It’s never been a problem before now.
There was “Grandpa,” and “Dad,” and he was the son. Lee Paull. Just like his father and his grandfather.
But this summer, the son has joined his father in the family business, and in order to avoid a “Which Lee?” marathon at Paull Associates, this “Lee” is “Lee V.”
“Of course, I’ve always called my father, ‘Dad,’” he said with a chuckle. “But now that I’m here, I know there’s been a little confusion. When my grandfather was here, my dad was called ‘Little Lee’ and ‘Lee IV,’ and my email has ‘Lee V’ in it, so I’m guessing I’ll be ‘Lee V’ and my dad will be ‘Lee IV’ moving forward.
“My brother (Collin) does have interest in the company and he’s an economics major. He’s getting his minor in real estate (at the College of Charleston),” he said. “I think it’s going to be cool with him here with me, Dad, and my mother all working together. Not a lot of families get that opportunity.”
Lee Paull III and his bride, June, raised three children in Wheeling while becoming one of the city’s most successful businessmen. In 1981, he founded Paull Associates Insurance / Real Estate, and in 1985, the firm moved to its present location on Chapline Street in downtown Wheeling.
After the patriarch passed away on Nov. 7, 2020, at the age of 78, Lee IV took the company’s reins and the family business remains a local leader in both and the real estate and insurance industries. And now, here comes “Lee V” following his “lifer” years at The Linsly School and majoring in business management at West Virginia University.
“I knew it was a possibility to be in this position right now, and I knew in the back of my mind I’ve always wanted to be part of the business,” Paull said. “After school, my parents told me to look at some other things so I’d be sure of what I wanted to do and that I was fully interested in it, but I knew what I wanted to do all along.
“They just wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting into the business because it’s what my Dad does and what our family has done for so long. They wanted me to explore some other options,” he explained. “Back in high school, I was thinking about medical school, but then in college, I realized I wanted to take the business route instead of anything else.”
At the same time he’s learning exactly what it is the Paull firm does, he’s earning his MBA online from WVU.
“It hasn’t been difficult to balance the two, and I’m learning a lot about the family business and about everything with the administration. I know learning everything my Dad does is going to take a while because he’s been doing so much through the years,” he said. “There’s the real estate side and there’s the insurance side, and my father has been doing both sides for a lot of years.
“Since I started a little more than a month ago, I’ve been learning a lot and getting into the client account management side of things,” he said. “My Dad has always told me to get as much education as possible because you never know what could happen in the future, so that’s why I decided to do both at the same time beginning this summer.”
The Next Lee in Line
He’s going to meetings, shaking a lot of hands, and eating a lot of lunches. And he likes it.
He likes what Dad does.
“It’s really been kind of cool going to the appointments with my father, and I think Dad enjoys introducing me as his son who’s just joined the business,” Paull explained. “They always ask me how I like working with my father so far, and if I miss school, and things like that. I usually know their names because I grew up and know most of my parents’ friends but getting to know them on this level has been a lot of fun for me.
“It’s allowed me to come to really understand what I’ve watched them do all these years, and now the conversations they had when I was younger are now starting to make a lot of sense,” he continued. “There was one day when Dad told me he was experiencing a little déjà vu because my grandpa did the same things with him when he was just starting out in the business. That means a lot to me.”
Paull Associates specializes in personal-professional insurance and real estate counseling, and the company’s workforce has expanded from two to twenty during its 44 years.
“My plan is to get to know as much as I can about everything the company does just like my father did while he was working with my grandfather for all those years,” Paull said. “I know there’s a lot to learn about the insurance side of our business, and that it’s really complicated because of all the specific details that are involved with the clients and the kinds of policies.
“I know there’s a ton to learn on the real estate side of the business, too,” he said. “Right now, I’m not too sure which side (of the business) I’ll enjoy more because I just started, but I do know I’ve enjoyed the insurance side and I know my Grandpa was big on the insurance side during his career.”
His grandfather was also a cheerleader for the Upper Ohio Valley, often insisting in conversations that the region’s quality of life was one of the best in the country.
“Some of my co-workers have been telling me stories about my Grandpa since I started, and those have been great to hear,” Paull said. “Grandpa was just Grandpa and not some businessman when I was younger, but I’ve been learning a lot about his success in the business world since, and it’s been cool to see my father at work, too.
“My grandfather was always kind, and so is my mom and dad,” he explained. “They’ve given me a great example to follow, that’s for sure.”
What’s In a Name?
There IS one more thing his grandfather and father have taught him, and it’s more a life lesson he’s learned because it’s nothing a textbook or lecture can teach.
It’s more about being a gentleman when a gentleman is what you should be.
“There was one thing I always saw my grandfather do, and I know my dad does the same thing,” Lee 5 explained. “They always stop to shake a person’s hand, look them in the eye, and ask them how they are and how their family was at the time.
“And if Grandpa or my dad didn’t know the individual, they always told them their full name, and that made an impression on me. I’ll definitely be doing the same.”
