Married to the Boss: Part 2

Written By Kelli Sexton,
CEO of Rockton Software

Not everyone has the benefit of working with their life partner; not everyone has skills that mesh together in work as at home. I am blessed to have a partner, in every sense of the word, joined in business and in life. I am the big picture person; Mark is all about the details. Mark likes being center-stage; I like being behind the scenes or happily planted in the audience.

Mark and I have long history together: we have been married for 19 years, are in the process of raising 4 kids, have built or remodeled 6 houses, and have run our own business for 13 years. Our lives are intertwined in ways that few people can relate. I won’t say that it has been easy, but it has been rich and rewarding.

There are many benefits in having the same person be both a life partner and a business partner: we get to travel together on business, we know the same people from work, we share the same inside jokes, we know how each other’s day has gone, and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses (in other words, what we can pawn off on the other person). These are the more obvious benefits.

The more subtle perks include getting to see my husband at his best. I hear him take complex technical information and bring it down to layman’s terms for both myself and other team members. I see the care and concern he has for our employees and our customers. I see him going the extra mile to meet a deadline that he committed to. I see him give inspiring messages to our team. I see him trying his best – always.

Another benefit that others may not realize is that it does get lonely at the top. When all the key, strategic decisions are made by you . . . it is really nice to be able to bounce them off someone else equally vested in the outcome. Mark and I usually don’t come into a conversation ready to agree on a decision, and occasionally the conversations get heated. But in the end, we always leave knowing we made the best decision given the circumstances and information available.

At work and in life, I am blessed to have synergy with my partner. Individually, our skills have their limitations, but together we are a dynamic duo.

Check out Married to the Boss: Part 1 written by Mark Rockwell, President of Rockton Software.