****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This review originally appeared on the Boardroom Couple Blog, book was reviewed by my husband: "This book is a must have book whether you already work with your spouse or are planning to start a business with your better half. It's the type of book you want to keep handy, as an ongoing reference and not just as a one time read.Author Kathy Marshack does a great job at addressing the real challenges entrepreneurial couples face, through a structured approach; first introducing the concepts, then bringing real-life entrepreneurial couple examples from her consulting private practice, and then discussing research studies, recommendations and practical advice relevant to these specific concepts. The author complements this framework with self assessment exercises for the reader to make this book more of an entrepreneur's tool rather than just a read.For example, in the first chapter Entrepreneurial Couples: Who Are They? she helps us discover the different types of individual entrepreneurs and different types of entrepreneurial couples. So, you will get a better understanding of your own and your spouse's entrepreneurial style. For me, this chapter alone was already an eye opener, because although I live it, I had no one define my entrepreneurial style before.Then, in chapter two, Integrating Lives: Laying the Groundwork to Balance Love and Work the author goes on to explain our interactions/dialogs with our environment, spouse, parent, child, home life, work life and so on in terms of dialectal psychology; which basically explains how each element or system in our life is affected by every other element and cannot be fully understood independent of those others. I particularly cherished "The Myth of Separate Domains" in this chapter, and I can tell you that I'm finally at piece that Julie and I do discuss business issues at home or home issues at the office. Before I used to feel guilty, but it finally made sense why this is normal and it is so hard to avoid.All Chapter Titles:1.Entrepreneurial Couples: Who Are They?2.Integrating Lives: Laying the Groundwork to Balance Love and Work3.Communicating with Your Partner: The Nuts and Bolts of How to Talk to Win4.Life Planning: Steps to Achieve Your Business and Personal Goals5.Equality or Equity: How to Find Fairness in Your Partnership6.Women Entrepreneurs: Are They Different from Men?7.Parenting and Family Life: Rounding Out Your Life Plan8.Wealth Management: ow to Balance Health and Wealth9.Personal and Professional Growth: Beyond Problem Solving10.Stress Management: Taking Care of the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection11.Constructing a Master Life Plan: How to Be Successful in the Twenty First CenturySo, as you can see from the chapter titles above, the list of entrepreneurial couple issues addressed in this book is quite comprehensive. So, no matter what phase in the entrepreneurial couple relationship you are in, there are definitely take aways for you that will make reading this book worth while. I personally found every single chapter very insightful.To mention another example, I also was particularly enlightened by chapter 6, Women Entrepreneurs: Are They Different from Men? It gave me a better understanding of my wife and the struggles she faces in her internalized beliefs about what is required of her to be a good wife and mother vs. a competent professional; which is occasionally a discussion in our household and always surprises me why Julie is so critical of herself at times. Julie's a great mother, she's a wonderful partner (I'm a very lucky man), and she's a true professional and she would still think at times that she is not doing enough for me and the kids. I can assure you that our kids and myself are truly blessed to have her in our life and we can't really ask for anything else from her. Gladly, thanks to this book now I know that other entrepreneurial wives have similar struggles too. So, I know that when eventually this discussion comes up again, we are better equipped to discuss it and identify the concern for what it really is.This book really helps you understand what is happening around you when you are an entrepreneurial couple. It gives you a big picture understanding (holistic) of all the pieces interacting together. I personally wish I read this book when I started out in business, but I'm certainly glad I did now. Highly recommended!"
