Business, Money and 10 Years of Marriage

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio

Clare: [00:00:00] Today marks our 10 Year wedding anniversary and I decided to invite my husband to come on the podcast to talk marriage, money, and being together for 10 years. We have no idea what we’re going to talk about in this episode, but I hope you enjoy.  

Clare: So, a big warm welcome back to the podcast my husband, Shannon Wood. 

Shannon: Thank you, it’s been a while.  

Clare: I know, I’ve had you on a few times, but it must be years since you’ve come on the podcast, right?  

Shannon: Has been, I think, yeah, I’ve only been on twice.  

Clare: It’s been a long time, It’s good to have you back. So, today is a very special day for us.  

Shannon: Yes. Our 10 year wedding anniversary. 

Clare: Yes. 10 long years  

Shannon: Long, I like how you emphasised the long. 

Clare: I thought that we could have a bit of a chat on the poddy about, running two businesses, parenting, all of the things. [00:01:00] So maybe if we start just because people probably haven’t listened to that episode when you first came on, what’s our story? Like how did we actually meet, get married, all of that? 

Shannon: You hit on me at a wedding.  

Clare: I hit on you?  

Shannon: Yeah.  

Clare: True. 

Shannon: And yeah, I think I was one of two single people there that you couldn’t resist. You threw yourself at me and we’d been on a couple of terrible dates from my end. And it was a bit dicey, but yeah, here we are.  

Clare: We moved in literally within six months of meeting each other. 

Shannon: And then married at 18 months, pregnant on the wedding. 

Clare: Literally within a month we were pregnant. And yeah, so we’ve been married 10 years today, but we’ve got a nine year old and we’ve also got our six year old as well. And we actually eloped, we didn’t tell anyone we’re getting married. 

It seems a bit weird to talk about it [00:02:00] now, but yeah, we went to Mexico and we were Googling places in the world where you could have a legal wedding outside of Australia. And we decided to go to Mexico and we’re actually renewing our vows this weekend. We’ve decided we are going to get the family and friends together. 

It’s not a huge event, but it should be really fun.  

Shannon: And just before our first child was born, I started my business which meant six weeks later you’re on maternity leave and people are like, so you’re going to go start a business, you’ve left a safe job and you’re going to go on maternity leave, and you live in Sydney, you’ve got a mortgage, a munchin on the way, just married. What the heck, are you guys crazy? And I guess we were like, yeah, I guess so but we’re doing it anyway. I thought it was now or never. Then, yeah, trying to stay in that life of working for someone else and not running a business. 

Clare: Yeah. And I think, at the time as well, I did have a stable corporate [00:03:00] job, paid job. I had my paid maternity leave. We didn’t know at that point in time, I was eight months pregnant when you started your business officially. We didn’t know that I would then get made redundant while I was on mat leave. 

And so basically we had, yeah, literally a baby, two baby businesses, no real help around. And yeah, we were just winging it, but that was yeah, over nine years ago. Yours was nine years ago. Mine’s coming up to nine years of starting a business.  

Shannon: It’s 10 years of April.  

Clare: So reflecting like now, what do you think have been the hardest times for us as business owners? 

Shannon: I don’t remember the dates, but I remember there was at the time, I had over a $100k owing to me. So the money was guaranteed. It was there, with business, it was all that [00:04:00] cash flow, they keep saying understand that the theory of it, but as a business owner, when it finally hits you it’s a real big learning curve. But yeah, I think just knowing that we had a lot of money owing to us, not just, this amount, but then there was others that were coming, but we still had all these bills and stuff piling up and yeah, that was tough.  

It was tough. And I think when we spoke to people, it was just like, go get a job, go get a job. And yeah, I don’t know. It was crazy loans out, like a 30 percent interest or something just to get through. And, But we knew we were good for it. 

We backed ourselves and, but yeah, I don’t know. That was from a business perspective. They were probably the hardest, but we came out of it and your business skyrocketed at the time. And that was just before maybe the year before COVID or something. Yeah,  

Clare: I think definitely, money stresses have been the most stressful. 

And I think that a lot of, with both of us being business owners, we don’t [00:05:00] have any sort of stability around it. It really is. Both of us with variable, completely variable incomes. And it’s been really different at different stages as well. There’s been times where your business is up and mine isn’t doing as well. 

There’s been times when mine’s been up and vice versa. There’s been times where we’ve really lent in either to my business. I know that I’ve spent a lot on coaches at various stages. You’ve hired team members, which again is a great way to scale the business, but sometimes they’re being non performers and it has, it’s been it’s been an interesting journey. 

So any lessons like reflecting now. On what would be some of your biggest? 

Shannon: Takeaways and stuff? Yeah, that’s one of those things you, I don’t know until what I don’t know. And looking back and, with even starting the business, it was exciting getting a logo done, doing the website, but like I’d never done any of that sort of stuff before and it seemed quite hard, but 

I know [00:06:00] now looking at it if I was going to do it all again, it just doesn’t seem that overwhelming. And it’s just those, and there’s still parts about this business even today I’ve just recently started doing a bit more on the offshoring space with the teams and, that’s all new and but yeah, things, I think it’d be very different if I hadn’t had the experience also of having other staff members that I’ve got under my belt already to do what I’m doing. 

So I think it would be much harder. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s, it looks like it doesn’t makes much sense, but yeah, just it’s the stuff that I don’t know. Once it’s done, you’ve done it and then you do it again, you do it again. It’s it just gets easier and easier. Putting yourself on camera, going on podcasts. 

Clare: Do you remember when I was first doing videos and I would just sit there and cry because I was so nervous about filming and you’d come in and you’d be like, have you been trying to film videos again? And similarly with my podcast, my first podcast episodes, They were just so stop, start. And now I just get on and talk.[00:07:00]  

Yeah, it gets easier, it does. Something that I would say that we’ve done really well as a couple. I don’t know if it’s something we’ve done consciously, but I think that we both have very similar money values. And something that I talk to a lot of business owners about, one person’s really, they have certain money goals and the other one doesn’t, or some people are really willing to lean into investments and other times their partner isn’t. 

Whereas I feel like you and I are both pretty similar minded when it comes to money. We’re both quite, what’s the word? Like open to risk.  

Shannon: Yeah, Risk averse.  

Clare: Doesn’t that mean you avoid risk.? Absolutely. Oh yeah. It’s the opposite of risk events. Yeah. And lot of times Shannon’s like I’m thinking of I’m thinking of going to Singapore for this event. I’m like, awesome, go for it. He’s hosted stands, he’s done all kinds of things and yeah, and I’m always like, go for it.  

And vice versa. I think you’re just so supportive of me in the business. Anything. When I’m saying [00:08:00] I’m feeling really called to this or I want to hire this person, you really are just so supportive and I’m very grateful for that. 

We’re grateful for that. Is there any areas that you think in relation to business or money that you think we haven’t been on the same page? 

Shannon: I don’t know. On the same breath, it’s hard sometimes when, like you’ve come to me and, I want to do this, want to do this. And you’re like, Oh, you’ve said this six times before. And you’re like, Oh, but, Trying to be, you’re so passionate, so excited about it. And it’s just stuff, some of those Oh, I’m not sure what’s going on. 

Oh,  

Clare: the biggest thing that springs to mind is Facebook ads. I think I have so many times I’ve said I’m really leaning into Facebook ads and for whatever reason, a lot of times it really just hasn’t come together as a strategy. But. Yeah. I still think that’s the thing, sometimes you have to keep trying things, doing it differently, as long as you’re not doing the same thing again, the same way, expecting a different outcome. 

Shannon: Yeah. [00:09:00] Yeah.  

Clare: Cool. So, let’s talk about love, on our 10 year wedding anniversary. What do you think have been the highlights of 10 years of marriage?  

Shannon: As much as I want to say travel and like kids, they’ve been the hardest but equally they’ve been some of the best moments. That’s family. 

And as that’s not really us, but yeah they’ve been probably some of the best. Yeah. I look back on all our holidays. Like we usually go overseas every year and I look back at some of those as some of the best memories.  

Clare: Yeah. I love that. Yeah, definitely overseas holidays feels like a real highlight. Any other big milestones that jump out? 

Shannon: We bought our first house together, that was really nice. We live on the Gold Coast and live on the water which was a huge thing for us. Great circle of friends and got lots of toys, but I think we’re quite connected and yeah we As you said, rowing in the same direction and in [00:10:00] terms of what we want in life and goals and let alone all the material stuff that that’s there. It’s yeah, it’s just nice to have someone on the same page. 

Clare: Yeah. And we do get along really well. Like for two people. To get some context, because we live in, as much as we’ve got our dream location, we do not have the dream house yet. So, we actually share an office and it’s a small office. It’s not a big office. It’s literally three meters by three meters and we’re in each other’s pockets a lot, but I don’t get sick of you. 

But seriously, we do, we love spending time together and yeah, definitely think that having similar goals, both being ambitious and being supportive of each other, it’s really really cool. And what would you say have been any if someone’s listening and maybe they’re new to marriage or in a new relationship, you got any tips for them? 

Shannon: The first thing that comes to mind is communication and compromise. Yeah, I guess if you’re single and it depends on, I find that you’re probably a little less [00:11:00] wanting to compromise these days on a lot of things where I think after being with someone for so long that you realize that you need to compromise and not on everything, not on all things, but just certain there needs to be some sort of give and take a little bit more. 

But that comes through communication as well. So now to talk about those things that’s important and why and really having the other person understand why that’s important.  

Clare: What’s the biggest thing you think you’ve compromised on? I’m like, what does that mean?  

Shannon: What does that mean? Geez,  

Clare: There’s something coming to mind. 

Shannon: Oh, there’s always things, there’s definitely things. I can’t think of right now. 

Clare: What about getting a dog? I know that’s something that you really want at the moment.  

Shannon: No, like I’m happy to wait and said I wasn’t going to bring it up for a year or two. 

Clare: Yeah, I definitely think communication is such a big thing and I do think as well, like having the same goals, I think it’s obviously it’s great for [00:12:00] people to have individual goals. You don’t want to have everything’s all together. But I do think that overarching as a couple, as a family unit that you are heading in the same direction, because if you don’t want the same thing, so yeah, I can imagine that would pose some major challenges. 

Yeah, those are the key things that I randomly thought that we could chat about. Is there anything else that you want to ask or add, anything random?  

Shannon: How do you find balancing being business woman and being a Mum and wife? And, you’re also President of another association as well. And, you’ve got all these balls in the air and how do you go about doing all that? And what’s your advice to other people?  

Clare: See, I actually got asked this at a conference last week. And the truth is that I don’t, I feel a lot of the time, like I’m actually failing in certain areas, to be completely honest. 

I feel like one area, like marriage might be going [00:13:00] really well and we’re going on heaps of dates and we’re spending lots of time together. And then, our business isn’t going so well or usually the biggest area I think that we are struggling with at the moment is the kids truthfully. 

Like parenthood is, I think this stage of life, I wasn’t expecting how hard it would be. The kids are out of that baby stage, but now they’ve got emotions and feelings and try to navigate through that. But look, I think the biggest thing that I do really well, is that I always look after me first and my gym making sure that I have my time with my friends and that I get to have, trips away and space and things like that and I’ve always prioritized that. And actually, do you know who modelled that to me? It was you. 

Shannon: I knew that was coming, but yeah. 

Clare: I’m not saying in a backhanded way, but I think it something when the kids were younger was that Shannon play squash three times a week. He’s a really good squash player and he would never miss squash. 

Like when I had our second child, what did you take off? [00:14:00]  

Shannon: Two weeks. 

Clare: Two weeks. He still talks about it. And he’s six years. He’s only seven years old in two weeks. You’ve always just said this is, no, this is my time. Because everyone’s like, how’s he so calm? And I said, because he takes his time. He goes and has his squash and you’re gone for a couple of hours at a time. 

Whereas I think with me, what I used to always do was that if the kids were having a meltdown or someone was sick, I’d miss my training. I would skip things. I’d be like, don’t worry about it. I won’t do it. And I wouldn’t prioritize myself. And then I’d end up being resentful towards Shannon. He’s like hey, I didn’t tell you to miss it. 

You’re the one who decided to, and then you’re getting cranky at me. So, I started to just be like, no, like I do my things. I prioritize looking after myself. And I think that this is a big thing for anyone is when you look after yourself, the other things tend to come together. And like with my volunteer role, another big thing, I’ve got a really big boundary around it. 

It’s, I am giving in that space from overflow. I’m not depleting [00:15:00] myself. And I know that some of the other parties can really struggle with that because they’re like, you’ve got to do this thing. And I’m like, I’ll do that thing when I have the capacity and the bandwidth to do it. And I think that actually looking after myself in every different area with business, with, the kids, everything, I think that’s, yeah, helps to keep the ship afloat. 

Shannon: What do you think’s the biggest challenge running a household financially being a business owner?  

Clare: Oh my gosh. I’d say the instability with income. I think that’s probably been the most challenging thing to navigate through. I am obviously, I’m an accountant, I’m a numbers gal, but when you don’t know what’s coming in, that is really hard. 

I think trying to just plan. And so many times I think that we’ve glorified and thought, Oh my gosh, how much easier would it be if you just knew this much was coming in every week. Just trying to navigate through. And, we’ve also got two businesses that aren’t [00:16:00] particularly predictable in terms of income. 

Shannon’s business is very like lumpy, your income. And because mine, mine used to be a lot more, because I used to have mostly private coaching and stability, and now I’ve moved more to a launch model. So, there’s a lot of instability around, how much money is it going to be? How is this launch going to go? 

How yeah, how’s business going to grow for the month? So trying to forecast can be really challenging, but. Yeah. We make it work and make it work.  

Shannon: And for anyone that’s out there that’s single, what’s your number one marriage tip?  

Clare: Oh my gosh. What’s my number one marriage tip? 

I think a big thing, if you’re single is look at someone’s values. I think that I used to be very, I know when I was single, I had a checkbox of things that I thought that I was looking for, but at the end of the day, like 10 years into marriage, I think that like chemistry, like spark is such a big thing. 

And I think that common goals and communication, like being able to get along well I think that those [00:17:00] actually things that are going to set you up for a lot more longevity in our relationship than, ticking a box. I often joke to Shannon about how different life would be if we’re, if we’re in a really different financial situation, but in all seriousness, like I wouldn’t give up our connection or our marriage for all the money in the world, because I think, you can have all the, you can be a billionaire, but if you’re not ultimately happy and connected, you’re going to feel really lonely. 

Yeah, that’s good. Yeah. I don’t think there’s anything further to add here, it’s good having you back on the podcast. Yeah. I have to do it more often. I hope you enjoyed this special episode of the podcast celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary and look forward to chatting to you again next week.

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio