Like Father, Like Son

After a 37-year public education career - most of which was spent in leadership roles, including as Hatboro-Horsham superintendent - Bill Lessa is taking the lead from someone else.

His son.

“He’s the expert out in the field,” he said. “I turn to him for advice.”

The advice of his 32-year-old son, Matt, is crucial in running Habitat: Caring for Your Home, a cornucopia of home-related services ranging from maintenance, to project work, landscaping and handyman repairs that the father/son duo started earlier this year. 

The small business, with solely the two Lessas at the helm, has been in the works since August, soon after the elder Lessa’s retirement from after eight years.

“I wasn’t really ready to do nothing,” he said. “Leaving public education was really a matter of starting something new.”

And a large part of Lessa’s something new is a role reversal of sorts, where he manages the North Wales-based business’ day-to-day operations and his son, who’s done similar work since he was 21, is the seasoned professional. 

“You’re really kind of running without a net,” Bill Lessa said. “When I was the superintendent, it was easy to say, ‘I need you to do this.’ " 

But, with a two-man operation – which they hope to expand over time – there isn’t anyone else available for task delegation.

“It’s not unusual,” Bill Lessa said. “It’s just new to me.”

New for Matt, too, is the role reversal between father and son.

“I was used to seeing him take control and lead,” said Matt Lessa, of Horsham. “I spent my whole life learning from him.”

And, if Bill Lessa has any say, in the next three years or so, his son will once again learn from him as he shows him the ropes of managing Habitat.

“He can be sitting in my seat,” Bill Lessa said.

But, if you’re Bill Lessa, a former art teacher, artist, and 30-year teacher at Abington Parenting Center, you’re not really thinking about time off and relaxing trips, you’re instead planning new ventures.

“I believe I have a couple books in me that I would like to try,” he said.