Today is my wife’s birthday and I wanted to write a blog post to celebrate her. 3 years ago I wanted to start a marketing business. I talked with my wife about the idea, but she was hesitant at first. But she could see that it was something I really wanted to do, so after reflection and prayer, she started Coracle Marketing with me. This business would never have succeeded without her support. I’m so grateful for her.
Here’s a few ways she’s supported me as an entrepreneur:
1. She Doesn’t Compete with the Business for My Attention
Being a business owner can be demanding. There are times in the year where I have multiple deadlines for customers, and end up working evenings and weekends. Olive has shown an enormous amount of understanding during those times.
I often feel the tension between my business and family needs. Some days I feel like I don’t have enough energy or time. My customers want things done faster. My kids and wife want more of my attention. Those days I feel like a failure at business, at marriage, and at fatherhood. It would be easy for my wife to complain that I’m working too much, that I’m not doing the dishes, or taking out the trash, or helping her with putting the kids to bed. It would be easy for her to make me feel guilty so I would spend more time with her. Yet, it’s those times when I need my wife’s support the most. She shows me grace by giving me permission to ignore the family for a while and to finish up the urgent work. For that I’m grateful.
And because she shows me much grace during those busy seasons in the business, I want to make sure that the busy season is temporary. I work hard to cut down my work to regular hours so I can be present with my family.
2. She Lets Me Vent to Her
Customers can be frustrating to work with sometimes (if you’re my customer, I’m not talking about you – it’s someone else). I actually have really great customers who are great people, good to work with, and fun. But no work is perfect. Miscommunication happens. Delays happen. Disappointment happens. It’s during those times that I need someone to vent to – someone to hear my side of the story. My wife lets me vent to her. And she is genuinely interested in what happened and how I feel.
Most times, just having Olive listen to me vent helps me to calm down and see things in perspective.
3. She is Frugal
There’s financial sacrifices that we make to become entrepreneurs. During the first year of business we made just enough money to live on. That meant that we didn’t have extra money to spend on fancy meals, expensive clothes, nice vacations, or a new car. I know that my wife wishes that our 2004 Dodge Caravan didn’t squeak every time it goes over a speed bump and that she had a bigger budget to buy new clothes. But she’s made sacrifices to spend less, so that I would have a chance to build the business in a sustainable way.
4. She Celebrates with Me
It’s pretty lonely being an entrepreneur. Without a full-time team working with me, there isn’t anyone to celebrate the successes with. My wife is my team. When I get a new sale, she cheers for me. When I complete a big project, we celebrate together.
5. She Reminds Me that My Worth isn’t Based on the Business’ Success
One of the hardest parts of business for me is handling rejection. It’s especially hard because I care about my customers and work hard to add as much value to them as I can. So when a customer feels like I did not do a good job, I feel disappointed in myself. I come home dejected and feeling like a failure.
It’s those times when Olive reminds me that my worth isn’t tied to the success or failure of the business. And even though I know that, it’s hard to believe it all the time. My wife provides me with that important reminder and journeys with me through the success and the failure.
Happy birthday Olive! I’m so grateful to be married to you.