Tag Archives: working with your spouse

Day 3220 – How We Wake Up At 5 AM And Actually Enjoy It – and – A Little Bit About Working With Your Spouse – repost

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I wrote the following post in September. Eight months later and we’re still getting up most days around 5 a.m. There are days we sleep in until 7 or 8, if we’ve been out late, haven’t been sleeping as much, or if we’re sick. It’s crazy the amount of work you can accomplish getting up earlier. It’s like the hours from 5:30-9 are magical time expanders. Do you get up early?

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I think we have a new habit, and I think it will be around for a while: waking up at 5:00 a.m. on work days. Since we are building a business (real estate investing), there is a lot to do, all the time. I’ve really been digging in with data mining and management. We’ve recently started outsourcing calls, and it helps to put the pressure on me to keep up with finding numbers and not find excuses to be lazy. Since I don’t track my time on the weekends, I have no idea how many hours I put it this weekend, but it has been a lot. Oy. I have looked at SO many houses online! Though, it does get me dreaming about a home for us down the line. We have some pretty specific needs and wants, so it will likely take a while until we find it. Since Bret is back to school (today is the first day for the kids), having a routine is much more important. One way we’re fitting more in each day is by waking up at 5:00 a.m. I cannot believe I’m saying it….but we haven’t snoozed once since we started. I have ALWAYS snoozed. I have snoozed for HOURS. We’ll still be in bed, but we aren’t hitting snooze and trying to sleep for those precious 9 minutes. Once we have somewhat of a mental faculty going, we’ll start to say things that we’re thankful for. It can be anything from “I’m thankful you’re alive today” to “I’m thankful for this blanket” to “I’m thankful we prepped the coffee last night.” It makes such a difference in mood of the day right from the start. We’ll spend a little time chatting about the day and different things once the coffee is ready. Then I launch into my morning firsts (devotions, writing, blogging, etc).

It’s funny that we’re working together again. After we stopped photography, I thought it would be me working my jobs, and Bret teaching. Us working together, in a lot of ways, came out of left field. But I am SO pumped to be working with Bret again! Working with your spouse isn’t easy, it can be difficult, for sure, but the benefits outweigh those difficulties for us. One thing we’ve noticed is that I can get grumpy if I don’t get 8-9 hours of sleep. It takes a few days, but there is a noticeable difference. Last week, I was REALLLLLLLY grumpy, and Bret was like, ummmmmmmm, what? After more time than it should have, we realize it was because of my lack of sleep. Because Bret knows me so well, he can call me out on things, and we can work through them together.

A bonus to waking up this early is getting to see the sunrise. I was not disappointed this morning.

originally posted 9/5/17

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Day 3172 – Advice On Working With Your Spouse In A Small Business – repost

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Crazy that I posted this over five years ago and 1,901 days ago….and now we’re running another business together. While there have been some challenges with me having several clients of my own, but it’s still been great to build something together. 🙂

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originally posted 1/2/13
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Yesterday, I alluded to a business Bret is starting…..

He is starting a personal training business!!! It’s a little different than most personal training businesses out there, but it’s really exciting! I’ll let him describe that for you. He’s still working on getting his Twitter/Facebook/Website together, so you’ll have to wait to learn more. BUT! I thought I would give some advice on working with your spouse!

As you know, I’ve worked with Bret as a business partner/consultant/second shooter/etc for the past 3 years. We believe that the husband is the leader in the marriage and household. It has been a big adjustment and large learning curve over the years. I learned that I am VERY independent, stubborn and prideful. These traits served me well as a single woman/business owner, but I really had to grow when I married Bret. I had to learn to say, you know what, I don’t know it all and Bret has some great points.

So advice for women business owners who are transitioning from being a single to being a married:

  1. Pray. Ask God to be glorified in your business and keep you at peace!
    (That second part is SO important!)
  2. Be humble.
  3. Listen to what he has to say about your business. It’s always good to have a fresh set of eyes.
  4. Don’t make changes right away that he suggests. Talk through them, use the knowledge that you have about your business to get on the same page.
  5. See him as a partner.

Now, this next part, I don’t have “seasoned” advice, but I’m still going to take a shot!

Bonus advice for couples who have two different businesses:

  • Your business is NOT going to be exactly the same as your spouses. I am a wedding photographer, Bret is a personal trainer. Our target client is different. We can certainly help each other out, but some aspects will be different.
  • When they’re talking about their business, don’t be thinking about your business. (This was Bret’s advice!)
  • See it as an adventure to take together.

So there you go! That’s where we’re at right now and some advice! It can be a really awesome and fun thing! Today was great, we sat and watched a few hours of videos about marketing/branding/etc. It was a great refresher for me and an awesome start for him. I can’t wait to share how this goes for us.

Do you work with your spouse in a small business? What do you struggle with? What joys do you have?

And what better way to leave you than with a picture of us being joyful in our work!

day_01271

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3122 – Actual Footage Of Us Working Together

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Working with your spouse may sound like fun. Getting to hang out with your favorite person all the time, going on adventures together, etc. One thing we’ve been aware of recently is this idea that you shouldn’t compare your life to someone’s highlight reel. i.e. What people put online is rarely the full story. A beautiful photo may have taken 30 minutes to stage just right.

But, here at 365, we like to give you the truth about things. Some things about working together are freakin’ amazing and some things are really hard. Today, we spent some time discussing our real estate business, who will do what, and how we can grow. There were a few times it was a little super stressful, and really not fun. For example, Bret recently posted that he closed his third deal. But he didn’t share how many hours he put in, how many mistakes were made, how many decisions he had to make without knowing how it would end up, how many nos he heard, etc.

We figured we’d give you a recreation of our discussion today!

Editor’s note – Bret was not stressed at all, Jen was. You never know the full story.

While it can be frustrating, and we don’t have it all figured out in our marriage or business, it’s really cool that we’re figuring it out together.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3117 – Remembering Bret’s Previous Business

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I have to say, it has been so much fun working with Bret again on a business. We are both serial entrepreneurs and just love working in businesses with him.

A few years back, Bret started a personal training business. While that only lasted a short time, it was a great learning experience.

One market we tried to get into was the wedding industry. So what did we do? Well, put me in my wedding dress and threw me outside to “workout” in it!

This was taken in 18 degree weather….and it felt like 4.

day_01291

What about you? Have you worked with your spouse? Are you a serial entrepreneur? Let me know below!

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 2978 – How We Wake Up At 5 AM And Actually Enjoy It – and – A Little Bit About Working With Your Spouse

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I think we have a new habit, and I think it will be around for a while: waking up at 5:00 a.m. on work days. Since we are building a business (real estate investing), there is a lot to do, all the time. I’ve really been digging in with data mining and management. We’ve recently started outsourcing calls, and it helps to put the pressure on me to keep up with finding numbers and not find excuses to be lazy. Since I don’t track my time on the weekends, I have no idea how many hours I put it this weekend, but it has been a lot. Oy. I have looked at SO many houses online! Though, it does get me dreaming about a home for us down the line. We have some pretty specific needs and wants, so it will likely take a while until we find it. Since Bret is back to school (today is the first day for the kids), having a routine is much more important. One way we’re fitting more in each day is by waking up at 5:00 a.m. I cannot believe I’m saying it….but we haven’t snoozed once since we started. I have ALWAYS snoozed. I have snoozed for HOURS. We’ll still be in bed, but we aren’t hitting snooze and trying to sleep for those precious 9 minutes. Once we have somewhat of a mental faculty going, we’ll start to say things that we’re thankful for. It can be anything from “I’m thankful you’re alive today” to “I’m thankful for this blanket” to “I’m thankful we prepped the coffee last night.” It makes such a difference in mood of the day right from the start. We’ll spend a little time chatting about the day and different things once the coffee is ready. Then I launch into my morning firsts (devotions, writing, blogging, etc).

It’s funny that we’re working together again. After we stopped photography, I thought it would be me working my jobs, and Bret teaching. Us working together, in a lot of ways, came out of left field. But I am SO pumped to be working with Bret again! Working with your spouse isn’t easy, it can be difficult, for sure, but the benefits outweigh those difficulties for us. One thing we’ve noticed is that I can get grumpy if I don’t get 8-9 hours of sleep. It takes a few days, but there is a noticeable difference. Last week, I was REALLLLLLLY grumpy, and Bret was like, ummmmmmmm, what? After more time than it should have, we realize it was because of my lack of sleep. Because Bret knows me so well, he can call me out on things, and we can work through them together.

A bonus to waking up this early is getting to see the sunrise. I was not disappointed this morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel