Built Not Born Podcast · 22 September 2023
Our First Ever Podcast: Running a Business Together as Husband and Wife
Chris and Helen Butler introduce the Mr & Mrs In Business podcast and share an honest look at working together as a married couple, including arguments, different working styles and the realities of business ownership.
Episode guide
About this episode
This first episode of the Mr & Mrs In Business podcast introduces Chris and Helen Butler and the reason they decided to start talking publicly about life behind the scenes of business ownership. Rather than presenting a polished version of entrepreneurship, they wanted to share what it actually feels like to run businesses together while also being husband and wife and raising a family.
Chris and Helen look back at the very different routes that brought them into business. Helen talks about studying fashion design, working as an international fashion designer, travelling to China to oversee production and later creating her own fashion label. Chris describes a broader career across design, photography, recruitment, resource management and national contract management before moving into his own businesses, including Hashtag CV and later working with Helen.
A large part of the conversation focuses on working together as a married couple. They are open about disagreements, different approaches to organisation and decision-making, and the challenge of having private arguments when colleagues or customers are nearby. At the same time, they recognise that their contrasting experience and personalities can help them reach stronger decisions when they are willing to understand each other's point of view.
The episode also explores the reality of owning a business compared with working for somebody else. Chris reflects on how different the pressure feels when the money, responsibility and decisions are your own, without internal departments to fall back on. Helen talks about how difficult it can be for friends and family to fully understand the demands of running a business, even when they are supportive.
For Chris and Helen, that sense of shared experience is one of the reasons for creating the podcast. They want it to be an honest conversation about the good days, difficult periods, family pressures, working relationships and the roller coaster of building a business. Their aim is less about presenting themselves as experts and more about making other business owners feel that they are not the only ones figuring things out as they go.
Key takeaways
What you'll learn
- Running a business with your spouse can blur the boundaries between work, home and family life, so learning how to leave disagreements at work matters.
- Different working styles can create friction, but they can also become a strength when both people recognise the value in the other's perspective.
- Business ownership often feels very different from managing within somebody else's company because the responsibility, risk and decisions ultimately sit with you.
- The highs and lows of running a business can happen quickly, from landing an exciting piece of work to immediately facing the pressure of delivering it well.
- Having other business owners around you can make entrepreneurship feel less isolating because they understand pressures that friends and family may find difficult to relate to.
Questions from this episode
Frequently asked questions
What is it like running a business with your spouse?
Chris and Helen describe it as a mixture of strong teamwork and inevitable friction. They have different working styles and sometimes disagree, but they also believe those differences can improve decisions when they listen to each other's perspective.
How do Chris and Helen handle work disagreements as a married couple?
They say they are generally good at leaving work disagreements at work rather than carrying them home. They also talk openly about the awkward reality of trying to keep an argument private when colleagues, customers or family are nearby.
Why did Chris and Helen start the Mr & Mrs In Business podcast?
They wanted to share an honest behind-the-scenes view of running businesses together while also being husband and wife and parents, including both the positive moments and the difficult parts of business ownership.
Why can running a business feel lonely?
Helen and Chris explain that supportive friends and family may still find it difficult to understand the pressure of business ownership if they have not experienced it themselves. They value meeting other business owners who understand the same challenges.