A lot of people told us it was a bad idea to try working with your spouse. But regardless, I hired my husband to work in my marketing firm. He had no specific marketing qualifications. So what happened?

The thing is, it’s tough enough just to navigate children and housework, let alone getting into business together.

But today, given that Gary and I are now about six years into our working relationship (and 28 years into our marriage) I thought it was about time to write about it.

In the Beginning – Yikes

Since I started the business back in 1996, Gary had always helped out on an as-needed basis with accounting and IT support, but he always had full-time work elsewhere.

But when his employer faced a rough patch, he had to consider options. For me, I’d always wondered whether we might be able to work together well, as we had a great marriage and friendship to start with. 

I also didn’t like that his jobs were so constricting of his time (travel, long hours) – and thus our ability to take spontaneous or extended vacations. However, his skills were never really “marketing” oriented – he was more a tech nerd (think databases and software) – but given the amount of tech that has infiltrated the marketing/business sphere in the last decade, I thought he might be an asset. So I was ready to take the plunge, and did my best sales job on him to convince him to join Tenato.

It was rocky at first. In fact, I was going to write this blog about five years ago, and then thought better of it – as it wasn’t much fun. Here are a few “Garyisms” that paint the picture:

• “STOP talking about WORK already!”
• “STOP questioning me all the time – I don’t know whether you’re my wife or my boss!”
• “I feel like I’m drinking out of a firehose! Don’t expect me to learn all this at once!”
• “Let me stay in the background. YOU can be the face of the company.”
• “Not right now, we can’t afford it!”
• “How about one less thing?” (as opposed to my always suggesting one more thing!)

Was it tough to lose the other steady income? Yes. And in the beginning, I thought of his role as an administrative cost, as opposed to a billable resource like our other team members, so I often felt pressure – kicking my inner marketer into overdrive. Meanwhile, Gary found the revenue and workload swings quite a roller coaster. He would stress over every gap, and then be amazed when things kept working out.

But, as with parenting, when things were stressful, we’d talk – a lot. If he was stressed, I’d work extra hard to finish a project so we could bill it. If I wasn’t sure about a client or a decision, he’d help me think it through logically and find the answers. And he always told me how impressed he was with my work (“Jacq, you just amaze me”) or how I handled various client situations – which was a nice boost of confidence. Eventually, we started to find our stride.

Benefits at Work

Slowly, circumstances shifted, and remarkable things began to happen. Time after time, when we needed a new skill set, Gary was already mastering it. Here’s how it went down:

• He’s learned everything and more than I ever expected him to learn – web development, e-commerce databases, and how to set up CRM systems for clients. And I taught him none of it.
• He’s built a network and online portal to secure our company’s growth.
• He’s a valuable set of ears in meetings, and the 25 years of osmosis from his wife has made him very persuasive with skeptical clients.
• Our clients have immediately leaned on his technical abilities – making him a true, billable resource.
• His skills are such a complement to mine, we already know how to split workloads between us and find synergies.
• He’s helped to secure and deliver on long-term contracts with major accounts.
• He allowed us to outsource far less work, and diversify our services, making the company far more profitable.
• Tenato has grown dramatically.

A Lifestyle Choice

Yes, there are times when we do talk a bit too much about work, but these are the benefits we’ve seen in our personal lifestyle:

• Now, we both set our own hours – so we enjoy holidays whenever it fits our mutual workflow.
• We attend almost all client meetings together, giving two great perspectives, and reducing the pressure on me alone.
• We often commute together, so enjoy the extra time together.
• He keeps an eye on what is good for me, and good for Tenato, i.e. clients that may or may not suit us well, for a wide variety of reasons.
• I no longer “check on” him, or keep tabs on his work – he just does it. His skills are a perfect complement to my own.
• I feel like if I got hit by a bus, he could run the show – there’s far less pressure on me alone.

Summary

So, I hired my spouse. He had no specific marketing qualifications. And then he blew the doors off.  Today, I have a whole new level of respect for his work ethic, values, reliability, and brains – things that I would never have fully appreciated had we not begun working together. 

And now that I’ve written this, I’ll have to run it by Gary – because to this day, he still prefers to stay in the background. As for me, I will just count myself as one lucky business owner, and wife. And as he often says, “Happy wife, happy life.”

Would you like to chat with us? Contact Tenato today.