Love Marriage and Money - Building a Business with Your Spouse - Shannon Badger

This is the Beyond the Story podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian Rusk Hey, thanks for being here. Appreciate you taking some time out of your busy day to hang out with me for a few minutes. I know that we connected to the great Dan Martell's elite coaching and our friends, Kyle and Carl over at OnSpark. Shout out to them for connecting us here. So love podcasting. This is why podcasting is so powerful and exciting. Cause you get to meet new, amazing human beings and have cool conversations in the midst of creating content and D all of the above. So, uh, looking forward to our conversation here. So I love telling people's stories on this, this, this podcast, hence the name beyond the story. And I always like going back for context purposes for our listeners, like going back to the beginning of the story. Now, the beginning is different for everyone. So you decide where that marker is for you, but take a few minutes and bring us back to the beginning of the story where it all started. What really, and what really brought you Sure. Um, so it was, uh, back in 2014. So my husband, I both had, um, corporate roles at the time and we were expecting our third child. And honestly, a lot of the motivation was wanting more flexibility over schedule and ability to hang out with my kids. So I had three boys under the age of three and I had some, I'd been kind of side hustling a few clients, like doing some fractional controller work and, um, some consulting and just decided I wanted to pursue that full time. And my husband had. I've gotten a really great job opportunity as a CFO for energy company. And so as a family, it just was like a good time for me to jump. And so I quit my full-time job, went and did that. And then about six months in, there was clearly like a need in the market for what we were doing. And so my husband actually left his job and then joined me. And so 2015 was really our first year of like hanging up our own shingle. We sent out like a friends and family letter of like, we're starting our own firm. This is what we're going to be doing. If you know anybody, We still have the letter framed in our office. And it's like, so hilarious to look back because we're like, Oh my gosh, that's like when it all started, just like our mass mailer, like, and we were doing everything we're doing, like tax return and sales tax, bookkeeping, CFO, all the things. And so and then we had a good friend of ours that joined us pretty early on about six months in Crystal, who's now our CEO. And so the three partners in our firm, like we've been building this together for a long time, you know, so going on 12 years this summer. And, um, it's been a wild ride. It's a lot of fun. So that was inflection point one inflection point two is definitely two years in where things were just. Very, very challenging and like, um, and working together with your spouse brings other challenges. And so that for us was really the moment where we're like, we're either going to stop doing this because it's too much trust at home and it's creating, you know, issues with our marriage. And we always felt like our Our marriage and our family has got to be the number one important thing. And so if we couldn't figure it out, but that was really like that dip before things really took off was about two years in. And then, so for us, that was kind of inflection point too. And really from then on, it just exploded. And I think once you get past that 1 million revenue mark and you can really hire some real great support, it makes a huge difference. So we were kind of like around the corner from the breakthrough. We just hadn't, we Yeah. So what did that look like though? What does that look like though? Because I, and I'm not, I'm not a married guy, but I can only, I can, I can only imagine that doing business. And I know a lot of married couples that have businesses together as well. And being able to draw that line in the sand, especially when you got to that two year Mark, where you're like, wait a second, this is really causing some, some, some trouble on the home front on here. What did you guys decide to do to navigate through that? Um, well, one is a couple, I think it's being in alignment that your, your options are really that you're going to choose to be, happily married or unhappily married. And that's kind of what the reality for us was. And then being really realistic and able to have vulnerable conversations with each other about what's causing the conflict and trying to get on the same page. And with any business partnership, you need to be on the same page with your partner. And the reality is at the beginning, there's just so much chaos and so much that you don't know that being on the same page around vision and processes and hiring and all these things They're just, they're tools that you don't have in your tool belt yet. When you're a new entrepreneur, like new baby entrepreneur, you know, you probably have 20 skills you need that you're trying to learn and you're trying to read and digest, but you just don't have them yet. So a lot of it was being in alignment on what are the most important things, and then finally getting alignment around like, what's the vision for the company and what are the things that we need to do to be successful and really getting serious about like annual planning and quarterly planning. We got into a CPA firm coaching program at the time. And so his name is Robin Nixon and he was very instrumental in getting us on a plan around like execution and moving forward in the same direction. You know, it's like having two partners in a rowboat that are like not going the same way. So you're just spinning in a circle and then you're frustrated because you're spinning in a circle. You know, that's how it felt. And so once we got an alignment on the page, it just started moving forward. And then also we implemented EOS, the EOS framework. There's a book called Rocket Fuel, but it talks about the differences between like a visionary and integrator. And so that was a light bulb moment for us. My husband's very much like a visionary and I'm an integrator. So I'm very much like a- Powerful combo. Execute the plan and stop changing the plan. Like we have a plan, we're executing a plan. And then my husband's like ideas all over the place. Very creative, like very good, like creative problem solver and like kind of challenging status quo. I think once we got a handle on that, it gave us more respect and understanding for each other's gifts and that they were different, but they were both like very necessary for the business. So like I started to have a better understanding about the creativity and the vision and why it was so important. And he also, I think, had more respect for like execution and integrator and like what I do. And so once we had all that worked out, I think, you know, moving forward and we still like once in a while, you'll still have some tension, like where maybe we don't agree, but Um, we're very much like on a page now and it's been really a blessing. Like now we love working together. It's been great. Um, who just have this full integrated life where we get to live out this great purpose and like raise our kiddos together and build this business with great team members together. Now it's awesome, Well, yeah, you had to hire the marriage slash business Well, and counseling. I'm like, I'm a huge, we're very like pro counseling too. It's like, man, personal, I think that owning a business and you know this, but like anything or like, I would say trauma or issues or things that you have, like when you're running a company, it's all going to come out. Cause it's just a level of stress that you're dealing with. Like, like you're like, Oh, I'm a really impatient person. Or I'm like, you know, triggered by these things, or I have this like, I'm not good enough loop that I need to like, deal with. And I think you just realize as you're going so huge fan of like, doing your own work. So you can like be healthy and stable for your team and be a better leader. And I think leaders, like the organization will not outgrow like the leaders growth. And so it's like, if you're not serious about investing in your own growth and journey, and just acknowledging that you're not perfect, and that's okay, like, let's get better. So I think when John and I both were like, we're going to get better individually, we're going to get better together, like with a counselor. Those are just disciplines I think business owners But it's a decision you guys had to make to say, you know what, choice, right? Choice is a very powerful thing in this lifetime. And you guys had to make a decision to say, Hey, listen, there's a couple, there's a couple of things that we need to make a decision on and a choice on for the better for, for all fronts to, for all right. for this to fire on all cylinders on there. And if you're listening to this, think about that for a second, because if you're at odds with a business partner, your life partner, your spouse, whatever it is, and you're in business with them, just remember, the only way to navigate through this is to make a decision that we're going to make this work and we're going to stick this out and we're going to bring on someone and tools and resources and people that are going to help us better understand what we don't know that we don't know. I love that. And that's a true testament to putting in the work. And now here you guys are, what, a decade later, really living the life and business dream that you guys initially set out to do. So that's fantastic. What would you say the best part about running your Gosh, it's a great question. The top of mind for me is really just the people I get to build it with on a daily basis. And I love client service and I love our clients. So don't get me wrong. Cause I think that's like the heart of why you get into public accounting in the first place is just, you love to serve. But, but like our team is so phenomenal that you get to wake up every day and just work with these great professionals that want to do great work and build something meaningful and cool. They're always trying to find a better way to do it, make it better, serve the client better. It makes work just a very fulfilling, fun game to play. You know, my husband and I say, we're like, we love this game and it's just, it's fun. It's creative, there's high accountability, there's high risk, high reward, and it's just, it's a great game to be playing. If you're recruiting and hiring the right people, and you find a way to create an environment that helps keep everybody engaged and moving in the same direction, like, it's just a blast. And yeah, there's hard things, like it happens, but I think over time, the more reps you get, like you just get used to, you know, you can navigate them and you'll, you'll get through that. But it's just very rewarding. And we have, we just have a great team. They're, they're a Yeah. Do you, do you share the same thought process that, you know, you, you work for your team, your team doesn't work for Oh yeah. I mean the, you have to be a service oriented leader. Like really my role is to like remove the barriers for the team so that they can be successful in what they're trying to do. Like, um, do their job. Yes. And make sure like the, the, we're bringing in the right clients so that they can thrive and do good things. And, and your role really becomes like, like more of a role of service. And yeah, there's guidance and there's vision to that, but it's like, they're not here to serve me. Like we're here to serve them and make sure that they have the resources to be successful, right? And yeah, there's a give and take and we have expectations and we have a high bar here. But I also think like people want to do great work. They want to know what mining looks like. They want to work at a high level. Most people are trying to come to work and bring their best selves. So we need to give them the Love that. Well, this is a, friends, if you're listening to this right now and you're looking for the framework for company culture, a successful business, and how to work with your spouse and not wring their neck on a daily basis, well, this episode is for you. Shannon, I'm really inspired by you guys' story and the success that you guys have had, and you're clearly up to something great in doing work that matters. I love that you're focused on your culture, the culture, that's a big Dan Martell thing, build the people and the people build the company. I'm a firm, firm believer in that. Why? Because it works. So wishing you guys ongoing success, keep rocking and rolling and continuing to build and do the work that fills your cup on a daily basis. I know that we're going to be having another conversation next week, speaking a podcast. So I'm excited to meet John and chat about what that looks like, but I sure appreciate you taking some time out of your day to hang out with me for I think you hit on something earlier that's really important, but when you talk about the choice and choosing, and I think as a business owner, getting to a place where it's adoption, but in his book for his boundaries for leaders, but it's like, you're ridiculously in charge. And so I think getting to that place where you have agency over what you're building, it's not like all these things are just happening to you. So it's like, I do have control over how we hire and recruit. And I do have control over what clients I bring in the door and, and they're just, there's this grand vision that you can actually have the freedom to build and create. And so just kind of trying to get out of that victim mentality, like all the craziness is happening to me. And it's like having conviction and like, what do you want to build? And it is a choice. It's a choice to get the right coaching, the right counselors, the right team members, like do the hard things. But if you're willing to step into that danger zone and really take control over Hey, no risk, no reward. Love that, Shannon. Hey, thanks again for your time. It's my pleasure. Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story podcast. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. We sure do appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, Launchlab.com Studios.