When it comes to business or pleasure, entrepreneurs shouldn’t have to choose. Yet the sacrifices needed to germinate an idea into a full-fledged company include countless hours, sleepless nights, and often the loss of any sort of social life.
The balance can be a struggle—especially for an entrepreneur’s significant other to witness firsthand. For GUIDEcx founder and CEO Peter Ord, Megan Ord, his wife of 11 years and the mother to their four children, has seen the highs and lows of his customer onboarding system’s journey. Sharing her advice for successfully navigating the rocky road of entrepreneurship, Megan joined a discussion at this year’s StartFEST to reveal the pitfalls, pleasures, and potentials of being in a successful relationship with an entrepreneur.
Utah’s original grassroots festival focuses on the state’s startup ecosystem, and this year’s event was held virtually over the course of two days in June. The session titled “You Don’t Have to Choose Between a Successful Business and a Successful Relationship” was hosted by Dr. Amy Osmond Cook, CMO of Simplus. The panel also featured Charlynne Edmunds, wife of Entrata CEO Adam Edmunds; and Jim Birch, husband of SalsaQueen Zapata, founder of Salsa Queen.
Megan Ord, who helped Pete with his early designs of the customer onboarding system’s pages and assisted with bootstrapping finances for the first 18 months, discussed her experience of watching the company grow from the ground up to the premier SaaS onboarding and the now 70+ employees that it boasts today. Megan’s top tips include such pearls as acting as a safe sounding board, not being afraid to ask for help, and moving past the misconception that entrepreneurs have unlimited PTO. She also found a hidden perk of becoming friends with the other founders’ spouses, relating on so many levels and sharing support.
“Early on, you should invest in your marriage, and that doesn’t mean extravagant vacations. It can be as simple as putting your kids to bed and watching a movie together without phones,” said Megan. “You need to build that relationship from day one and never stop dating your husband or your spouse or your partner.”
For more information on StartFEST, visit startfestival.com. For Peter’s StartFEST interview, click here.
