When it comes to success, many people simply don’t realize the incredible strength that it actually takes to succeed as an entrepreneur today, and this strength can not only be found in the entrepreneurs themselves, but also in their spouses to a great degree. As it goes to show, the spouse of an entrepreneur carries one of the biggest burdens of all, and is also one of the greatest tools of strength to the entrepreneur as a whole. The role of an entrepreneur’s wife or unsung heroes as they are often called is seldom spoken about in public sectors, the majority of articles and interviews about entrepreneurs are usually completely centered on the entrepreneur’s themselves, their personal struggles, their individual hardships, and their own sacrifices. But the truth is that the role of an entrepreneur’s spouse is incredibly powerful, and also usually hidden. It is a reality that the true testament of a relationship is on how much each spouse can handle, and how much each spouse chooses to put up with for the other’s well-being. This is called love. Many people simply don’t realize how much of a role the entrepreneur’s wife takes in the accomplishment, success, and the inevitable results of the entrepreneur themselves. It is a true testament of fact that an entrepreneur’s wife is the greatest tool that he can have.
An example of this phenomenon is in the story of CEO Brent Hatch and his wife Darlene. Brent runs Profire Energy, an extremely successful company, and his wife Darlene is one of the greatest tools he has had on his road to success, according to him. As he has stated, Darlene has been the driving force of his business since day 1. She has not only been his support system along the way, but she has also been his main advisor and confidant. Darlene was the one who fielded calls from creditors in the early days when Profire Energy was just beginning, and she also gave up everything in order for Profire Energy to succeed with Brent at the helm. Brent Hatch has spoken about the role that his wife Darlene has had in his success many times, and says very honestly to Forbes.com, “I would not be where I am with this company were it not for Darlene”. Moreover, Brent spoke about the fact that now when he hires employees for his thriving company, he actually interviews both the individual as well as their spouse, since he feels the spouse of a new hire is just as important as the new hire themselves. Another example of this phenomenon showcased on Forbes.com is with success-story Alan Hall, an extremely successful entrepreneur who oversees several companies. According to Alan, his wife Jeanne was the one who had to pay all of the bills for the family when Alan was first struggling with his businesses. She worked, paid the bills, and also served as the strength and driving force within the family, which also includes their children.
There is no doubt that true entrepreneurship comes along with a hefty amount of struggle, long hours, debt, anxiety, uncertainty, and confusion. This is the truth and the reality of what most entrepreneurs and their spouses deal with on a day to day basis in the early days of trying to get a business off the ground and on the road to success. For most of these very accomplished entrepreneur’s, success might seem like it came easy, but the opposite is more often the case. Not only did the entrepreneur’s themselves have to struggle, but the struggle was also felt immensely by the spouse as well. The spouse of an entrepreneur is usually the one who has to stay strong throughout the confusion that being a new entrepreneur brings. While their husband is toiling away and doing all that they can to succeed, the wife of an entrepreneur must be steadfast and focused. She must be willing to sacrifice her happiness and essentially, her life, for the faith that her husband’s vision will one day become a reality. It takes immense faith, love, and kindness to be the wife of an entrepreneur.
The most important word that comes to mind when thinking of an entrepreneur’s wife is supportive. She must be immensely supportive every step of the way. No matter what happens, she must always be the supportive backbone for her husband as well as for his entrepreneurship dreams as a whole. She must hold onto the idea that one day things will change, that one day the business that he has so desperately been working towards will flourish. The wife of an entrepreneur must have this mind-set every minute of everyday, sometimes for years at a time, waiting in the wings to help her husband and his business at a moment’s notice. And, the support she offers her husband must not stop when the business he is working towards succeeds. In many businesses, even if success is found, there is still the chance that things could fail, debt could most definitely start to incur, and various problems could arise; these are all real facts that must be dealt with and addressed. A supportive wife must be comfortable with these facts and come to terms with them entirely. Some entrepreneurs have had to put their entire life savings on the life for their businesses, even their homes and cars, just for the ability to start and sustain their chosen business model. And of course, their wife had to be on board. Not only is this frightening to say the least, but it is also quite aggravating to have so much on the line. The wife of an entrepreneur must have the strength to be able to see these things through and hope that things will turn out for the best in the end, all the while supporting her husband in whatever aspect he needs. This is the point at which most entrepreneurs succeed, when they have the undying support and adulation from their spouses that is steadfast and true. There is no greater motivation for an entrepreneur than him having his wife’s support.
