Working in Tandem with Kay Lee & Robert Fukui (Part 1)

John sits down with husband-and-wife duo Kay Lee and Robert Fukui — business consultants and co-authors of Tandem: The Married Entrepreneurs’ Guide for Greater Work-Life Balance. Kay Lee and Robert share their journeys as entrepreneurs from very different backgrounds, how they met, their premarital counseling, and their experience working together as couplepreneurs.

Listen to this episode to learn more:

[00:00] - Intro

[02:21] - Kay Lee’s and Robert’s backgrounds

[06:20] - John’s background in ministry and moving into entrepreneurship

[10:15] - How Kay Lee and Robert met through an online Christian dating site

[16:04] - Their relationship and pre-marital counseling

[18:31] - Ensuring that Robert was ready for a new relationship

[20:00] - How counseling helped them build a strong foundation for their marriage

[21:36] - Why John is the perfect person to talk about marriage

[24:01] - Importance of men showing emotional vulnerability in relationships

[27:55] - Kay Lee’s rationale for wanting premarital counseling

[29:25] - The term “couplepreneur”

[30:09] - Working together as husband and wife in the same business

[33:53] - Making decisions that are best for “us”

[35:46] - The sixth sense that women have

[37:35] - Why they decided to write the book Tandem

[41:13] - Statistics on divorce rate among entrepreneurs

[42:16] - Outro

NOTABLE QUOTES:

“The things that will help strengthen your marriage are actually simple in principle, but it’s very hard—mentally, emotionally, and sometimes spiritually—to do.”

“Going in and defending yourself, trying to fix the other person, and pointing fingers—those are our gut reactions that are easy to do, but they are very toxic for the relationship. The simple act of listening and empathizing is easy in principle but very hard mentally and emotionally to do.”

“Any new skill feels weird when you first start doing it, but the more you do it, the easier it gets.”

“Great relationships aren’t just about compromise; they’re about finding the best of both ideas and working together.”

“In an argument, it’s just me against her, and I want to win, or she wants to win. But when you realize it’s about ‘us,’ everything changes.”

“The power of the pause is very powerful. When we pause, more truth or facts come out that weren’t there initially, and then you realize, ‘Oh, this wasn’t the right decision.’”

USEFUL RESOURCES:

https://marriedentrepreneur.co/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertfukui/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleefukui/ 

https://www.instagram.com/thrivingintandem/

https://www.facebook.com/robert.fukui 

https://www.facebook.com/kaylee.mullerfukui

https://www.thetandembook.com/

“Tandem: The Married Entrepreneurs’ Guide for Greater Work-Life Balance”  (https://a.co/d/2lxzGrg)

Thriving in Tandem Podcast (https://tinyurl.com/ThrivingInTandemPodcast) 

CONNECT WITH JOHN

Website - https://thejohnhulen.com 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen 

Twitter -