Boardrooms and Bedrooms – The Podcast for Couples in Business

Once upon a time, there was a Fair Maiden. She was satisfied with her life, steady in a good job and on a happy path until… in swans the Man of Her Dreams.

He was strong, challenging and incredibly supportive BUT there was challenge… they worked in the same business together. So strong was their love, however, that proved not to be a problem. And as their life together grew, the Fair Maiden’s role evolved to that of Fair Mother, HomeMaker and Supporter.

Then, 20 years later, something changed!

And that’s where we start today’s conversation with Kylie and Anthony Sultana of Creo Wealth. This joyful and supportive couple have been married for 20 years and have worked in the finance industry for three decades. A few years ago they took a leap and started their own financial advice business.

Having lovingly supported one another through the rocky establishment phase, Anthony says their relationship is stronger than ever. For Kylie, meanwhile, the business has not only enabled her to regain her confidence to re-enter the workforce, she completely OWNS it.

Welcome to today’s Superpower Secret Session: The 1-Page Marketing Plan.

Today’s episode is inspired by our last conversation with marketing and podcasting guru Ronsley Vaz, who honed in on the ducks that couples must get in line before any marketing can get off the ground.

You can listen to that conversation here: https://www.instituteforcouplesinbusiness.com/podcast-ronsley-vaz/

Marketing is one area we’ll be looking at when we meet with the couples in our Powerhouse program next week for our quarterly two-day intensive. Between now and Christmas we’re focusing on how to get more cash because, well, who doesn’t want more cash?!

We’re looking at marketing because for a lot of couples we work with, it’s an area that can be lacking. Couples will often overlook marketing because their business is already growing off their reputation and word of mouth referrals. But as we’ll cover in Powerhouse, getting clear on your marketing message means you’ll attract more of the right clients.

Marketing can be a really challenging aspect of running a couple-led business….

Who’s the face or the voice?

What’s your message?

What channels are you going to use to deliver that message?

And who’s got the time for Facebook live videos when there are a million other things to get done in a day!!!

If those kinds of questions are holding your business back, you’ll be pleased to hear from today’s guest.

Ronsley Vaz is a marketing and podcasting guru who, together with wife Rochelle, runs Amplify — a marketing agency that uses podcasting as the starting point for building a campaign.

With Rochelle having just joined the business in February, Ronsley has some fresh first-hand insights to share around the challenges and triumphs of working alongside ones wife.

Amplify also has many couple-led businesses on its book, and Ronsley goes deep on the three key foundations couples must nail down before a successful marketing campaign can get off the ground.

All of our podcasts are built to deliver a sense of being to you, an awareness that you are not alone in the complicatedness of being a couple in business. But these particular sessions — what we call Superpower Secret Sessions — are designed to deal with the problems we support others to overcome every day, through the Institute for Couples in Business and the things we’ve learnt to overcome ourselves in the 8+ years Ed and I have worked together.

Today though, we are focusing on a big looming deadline… Christmas.  And, more to the point, how to capitalise on the 54 days you have left before then.  

We know that this period of the year can either be a cause for celebration, having kicked your goals, or it can be a time for some solid reflection, to find out how to make next year better than the last. Either way, there is still PLENTY of time left in the year to Collect Cash.

We’re coming to you today from a small island off the coast of Townsville, North Queensland, where there is not much to do except beach, walk and relax. We love it so much and know that when we need to completely break free from our everyday life, this is where we come.

But our chill out over the past week, as well as a conversation with a new client over the weekend, prompted us to tackle the topic of How to create room for more breaks together — or holidays. Ed actually calls the things we’ll cover today, The Holiday Maker.

Anyone who has ever lead a charge in anything - by that, I mean been the first person to do something, whether that be dance at a party, vote in a particular way, or introduce a concept to a room of people - knows that it can be a little daunting. But, if you are 100% behind why you are doing it and you believe in yourself, whether people follow you or not becomes irrelevant.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

Today’s guests Zare Demus and Ellen Clendining certainly do.

Zare grew up in Jamaica. After meeting and falling in love with his partner Ellen, they decided to move to Australia in 2011. On arrival, they found that their kind of community was incredibly lacking.

You see, Zare is a full-blown Jamaican … He lives, breathes and loves Reggae Music. And he’d turned Ellen’s ear to it too. So, when they got to Aus and found there was only short music segments on some out of the way stations dedicated to their love, they decided to take things in their own hands. So, was born, Australian Reggae Radio - a 24/7 online station dedicated to reggae music.

Like most people who start anything, Zare and Ellen had a hope that it would work, but no definitive way of knowing. But, now 7 years in to the journey, they are attracting DJs from the UK and Belgium, as well as Australia, to present segments on their baby. They are also building live events that give face-time to a community connected by sound waves.

Alongside building their radio business together, Zare and Ellen share the responsibility of their 3 small children - all of who are under the age of 8. As you’ll hear today, the music industry is not exactly the ultimate gig to be a part of for committed parents. But, they say it’s worth it to be pioneering a space for themselves and others.

It’s a pleasure to have you here with Ed and I for today’s SuperPower Secrets Session: Balancing Growth.

Our aim for these sessions is to make your life easier through the experiential learning of others, triggered by my conversations with our guests. The strategies and tactics we’re going to share today have been tried and tested - mainly by US :-) - but also the hundreds of couples we’ve served over the past 8 years through the Institute for Couples in Business and beyond.

We make these short bite-size hacks that turn the conversations in to real, tangible solutions for you.  So, if you have a challenge or a problem you want answered, be sure to reach out.

Today, Ed and I are talking about the word that feels so often elusive for business people and more so for couples in business together: BALANCE. More specifically how to Balance your Growth.  More financial freedom and flexibility is ALWAYS something couples tell us they want more of. So, how do you manage the growth, while remaining connected in your relationship?

That’s our starting point today.

The challenges we will discuss today were triggered by my conversation with Aaron and Bernadette, who are expecting their first baby really soon! Which also means how they interact with their business is about to get a little more complex.

You can catch that conversation here: http://www.instituteforcouplesinbusiness.com/podcast-aaron-bernadette-christie-david/

As Ed mentions in the podcast today - and as we heard from the conversation with our guests - it’s not Growing Fast or Achieving Results that is the actual problem. Getting better results faster than you ever thought possible is NOT an issue! But, the fallout of this on your home life and relationship is.  And we’re going to tell you why and how to avoid it.

Do you remember when you were about to birth your first child - of the human variety? Remember how exciting it was, but also a little nervey, as you had no idea how your other child - the business - was going to go with this new introduction?

This is the setting for my conversation with today’s guests, Aaron and Bernadette Christie-David from multi award-winning mortgage broking business, Atelier Wealth.

A little over two years into their business relationship and almost 10 years into their relationship-relationship, this pair is about to take the huge life leap into parenting.  And they are WAY ahead of where I was when Ed and I were expecting!

As you’ll hear today, their ethos to supporting more Australians to ‘breathe’, through setting up a great strategy to control their finances, is the exact philosophy they’ve approached this new change of direction for their life.

These guys are SO far ahead of the game from where Ed and I were when we were expecting our first child and offer a lot of lessons for us all on how to make yourself redundant.

Today’s episode of Boardrooms and Bedrooms is a SuperPower Secrets Session on What to Focus on during a Crisis.

These sessions are dedicated to giving you the ‘How to's’ for the challenges and problems, as well as the solutions, triggered by our conversations with the couples in business who come on this show and share each week.

Our aim is to offer you lessons based on the experience of others on the same journey as you — the strategies that we share are all tried and tested. They are built through the work we do inside the Institute for Couples in Business, as well as our personal experience.

Today, Ed and I are talking about something that happens so often for couples: a Crisis. And, more specifically, what to focus on during the time of Crises. Whether that be a financial one, when you have a sick child, a problem with a team member, the death of a parent, illness, burnout, or complete disconnection between the two of you.

Managing business through Crises is one of the added complexities for couples in business, where the personal crisis of one of you, more often than not, also directly affects the stress and coping levels of the other one.  When all your eggs are in one basket, it can be an incredibly stressful time to also manage the emotional turbulence of something unexpected or unplanned, or as the dictionary tells me, a time of intense difficulty or danger.

The challenges we will discuss today were triggered by my conversation with Richard and Nikki Taylor, who so openly shared how they have rebuilt after the fire of failure.

You can catch that conversation here: http://www.instituteforcouplesinbusiness.com/podcast-richard-nikki-taylor/

It was a very raw and real conversation and I again want to honour and thank the Taylors for their vulnerability and authenticity in sharing their story for the benefit of us all. What I most loved was that even when things were tough, mentally and financially, they had each other’s backs.  And that for me, is the SWEET SPOT of the path we have all chosen as couples in business.

Have you ever failed?

Did that experience leave you feeling a little scarred?

And what would you say if I asked you to share that story with a global audience on this podcast?!

That’s the scenario for today’s guests, Richard and Nikki Taylor from Life Made Easy Mentors.

After 9 years at the helm of a successful recruitment coming living what they the ‘laptop lifestyle’, they sold their business to pursue the promises of a new opportunity.

This new opportunity would give them everything they had hoped for - a ticket out of the recruitment game they thought they were bored of, a pathway to building a global team, and a better income stream that what they had been used to.

But, within a matter of months, they realised that this ‘promise’ wasn’t panning out quite as they had planned.

And thus, their new life began AGAIN. This is where we pick up with Richard and Nikki for today’s conversation.