A Big, Fat Valentine To Couple Entrepreneurs

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE AND WORK WITHOUT A NET?
 
Your business.
 
Your marriage.
 
Your life together.
 
Working with your spouse could be a make or break undertaking, fraught with peril--or possibly filled with reward.
 
Yes, my loyal friend, it's really happening.
 
For the last year or so, you've occasionally heard that the Fabulous Honey Parker and I are working on a project called CoupleCo.
 
In our business, we frequently find ourselves working with or otherwise surrounded by couple entrepreneurs who are shaking it up and making stuff happen in the 21st century.
 
And this project called CoupleCo is starting life as interviews with such couples in a podcast called, CoupleCo: Working With Your Spouse For Fun & Profit.
 
And, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, this nutty little project goes live tomorrow: Valentine's Day, 2018.
 
 
WE'RE KICKING OFF THE FUN BY FOCUSING ON ANOTHER HUSBAND & WIFE ADVERTISING AGENCY
 
Long before Slow Burn Marketing was born on a defensible ridge at 8,000 feet elevation outside beautiful Park City, Utah, there was Whitney Advertising.
 
With big ad-agency chops from their careers in New York and Los Angeles, Jim & Robin Whitney have spent 20 years plying their trade in Park City.
 
Yes, 20 years ago, back in the dial-up '90s, the Whitneys left the big city and moved to a dinky little town in Utah and opened an ad agency.
 
Park City has a population of 7,000.
 
They moved here because this is where Jim comes from.
 
They could have moved to where Robin came from: Cleveland.
 
 
A CITY OF 400,000 WOULD'VE PROVIDED A LOT MORE BUSINESS
 
But, they instead chose a little town surrounded by ski resorts and cows. (Yes, there are cows. Many of them graze on land that is luxury-resort adjacent.)
 
The Whitney's story is interesting, engaging, and a lot of fun--augmented by the fact that Robin Whitney is adorable and often speaks in sound bites. Jim is the handsome, low-key one who lays in wait. 
 
Together, they bring a lot of heart, laughter and insight.
 
But wait, there's more.
 
Because it doesn't stop there.
 
The first two episodes are the Whitneys.
 
Then, there's a couple who were profiled here in the screed back in November: Crystal and Ryan Waugh of Waugh Family Wines.
 
 
WE INTERVIEW THEM IN THEIR WINE CAVE IN SODA CANYON
 
Their winery narrowly escaped the devastation of the Napa Valley fires, and they were good enough to take us into the cave at their winery, serve samples of their  wines, and talk about the synergy that catapulted Ryan's micro-winery business--which began in a rented garage--into a micro-empire of in-demand and hard-to-get product sold to a nationwide customer base that is much like an extended family.
 
The Waughs appear in episodes three and four.
 
And then, for the third couple, it's back to Park City for an in-depth discussion with Trish and Jared McMillen of McMillen Galleries.
 
The McMillens used to be commercial photographers together in Vegas before moving to Park City and shifting their business model: they are now fine-art photographers.
 
When you consider the creative egos involved in a pursuit like shooting landscapes with a large-format view camera and turning them into enormous, wall-filling works of art, you have to ask yourself: How on earth can two artists work together as one? How do they not kill each other? How do they not have a marriage counselor on staff?
 
 
BUT THEY DO IT-AND THE RESULTS ARE STUNNING
 
You'll hear them talking about how they built this business using a style of creative cooperation that is useful not only for any married couple, but for any two people required to cooperate in a creative undertaking.
 
And, of course, as with Whitney and Waugh, there are plenty of laughs.
 
Every one of these interviews comes with a degree of fun and love that is refreshing and revealing.
 
These are passionate people who have merged their marriages and their businesses, meeting life on their own terms, and they are crushing it.

MARRIED OR NOT, YOU CAN BE A PART OF IT
 
Here at the screed, we rarely self-indulge in shameless plugs. 

This is one of those times. Lucky you. 
 
The goal here is to launch the podcast into the New & Noteworthy section of iTunes.
 
And the way that happens is when someone like you goes to iTunes and subscribes to the podcast.
 
Yes, the podcast is free, but you do need an iTunes account. If you did not know, you do not need an Apple device to have an iTunes account. iTunes also runs on Windows.
 
But why would you want to this?
 
Well, other than doing a small favor for your relentless screedmeister here, these first three interviews comprising the first six episodes of CoupleCo: Working With Your Spouse For Fun & Profit could be really interesting for you.
 
 
THE PODCAST OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES TOMORROW, VALENTINE'S DAY 2018
 
Symbolic, eh? 
You'll be getting a link in a special, Valentine's Day email tomorrow.
 
But why are we even doing this, and why iTunes?
 
We're doing this because it's a labor of love, and this is a market that is vastly underserved. There just aren't a lot resources available to folks who are willing to put their businesses and their marriages on the line in order to create a life that's the way they want it to be.
 
And iTunes is one of the easiest ways to reach people.
 
So, whether you're in business with your significant other or not, whether or not you plan to take your partner onto the wire without a net, join us for the fun.
 
Or just download it and pretend you listened. We won't check up on you. But we will be eternally grateful. 
As always,

Blaine Parker
Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in
Park City
www.slowburnmarketing.com