For some families, it?s flag football on Thanksgiving Day. Other families pass down precious heirlooms or antiques from generation to generation. For DJS founder Darrell J. Sekin, Jr. and his clan, international business is the treasured family tradition. Darrell J. Sekin, Sr. ("Joe") started the family?s tradition in 1960 when he opened Darrell J. Sekin & Co., one of the first independent customs brokerage firms and bonded warehouses in Dallas. Renowned for his insight and creative problem solving, Joe Sekin was instrumental in developing the Port of Dallas into an international business hub. Joe established and operated the first Foreign Trade Zone in Dallas, Texas (the first foreign trade zone permitted at an inland U.S. location), as well as the first Foreign Trade Zone in Las Vegas, Nevada. Joe also founded the North Texas Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association (NTCBFAA). Darrell had the opportunity to work with his father at Sekin & Co. for nearly 20 years, learning the finer points of the trade and growing his business acumen under his father's leadership. During his tenure at Sekin & Co., Darrell managed offices in Houston, Oklahoma City, and Dallas. Joe sold Sekin & Co. in 1983. Then, in 1985 Darrell and his wife Marty established their own firm, with a partner and just two employees, and began to build DJS. Many of the same business principles cultivated at Joe?s firm?including a strong commitment to customer service and a focus on innovation?are embraced at DJS International as well. DJS is well-known for investing in quality personnel, staying at the forefront of technology advances that benefit customers, and building strategic partnerships worldwide. Today, DJS International is a high-performance, independently held corporation that has turned the idea of a traditional ?family business? on its head. Darrell?s brother Paul joined DJS in 1990. A third generation followed when Darrell?s daughter Melissa and her husband David Meyer joined the company a few years later. Joe continues to serve on the DJS International Board of Directors. The Sekin-Meyer family is active in leadership of the National Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association (NCBFAA), North Texas Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association (NTCBFAA), World Net Associates (WNA), Household Goods and Freight Forwarders Association, Transportation Club of Dallas/Fort Worth, and a number of other industry and civic organizations. Darrell currently serves as Secretary of NCBFAA and has held several critical NCBFAA committee positions. Paul and David have held various offices with NTCBFAA, WNA, and the Transportation Club of Dallas/Fort Worth. DJS is a true family business with a rich family history in the industry of international trade. And while DJS has steadily expanded over the years and evolved into something of a well-oiled machine, it has never abandoned the integrity and personable family feel it opened its doors with.