The question I always get asked when I share that I work from home with Alex is, “What’s it like to work with your husband?!” Let me tell you, it’s not what you think.
First and foremost, it’s the best. I would much rather work with my husband every single day than work anywhere else with anyone else. He’s my best friend. So it’s great to have someone who knows me so well and I enjoy to be around. Plus I can wear whatever I want which is a nice bonus.
Beyond the mushy, “I love him” stuff it’s really simple. We are completely different in so many way that it works in our favor to get stuff done. I like to work in quiet either in bed or within eyesight of bed, while Alex is the exact opposite. He needs a designated space, as much music and coffee as possible, and room to brainstorm. I also tend to be more of a details person and he’s all about the big picture. We’re just so different, and it works.
And to be honest, we really don’t see each other that often during the work day. We message each other over the internet with questions, projects, and other information, but more times than not we’re doing our own thing. We usually meet up over lunch or dinner, but keep to our projects and to do lists.
We also keep our job tasks quite separate from each other. We both have things we’re very good at, and things we’re awful at. So the job roles were pretty easy to define and stick with.
I think that’s why we’re so successful. We understand our vast working differences, and don’t hover over each other. We let each other do our own thing because that’s what has worked for us so far. I also don’t think working with your significant other is for everyone. We sometimes do get short with each other, but we try our best to not let that flow into our relationship outside of work. It’s important to have that separation because if you don’t, it’s hard to see where your relationship ends and work life begins.
Over the past two weeks I attended the Chicago Planner Conference and PlannerCon 2018 in San Francisco. Back to back conferences proved to be quite a lot to handle while trying to build inventory for or vendor booths, prepare for our workshops, and speak on panels. But I’ve come out on the other side (
with vlogs to show our adventures) and I feel like things are definitely different.
I’ve been to planner conferences in the past, but these left me feeling a mix of motivation and fear. After every speaker I became more aware of the fact that my business needs to change. For years I’ve been happy maintaining what I built in 2014 without much variety or advancement. But I can’t keep continuing like this and expect my business to sustain itself without any effort on my end. That’s a scary thought to have while everyone around me flashed smiles and gabbed about what was in their swag bags.
So I started to make lists. To figure out what I needed to do to keep Oh, Hello running and growing. Alex and I talked for hours on car rides, plane rides, and continue to dig deeper into the business now that we’ve made it home. We stopped taking risks. And now we’re gearing up to take more than we ever have before. We have two big ideas that began growing in our minds thanks to these two conferences.
We’re going to expand. We’re going to hire employees and take ourselves even more seriously. We’re going to double down on our new traveler’s notebooks since they’re something we created completely on our own. We’re going to delegate. We’re going to wake up early. We’re going to spend more money in the hopes to make more money. We’re going to accept that it’s ok if everything comes crashing down in a year, because it’s better than watching the ship sink slowly.
And we’re also going to start a planning magazine. Now you’re hearing it first and this idea is about a week old at this point. But it’s a void in the community that I think we have some amazing ideas to help fill it. Think tangible magazine/subscription/swag box all rolled into one. We’ve picked a name and snagged up the social media for it (
here’s the completely empty Instagram if you’re curious). Now to find a team (email me at
[email protected] if you have any design experience) and start turning some crazy ideas into something real.
This blog has been a bit quiet as I’ve come to terms with the twisty-turny road we’ve decided to take. But I’m excited to share the uncertain journey with you. Even if it’s to document the failures as well as the successes. So let me know if you want more of something in particular as we head down this road. I’m more than happy to go into specifics. Because it’s annoying to hear about people’s journey without tangible steps on how you can trek down a similar road too.
So yeah. Here it all is. The scary truth and a promise to try despite the fear and potential of failure. Two big ideas that I can’t wait to tackle.
