I used to work above a guy who had a reputation in the company for not really taking direction well from anyone (hence why he ended up in our section) and he was about double my age.
What I used to do was mention two things that needed doing and ask him which one he wanted to do. Most of what we did could’ve been done by either of us but in letting him pick what he wanted he had more inclination to actually do it. The rapport that came from this did allow me to jump on the few things that I wanted and get minimal backlash because I was fair most of the time.
Treat people with respect and make them feel like their opinions are valued.
If it comes to personal stories and life experience in conversation - try and take a lot more of a listening role and acknowledge their experience. They’ll feel valued in that space which will translate over to respect in the working space.
If the website is selling physical goods it could be to prevent having to export. That can be anything from having to deal with different laws to just plain old more work with customs and everything.