As a public relations man, Richard Edelman certainly manages to put a good spin on working for a family business.
The American, 56, is president and chief executive of Edelman, the public relations firm started by his father in 1952.
Mr Edelman Jr joined the business 33 years ago, and it is the only full-time job he has ever had. His father, 90, is still chairman and his brother, sister and daughter all hold positions in the company.
It seems there was no doubt Richard Edelman would join the family firm, where he has made a career working with heavyweights such as Microsoft, Kraft and Walmart.
Yet he insists it was never a foregone conclusion he would pursue the "dark art", as it is considered by some, of public relations (PR).
In fact, Mr Edelman's snap decision to join his father's firm cost him his university girlfriend - not to mention a career surrounded by lingerie models.
"I was all set to go work for Playtex, the guys who make bras. I figured at 23 it was the line of business to be in," says Mr Edelman.
"So I was all set to go and work in Stamford [Playtex HQ, in Connecticut], and my Dad called and said 'you know, I really think you should give PR a year and see what happens'. So here I am, 33 years later."
Thoughts of lingerie models aside, the young Mr Edelman faced more tangible problems and was in his final weeks at Harvard Business School.
"I was going to go to Europe with my then girlfriend, and my Dad called me the week before … After finishing my exams on Friday, I was in the office on Monday. I had two days to pack my apartment, get my stuff to Chicago and start work. That's a real family business," he says.
And so, dreams of the demi cup, cantilever suspension and the Champs-Elysee led instead to the "windy city", not to mention one rather disgruntled young confidante. "She became an ex-girlfriend. To say that she was livid and speechless is right."
In his 33 years working at Edelman, it has grown from a Chicago company with US$6 million (Dh22m) worth of work to the world's largest independent PR company, with revenues of $532m and operations in 54 markets.
The firm has a growing presence in Abu Dhabi, which it hopes to make a hub for operations in Africa, a continent it has yet to tap. In the UAE, it works with its key client Mubadala Development, along with other businesses including Research In Motion, the Canadian makers of the BlackBerry. Mubadala is a strategic investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government.
Mr Edelman acknowledges that in the Middle East and other markets the public relations industry suffers from an image problem, but says that is improving.
"PR used to just be 'here's the press release, go get it out'," he says. "The big change is that the chief communications officer reports to the CEO. That's happened here [in the Gulf], and that's good."
Establishing its $4.8m business in the UAE has been a long road. In 2004, Edelman signed an affiliate agreement with Asda'a Public Relations, which is based in Dubai and now known as Asda'a Burson-Marsteller, to cover the Middle East and North Africa.
This agreement ended when WPP acquired The Holding Group, the parent company of Asda'a.
"In a way, it was the best thing that ever happened to us, because we've got a $4m business of our own," says Mr Edelman.
Much of Edelman's worldwide growth has been similarly organic, and the company is known to have fought for its independence in a market defined by consolidation, with holding companies such as WPP snapping up an ever-larger number of PR and advertising firms. Like most PR firms, Edelman is keen to talk-up its credentials in digital media. The company claims to have been the "first to hire bloggers and other digital media experts in highly-visible senior roles". Mr Edelman writes a regular blog called 6am, which reflects his habit of rising early. "I'm a very mid-western kid," he says. "I go to sleep by 10.30pm, because I can't stay up later. It's kind of pathetic. I'm not the greatest host."
Of course, the growth of the company, and its forays into digital media, have not always been easy. In 2006, Mr Edelman was forced to issue an apology for the agency's role in creating a blog for Walmart that did not properly disclose its origins or funding. Yet the controversy did not derail the firm's ambitions in digital media, which makes up a growing part of its operations.
"We're the only independent of the top-10 firms, we're not part of an ad-holding company, and so therefore we define PR as a very broad set of things, from consulting, digital, classic PR, to events."
He attributes some of Edelman's growth to it being independent, and family run - and there is no sign of that changing anytime soon.
Mr Edelman's father, Daniel, still keeps close tabs on the business. "He's still chairman, and I have to call him every day. [He asks:] 'How is the business, how are our numbers in the Middle East?' Every day."
Mr Edelman describes his father as being "tough" - like many other figures in his life. He names the energetic former US president Teddy Roosevelt as his hero. His wife is also a strong character. "Her nickname is 'the general'," says Mr Edelman. "She's quite straight about things."
His self-proclaimed role is one of "chief diplomat" alongside these imposing characters. "I like strong people around me - I like to have a bit of scrumming," he says.
A colleague agrees Mr Edelman is different to his father. "His dad was really stern in the way he managed the business," says the colleague, who did not wish to be named. While Mr Edelman does not have the sternness of his father, he inherited some of his "no-nonsense" discipline and straight-talking, he says. "You don't have to read the tea leaves."
Other members of the Edelman clan also feature prominently within the business.
Richard's brother Johnis president of the Edelman Foundation and covers corporate responsibility for the business, while his sister Renee works in technology PR for clients such as EMC Corporation.
His eldest daughter Margot accompanied him on a recent trip to the UAE, where, among various business meetings, the two found time to go dune-bashing and scale the Burj Khalifa. She is attending Harvard Business School in autumn, and has worked in Edelman offices in Chicago, New York and Shanghai. She is currently at the firm's London office, working with clients such as Shell and Diageo.
Colleagues appear to value the family nature of the firm. "I do feel like I'm part of the family business, and that's important for all the staff," says Iain Twine, the general manager for Edelman UAE.
Being family run also helped the business survive the recession, Mr Edelman says.
"The fact that we're private, independent, means that we don't have to be short-term orientated in making a margin. We are very much entrepreneurial, go-for-it, opportunistic … We move, and do it," he says.
"My family has taken nothing out of the business. We have all our assets in the family business," he says. "The top 80 or 90 people in the company all have stock in the company … they own just about 20 per cent of the business. And so they have the same orientation as the family: people take yellow taxis to the airport, they don't get big white cars."
Yet one competitor says Mr Edelman's softly-softly approach cannot last forever. "They've come to a phase when they have to do something fairly dramatic, or they'll just stagnate," says the executive, who wished to remain anonymous.
Plus, there is inevitable change on the horizon, given Mr Edelman's father is of an advanced age. "When that leadership changes, there will be challenges in the firm," says the executive.
As it stands, Mr Edelman makes a good case for his family businesses. Yet the question remains: could he have defied his father's calling 33 year ago?
"Do you 'know' my father? The answer is no," says Mr Edelman. "He made a compelling case: he said 'look, I'll give you two weeks of vacation in December'. And I said 'what am I going to do with the girl?' And he said 'figure it out - I always did'. He's just a tough old guy."
And will he be similarly tough on his children? One doubts it, although there is an indisputable desire to keep the Edelman name alive in the business.
"Long after I'm gone, I hope my kids will keep things moving in the same direction," he says.