People tell us quite often that they could never work with their spouse the way that Jeff and I do. They would kill each other, they say (usually laughing). While I understand where their comments are stemming from, I feel lucky that I don’t feel the same way. Jeff and I work together which means that we spend an unbelievable amount of time together, and we like it that way.
We like it, because we’re good at it.
When Jeff and I put our heads together, we can conquer mountains (or at least a wedding party with fourteen groomsmen). But the only reason we can conquer anything at all is because our strengths are so vastly different from each other.
Jeff is the dreamer, the visionary, and the idea man. He looks ahead, tells us where we need to go, and pulls us forward.
Then I make it happen. He gives me the framework, the plans, and the design, and I build it. I see the problems, he finds the solutions. I put them in place, and he pushes us forward. I’m in my head, he’s in his heart. He processes out loud to the world, while I process in the solitude of my mind.
And it works, because in so many ways we’re nothing alike.
It also works because we respect the fact that we cannot do what the other person can do. Or at least, we recognize that we would be terrible at what the other person does. I mean, if Jeff and I weren’t doing this together, there is no way that I would be an entrepreneur, because I’m not the kind of girl to jump into the vast unknown. Tell me to dream up a solution out of nothing, and I’ll crumble. But tell Jeff to organize a messy system, and he’ll peace out.
Instead, I’m the kind of girl that will only follow those I trust, and then I will help them get to where they want to go. And Jeff is the kind of guy that asks those he trusts to follow his lead, and he will pull them into their greatness.
He dreams. I execute. And together, we’re strong.
I see this in our couples too. They’re always so different from each other, and the strong couples are the ones that know the ways in which they are different from each other. The powerful couples, though, not only know how they are different, but they embrace it and they practice it.
Hugs,
Erin