一對創業者夫妻的幸福婚姻之道

This post is in partnership with Time. The article below was originally published at
本文是與《時代》雜誌聯合發佈的。以下文字起初發表於

ROMIO and Juliette means more to us than a Shakespearean, romantic tragedy. We chose to name our separate businesses in a complementary way, which is the way we approach our relationship. Our cats are even named Mark Anthony and Cleopatra.
對於我們而言，羅密歐與朱麗葉的意義已經遠遠超過了莎士比亞筆下的悽美愛情故事。我們選擇用這樣一種互補的方式給我們各自的公司命名，以此增進我們的感情。我們甚至還給家裏的貓也起名爲馬克o安東尼和克里歐佩特拉。

When we first got together, only one of us was in the startup role. Now, happily married for nearly seven years, we’re both running our own businesses in New York City. Tarik runs ROMIO, a platform that provides trusted recommendations for local services from friends and neighbors, while Rechelle runs Juliette, a mobile app that offers premium overnight laundry service.
我們最初在一起時，只有一人在創業。如今，在幸福度過近七年的婚姻生活之後，我們倆都開始在紐約經營自己的公司。塔裏克經營羅密歐(ROMIO)，一個讓朋友和鄰居對當地服務進行可靠推薦的平臺。蕾切爾則經營朱麗葉(Juliette)，一個通宵提供優質洗衣服務的手機應用。

The best way we can describe our relationship now is a roller coaster ride, traveling in different directions at varying speeds. We work perfectly opposite schedules, with Tarik building ROMIO by meeting local experts during the day and Rechelle running her service at night, and are always on the go. But every day at 7 p.m., we unfasten our seatbelts, get off the roller coaster and make an effort to share a meal together before parting in different directions.
要形容我們這段感情，最合適的一個詞是“過山車”。我們以不同的速度在不同的方向上行進着。我們的日程完全相反，塔裏克白天會見當地專家，搭建羅密歐平臺，蕾切爾則是晚上辦公，我們倆總是忙個不停。不過每晚7點，我們會解開安全帶，離開過山車，並儘量在前往不同方向之前共進晚餐。

We’ve found four ways to keep our relationship at home healthy while balancing our growing companies.
我們找到了四種方式，在維持家庭關係正常發展的同時，照顧好我們蒸蒸日上的公司。

Time:
放鬆身心：

The greatest benefit of being married to another entrepreneur is the ability to control our own schedules. Constantly working and driving a startup is draining, so we force ourselves to take short vacations to recharge. About two weeks ago, we took a trip to Saint Thomas and did absolutely nothing except lay on the beach and soak in the sun. We came back fully recharged and relaxed. This helps tremendously, especially since most small business owners work more than 50 to even 60 hours per week, the Financial Post reported, something we’ve definitely found to be true in our own lives.
與另一個企業家結婚的最大好處在於，你能夠控制自己的日程安排。持續工作和領導初創公司是十分耗神的事，因此我們會強迫自己休個短假借此充電。約兩週前，我們去了趟聖托馬斯，在那兒我們什麼都沒幹，只是躺在沙灘上曬太陽。回來的時候，我們感覺精力充沛、渾身輕鬆。這樣的休息能夠起到很大的幫助，因爲據《金融郵報》（Financial Post）報道，大部分小企業主每週的工作時間都超過50小時甚至60小時，而就我們自己的生活來看，的確如此。

If we can’t take a short trip away from the city, we try to make an effort to relax and wind down together, whether it’s at dinner table or going out to see a new show or movie at the theater.
如果我們沒法離開城市休個短假，那我們會努力一起做點事情來放鬆和平靜下來，無論是共進晚餐還是去劇院看個新劇或電影。

Mind share:
分享觀點：

While we may be at different development stages in our startups, we see a lot of synergies to building our businesses—especially since we’re in the same industry. We often leverage mutual contacts and share campaigns, from investors to website developers. And we never hesitate to use each other as a sounding board for ideas and concepts, tweaking and brainstorming aloud, before taking it public to the team or investors.
儘管我們創立的公司處於不同的發展階段，但我們發現在構築各自公司時能夠產生大量的協同效益，尤其是因爲我們還在同一個行業。我們常常進行交流和分享，話題涉及從投資者到網站開發者等各個方面。而在把想法和理念公佈給團隊和投資者之前，我們也會毫不猶豫地徵詢彼此的意見，大聲發表自己的看法並進行調整。

For example, we tap into Rechelle’s strong background in marketing and social skills to get feedback for ROMIO’s user interface. We also leverage Tarik’s background in finance and strong business acumen to strengthen Juliette’s business model.
比如，我們充分利用蕾切爾在營銷和社交技巧方面的強大背景，以獲取羅密歐用戶界面的反饋意見。我們也藉助塔裏克的金融背景和精明的商業頭腦來改善朱麗葉的經營模式。Awareness:
關心彼此：

The interesting, and sometimes difficult, part about having two different startups in different stages is managing our personal dynamic when one business is taking off, while the other is experiencing growing pains. The stages of each business may not always be in sync, and while the business paths are parallel, our journeys can be completely different.
經營兩家處於不同階段的初創公司時，很有趣有時也很困難的一點在於：當一家公司已經運轉良好，另一家卻仍在遭遇成長之痛時，如何維持我們的關係呢？兩家公司的發展並不總是同步的，儘管發展路徑是類似的，但我們的旅程卻可能完全不同。

When Juliette launched and received positive feedback and strong numbers out of the gate, ROMIO was working through the developmental challenges of a website re-launch. The emotional differences we experienced, with Rechelle elated and Tarik frustrated, made it hard for us to celebrate and induced guilt from both of us. A good way we worked through the emotional difference was by communicating about each other’s difficulties and sacrifices, and trying not to let guilt or envy take over.
當朱麗葉正式推出，獲得了許多正面反饋，擁有了許多客戶時，羅密歐的網站重建卻遇到了重重阻礙。我們在情感上出現了差異，蕾切爾興高采烈，而塔裏克沮喪不已，這讓我們很難慶祝或是傾訴自己的感情。克服這種情感差異的一個好辦法是交流彼此的困難和犧牲，不要讓內疚和嫉妒滋生蔓延。

Passion:
保持激情：

We as entrepreneurs have an innate drive that keeps us going. While that drive can be hard for us to maintain sometimes, being married to another entrepreneurial spirit keeps our business passions alive.
作爲企業家，我們擁有不斷前進的動力。儘管這種動力有時候難以爲繼，但與另一位企業家的結合，使得我們的商業激情澎湃不熄。

When we talk about how our days went when we are relaxing at home with Marc Anthony and Cleopatra, it’s always interesting for us to hear how different, yet similar, our experiences are, from the tales of ROMIO’s site development to the steady build of Juliette’s client base. These seemingly innocuous conversations are enough for us to spark the flame that keeps our passions and interests alive, and keeps the experience memorable.
每當在家休息時，我們總會在馬克o安東尼和克里歐佩特拉陪伴下，談論那些逝去的往事。從羅密歐的網站發展歷程，到朱麗葉客戶羣的穩固增長，聆聽我們迥然不同，但又似曾相似的經歷，是一件很有意思的事情。這些看似不痛不癢的談話足以激起我們的工作熱情和興趣，並讓我們銘記自己經歷的點點滴滴。

Work-life balance can be difficult to achieve when running a startup, but when you’re married to another entrepreneur, the chaos can be twice as fun as it is challenging. We do our best to take mental breaks, share resources and be mindful and encouraging to strengthen both of our businesses and maintain a healthy relationship at home.
創業者很難把握工作和生活的平衡，當你與另一位企業家結婚後，這種混亂將會加倍，但其中的樂趣也會加倍。我們盡力抽時間放鬆身心，分享資源，關心彼此，並相互激勵，以保持工作的激情，並維持健康的家庭關係。