succession, or what it really takes to make a company last over a century, Mike's insights on teamwork, innovation, and pride in workmanship offer timeless lessons.

Edited by Mateusz Złakowski