This one’s all about trust and belief in each other. Jill and Jeff sit down with Kate and Nick Carter, founders of the creative agency Saint Friend. They’re in the thick of it — new parents to a baby girl, growing and guiding their business through the pandemic, and trying to maintain a culture of calm for their work fam. It’s all working out so far, they say, in large part because of how their partnership brings about balance (10:03).

Nick helps Kate slow down and consider the details (12:32). Kate draws Nick out of his natural introversion (25:08). And they both learned to delegate more to their team. Actually, their daughter forced them to (36:22).

We get into all that, plus how the Carters saved each other from settling for less-than-fulfilling lives (you want to know their secret, don’t you?).

Website:

• https://www.saintfriend.co/

Socials:

• https://www.instagram.com/saint_friend/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/saint-friend/

Jeff and Jill connect with the husband team behind vegan cheesemaker Cultured Kindness. We learn about their love story (it started with set up by coworkers, 16:51), how Mike eventually gave up fast food and joined Justin in plant-based eating (23:40), why it’s tough to convince moms that entrepreneurship is a viable career path (11:30), and how to keep your sanity — and your partner’s love — while trying to expand your business during a pandemic. All that, plus why getting laid off from a financial services job was the best thing that ever happened to Justin (18:48) and how Mike managed to live with mad-scientist experiments of Justin’s early attempts to make cashew cheese (27:12).

Website:

•    http://culturedkindness.com

Socials:

•    http://facebook.com/culturedkindness 

•    http://instagram.com/culturedkindness

Managing Partners®
Season 2, episode 2
Mallory Smith & Martin Skegg: Sunday School Wine

In this episode, Jeff and Jill catch up with the founders of Sunday School Wine. Mallory Smith and Martin Skegg teach people how to enjoy wine in real life through their (now virtual) wine education classes. Before you think we’ve gone snobby on y’all, this is not the highfalutin’, pinkies-raised wine tasting you might imagine. Martin and Mallory have been known to pair pinot noir with BBQ potato chips and to teach classes about the badass women who made Champagne a thing at the turn of the 20th century.

In this conversation, Martin, a reserved Brit, gets super uncomfortable when Jill asks him about all the feels (46:24), we find out that Mallory fell in love with Martin at a stop light (47:11) and we discuss why boundaries make everything better (35:10). We also touch on how wine earned its pretentious reputation and why it’s cool to throw out the rules. 

More about Sunday School Wine

Website:

·         https://www.sundayschoolwine.com/

Socials:

·         https://www.facebook.com/sundayschoolwine

·         https://www.instagram.com/sundayschoolwine/

·         https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI116hCRTOJPfLqD9MlJOTg

In the news:

·         Wine Enthusiast: https://www.winemag.com/2020/10/07/best-budget-virtual-wine-education-programs/

·         Good Day Oregon: https://www.kptv.com/good_day_oregon/more/sunday-school-wine-makes-the-grade-for-local-wine-lovers/article_94159bec-ba0a-11e9-95ee-07cca22727c6.html

·         Haute Homebody: http://hautehomebody.com/date-night-portland-sunday-school-wine-class/

·         Oregon Wine History Archive: https://oregonwinehistoryarchive.org/interviews/mallory-smith-and-martin-skegg/

Managing Partners Season 2, Episode 1: 
Malcolm Hoover & Mirabai Collins, Black Futures Farm
 
To kick off season two, Jill and Jeff sit down with Mirabai Collins and Malcolm Hoover of Black Futures Farm. These two run a community farm in Portland that is dedicated to the movement toward food sovereignty for Black people (more on that in the links below). Along with running their farm in the pandemic, they also got married this year (in overalls, natch!).
 
Over virtual coffee, we discuss the value of love that grows over time (18:45); how trust can be hard to come by, but is critical to building something that matters (49:20); and why the men in our partnerships are SO much better at communicating their emotions (37:05). Also making cameos: Ratty ass sneakers, button-down shirts and Lauretta Jean’s pies.
 
More about Black Futures Farm:
Website: https://blackfutures.farm/
Social media:
https://www.instagram.com/blackfuturesfarm/
https://www.facebook.com/blackfoodpdx/
https://twitter.com/blackfoodpdx
Portland Monthly: “These Groups Are Bringing Black-Led Farming and Food Justice to Portland,” https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2020/07/these-groups-are-bringing-black-led-farming-and-food-justice-to-portland
Oregon Public Broadcasting, “A Portland farm seeks to restore Black people to the land,” https://www.opb.org/news/article/black-futures-farm-portland-agriculture-black-food-sovreignty/
East Portland News, “Black Futures Farm grows food, fosters community,” https://eastpdxnews.com/general-news-features/black-futures-farm-grows-food-fosters-community/
 
More about food sovereignty:
U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance: http://usfoodsovereigntyalliance.org/what-is-food-sovereignty/
Black Food Sovereignty Coalition: https://blackfoodnw.org/
National Black Food and Justice Alliance: https://www.blackfoodjustice.org/
#BHM: A Brief Look At The Importance of Black Food Sovereignty: https://whyhunger.org/category/blog/bhm-a-brief-look-at-the-importance-of-black-food-sovereignty/

Episode 8: Yoonjung Lee and Jesse Hammond, BindlePDX (https://www.bindlepdx.com/)

Jill and Jeff sit down with Yoonjung and Jesse, the brains behind BindlePDX, the local online presence connecting communities to local artisans and small businesses. Their goal? Making high-quality local products more accessible while reducing waste from on-demand deliveries. Topics include how Yoonjung and Jesse’s roles are divvied up (10:40); how a two-year-old plays into all of this, including the pace of getting things done and the demands of each other (13:15); is honesty - at home and in business - always best? (19:45); reminiscing on the first time they worked together and the challenges that popped up (24:05); why Jesse is comfortable disagreeing with Yoonjung (27:15); how they got together - spoiler: she wasn’t interested in him at first! (32:40); the fact that Yoonjung has a clear vision for how the world should be, and Jesse isn’t always so sure (36:40); how they execute despite their differences (41:10) and are boundaries being respected? (43:25)

Jill and Jeff sit down with Sachi and Lee LeFever, the co-founders of Common Craft, the originators of the (now) ubiquitous whiteboard explainer video. Despite massive success, they’ve remained small, a two-person shop – Lee’s book on the subject, “Big Enough,” was just released – and they couldn’t be happier. Topics include how having entrepreneurs as parents may have helped with navigating the early days, particularly the decision to stay small (10:48); why they’re playing a different game, why that’s OK and why an alarm clock doesn’t matter (21:50); why traveling with your partner – longer than two weeks – before going into business together is VITAL (24:58); where their love story began – Vegas, baby! – and a first date… with Mom?!? (31:50); Sachi’s unofficial title of CPP – Chief Party Pooper (38:33); is training necessary to do this? (44:45); and how much of our lives should we reveal? (55:45)

LEARN MORE

CommonCraft.com
"Big Enough" website: https://leelefever.com/bigenough

"Big Enough" trailer: https://youtu.be/FS7VyyPMJDI

Article about aphantasia, a condition Sachi has: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-the-minds-eye-is-blind1/

SUPPORT MANAGING PARTNERS

Sponsor us on Patreon:
patreon.com/cobafm
Follow us on social:
instagram.com/managingpartnerspdx
twitter.com/MPartnersPDX
facebook.com/managingpartnerspdx
linkedin.com/company/managing-partners-podcast

Jill and Jeff sit down with therapists Sheri and Tom Eckert. They run a counseling practice together. But they’re better known as the couple pushing for Oregon to legalize therapy using psilocybin, a.k.a. the hallucinogen found in “magic mushrooms.” Topics include how psychedelics got a bad rap (17:38), why Oregonians have the worst mental health (24:10), finding love later in life (43:30), and how Tom and Sheri can’t help using their therapy skills on each other (50:43).

LEARN MORE

Oregon psilocybin therapy initiative:

• yesonip34.org

Psilocybin in the news:

• “Johns Hopkins Scientists Give Psychedelics the Serious Treatment,” Scientific American
• “Scientists Rethink Psychedelics As Attitudes Change Toward Formerly Illicit Drugs,” Forbes
• "Why Doctors Are Turning to Psychedelics to Treat Depression and Addiction,” Men’s Journal
• “Turn On, Tune In, Cash In,” The New Republic
• “The Trip Treatment,” The New Yorker

SUPPORT MANAGING PARTNERS

Sponsor us on Patreon:

• patreon.com/cobafm

Follow us on social:

• instagram.com/managingpartnerspdx
• twitter.com/MPartnersPDX
• facebook.com/managingpartnerspdx

linkedin.com/company/managing-partners-podcast

Ep. 5: A conversation w/ Ayomide & Kian Nikzi
Ayo and Kian Nikzi of Portland Chocolate Laboratory join Jeff and Jill to talk shop. Literally, as in their Sellwood storefront Milieu, and figuratively, in fate calling their business into being. We touch on how the West ruined chocolate (28:58), why we all need some “woo” in our lives (37:41), and how running a business with your spouse lets you truly be yourself (47:31). Note: None of the statements in this podcast have been approved by the FDA (1:00).

If you'd like to support Managing Partners, visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/cobafm. 

Follow us on social:

• instagram.com/managingpartnerspdx
• twitter.com/MPartnersPDX
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Jill and Jeff chop it up with Trista Okel and Michele White of Empower BodyCare, a LGBTQ+ and woman-owned pioneer in the CBD industry. Topics include why “wife” can be a fraught term, how the cannabis business has changed in a short amount of time and, as always, the best part of being in business with your spouse. Oh, and another Tinder tale.

Jeff and Jill sit down with Genevieve and Dan Brazelton of The Bitter Housewife, a line of artisanal cocktail bitters. Topics include why the CEO is not the boss, finding security in scale, and the decision not to call their first product “Brazelton’s Particular Elixir.” Also that time their first big order ended up with whiskey in the heating vents.