CoupleCo: Working With Your Spouse For Fun & Profit

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Ninjapreneurs: Rachel and Duncan Richardson of Bodies In Motion, Boise, Idaho, Part 2 Jan 01, 2020

Show notes

We are back with two people who are strong in will, in stature, and in relationship. Plus, they throw axes. We're picking up where we left off with muscular marketer Rachel Richardson, and her engineer/American Ninja Warrior husband, Duncan. They own and operate Bodies In Motion, a unique gym and family recreation facility. They train American Ninja hopefuls, offer fitness classes and martial arts, a preschool and more. Their teamwork and sense of seizing the moment are sincere. Here in part 2, we ask some burning questions, like How do people NOT work with their spouse? And how scary is ax throwing, anyway? And, Do you and your own business partner know how to 'parking lot' stuff? What does that even mean? And how does Leonidas fit in this picture, anyway? For that matter, who is Leonidas? Not up on the Battle of Thermopylae? Get your Greek history on, and join us for insight and inspiration from one of the strongest couples we've ever had the pleasure to sit down with.

Ninjapreneurs: Rachel and Duncan Richardson of Bodies In Motion, Boise, Idaho, Part 1 Dec 25, 2019

Show notes

These two are in seriously great shape, and they throw axes: We have a real, live American Ninja Warrior and his partner in muscle tone. Duncan and Rachel Richardson own a cool, one-of-a-kind gym called Bodies In Motion. You're going to hear a lot about fitness—and teamwork. A hopeful for the TV show, American Ninja Warrior, Duncan never got a callback on his audition video. But then came the open-heart surgery. He and Rachel took a "vacation" at the Cleveland Clinic—and used the surgery as a video opportunity. Guess who finally got a callback from American Ninja Warrior. In their daily lives, they run a gym that trains other Ninja hopefuls, has cool stuff engineered for maximum workout and thrills and, yes, there's axe throwing. Their dueling degrees in marketing and civil engineering have been useful. You'll also hear about an all-in sense of partnership, and the entrepreneurial power that comes with listening to your kids. And where does a plush horse costume fit in all this?

Better Together: How These Couples In Business Improve Each Other Dec 18, 2019

Show notes

For episode 100, we're digging into the archives for choice clips from the first six couples we interviewed:

Ryan and Crystal Waugh of Waugh Cellars and Waugh Family Wines. They're the first interview that made us think, Wow, we need to be a better couple. And during the interview, we swear we watched these two fall in love all over again.

Robin & Jim Whitney of Whitney Advertising in Park City, Utah. They met in big New York advertising, and for over 20 years, they've been running their ad agency in Park City, and do most of the creative work themselves. They work directly with small business owners—a job that has unimaginable impact on the client.

Sam and Mary Giveen of Dr. Sam's Eye Care had dated as teenagers, reconnected at middle age, and she became Director of Operations at his clinic, growing the brand. Mary's an extravert, Sam is an introvert, and she spends a lot of time making him nervous.

Trish and Jared McMillen of McMillen Galleries are landscape photographers who share a brain. They literally spend days together in the wild, preparing to shoot the same photograph. Their gallery is filled with huge, fine-art landscapes that take your breath away.

Nile Zacherle and Whitney Fisher run Mad Fritz, the Napa Valley nanobrewery, infusing it with a winemaker sensibility. This is not your dad's fizzy yellow beer.

Linda and Charlie Graves of Athletic Republic. It's a unique training gym franchise, with over 120 training centers on three continents. They are dynamic and driven and probably in much better shape than you are.

Adventure Travel For Two: Michael Hodgson & Therese Iknoian of HI Travel Tales, Part 2 Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

We are back in Grass Valley, California with travel writer/photographers Michael Hodgson and Therese Iknoian and their globe-spanning blog, HI Travel Tales. These award-winning journalists have transformed their print careers into digital success and are loving life. In this episode, we discuss the importance of acknowledging who's the boss—and how that can be less challenging than you might imagine. A couple in business also requires a certain level of trust, and must be able to call BS on each other. A sense of humor is key. We discuss a quality that creative pros are good at, and which might be good in your own relationship. Remember to never treat your spouse merely as a colleague. Working together is a dance. And, does everyone really end up, at some point, being intolerable?

Adventure Travel For Two: Michael Hodgson & Therese Iknoian of HI Travel Tales, Part 1 Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

We're in Grass Valley, California with travel writer/photographers Michael Hodgson and Therese Iknoian of HI Travel Tales. They've been to all 50 states, and 45 countries on all 7 continents. Both are award-winning journalists—there's even a Pulitzer—and they transformed their careers from print to digital and are loving life. He was once a consultant, but gave it up because he couldn't hold back—an apt metaphor for their lives together: they can't do anything just halfway. The challenge of loving your work, being good at it and driven to do it, is that it becomes hard to not work. We also talk about bad places to take phone calls. And what's it like being "old farts with ethics?" (They're not that old, frankly.)

Teaching Meets Trampolines: Chad & Katie Babcock of JumpTime in Boise, Idaho, Part 2 Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

Chad and Katie Babcock of JumpTime indoor trampoline parks, TumbleTime tumbling, and SoccerTime indoor soccer, have operations around Idaho and Montana. They are both exceptional athletes with teaching degrees, and this empire began when Chad, a freestyle skier and self-described carny, started a TumbleBus business. For them, everything is about education. We're going to hear them discuss the importance of developing thick skin, learning how to separate business from married life, and motivating each other in ways that we might not expect. Get ready for everything from big air—to small-child bodily fluids day at one of the businesses. They also tell a tale of a terrifying first-day on the job. There's the school bus fire, and the power of just turning off your damn cell phone.

Teaching Meets Trampolines: Chad & Katie Babcock of JumpTime in Boise, Idaho, Part 1 Nov 20, 2019

Show notes

This guy calls himself a former carny, so maybe the question is: What kind of a carny becomes a successful sporting business entrepreneur with his wife, and half a dozen operations and 80 employees around Idaho and Montana? These two are objects in motion. Chad and Katie Babcock's businesses are JumpTime, TumbleTime and SoccerTime—indoor trampoline, tumbling and soccer. They went from being teachers to educating in a much different way. They're doing a job that's fun, but also gives both kids and parents confidence. They're respecting developmental levels, helping kids discover their talents, and helping parents understand them. Their favorite thing to do is teach. They also have an interesting perspective on management: Really, it's also education. They like giving their employees a sense of ownership, and are also learning from their employees. And like Katie says, a day without learning something is a day wasted. And to think this little empire began with a business in a used school bus. That caught on fire.

Retail Partners In The Amazon Age: Amy Dannwolf and Jordan Jones of Powder7 in Golden, CO, Part 2 Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

We are back in Golden, Colorado, where Amy Dannwolf and Jordan Jones are crushing it in ski retail. Their brick-and-mortar and online retail store Powder7 is huge, both in size and stature—11,000 square feet of warehouse space, and a local retail sales floor, all run by a staff that has helped them earn kudos from Outside Magazine as a great place to work. We hear about how and why they have such great team members. And how does a business launched in Mom's basement have an easier time being principled than some other businesses might? Powder7 also has something in common with Southwest Airlines. It regards the single most important person in the business equation and—surprise—it's not the customer. How have this pair, with no retail or ecommerce experience, done so well and developed a huge operation with a global fan base? Possibly because they had no reference standard for what's possible. They just did it.

Retail Partners In The Amazon Age: Amy Dannwolf and Jordan Jones of Powder7 in Golden, CO, Part 1 Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

This is a retail story for the digital age, when local businesses are worried about competing with Amazon. Amy Dannwolf and Jordan Jones of Powder7 in Golden, Colorado started a business in his mom's basement with some lightly used snow skis. Today, they have 11,000 square feet of warehouse, and a retail storefront that serves customers from around Denver—and even around the world. They made this business work probably because they didn't know anything about running retail or building websites. They had no expectations or preconceptions. They're both track stars who met at Boston University. Jordan's a history major who became a Denver cop, and Amy is an economics major who joined him in the business. He taught himself how to code websites with books for Dummies, and the rest is history. Powder7 is a model for how a local business really can compete with online monsters. Instead of an online retail business with faceless, anonymous transactions, Powder 7 is a business with global reach, worldwide fans, and even personal relationships. Would you ever think about walking into Amazon? Plenty of online customers have walked into Powder7—which speaks to a company culture like you wouldn't expect.

A Dog's Purpose, A Couple's Mission: Cathryn Michon & W. Bruce Cameron of Surprise Hit Films, Los Angeles, Part 2 Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

We are back in Los Angeles with the killer couple behind Surprise Hit Films. W. Bruce Cameron and Cathryn Michon are best known as co-screenwriters on the box-office busting movies from the film franchise that began with A Dog's Purpose. They've been involved in studio pictures, independent film, TV, and bestselling novels. In this episode, we hear about how important is knowing who's the boss—and handling staff complaints about the boss in a way that honors the partnership. This is especially important when the business is clearly not a democracy. There's also a special warning for a couple considering collaboration—and why you might not want to do it. There's an very, very VERY important question for any couple in business together: Ever wonder why your favorite scenes from your favorite movies are the scenes they are? (Who saw that coming?) And how Bruce and Cathryn support each other in business is instructive—and speaks to the power of a proper collaborative partnership. Hear some interesting and useful tips about the dynamics of working as a couple with staff—especially when it comes to having a conversation with contentious potential. You'll hear a few references from Part 1, including "Amber on the slide." She's a capable and enthusiastic stunt dog. And there's a reference to Ruddy McCann, who's the hero of Bruce's Repo Madness novels. We get more Hollywood moments from their real life together. They include romantic incredulity and projectile crying. And there's maybe the best lightning round ever. (Will they win the Ginsu knife?)

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