I love February because everyone starts thinking about love, romance, and couples. The focus on relationships also gets me thinking about all the times people have asked me how I can work with my husband every day. They have this idea that it's really hard to work together as a married couple - and that can be true if you don't love your job, or you aren't on the same page.
Tarek and I have been lucky enough to have the same dreams and goals throughout our working and romantic relationship, but we have certainly had our moments. So how do we make it work? It all starts with defining what we're doing and keeping perspective.
Two hearts, two minds
Tarek and I actually met in a real estate office, so we started working together before we began dating. Back in those days, we were both real estate agents, so we didn't work together on all of our sales.
Over the next couple of years we married, started building up our business, and had our first child. It was a priority to get a grasp on how to work together and still like each other at the end of the day. In the beginning, we definitely had a few issues figuring out who would do what and how to use our skills together.
For example, we wouldn't split the work up as much as we do now. I remember standing next to Tarek at more than one auction, as we bid together on properties. While we love working together, it doesn't make sense all the time. We realized that even though we are a unit, we don't have to function as a single person.
Going everywhere together and making every single decision together negates the advantage of having two people. Nowadays, while one of us is bidding on a property, the other will be checking out new leads or talking to our contractors.
As we started doing more flips and having multiple projects going at the same time, our to-do list grew. We learned very quickly that we needed to divide and conquer in order to run our business successfully.
Priorities and perspective
Shopping trips turn taking care of business into a fun family outing.
Setting goals is super important. That's something that absolutely has to be done together. From there, things can be broken down into smaller goals and tasks.
We plan long-term goals for the year, and then figure out what’s achievable in the short term. It then becomes easier to assign tasks that work toward those goals.
Having our separate tasks for the day, and checking in with calls and texts, allows us to be more productive, have a bit of time to ourselves, and not risk feeling smothered.
We do collaborate on some areas, though. We usually shop for materials together because it's good to have a couple of different perspectives on cost and styles. Plus, it gives us a chance to hang out together while we're working, which we enjoy.
We both know that we'll make mistakes. We've been investing in real estate for a long time, we have a great track record, and we have a solid system for flipping houses. But with any project, there a ton of decisions to make.
In hindsight, there is always room to question the amount of a bid, or what we spent on flooring, fixtures, or landscaping. We learn to move on, though, and leave the past in the past. Needling each other or bringing up shortcomings wouldn't be great for our business or our relationship.
We really do respect each other and our unique strengths. That makes it easier to overcome inevitable disagreements.
Where does the business end and marriage begin? Maintaining a distinction between work life and home life - especially since we sometimes work from home - is tricky, but it's always worth it.
We can have a difference of opinion that seems like a pretty big deal. But when we finish for the day and go home to our daughter Taylor and new baby Brayden, we remember that we do it all for them. We might've started our real estate careers to make money, but now we do everything with their future in mind.
How we manage it all
It would be easy to let our work totally seep into every other area of our lives. We have a business, we film a TV show, and we’re working on a book. We also spend a considerable amount of time mentoring and coaching students so they can benefit from our experience and avoid common pitfalls.
Complete separation would be extremely hard to achieve. I just strive for balance. Making sure the business is integrated in our lives the best way it can is important.
A huge benefit of working for ourselves is that I can be fairly flexible and spend a lot of time with our children. They are the priority, and I try to schedule things around them. Especially since Brayden was born, I've become even stricter about time. Quitting time is at 4 p.m. I'm home by 4:30, and the phone is off.
Spending time with family is incredibly important to me. I love to take Taylor for a girls' day mani-pedi. I look forward to date night with Tarek. Getting dressed up and going out is a break mentally and physically from the week's work. But even making a date to stay at home and enjoy a glass of champagne is a treat.
I also keep in mind that I'm a sister, daughter, and friend as well. Devoting time to all of the important relationships in my life keeps things in perspective.
We do everything for our family
All in all, Tarek and I always know that we're working hard to provide a happy home and bright future for our kids. We have shared interests and complementary strengths that help us work well together on all of our projects.
If you keep the important stuff in perspective, working together can be a real dream come true, like it is for Tarek and me.
Related:
- The Highs and Lows of Flipping Houses
- How I Prepare for the Holidays
- Starting From Scratch: Building a Real Estate Career From the Ground Up
from Zillow Porchlight | Real Estate News, Advice and Inspiration http://www.zillow.com/blog/working-together-every-day-192619/
via Reveeo
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