The Mayfield siblings grew up in the charmed nautical world of their father’s imagination. At the Sub Sea Systems workshop in Diamond Springs, power tools whir as two generations work side by side to build custom submersibles that resemble something out of a Jules Verne novel. 

The show producer opens his laptop, and with a touch of the keyboard the magic begins. Music swells, and a spectacular vision of multicolor sparkling flowers explodes in the night sky, along with golden starbursts and shiny cascading waterfalls. 

In his lifetime of entrepreneurship, Don Whitaker has managed to mostly avoid competitors. “You try to find a niche where you have no competition,” Whitaker says of his approach to business. He found his niche market with Ceronix, which he started in 1984 out of his Auburn home. 

The oil industry doesn’t typically evoke warm-and-fuzzy words like kindness, compassion and unconditional love. That is, unless, you’re speaking of the Ramos Oil Company. 

Managing family business conflict isn’t just about harmony but survival. Disagreements ensure diverse perspectives, but if managed badly, they can take down a company and permanently rend relationships.

The Zuckerman family started a farming empire on a Stockton island. Over 100 years later, they’ve branched out to several new businesses but have stayed true to the crops that started it all. 

The Sobon family, owners of Sobon Estate and Shenandoah Vineyards, are continuing a 166-year legacy of winemaking in Amador County. Their land has been a vineyard since 1856, making it one of the oldest in the state.

Now in its fourth generation of family ownership, Vacaville-based dried fruit company Mariani Packing Co. focuses on healthy living — not just for its consumers, but also for its employees. 

Founded in 1914, Elliott Homes has successfully weathered the cyclical building market to emerge as an industry leader.