“FAMILIARITY breeds contempt,” so goes the well-known proverb. To some married couples, this holds true so they make sure they’re out of each other’s hair during the day — the husband off to work, and the wife off to her own job or home duties.
But then there are those couples who somehow make their relationship work even in the workplace.
Take marketing guru and popular author Josiah Go, chairman and chief marketing strategist of Mansmith and Fielders Inc., and his wife Chiqui Escareal-Go, president and chief sales strategist of the same organization. At Thursday’s Women to Women Mentoring Conference organized by the Women’s Business Council at the Philippine Trade Training Center, the couple revealed that not only do they have a good marriage; they have a good working relationship as well.
How do they do it? The Gos tell us their secrets:
1. Shared responsibility. From the start, it was clear to both of them what they had to do. “I provide. She takes care of the kids and home. I let her; she lets me,” said Josiah. For the first 10 years of their married life, Chiqui stayed home to care for their twins. Josiah, on the other hand, worked hard and really worked hard, sometimes up to 12 to 18 hours a day. “I was so into my kids; he was so into his work. We knew our roles in the relationship from the start. We were partners,” said Chiqui.
2. Shared power. When the kids were 10 years old and could be left with a nanny, Chiqui joined Josiah’s company. Working for Josiah, Chiqui says she got to understand Josiah better, which made their relationship even better. “I learned to work with, not for Josiah,” says Chiqui. Josiah, on the other hand, didn’t lord it over Chiqui, adjusting by talking to her differently at work than he would with his staff. After all, she is his wife.
3. Common vision. The couple revealed they do have arguments. After all, they’re both stubborn, hard-headed, type A people. But these arguments are tempered with logic and love. “We are willing to talk and apologize,” they said. That’s because they had a common vision.
4. Common joys. “We share joys — about the work we love and the people we love,” the Gos said. “And because we have love in everything we do, God takes care of the rest.”
Is harmony possible at home and in the workplace? Obviously, yes. But should there be conflict, Josiah’s advice goes: “Between business and relationship, save the relationship.” Now that’s a man who knows his priorities.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Salve, I admire couples who do well in business together. That’s hard.
Aside from the Gos, other couples who succeeded at this include Monique Lhuillier and husband Tom Bugbee, and Josie and Ken Natori.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:46 am
No Boy, that is not the MAIN reason why japan is prosperous. Don’t ever think that chauvinism is the answer to a better economy, Japan has a different mind set that doesn’t entertain poverty unlike this country who had a president “para sa mahirap”
April 7th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
hi karen. great post! boy, i know it’s tough for many couples to keep a relationship at home. what more working as partners in a business!
but i personally know a couple who has done it successfully. there are sparks all over the place, as they don’t always agree about things and they really know how to argue, but they also can’t stand not being together too! so they just work out the details around the sparks hehe.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I think this is one of the main reason why Japan is so prosperous economically. Wife should not be above their Husband. And Husband should really work hard to provide more than enough for his family.