Building a Legacy: How Franklin Institute has survived five generations

The year was 1915. The Great Migration saw thousands of Black people making their way from the South to the North, the Harlem Renaissance was underway and the world was just fifty years removed from slavery. 

Nestled in a quiet neighborhood in San Antonio, Nobia Franklin wanted more than a Jim Crow life would allow. 

Though San Antonio’s Black population sat at less than 5%, Franklin built a business offering beauty products to Black patrons. She toiled at her job for five years, trying to grow her business and branching out to open schools to teach young cosmetology students. 

After opening locations in Houston and Dallas, Franklin joined the thousands of Black people heading North, moving to Chicago in the early 1920s. When she died in 1934, she passed her blossoming business on to her daughter, Abby, and son-in-law, J.H. Jemison. Many Black people had settled for life in the Windy City, but the Jemisons longed for the South. Soon, they closed the Chicago location, moved to Houston and purchased the Houston business from Franklin’s ex-husband.

Decades of thriving

Known at the time as Franklin Beauty School, the Houston location would find prosperity for the next 34 years. Abby and J.H. Jemison turned the business over to their son, Ronald Jemison Sr., and his wife Glenda in 1969. Their children, Ron Jemison Jr. and his brother Sean, officially entered the business in 1999. Now, Ron Jemison Jr. and his wife, Zameika, have begun training the fifth generation to lead the business now known as The Franklin Institute. Their daughter, Brea, is a licensed stylist with a salon (BeeCrowned), which has been in operation for several years.

Now at the helm, Ron Jemison Jr. is grateful for the foundation that his family laid.

“Growing up, my parents put us in a position to do whatever we wanted to do,” he said. “My brother and I played sports. We went to private schools, and they just wanted something better for their kids than what they had. So the path was we always worked in the company, cleaning up, filling up Coke machines, those types of things.”

Because the business wasn’t forced on them, Jemison Jr. says they were able to carve their own path. 

“I think a lot of parents dream of their kids following in their footsteps. But my parents never pushed that on us. It was something that was just there,” he said. “We were blessed that they were able to keep it going. And so we were able to see things and learn things at different times.”

He acknowledges that being around the business caused him to learn it – without even realizing it.

“We used to always say, if you hang around the barbershop long enough, you’re gonna get a haircut. I think my parents not forcing us, but bringing us along with them to be with them while they were at work was great,” Jemison Jr. said. “I never realized how important learning how to do the basics was.”

Deloitte Tax LLP’s Micaela Saviano, Private Wealth Tax Partner, says that families should ensure an open dialogue in addition to learning the basics. 

“Keep in mind that the next generation might not want to do things the way they’ve always been done. It’s important that the current owners have honest discussions about whether a family member will take over the business. That enables them to pivot and pursue other options that will help the business they’ve built,” said Saviano.   

After graduating from Hampton University with a degree in business management, Jemison Jr. headed to corporate America. 

“I quickly felt stagnated working in corporate America. So I went back to my roots – my family business,” he said.

He stumbled on a book called “Styling Jim Crow” and became fascinated. 

“I read the book cover to cover in two days. And I learned so much about the company, about my grandfather and about the history of Franklin through that book,” said Jemison Jr., who suggests businesses chronicle their journey in writing. “My father was the youngest of three children, and so he knew some history. But he knew only what he knew. 

“Reading that book opened my mind up to how why it was so important to carry this on because reading about him going through the Jim Crow era and all the segregation and the roadblocks that were put in front of him, it felt like the only the right thing to do was to continue that legacy.” 

Passing the torch

At the time, Jemison Jr. didn’t realize his family had used Succession Planning to pass the business down. 

“I have a younger brother. We both equally had the chance to step up and take over the business if we chose to. I took it upon myself to want to do more. So I was always asking questions. I think it became a passion for me and my parents could see that,” he said. “You have to be comfortable turning the keys over. And when you do, you have to be open to the idea that they may come to the business with ideas of their own.”

Saviano adds that families need to be okay with bringing outside forces in if their children aren’t yet able to run the business. 

“Sometimes the existing generation has a hard time letting go of the way things have always been and sometimes the next generation would like to make some changes,”  Saviano said. “That can create conflicts that families need to work through and can enable the younger generation to take the business sometimes in a different direction.”

Currently, Franklin Institute has three locations. Like his father did for him, the younger Jemison hopes to have a Franklin for each of his children. In the meantime, he has to find a lane for each of his children- just like his father did with him.

“My father wanted so much to have a location for my brother and one for me. And, it would still be under the same umbrella. But what I saw was we both had a lane. We both had different strengths and weaknesses. I was not the marketer, he was. I was more behind the scenes and was the one with the paperwork and making sure the administrative side ran smoothly,” JemisonJr. said. 

And now, Jemison Jr. is excited about training up his own children to continue the legacy.

“So now, I’m trying to find my children’s strengths and weaknesses, and that puts them into doing what they like instead of doing something they don’t. It’s surreal to me to be in the family, but it’s exciting for me to see that my kids gravitate to the business and understand all that you get out of it,” Jemison Jr. said. 

“My parents were planting seeds that I had no idea that they were planting. And we do the same thing with our kids as well. And I think that for anyone hoping to pass on their business, you cannot close your mind to sharing the information with your kids of what you do daily. It’s important for them to understand and carry that torch on as well.”– Ron Jemison, Jr.

Franklin Barber & Beauty Institute currently has three locations: (Northwest location)

6521 Highway 6 North, Houston, TX 77084; Southwest location, 13318 Almeda Road, Houston, TX 77045; Franklin Barber Institute #3 (Texas City location) 8030 FM1765, Suite A110, Texas City, TX 77591.

For more information about Franklin Institute, please visit: https://franklininstitute.net/.