HARMONIZING WITH BUSINESS.

• Author: Beers, Heather
• Position: Summerhays Music - Brief Article

Listening to employees. Matching customers' needs. Those things are music to Laurel Summerhays' ears.

"The thing I love the most about my business is the interaction with my employees and my customers," says Summerhays, president of local music-store powerhouse Summerhays Music.

"We have customers we love to see come in, they're more like friends. I think over the years, the employees have almost become like family."

And family is what Summerhays Music is all about. Thriving in its second generation of family ownership, Summerhays Music began as the dream of Laurel's father, Hyrum. An accomplished musician who worked with John Phillips Sousa, Hyrum could play just about any instrument he picked up. When his tenure as superintendent of schools in Washington, D.C. ended in 1936, he returned to his native Salt Lake City to open a music store.

All five of his children worked at the store during their youth -- Laurel started at age 11, opening the mail. She took leave from the family business for several years, earning an MBA at the University of Utah and working in leadership positions at First Security Bank and Commerce First Thrift. When her father passed away, she returned to the store as its president.

Today, four of Hyrum's children hold leadership positions in the company's four Wasatch Front stores, selling musical instruments and supplies.

"We've all been working together for 23 years. We've learned to take each individual's strong points, match them to areas in the store they're strong in, and it seems to fall out evenly and naturally. I think a lot of family businesses have gone under. We've been very fortunate that we've...