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SHE Says: Why We Are Writing This
HE Says: Why We Are Writing This!
We wrote this blog for two reasons. First, to honor God. In fact, everything is done “First, to honor God.” (Colossians 3:17) If you have not figured that out yet, you are going to have a really long journey. Like Moses, around the mountain a few times until you get to the edge of the Promised Land. Second, we want to share with you what we have learned. Of all the things we have learned in the last 15 years of running a business, the most important has been how to work together as a couple. We would like now to partner with you – hopefully with less pain.
Yes, our road was painful. Yours will be too – get used to it. Starting and running a business is a struggle. Numerous obstacles exist that you must overcome. Not everyone wants you to succeed (remember competitors?). Nevertheless, God wants you to succeed. After all, He gave you the gifts you have and the talents you will employ to make your business a success.
If God gave you these gifts, He must have thought they were sufficient for your contribution to the business. In addition, God believed that you were not sufficient by yourself, just for your contribution, so he gave you your spouse. Therefore, you honor God by making optimal use of the talents He gave you. Adrian and I honor God by using our talents in many ways: we provide honest evaluations, thoughtful advice, and best service to our clients; in doing so, we honor God.
In turn, we provide excellent jobs and pay to our employees. We donate our time and money to numerous causes. We try to be good examples in the way we work and the way we interact with people. In all these acts, we try to honor God. Yet, it is not enough – we are still reaching out and trying to help others, like the two of you. God laid this blog and book on our hearts as a means of helping others outside our direct sphere of contacts. Therefore, we honor God by trying to help you, too.
Your spouse also wants you to succeed. You have been given a set of gifts that will equip you to succeed and God is always there to lift you up. You have also been given your spouse, and he or she is a blessing too. Your partner\spouse is God’s representative, there to help you, support you, encourage you, compliment you, complement you, and help you get your business up and running. Like an angel, but without wings.
Your partner\spouse will help you be successful. God gave you this spouse\partner for this reason. You have to understand that, as you start a business with your spouse or continue a business with your spouse as a partner, God put you where you are. Your spouse is an integral part of His plan for you. This can be a positive experience, or it can really test you. Again – it is up to you. My experience is that collaborating with Adrian has strengthened our marriage – a positive experience.
Why We Are Writing This!
Thrive! Together! That is what we want for you. Coexisting, even thriving, in your business – together – is very different from your other journeys. The “we-work-together” journey requires your cooperation, your mutual support, your empathy for your partner at every step. We (Adrian and Chuck) each have our own perspectives for why working with your spouse can be happy and productive; we also have our own perspectives on how things can go sour in a hurry. In a sense of broader giving and sharing (operating outside our “coupleness”), we want to help you navigate the journey more securely than we have.
We wrote a book (which you can purchase if you can’t wait for the blog), and we present parts of the book as this blog. The blog gives you a sense of what we’re about and how our experiences may help you. We provide our two unique, but frequently overlapping, perspectives and, at the end of each chapter, offer questions to encourage reflection. We begin at the beginning and go on until the end. We have not stopped yet.
Who are we? Why are our opinions relevant? Each of us, Adrian and Chuck, had successful careers before we ever met and before we started our own business.
Adrian had her own business, was a successful consultant, earned a doctorate in Finance, and was a senior researcher for the Office of Thrift Supervision before becoming a Professor of Finance at universities in Washington DC, Birmingham, AL, and San Antonio, TX.
Chuck was a successful consultant for large research firms like Price Waterhouse and held several senior level positions in the Federal government. His doctorate is in Mathematical Statistics and he has held multiple university positions too.
When we came together and formed Analytic Focus LLC, we combined these gifts and talents accumulated over several decades. This was time that God used to refine and distill our skills so that when we met, we were able to use those skills to develop a wonderful business. Capitalizing on these skills, we continue do our best to operate our business in a way that honors God.
Having this business is what distinguishes us from many other authors. We actually have a business! We employ many people and have been in operation since 2002. Few authors are able to write about their own trials and experiences in developing a successful business, in particular with their spouse. You can look us up at www.AnalyticFocus.com. That’s the business! Our experiences in building a successful business and developing a stronger bond with each other is what forms our opinions and the advice we offer in this blog and book. Our separate perspectives are presented in each blog post in a he says \ she says format.
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.