It’s not easy to follow in someone’s footsteps. People will always judge whether you’re filling your predecessor’s shoes adequately.

We revere those who chart their own course and attain their own individual success. It’s just as difficult, however, to preserve and further a legacy, to start out on a path that’s been cleared and continue on well beyond. It can also be very rewarding.

Anyone who’s ever worked in a family business knows the extra responsibility and weight it carries. It’s not just a business. It’s your family’s name and reputation on the line. Some fail because they lack the vision and passion to carry on the mission; others use the foundation to reach higher than their predecessors ever imagined.

Rowell’s Sewer & Drain, featured in this issue of Cleaner, is a great example. Mandie and Ian Hagan moved back home to Northfield, New Hampshire, 15 years ago to take the reins of her father’s business after he passed away. Growing the business without losing touch with the family-oriented values that had made it so successful was a formidable challenge.

The Hagans sought to maintain the relationships and reputation that had been built over years in business, but they made the business their own and pushed it to new heights by adding new services, using their marketing savvy and putting an emphasis on employee development.

Since 2001, the company — which initially focused on cleaning sewer lines and pumping septic tanks — has expanded into septic system design and installations, larger sewer line repair work and commercial lift station installations. The staff has expanded, too, from three to 15, and the company also opened a new office and shop with a retail store that sells septic system parts and components to homeowners.

Kerry Roslinski, owner of Pipe-Eye Sewer Services in Bradford, Pennsylvania, has also followed in his father’s footsteps.

Roslinski grew up tagging along with his father, who was Bradford’s director of Public Works for 35 years. After graduating from college, Roslinski operated several small wastewater treatment plants, some on a part-time basis. In that role he was first exposed to sewer cleaning and inspection technology when a local sewer authority brought in a company to clean and inspect sewer lines. He eventually went to work with the company and ultimately struck out on his own to provide the same services.

The results speak for themselves: Today, he has eight full-time employees, more than $1.5 million worth of equipment and a service area that covers western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. He says much of his company’s success stems from upholding his father’s legacy, with a focus on customer service and treating people right.

Both of these stories present good examples of the type of people who make up the fabric of this industry — good people following the examples their parents set, doing business the right way and tasting success as a result.

I hope you can find some inspiration in their stories.

Enjoy this month’s issue.