#028: Marriage & Entrepreneurship

Words I Believe: A successful marriage, like a successful business, isn’t built on luck. It’s built on consistency, communication, and commitment to growth.

Marriage and Entrepreneurship

This week, October 22nd, marks my 9-year wedding anniversary. But before I share what marriage and entrepreneurship have taught me, I have to tell you how it all began.

The Wendy’s Run That Changed Everything

It was the summer before my senior year of high school. I was in New Orleans, spending time with my cousin, and that night we were having a girls’ sleepover.

At some point, we all got hungry. Like, really hungry.
We started craving Wendy’s fries and a chocolate Frosty.

None of us had a car, but my cousin said she knew someone who did.
So she called him and asked if he could take us.

Being a gentleman, he said yes.

About 30 minutes later, we stepped outside, and that’s when it happened.

The teenage boy looked at me for the very first time and said,

“You’re going to be my wife one day.”

I remember staring at him like he’d lost his mind. I laughed it off. I didn’t know him. Never met him before.

But he meant it.

We became friends. Two years later, we started dating.
And today—17 years later—we’ve been married for 9.

That one spontaneous Wendy’s run led to a life full of lessons about love, partnership, and purpose.

5 Lessons Marriage Taught Me About Entrepreneurship

If I’m being honest, marriage and entrepreneurship have a lot in common.
They’re both beautiful and messy. Exciting and exhausting. Rewarding and refining.

Here are the lessons I’ve learned over 17 years together and 9 years married: 

1. Communication isn’t optional
The same way a relationship fails when communication breaks down, your business will too.
You can’t lead a team, serve clients, or scale without learning how to speak clearly, listen deeply, and handle tough conversations with grace.

There have been days when my husband and I weren’t on the same page, and it created confusion. The same is true for business partnerships, clients, and teams. Communication creates clarity, and clarity builds connection.

2. Know when to lead and when to listen
Early in our marriage, I thought I had to do it all. Make the decisions, control the outcomes, keep everything running smoothly. But partnership means balance. Some seasons, I lead. Other seasons, I follow.

In business, that means trusting others to bring their strengths forward. You don’t always have to have the answers. Sometimes, your job is to listen.

3. Respect each other’s dreams
My husband and I have completely different goals. He loves the physical grind of entrepreneurship—trucks, contracts, construction. I love the creative and strategic side—coaching, systems, people.

For years, we tried to pull each other into our world. But once we started respecting each other’s individual lanes, everything shifted.

The same applies in business: stop forcing your goals to look like someone else’s. Build the version of success that’s right for you.

4. Celebrate progress, not perfection
Marriage and business both require patience. In our first few years, I used to measure our relationship by milestones; anniversaries, vacations, the next big thing.

But what makes it last isn’t the milestones. It’s the daily moments. The conversations after hard days. The laughter over takeout. The evening walks around our neighborhood. The grace we give each other when things aren’t perfect.

In business, perfectionism will paralyze you. Learn to celebrate progress instead. Every client, every lesson, every step forward matters.

5. Never stop dating your business (or your spouse)
In marriage, you can’t just say “I love you” once and expect it to last. You have to keep showing up. You have to stay curious about the person you chose.

The same goes for your business. You have to keep exploring, experimenting, and falling back in love with what you do.

That’s how you sustain passion, in love and in purpose.

Bonus Lesson: Be careful who you get advice from

Over the years, I’ve learned that not everyone’s advice is meant for you.

In marriage, people love to give their opinions. The same goes for business. But you have to filter advice through the lens of your own values and vision.

There were times I took advice that led me off track; not because it was bad advice, but because it wasn’t mine to follow.

The truth is, you can’t take direction from people who don’t share your destination.

Ready to build a business that feels like a partnership again?

If your business has started to feel more like pressure than purpose, it’s time to realign.

Book a 1-hour strategy session with me, and we’ll refine your systems, messaging, and model so your business supports your life instead of consuming it.

This is your reminder that you can create something that loves you back.

With gratitude and love,
Valincia

P.S. If you want to book a session but have questions before you do, just hit reply to this email. I’ll personally respond and help you decide if it’s the right next step for you.