Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at The Lashpreneur HQ?
Well…wonder no more!
I’m about to take you for an exclusive behind the scenes look inside not just the business side of The Lashpreneur, but also the personal side of the business too.
My husband, Chris, joins me for an in-depth and insightful Q&A session where he reveals his perspective of being married to a lashpreneur, growing a business and raising a family.
This is part 2 of ‘Behind The Scenes of The Lashpreneur’, a continuation of the previous blog post/episode, where Chris and I talk about the beginning stages of The Lashpreneur, his struggle with PTSD and more. If you haven’t seen that episode yet, you can check it out here and then return to this one for the second half!
In this second part of the mini behind the scenes series, Chris and I answer questions from some members of The Lashpreneur Society and a few special followers from Instagram.
{If you want to listen to the podcast episode on this topic, click on the player at the top of the post. Alternatively you can watch the video below, or read on…}
Q1. Did your spouse ever have doubts about you running your own business?
The simple answer is YES. Chris definitely had some doubts when I told him I wanted to run my own lash business, but he was still very supportive
“I knew you have the talent for it, but I didn’t know your vision behind everything, it’s hard to get inside your mind.”
What helped Chris to rest his doubts was knowing that I would never do anything without being sure it wouldn’t be to the detriment of our family.
I’ve always said that family comes first, business second.
So, knowing this was something that helped Chris gain more confidence in me and my ‘big dream.’
Q2. Who cooks?
This is an easy one for us as I wear the chef’s hat in our house. Sure, Chris can make a wicked hot dog when the mood strikes, but when it comes to following recipes and mixing ingredients, I’m your woman.
As we mentioned in the previous post (and in episode 64), we’ve been living with my parents for the past year. So, my mum was able to help out a lot with the grocery shopping and cooking, which was a huge help to us.
I love cooking, especially when I have the ingredients and time to actually do it. Running a business and raising kids demands a lot of my time, so I haven’t been able to cook as much as I would like, but hopefully that’ll change soon now that we’ve settled into our new home.
Despite not being much of a cook, Chris does help out in a lot of other areas.
We recently came to the conclusion that we’re not a traditional marriage by any means. The woman’s role as the household caretaker and the man’s role as the breadwinner is a thing of the past.
We don’t put those stereotypical roles on each other, and I think that’s been key for us.
The Lashpreneur is our main breadwinner and we both have different responsibilities around the house.
It might not have been the way our parents did things, but it works for us.
Q3. How do you find the time for sex with kids and running a business?
When Chris and I lived apart, the lack of that physical connection was really tough. We met up for dinner each night, but then he was gone again and most of our conversations were over the phone or through text messages. It’s safe to say that finding the time for physical intimacy was pretty difficult.
As a woman, I tend to seek more of an emotional connection with my spouse and after all of the trauma we went through as a couple, building our relationship back to the point of intimacy took some time.
We’re getting better though because we’re both putting the work in, but it still has to be an intentional decision.
Spontaneously grabbing your partner for a night of passion isn’t as easy as it sounds when you’ve got kids who could scream your name at any point in the night.
So, finding the time to be intimate is about being intentional. Having open conversations is important too, especially if you’ve been together for a long time like Chris and me.
Q4. Have you ever not supported Tara or not believed in her business?
The short answer is no. Chris has always supported me and believed in my decisions. We’ve both had times in our relationship and marriage where one has had to support the other.
That’s what a marriage is all about, being there for each other, working as a team and supporting each other’s dreams.
There was a lot of times when I was willing to move states just to secure a job I knew I could get to help support our family. I would do anything to save our family, and Chris knows how much I put into everything I do, especially with the business.
Q5. What do you do for childcare?
When we lived with my parents, my mom would always help out and look after the kids so that I could work on growing my business. My son isn’t old enough for kindergarten, so he’s about to go into TK, which comes just before kindergarten. So, he goes there five days a week and our daughter goes three days a week, giving me the time I need to work on the business and bring the income in that we need to survive.
My mom loves kids. She used to be a teacher and so she comes up a lot to help look after them too, which again, has been a massive help to us. We did talk about the possibility of hiring a babysitter so we can have date nights and not have to rely on my parents, but we still haven’t found one yet.
Q6. How do you have your significant other support your journey without them giving up on their own?
As Chris says, everyone’s got to make sacrifices for their spouse. Often, a couple will be working towards the same goal. Whether that’s to buy a better car, buy a house or just pay the monthly bills without scraping by, you’ve got to work as a team to make all of these things happen for yourselves.
For me, entrepreneurship is never done unless you sell your business. It’s always been a journey for me, not a destination.
The Lashpeneur is our main source of income, so it’s not like we can just downsize to a one-bedroom apartment and live off noodles so we can both do what we want.
We have children to think about and it’s not that my dream is any more important than his, it’s about navigating both of our dreams in a way that makes sense for us.
So, while Chris is pursuing his passion for video and photo editing, I’m continuing to build The Lashpreneur so that financial support that we need and depend on is still there.
Q7. Can your husband tell the difference between a good lash application and a bad application?
I love this question because I think it’s so funny to think about. Doing lashes for a living has made me very aware of the difference between a great application and a very poor application.
Interestingly, Chris can also tell the difference:
“I was working at a call center and there was a girl actually applying lashes inside the call center to another girl and they were all clumped up. It was bad. I was like, that doesn’t look sanitary, my wife does that.”
Q8. How do you show your support?
Chris shows his support for me and my business in many different ways. Lately, it’s been about giving me the space I need to focus on work and building the business.
“I try and give you your time during the day when we’re here at the house to actually do the work that you need to do. And if there’s anything to do with the kids or things around the house, I try and take up that to allow you to have this time to continue working.”
Q9. What’s your advice for anyone supporting a lashpreneur who’s chasing their dreams?
I was so curious to see how Chris would answer this question because sharing business advice is a huge part of my role as The Lashpreneur, so I was keen to find out Chris’ perspective on all of this.
Here’s what he has to say to any lash business owners out there who dream of building their lash empires:
“It’s gonna be rough, it’s gonna be hard, there’s gonna be times that you want to quit and in those moments is when you need to find the next thing that’s going to bring your business to the next level.”
“Just because it’s getting hard, doesn’t mean that you’re getting further away from your goal.”
My advice to anyone who is in a relationship with a lashpreneur is to not give them any more reasons why they shouldn’t or can’t follow their dreams. Trust me, they already know all of the reasons and they’ve chosen to do it anyway.
So, offer them your support and let them make their own mistakes.
Being successful doesn’t come from not failing and not struggling, it comes from not giving up.
Have a Good One!
Tara Walsh
The Lashpreneur
