Team Arnold!

I’ve always been a 9-5 girl. I was happy working for large corporations, with regular working hours and set salaries with benefits. I wanted to do my job well and add value to the company – that’s it. I never wanted to climb the corporate ladder or deal with office politics. If you pay me to use my skills for 40 hours a week and expect nothing more or less, I’m a happy camper.

I was never entrepreneurial. I’m still not. But having taken the opportunity to work with my husband in starting a small business, I realize how I can never go back to a corporate 9-5. I`m in that elusive sweet spot where I`m getting the best of both worlds. He`s the entrepreneur taking the risks and (hopefully) reaping the rewards whereas I`m still a regular employee. I have the security of a salary but the excitement of having an impact on the direction and operation of the business. And with the excitement driving me, I don`t mind working late in the night or over weekends. Since there are so many different things that need to get done at the start-up phase, I don`t feel pigeon-holed into doing one set of boring tasks using a restricted set of boring skills. I finally feel like I`m getting to be paid to be me (or at least, my own biased perception of me) – an analytical, efficient, smart person with a business background and wicked Excel skills. If it weren`t for the fact that our strengths are almost completely exclusive of one another`s, I wouldn’t have the luxury of doing what I do best. What can I say...we make a great team!

An unintended upside of working together is that we whenever we disagree, it`s only about work! And since we live and work in close quarters, we had to learn to ``get over it``` very quickly. We`re usually back to being a happy couple before the end of the bus ride home. Sometimes, we really impress me!