Being the wife of a small business owner comes with its ups and downs.
Being the wife of small business owner who is a minority and an immigrant comes with a whole other level of complexity.
Let’s get the hardships over first—
- Responsibility – Of course, with any job you have a large amount of responsibility, but it’s different when you own a business. You’re responsible for making sure your employees get paid, and you’re responsible for them if they get hurt on the job. Jose especially wants to make sure that he’s taking care of his employees the very best that he can, and that comes with a lot of stress. I can immediately tell when Jose is overwhelmed and stressed. He carries a lot on his shoulders, and I do whatever I can to make him feel better.
- Time – Jose is always working even when he’s not at the shop. He gets work calls on his cell phone, and of course, the emails never stop. Luckily, he is way better than I am about shutting things off, but the work-life balance is not easy when owning a business. When Granite Territory (GT) is super slammed he often spends late nights and weekends working, too. We’ve gotten through this by scheduling date nights and trips, and we hold each other to them.
- Finances – The past several months, GT has been in the process of moving to a new and bigger building. The cost for renovations and paying for two rents for a period of time has been tough financially. There have been some weeks where Jose will cut himself a smaller check to ensure that everything goes smoothly for the month. Unfortunately, this makes paying bills some months a struggle for us at home, but we somehow make it all work.
- Racist Comments – While this doesn’t happen often, Jose will hesitantly tell me stories of customers that say racist things. It makes me sad to know that my husband and half of the team are under the gun because of the color of their skin.
- Loans – Because of Jose’s immigration status, this can make applying for any kind of loan difficult. As his US citizen wife, I have had to sign loan documents as the cosigner in order for GT to get any kind of financial assistance.
And now, the good stuff—
- Flexibility – His schedule is typically more flexible than mine. For example, if one of our dogs needs to go to the vet, he can usually find the time to do that. Or, if we have a weekend getaway planned, he can usually take the day off without any trouble.
- Home Renovations – I came home one morning when we first got our house, and our kitchen counters and downstairs bar were being replaced with beautiful granite—can’t complain about that! We also have gorgeous quartzite in our bathrooms, and my favorite thing—our patio table is made of this super pretty turquoise quartzite.
- People – I’ve gotten to meet a handful of really awesome people through GT. Of course, I love the whole GT team, but Jose has also introduced me to people through business networking groups he’s been in. For instance, our current fitness trainer, Rachel was introduced to me because she was in the same business networking group as Jose. Now, we love FitMe Wellness! In addition, I get to hear many great stories of nice customers and businesses that work with GT.
- Success – I’ve seen Jose take the business to a place where it’s never been before. He does not give himself enough credit for the achievements he has made, and I’m happy to be walking alongside him as GT continues to grow.
Despite the obstacles Granite Territory has had this year, I’m SO proud of my husband and the rest of the GT crew. I’ll always be there standing behind you guys. 🙂
Much love,
Haley
Love, Hope and Borders 