How to Successfully Work with Your Spouse: A Couple's Guide to Work-Life Balance with Dan and Michelle

My special guests are Daniel and Michelle.

Daniel and Michelle, co-founders of Nimbus Group, an office and home cleaning service provider. They share their experiences working together, building a business, and parenting their nine-year-old daughter. Daniel and Michelle discuss their previous attempts at working together and how they learned to separate their work and personal lives. They also talk about the importance of having clarity on roles and responsibilities and how they have divided their responsibilities to avoid conflict. As the business has grown, they have been able to improve their work-life balance and set boundaries to avoid work talk before 9 am. The couple also shares their approach to parenting, which centers on fostering their child's individuality and intrinsic motivation. They prioritize cultivating their daughter's love for learning and exploring diverse interests, rather than solely focusing on grades and academic success.

To get in touch with Daniel and Michelle, find them on LinkedIn:
https://sg.linkedin.com/company/nimbus-for-work

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PARENTS IN TECH - MIXPANEL EPISODE SHOW NOTES

Guest: Daniel and Michelle

Daniel and Michelle are co-founders of Nimbus Group, a provider of corporate and residential cleaning services. They discuss working together, establishing a business, and raising their nine-year-old daughter, Camellia.

Working Together as a Couple

Daniel and Michelle have been together for over five years, and they know that a successful relationship requires effort from both parties. They understand that working together as a couple is the key to making their relationship last. From communication to problem-solving, both Daniel and Michelle are willing to put in the necessary effort to ensure that their relationship is strong and healthy. They recognize that it takes two people to make a relationship work, so they strive to be understanding of each other’s needs and compromises when necessary. By working together as a couple, Daniel and Michelle hope to create an environment of mutual respect, trust, and love in their relationship.

Separating Work and Personal Life

Daniel and Michelle have been struggling to keep their work and personal lives separate. They both find it hard to switch off from work when they get home, which is taking a toll on their relationship. Fortunately, there are methods that can help them achieve a better balance between their professional and personal lives. These include setting boundaries around when they can talk about work, such as avoiding talking about work after dinner or during weekends. They can also try using tools such as time blocking to make sure they stick to their schedule and have dedicated time for both work and leisure activities.

Integrating family and relationships 

Family and relationships are complex, yet incredibly important aspects of life. Daniel and Michelle are no exception to this rule as they have gone through initial challenges while trying to integrate their family together. Learning the importance of consistency in parenting is key to building a strong bond between parent and child. It is essential for parents to understand that their children depend on them for stability and security in their day-to-day lives. Creating an environment where both father and mother can equally contribute helps foster a sense of trust, understanding, and respect between the family members. Daniel and Michelle have taken steps towards working together to provide a loving environment for their child so they can continue growing up healthy and happy.

From commercial to residential cleaning

Daniel and Michelle, a couple who used to run a commercial cleaning business, found themselves in an unexpected situation during the COVID-19 crisis. With the closure of businesses and offices, they had to pivot their business model and focus on home cleaning services instead. But it wasn't just a matter of changing their services. They also had to develop new systems for marketing, customer service and operations. After some trial and error they were able to successfully build systems that allowed them to offer high quality residential cleaning services without sacrificing efficiency or value for their customers.

• "We try to be open-minded and we try to be modern parents."

• "I think any family run business when they want to bring in their family as well, I think usually the approach, the sensible approach at least, is not to parachute to the top straightaway.”

• "Even though sometimes the paths may not necessarily be what us as parents envision or hope for the child, I think it's fine. I think that most people, if brought up well with good values, they eventually find their own way and they learn on their feet most of the time."

• “And I think meritocracy being a very core value to our society, to my company, it's very important that people must see that, you know, this even though this person is the son or daughter or related, they are equally willing to learn and be do a 360 and progress from there because I think it also helps the person better if you're parachuting straight away as a manager.”

Episode Timeline:

[00:01:25] Daniel and Michelle discuss their experiences working together as husband and wife, including the challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

[00:05:43] The couple shares their methods for separating work and personal life, including avoiding work talk at certain times of the day and having serious work conversations in a proper setting.

[00:08:57] The founders talk about the importance of work-life balance, especially as a startup founder, and how they have improved their balance as their business has grown.

[00:09:24] Michelle and Daniel discuss the challenges of balancing work and family life, relying on each other and family support, and how it gets easier as the business matures.

[00:11:16] Daniel explains how the pivot to home cleaning came about due to the COVID-19 crisis, the challenges of providing 24/7 support, and the importance of building systems rather than relying on people.

[00:15:35] Michelle and Daniel share their experiences of introducing their daughter to each other, the initial challenges, and the importance of consistency and building a bond with the child.

[00:18:35] How Michelle and Daniel align their parenting styles and values, including reasoning things out and being firm but fair with children.

[00:21:33] Daniel talks about how he tries to add value as a stepfather by complementing Michelle's parenting and contributing to shaping their daughter's moral values.

[00:25:00] Michelle and Daniel discuss their philosophy of developing their daughter's intrinsic love for learning, rather than forcing her to do activities she's not interested in, and exploring different interests beyond academics.

[00:27:22] Discussion on the relevance of traditional education and parenting styles in the changing world.

[00:30:09] Daniel and Michelle's thoughts on bringing their daughter into the family business and the importance of not imposing it on her.

[00:34:36] Daniel's advice to his past self on being more empathetic towards his child's feelings and building from there.

[00:35:51] Michelle shares advice on letting children find their own path and not controlling them too much.

[00:37:44] Daniel introduces Nimbus Homes, a home cleaning and service provider, and their mission to provide job opportunities to those in need.