210 | Entrepreneurship, Marriage and Parenting with Two Businesses and Two Babies: Meet My Husband!
This episode is completely unscripted; Danielle didn't share any questions beforehand! So this is as authentic and genuine as it gets!
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:
Welcome to a special episode of the Business Babes Collective Podcast! Danielle’s husband, Brent, is a guest for a candid conversation about entrepreneurship, parenting, and marriage.
Brent shares the story of how he and Dani met, the early years of marriage, navigating the ongoing balance between our careers, marriage and their Kiddos. Hear behind the scenes into the decision for Brent to also jump into entrepreneurship shortly after the birth of their son, Max, this year!
This episode is completely unscripted; Danielle didn't share any questions beforehand! So this is as authentic and genuine as it gets!
1. Setting Boundaries for Work-Life Balance
Establish clear boundaries to prevent work from consuming all aspects of life.
Learn from experiences and make necessary adjustments to prioritize personal time.
Create a structured routine and set specific work hours to maintain a healthier work-life balance.
2. Building a Support System
Leverage support from family, friends, and a shared nanny to manage responsibilities effectively.
Communication is crucial; maintain a shared calendar for better coordination.
Be flexible and show grace when unexpected situations arise.
3. Efficiency in Time Management
Maximize productivity during limited time windows, such as nap times.
Break down tasks into smaller, manageable chunks to fit into short timeframes.
Prioritize important tasks that contribute significantly to business growth.
4. Benefits of Entrepreneurship with Family
Enjoy the flexibility of being digital nomads, avoiding daily commutes.
Embrace the ability to extend vacations or work from various locations.
Find fulfillment in unique and diverse projects, collaborating with enthusiastic clients.
5. Calculating Risks and Embracing Change
Evaluate personal and financial circumstances before making entrepreneurial decisions.
Plan for worst-case scenarios and develop strategies to overcome challenges.
Embrace calculated risks, considering both the potential rewards and drawbacks.
6. Networking and Relationship Building
Engage in intentional networking, focusing on meaningful connections rather than generic interactions.
Leverage existing relationships and communicate the value you bring to potential clients.
Actively involve yourself in industry conversations and stay connected with peers.
7. Business Partnership Dynamics
Recognize the benefits of having a “silent” business partner to share responsibilities and ideas.
Choose a partner with a strong existing relationship, fostering trust and effective collaboration.
Celebrate shared milestones and support each other through the entrepreneurial journey.
[00:00:00] Danielle Wiebe: Welcome to another episode of the Business Babes Collective Podcast. Today we have a very special guest. A babe. He is a babe and he is my babe because he's my husband. So welcome Brent. To the podcast.
[00:00:19] Brent Wiebe: Is this where I say thanks for having me? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, thanks for having me on the podcast
[00:00:24] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah, you're welcome.
[00:00:26] Danielle Wiebe: I'm really excited obviously to have you on the podcast I've asked you several times to be on the podcast and we're finally Making it happen. So I'm very excited. So can you tell people just a little bit more about Who you are like? Other than being my husband.
[00:00:46] Brent Wiebe: Yeah, father of two, as of this year, Max came into the world.
[00:00:51] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. So that's been a huge part of our lives and yeah, career wise, I'm an architect. [00:01:00] I've been for 10 years. Went to school in Germany and just recently started my own office with a good friend of mine. We started this year and that's also, it's like also having a baby.
[00:01:15] Brent Wiebe: And yeah, that's been a. It's been a challenge and it's been exciting and a lot of other things
[00:01:21] Danielle Wiebe: can you tell the listeners how we met?
[00:01:30] Danielle Wiebe: By the way, I did not prep him with any questions.
[00:01:33] Brent Wiebe: I thought you said you didn't have any prepped questions.
[00:01:36] Danielle Wiebe: I don't really, but I wrote down a few while you went to the washroom.
[00:01:41] Brent Wiebe: Yeah, okay, so we met. oKay, correct me if I'm wrong, but was it nine years ago?
[00:01:46] Danielle Wiebe: It's been we've, we met ten years
[00:01:48] Brent Wiebe: ago. Okay. Yeah. We met ten years ago. I was going to a church in Burnaby called Willingdon. And I was in this like community group [00:02:00] with Courtney Peters. Shout out to Super
[00:02:02] Danielle Wiebe: Crush.
[00:02:03] Danielle Wiebe: Courtney's been on the podcast too, so the listeners will be familiar with her. Yeah.
[00:02:07] Brent Wiebe: And, one, one of our meetups she brought you along and yeah, we, that's where we met. And I was I think I was really, I was first really attracted to like your laugh and smile and you were very like warm first impression.
[00:02:28] Brent Wiebe: And, yeah, I guess we only hung out for, what, a couple hours that night and then I was friends with Courtney and some other people at the time, so we'd hang out and then I'd ask, where's Danielle? I'm like, is she going to come around again? And yeah, that eventually led to us, at the time I was also, I had it planned where I was going to go to Germany.
[00:02:51] Brent Wiebe: So it was like, we were meeting. But also, in the back of my mind, I was like, okay, I'm heading out for a couple years, so this'll be, [00:03:00] it's pointless to pursue a serious relationship. But that's, yeah, that's how we
[00:03:05] Danielle Wiebe: met. Yeah. We did end up dating. Yeah. Even though Brent was going to Germany.
[00:03:10] Danielle Wiebe: I remember being Annoyed that we were, we had started hanging out and then all of a sudden you're like, oh, I'm gonna go to Germany for two years for my master's. I'm like, cool. That's awesome. But we did long distance. Luckily you were only there for a year. Yeah,
[00:03:26] Brent Wiebe: I pulled some strings and the final year is a thesis for most of it.
[00:03:31] Brent Wiebe: So technically, the school wanted me to stay. But I ended up coming back and doing most of it from home while dating you, courting you. And yeah it worked out great. My professors were pretty supportive and I went back out to present the thesis. And then two months after presenting my thesis, we we got married, I think.
[00:03:59] Danielle Wiebe: Oh [00:04:00] yeah, that's true. You, yeah, you finished up your thesis and then we got married. Yeah, you're right, because that was like really It was back
[00:04:06] Brent Wiebe: to back. It was a very efficient, a
[00:04:07] Danielle Wiebe: very efficient timeline.
[00:04:08] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah, because you proposed after the first after the year of you being away, and then you came back in the summer, and then after that summer you proposed. Yeah. So we had only been dating for a year and a half at that point, I think, but we knew it was forever. Anyways, um, so okay, I wanted to ask you, because when we, okay, so when we got married, I was already an entrepreneur.
[00:04:33] Danielle Wiebe: I thought you
[00:04:34] Brent Wiebe: were going to say pregnant. Okay.
[00:04:36] Danielle Wiebe: No. No. I was already an entrepreneur. So I think it'd be interesting for our listeners to hear What was your first impressions, cause you did not come from a family of entrepreneurs, so what was your first impression when you like heard that I had a business, and then, cause I remember when we started dating, and then I told you, I'm [00:05:00] like, oh yeah I'm hosting these events for women, and you're kinda like, okay cool, like what does that mean, I didn't even really know what it mean, knew what it meant yet, and you helped, create the first logo that we had back in the day.
[00:05:17] Danielle Wiebe: Oh, that was awful. Yeah. But, yeah, I guess I'm just curious what was your What
[00:05:23] Brent Wiebe: went through my head? Yeah, what went through your head? Like, when I first started dating you or when we were married?
[00:05:28] Danielle Wiebe: Both. Like, when you first started dating me and you Like, I did not have a traditional 9 to 5 job.
[00:05:35] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. Or I wasn't a teacher. What were your first impressions? And, like I don't know, what was that kind of like for you?
[00:05:42] Brent Wiebe: iT wasn't earth shattering to find out that you, I mean we're living in an age where a lot of women are business owners my family aren't business owners and, but I don't know, it wasn't I guess I was maybe excited it was something different and I thought it was pretty cool [00:06:00] what you were doing and I just wanted to be supportive of it because it seemed like a really great business. You were helping other businesses grow and I thought that was pretty cool. And then I guess that's while we were dating. But then when we were married and living together yeah, I started to realize quick that it's like all consuming at the time and and you were, I guess maybe I was overly sensitive to it, but you were like always on your phone or on your laptop or like you bring your laptop into bed and there weren't really any like boundaries and it started to like.
[00:06:44] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. We'd hop in the car and then first thing you do is you're on your phone and then after maybe I started to say some things right off the bat, but then it started to get I get started to get pretty ticked off with yeah. But then I think, I don't know what year it was, like the [00:07:00] second year we were married, you did set up some boundaries and there was a bit of a pivot there, which really helped.
[00:07:07] Brent Wiebe: Like I think you listened to what I was saying and yeah. You were living on your own before, and you didn't have to have boundaries, really, because you were just, you could work whenever you wanted,
[00:07:17] Danielle Wiebe: yeah, I wanted to say, cause I feel, I think I've talked about this on the podcast at quite a few times actually about how I did not have boundaries at all back then for sure. And I feel like I also had a lot of I don't know, just, yeah, I think I was a little bit prideful in that. I thought this is what I need to do, so you need to be supportive, and all this stuff.
[00:07:40] Danielle Wiebe: Where, it wasn't healthy, the amount of time I was spending working. And I also think that I probably was not as efficient at all as I could have been. Like, I feel like now, what I know now, I feel like, obviously, I would do a lot of things differently. But yeah, I think [00:08:00] when, sometimes when you're in startup phase, you just think it has to be all consuming.
[00:08:05] Danielle Wiebe: And, yeah, it's, it can be as far as like your mind, but I think it is actually really healthy. And also, it is productive in the long term to have boundaries because you're gonna burn out. I feel like I burnt out quite a few times, like during that season. Yeah. Or, it would just be like I feel like also when you're on your phone and computer all the time, you have this level of anxiety, and then we would start to fight, or we would, so it was just, it wasn't like a healthy thing.
[00:08:36] Brent Wiebe: Remember I helped set up your website, and then battling it out because you would look over my shoulder as I'm doing things and then make a little and I would just be in the middle of like change or just testing something out. And I just remember this is a gong show.
[00:08:53] Brent Wiebe: I cannot work with you and. And yeah, that was yeah. We should have just hired out your [00:09:00] website.
[00:09:00] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. That's to someone else's. That's a good learning point for anyone to save their marriage. Just hire out your website. Don't make your Yeah. Husband do
[00:09:07] Brent Wiebe: it. like a crappy Squarespace template, although you
[00:09:11] Danielle Wiebe: have still helped me with a lot of tech things, but it does often turn into a bit of a bit of a battle.
[00:09:18] Danielle Wiebe: Oh, yeah. Okay. So what. What has it been like, in the past few years? Because obviously, we've been married now for almost seven years. And then, yeah, your work has transitioned in the last little while. But also we got pregnant with Rosie in 2020. So that was obviously a big life change. What, like, how have things changed?
[00:09:47] Danielle Wiebe: I guess first and foremost, like, how have things changed since we've started having kids? Just in general, for us. Maybe our relationship to work and stuff.
[00:09:56] Brent Wiebe: Our if our time is like a pie chart [00:10:00] and when you're Without kids, your free time is like a quarter of the pie.
[00:10:06] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. Kids eat up all of that. There's just zero free time after kids. That was a big change, cause, I don't know. You can't really, at least for the first bit when they're young, you can't work on personal projects and all these little things. Yeah.
[00:10:24] Danielle Wiebe: You can, but then Either you're having to
[00:10:28] Brent Wiebe: Your spouse has to watch the kids or you have to get a nanny or
[00:10:32] Danielle Wiebe: something.
[00:10:33] Danielle Wiebe: Or you need to work like every single evening and never have time for each other and stuff like that, right? So you can, but it's not necessarily
[00:10:41] Brent Wiebe: And you want to spend time with your kids. Cause you three years ago I was working at an office and yeah, you work nine to five and then you want to come home and spend the last two hours with your kid versus on something else.
[00:10:54] Brent Wiebe: How has it changed though? I mean it sounds kind of cliche, but your priorities do [00:11:00] shift and like your life is more meaningful not everything is about you and you're not working for yourself and your spouse to build up this big nest egg.
[00:11:10] Brent Wiebe: But you're, yeah, you're pouring into another human all the time, non stop and yes, it's draining and super tiring and exhausting, but, um, super rewarding. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's not while you're changing a diaper, you're like, this is so rewarding. It's when they're sleeping at night and you're like, I miss them.
[00:11:33] Brent Wiebe: Yeah, or you look back on the year after a year goes by and you're looking at photos and you're like, wow, like this is so cool to watch this kid grow up.
[00:11:43] Danielle Wiebe: I think one thing that has helped me, I feel like I've been better at this with Max being born just because I feel like when Rosie was born it was like, it was just a, such a big change because we weren't used to having any kids and then I found it challenging to like, be [00:12:00] present with her and then to be able to be present with my work.
[00:12:04] Danielle Wiebe: It felt like I was always being pulled in a million different directions. Which, sometimes I still feel that, but I feel like with Max being born and then now having the two kids, I almost feel like I, just because I feel like I just have to be just more present in the moment. It's like You're with the kids and it's not always like I'm obviously there's times where I'm Thinking about other things or I feel like I'm stressed out whatever that is but I feel like I'm really trying to be like present with them because There's so many like little moments in the day that you can either be like, oh my gosh This is so hard or frustrating or you can be like, oh, that's hilarious Yeah, what they just said even though they've asked me the same question Yeah
[00:12:52] Brent Wiebe: And with one kid when they're little like you can crack open the laptop and maybe send out an email quick right but with two It's just no you want up your [00:13:00] laptop and you're just so unproductive that it's not even worth No doing it because you spend 30 minutes on and off your laptop You don't even get anything done.
[00:13:08] Brent Wiebe: And then you've been a terrible parent because they're crying and Yeah
[00:13:11] Danielle Wiebe: so I did ask On Instagram. If people wanted to Oh, I didn't know this. If people wanted to hear an episode. No, I didn't have them send in questions. But I asked them Actually, sorry, I did ask what they would be interested in learning about.
[00:13:32] Danielle Wiebe: If I had you on podcast. And one thing was just like, basically, now having two babies, two businesses. How is that going? How are we managing that?
[00:13:46] Brent Wiebe: How are we managing that? We could not do it without help. That's first and foremost. Yep, for sure. Yeah, so when we've, since Rosie's been, [00:14:00] I don't know, six months, we started up with a shared nanny.
[00:14:04] Brent Wiebe: And since Max came along, the shared nanny couldn't take on four kids, and then we ended up just getting our own part time nanny, and, yeah, like, how can we manage it? We couldn't have managed it without her. Yeah. Also my parents would often watch one day a week and help us with that.
[00:14:28] Brent Wiebe: We'd drive to Langley, and then they'd
[00:14:31] Danielle Wiebe: Which, if you're not from Vancouver, that's like an hour away from where we live.
[00:14:36] Brent Wiebe: anD then just, yeah, friends, support. We have a couple good friends within a very close radius. Yeah, how do you manage? It's just with a lot of help. Yeah. But you also have to, you just have to give it your best shot with the amount of hours you have in a day, which are so limited now with kids. I [00:15:00] mean I've been working a little bit more lately, like maybe closer to 40 hours a week, but I'll still, I'll wake up super early, go to the coffee shop, or and then be home by two or three and watch the kids for the rest of the day and you just know that yeah, you can't just work from whenever it's while you can't work a 12 hour day.
[00:15:22] Brent Wiebe: Like it just doesn't happen. So you're being a lot more efficient with your time and you're not spending days working on a new logo or yeah, it's very focused work on what has to get
[00:15:36] Danielle Wiebe: done. Yeah, you have to prioritize. I think I learned that really well with Rosie because for the first, I think it was for the first seven months of Rosie's life, we didn't have help.
[00:15:47] Danielle Wiebe: It was just me at home with her. And so I would work during her naps. Yeah. And that was like, I feel like I got pretty good at, Prioritizing the important things that I [00:16:00] knew were going to actually make a difference within the business, within the time that I had. And so it's I actually, I've said this before, but I learned this from the podcast, Systemize Your Life.
[00:16:10] Danielle Wiebe: Great podcast. Chelsea Jo, shout out. But she talks about basically nap time being like, okay, you have everything ready and you have everything you need. You have your computer, you have, you have your water, you have your coffee, or whatever you need. And then as soon as you put them down, you're not frantic, trying to get everything prepared to then go and work.
[00:16:29] Danielle Wiebe: You have your one or two or three things that you need to do within that hour, or however long they're sleeping. And you have that ready, so that as soon as you put them down, you're like, okay go. And then, they wake up, and then you're like, okay, back in. Mom mode. I feel I got pretty good at being efficient with very short pockets of time.
[00:16:52] Danielle Wiebe: And that's another reason why I always talk about breaking everything down into things that take you less than 10 minutes [00:17:00] or 15 minutes. It seems like it's crazy, but if you have, if you only have that amount of time, To get something done, then at least you can fit that in, rather than these massive projects that you need three hours of uninterrupted work to get done.
[00:17:16] Danielle Wiebe: So having those little smaller things that you can filter in, I find personally that super helpful, but yeah. Definitely support, and then I think one thing that we've had to work on, I'm sure you can agree, is communication. Who's working when, and who has meetings.
[00:17:38] Danielle Wiebe: A
[00:17:38] Brent Wiebe: shared calendar. A shared calendar.
[00:17:40] Danielle Wiebe: That's critical. That doesn't always work.
[00:17:44] Brent Wiebe: No, it, yeah. Sometimes it glitches. Sometimes it falls through, but. To have a coordinated live calendar between the two. Otherwise things get booked on top of each other and then it's a gong show, but.
[00:17:54] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. Also, consistency. I think when Max was born, I started to go a [00:18:00] little bit crazy because every day was different. And then, Oh, I'm going to work three to five and then you're working two to six or whatever. And it just became such like a frazzled brain that, , I think we sat down and just carved out a typical work week and said, okay, you're going to be working these hours every day.
[00:18:18] Brent Wiebe: You can book meetings on these days. And then. Had it as like very Structured routine every week. I'd expect the same kind of thing and that was I don't really realize I was like a person of routine, but that Yeah, having Max really made that clear that we needed that
[00:18:37] Danielle Wiebe: Totally. Yeah, and I think Also having Grace for each other because It's not always going to work out exactly perfectly how we've planned it, just the way life is.
[00:18:52] Danielle Wiebe: The kids will get sick, or someone has a doctor's appointment, like that happened today, right? You can plan for the [00:19:00] best and have that schedule, but then you also have to have a lot of flexibility and grace within that to be like things aren't always going to go exactly according to the calendar, which is.
[00:19:10] Danielle Wiebe: It's sometimes really challenging because you plan things out and you schedule things out, but yeah, this happened, I feel like this happens whether you have kids or not, right? You have things planned and then you get sick or something else happens or your family needs you or what have you.
[00:19:27] Danielle Wiebe: So I think, being able to be flexible and being able to have grace for yourself and then also for your spouse if you're. If you have Two kids or maybe more and Two businesses, then that's definitely something we are working on. I feel like we're getting into pretty good groove,
[00:19:45] Brent Wiebe: maybe Yeah, over the last like the last Month and a bit.
[00:19:52] Danielle Wiebe: And Max is seven months, for the first several months, I had Max at home with me.
[00:19:58] Danielle Wiebe: So we're just like getting [00:20:00] into the routine the last few months since September, I believe. I feel like we've talked about the challenging parts of being a business owner with two businesses, two babies.
[00:20:11] Danielle Wiebe: What are some of the benefits? What do you feel are some of the things that you're excited about now that we are, we have two businesses and a family?
[00:20:21] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. We're both digital nomads in a way. You host events in Vancouver, so you have to come, you have to be here every once in a while.
[00:20:28] Brent Wiebe: And I, I have to meet with clients but we're, yeah, we're free to we don't have a commute every morning. Like I've never. I've commuted a little bit and I've realized I never wanted to live a life of sitting in a car for, and some people are totally into that and they love it and they get their podcasts in and Yeah, totally.
[00:20:45] Brent Wiebe: But I just, I'm not that person. We've always moved to where my work is. Yeah. But now my work can be wherever and so I love that. We can spend more time in Sun Peaks or [00:21:00] wherever and we're not tied down to Oh, I got to be back in the office on Monday. Yeah. I think that's pretty cool.
[00:21:06] Brent Wiebe: If I want to spend another two days on vacation, we can extend it and yeah, so that's pretty, pretty
[00:21:13] Danielle Wiebe: great. Yeah. We were booking our flights for Palm Springs and we were talking about Oh, what days should we go? And then what day should we come back? And we were looking at flights and it's Oh, it's way cheaper to fly on like a random Tuesday or whatever.
[00:21:27] Danielle Wiebe: It's Oh, we can just do that because it doesn't matter where we're, where we are. So I think for me, I have always loved the idea of having that flexibility. So I think. I've always secretly hoped that you would have your own business one day, and I think you have. And I guess my question is, because I think when we first got married, you weren't, I think you weren't entirely sure if you wanted that.
[00:21:54] Danielle Wiebe: And then, slowly but surely, you were like, Okay, yeah, maybe I do want to have my own [00:22:00] business. And then, it was more oh, maybe it's five years away. And then it just got closer and closer. Yeah. And then it was like, actually, I'm just gonna go for it. Yeah, tell us about that, because I feel like maybe there's other people who can relate to maybe wanting to take the leap in something, but not really sure when's the right time or what does this look like
[00:22:24] Brent Wiebe: Yeah, in, it may be specific to architecture, but yeah, probably other professions, you have a, there's a crossroads at some point where you have to decide, am I going to just climb this ladder in an office and become, associate and then senior associate, and then.
[00:22:43] Brent Wiebe: Principal and, so you can go this route of climbing and a lot of firms you have to buy into at the very end, so it's like you've reached the top of the ladder, now you get to pay a million dollars to join our office. You're going to be in debt for the next ten years.
[00:22:59] Brent Wiebe: [00:23:00] Yeah. And so I, we looked at that and I thought we were maybe in a good position. Crossroads, a position at the crossroads to take a left turn and then just start my own thing from scratch. And I think definitely being married to you, being in business helped push me over the edge a little bit more and seeing like it is possible to figure out CRA and figure out GST and all these things.
[00:23:32] Danielle Wiebe: Taxes, for those of you who are not
[00:23:34] Brent Wiebe: in Canada. Yeah, and and then also at the same time, I think in parallel, there were, uh, like I grew up in this area, and so we naturally have a lot of contacts with family, friends and I get calls like, hey, can you design my cabin, or can you design my house, or office right now, whatever.
[00:23:55] Brent Wiebe: And in architecture, you're not allowed to take on projects. You don't [00:24:00] have your own firm set up. So I couldn't even do these on the side legally and . And it was getting frustrating 'cause it was like these really cool opportunities that I was missing out on. Yeah. And I like, wanted so badly to help my friends and help my family.
[00:24:12] Brent Wiebe: And finally I just, yeah, there was a few, opportunities that I saw coming up and it just seemed like good timing and made the leap.
[00:24:22] Danielle Wiebe: And what changed for you, because obviously there's situational change, but there's also your mindset around it too, which is I feel like a big thing for people, in actually Leaving, because that's a big decision, to leave, especially when we have two kids.
[00:24:40] Danielle Wiebe: I don't know, maybe some people are curious of, we just, yeah, had our second, and we just bought an apartment a couple years ago, so it is really risky to just jump into a business. What do you feel like? What were some mindset [00:25:00] things that you had to overcome
[00:25:01] Brent Wiebe: There's also the risk of of just being comfortable and staying in your spot and growing in a firm and then just not jumping out on your own. That's a risk in my opinion too. And I even experienced like pay cuts. Like during COVID and yeah, so it's not like there's financial security in just working for somebody else as well.
[00:25:24] Brent Wiebe: So this way I'm a little bit more in control, but there's all the pressures on me to find work and find projects. If there's any motivation, yeah, two kids is that to. Yeah, we're also very, we come from very privileged backgrounds. So we have a lot of safety nets and I never think like one for that Rosie and Max are going to end up hungry.
[00:25:49] Brent Wiebe: Like we have so many family and friends that will support us no matter what.
[00:25:54] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah, I think, too it's going through, I feel like we talked about, too the worst case scenarios in [00:26:00] each case of what if this happens, what if that happens, and you just talk through it and, okay if absolute worst case scenario this happens, then this is the solution, and I feel like it's almost helpful to, to go through worst case scenario because often when you actually play it through, because a lot of people are worried that they won't be able to make it happen, or whatever it is.
[00:26:24] Danielle Wiebe: And it's if you actually play that out, and then think of the worst case scenario, and you're like I would still be able to do X, Y, Z to get back up on my feet or whatever. And it's
[00:26:36] Brent Wiebe: yeah. I could find it. architects are in demand right now. Like a lot of firms, every firm is hiring right now because they can't find enough work.
[00:26:44] Brent Wiebe: So yeah, I that's my fallback. You apply for, it's humbling. It would be very humbling, but yeah that's the
[00:26:51] Danielle Wiebe: fallback. Yes. I think, I feel like the advice that I would give to people who are maybe deciding on [00:27:00] whether or not to jump into full time.
[00:27:03] Danielle Wiebe: Entrepreneurship is, yeah, look at what safety nets do you have. Also, like, where are you at financially currently in your own life. And what expenses, what overhead do you have that you have to make sure that you cover. And then look at the worst case scenario and then figure out, does that would that still be okay?
[00:27:27] Danielle Wiebe: It's still gonna be a risk, though. I feel like You can still go through all of that, but at the end of the day you kinda just need to like almost trust yourself of Okay, if I jump into this, I'm just gonna make it work. It's maybe changed over the past few years. Cause I feel like I've always been I like doing things that are maybe a little bit risky, and I feel like you love that too, but I think with stuff like financially, I feel like you've become more comfortable with risk in the last couple years.
[00:27:56] Danielle Wiebe: Is that correct, or is that?
[00:27:58] Brent Wiebe: Yeah, for sure. Like [00:28:00] I, it was a calculated risk. I guess that's a better way of looking at it. To just take a huge risk and quit and not have any projects lined up. That's a dumb risk. To have, to see a little bit of the forecast and yeah, for us, we had, um, yeah, a couple of projects that were likely going to move forward.
[00:28:24] Brent Wiebe: And that was just enough to okay, we can bank on these let's jump. And I say we, as in my business partner and I, let's jump on them. And then that's our calculated risk really. Yeah. Yeah. The risk there was that we wouldn't be able to find any other work but we've been able to stay on top of building up the pipeline. What
[00:28:46] Danielle Wiebe: have been, if we're getting tactical, what have been the contributing factors to being able to what have you specifically done in order?
[00:28:56] Danielle Wiebe: I know you said like contacts that you already have, but what have you [00:29:00] done to make sure that you have a pipeline like you said?
[00:29:04] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. Lots of networking. But also not like cheesy networking. Hey, haven't chatted in five years. Here's my new business. It like, being in the industry, you're naturally talking with engineers and builders.
[00:29:24] Brent Wiebe: And just. In conversation, when they ask you can say that you're starting up your own thing and and word travels fast as well in the construction industry . Yeah, I feel like you've That's, networking has been huge.
[00:29:35] Brent Wiebe: Yeah, I feel like you've our website's garbage. I don't post on social media it's all just Friends, family, and networks.
[00:29:44] Danielle Wiebe: I feel like you've been really great at just being very intentional with building and connecting with relationships that you already have had in the past, but then also new relationships.
[00:29:56] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. So what are you excited about for [00:30:00] your business?
[00:30:00] Danielle Wiebe: You don't have to say like a specific vision statement But what are you looking forward to? What are you excited about? What's coming down the line for you?
[00:30:10] Brent Wiebe: I'm really excited about yeah, the projects that we're working on now They're all super unique and Like I think that's maybe where like the first question people always ask when they hear your In design or architecture, it's Oh, what, what do you work on?
[00:30:28] Brent Wiebe: And then the typical response is Oh, residential and commercial and industrial, like you spit out your genres of architecture and your typologies and whatever. But I think I'm really excited to work on just really different types of projects and like complex and, and honestly just working with other people is really exciting and seeing like people get so pumped on their own projects and just being able to build off that and feel their [00:31:00] excitement because they're spending a ton of money on their new building or their new office and it's a huge step for them in their business and so be able to support them in that and see them.
[00:31:11] Brent Wiebe: See their vision come to life and yeah, it's super rewarding. I'm super excited to be working with a. A partner. A business partner.
[00:31:21] Brent Wiebe: You're also a business partner, but
[00:31:23] Danielle Wiebe: Silent business
[00:31:24] Brent Wiebe: partner. Yeah. But I've realized at least for me, it's been so helpful to like, run ideas past someone else that's equally invested in the business and, just to have that business companion so that you're not doing it all on your own and, we're both now full time in it. And so it's been exciting the last while to yeah, work full days with this other, I can say his name, right?
[00:31:52] Danielle Wiebe: Joachim. Yeah. It's like a silent business. Joachim. Shout out to Joachim. [00:32:00] And tell everyone, it's a cool story. How do you know Joachim?
[00:32:05] Brent Wiebe: Yeah, we've known each other since grade nine in high school and we basically have done everything like we weren't, I don't think we were like best buds in grade nine, but then in grade 10 we started to do similar things Like he was interested in woodworking and we both did drafting and we both joined the snowboard team.
[00:32:28] Brent Wiebe: And yeah, we, our lives were started to become in parallel. And then we ended up after high school going to BCAT together and then we ended up moving in together. We were roommates for a couple of years and then we went to Europe and he went to Holland. I went to Germany.
[00:32:44] Brent Wiebe: And then. Yeah, we've always stayed in parallel with what we're doing and I mean if you've lived with somebody Yeah, and you know a lot about them. Yeah, you know a lot about them and if you were able to live with them and maintain, [00:33:00] be friends after then it's a good sign that you could go into business with them, Yeah, it was just Meant to be? Is that cheesy to say? Yeah. It was meant to be. It
[00:33:07] Danielle Wiebe: is. It is meant to be. Another fun fact that doesn't really have to do with much, but we went to Joachim and Virgi, his wife Virgi, their wedding in Italy, and it was the most amazing wedding ever. And then we crashed their honeymoon.
[00:33:24] Danielle Wiebe: Technically they invited us, but. Yeah. We joined them on their honeymoon and traveled around southern Italy with them. That was so cool. Such a cool experience. And, I feel like that, it's, it was, it's cool because now looking back on that and then obviously now our lives are going to be very intertwined.
[00:33:44] Danielle Wiebe: It's cool that we had that experience with them, I think. Yeah. That kind of brought us closer.
[00:33:50] Brent Wiebe: I think it's also important to note that Yoakum has two kids as well. We're both in similar life
[00:33:55] Danielle Wiebe: stages. That's true. That's yeah, that's really
[00:33:57] Brent Wiebe: important. He picks up [00:34:00] kids from his daycare and he has these commitments that I totally understand.
[00:34:04] Danielle Wiebe: I think you just have to have the, yeah, the right expectations. And then also your values are really aligned with, family.
[00:34:12] Danielle Wiebe: Both prioritizing family over anything and so I think that's really key too if you're getting into business with someone like really making sure your values are aligned because that at the end of the day is gonna be the most important thing and if values are clashing that's the hardest thing to Yeah, deal with right?
[00:34:30] Danielle Wiebe: Okay, so to like wrap things up How have we How have you been able to prioritize our relationship and marriage? Cause we're both very busy, we both have got our own businesses, and now with two kids, how do you feel like we, do you feel first I guess the question is do you feel like we do a good job?
[00:34:55] Danielle Wiebe: And then second question is if you do how do we do that?
[00:34:58] Brent Wiebe: I think we do a good job. [00:35:00] I think. if You're having kids, you need to keep dating your wife throughout that season. , I know there's a, there's people that don't leave the house after they have kids for like for five years and they don't get babysitters and they don't go on date nights and that's the easiest thing to do because yeah, it can be stressful to bring in a young babysitter to look after your kids.
[00:35:26] Brent Wiebe: To prioritize that and, like some specifics that we've been doing is we've been asking our, our nanny to stay a couple extra hours on Wednesdays at lunch and then we'll go out for a nice date lunch. And not let work get in the way of that and just prioritize that and then and then also, yeah, getting out every once in a while for an evening date.
[00:35:52] Brent Wiebe: And then I think we also tried to we're just starting up. Even like evenings can also just become like [00:36:00] you work all day. You. Make the big push to put the kids down at night, bathe them, and then change them, and they're crying, and then you feed them, blah, blah, blah, and then they're asleep, and then you're exhausted, and the easiest thing to do is just scroll on the phone, or let's just watch a show.
[00:36:19] Brent Wiebe: So I think one way we can get better is by doing no tech nights. Yeah,
[00:36:25] Danielle Wiebe: yeah. It's not that you never can do that, because obviously sometimes that's
[00:36:30] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. But to get in that habit where seven days a week,
[00:36:33] Danielle Wiebe: you're just like scrolling. And we did have that season. So no shame if anyone's in that season, but we have had that season.
[00:36:40] Danielle Wiebe: So yeah, but I agree. I, that is a way that I would like to get better too. Is yeah, spending just in general for 2024, one of my goals is to spend less time on my phone. So setting boundaries around that. And then yeah, evenings. I want to be able to read more. I think it's like trying to figure out like what's a good, [00:37:00] yeah, again, sounds cheesy, but even like at the end of the night, talking to each other or I know we've done, we've gone through seasons where we've been really good at this of let's play a game or play cards or something together at night.
[00:37:13] Danielle Wiebe: Even if you don't really feel like it, I think getting in that habit is important because if you're just in the habit of putting the kids down, either scrolling on your phone or watching TV, it's so easy to do that it will just become every single night.
[00:37:27] Danielle Wiebe: And then you just never even talk to your spouse. And that's not obviously healthy at all. And then also check, and then I think being honest, I feel like we both have been good at this where if I'm feeling like we're disconnected I'll just say that I feel like we're just, I feel like we're disconnected right now I don't feel like we're connected or connecting to each other and I feel like we're at each other what can we do to so I feel like having those honest conversations and put it out there of this is not going [00:38:00] well, how can we improve instead of just sweeping it under the rug and then Yeah.
[00:38:05] Brent Wiebe: And man, sometimes it can be just like, so overstimulating, like just screaming and and you're trying to have a conversation or something's a little bit tense and then just the screaming in the background just will drive you insane. And so even to say Hey, I need five minutes alone in the bedroom.
[00:38:23] Brent Wiebe: Yeah. Actually, Bluey taught us that, right? The mom from Bluey is I just need five. But yeah, just being open and honest with how you're feeling.
[00:38:35] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. And then not taking it personally if the other person just needs some time away. But yeah it's like a constant, yeah, communication and yeah, that's good.
[00:38:46] Danielle Wiebe: oKay. Thanks for being on the podcast, babe.
[00:38:49] Brent Wiebe: Isn't this an hour long? Podcast like Joe Rogan style or
[00:38:52] Danielle Wiebe: two hours three hours. We've been going for 40 ish minutes Okay, so [00:39:00] the question I ask all my guests which I will ask you as well is What are you most proud of your entrepreneurial journey so far?
[00:39:07] Brent Wiebe: It I'm still very young into this like I don't have all the answers and I haven't I haven't had huge wins, huge accomplishments, but I, yeah, I'm most proud of just taking the leap I think. And it's so easy just to stay in your job. It's so comfortable. Yeah. You get the dental benefits, you get RMT massages and then to yeah, just to give it all up.
[00:39:34] Brent Wiebe: So that was, I think I'm most proud of Doing what's uncomfortable. Yeah. And yeah. Jumping on into my own.
[00:39:42] Danielle Wiebe: Cool. Where can people find you and connect with you, Brian?
[00:39:48] Brent Wiebe: Like our home address?
[00:39:50] Danielle Wiebe: No! Where can people If they want to know more about your business or you Where can they go? You're not really on social very much, but.
[00:39:59] Danielle Wiebe: No, I'm
[00:39:59] Brent Wiebe: not on [00:40:00] social. If you want to reach out, I check our email and there's a link on our website to contact us. Yeah, formarchitects. ca.
[00:40:13] Danielle Wiebe: We'll put it in the show notes for everyone, just in case.
[00:40:16] Brent Wiebe: We want to get better at, yeah, social. Architecture is very visual, so we want to get.
[00:40:20] Brent Wiebe: More content out there eventually just don't have time for that, but we'll get into that soon. But Yeah, that's how they can connect. Yeah.
[00:40:29] Danielle Wiebe: Thank you for being on the podcast. We'll see. We'll see what the people say and Maybe they'll want you back. Maybe they won't I don't know If you liked this episode, then you can send me a message.
[00:40:45] Danielle Wiebe: I'm at Danny, living life, Danny with an I, living life. Let me know what you liked, let me know what you took away. Hopefully this was, just helpful for you if you're either a parent, or if you're running a business with kids, [00:41:00] or you have a spouse that has a business as well.
[00:41:03] Danielle Wiebe: Hopefully this was helpful for you and just, sharing our experience and what we've done. So thanks for listening and we'll see you in the next episode.