From Potomac Fund Management, this is the Conquer Risk Podcast. Join us as we discuss the business of running an RIA firm and the practice of investment management. And now, our hosts. Welcome to the Conquer Risk Podcast.
I'm Christopher Norton, the Director of Marketing here at Potomac Fund Management. I'm excited today to be joined by Rosa Chilacian, who is the VP of Operations at Lake Avenue Financial. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for being here.
I'm really excited to have this conversation today because I think you have a unique perspective that a lot of people that are small business owners either consider or are doing or are scared of. Careful. And so I just want to ask all the bold questions and find out how you do it. So you are lots of one.
We're going to today show this up here this whole time. Cheers. So who are part of a husband and wife team? I am.
And from what you told me leading into this podcast, you do all the work while your husband runs around on social media and those kinds of things. But in all seriousness... I love you to see the same thing that I feel. We know.
We all know. We all love Alex, but we all know the truth behind the organization. But in all seriousness, you are. You're a great husband and wife team.
And so I will just start at the beginning. Tell me how that came about. At what point did you say this is a good idea? Well, it didn't start as a husband and wife thing.
So I think that has a lot to do with it. He didn't hire me because I was his wife. He hired me actually before we were even dating. So we were already working together as friends before we even got married.
We've been working together for nine and a half years. We've only been married for six. So there was a history before we got married. But it did make things a little bit more complicated once we got married.
And I wouldn't say it was him and I at the couple. It's when Alex brought in other people or partners. It's hard for them to say like, okay, who's the boss? Is it her?
You know, who do we listen to? So I think that was a bit more of the issue. Interesting. So talk to me then about how that kind of dynamic has played out.
Is there... I'm imagining the sort of growing pains of that. But now on the other side of it, you feel like you found the right balance between... Work and our marriage.
Let's kind of where I'm going with it. How do you delineate that? Because you're together at work. You're together at home.
You're together with kids. You're together on the road. How does that balance out in a meaningful way where it doesn't feel like either you're working all the time? Or it's just sort of muddled?
And it's hard not to be working all the time when your husband and wife. That's one thing. But I need my space. Alex is right at the beginning.
He was like, we need to show it off. And I was like, heck no, we're not showing it off. I need my space. So our office is our next door to one another.
He then wanted to cut out the window so he can see me all day. He said, no, I need my space. So that helps having that privacy and getting to do what he needs to do. Through all the day without the other one being there.
Most of the times we believe in each other. Unless we're seeing clients or in client meetings, because we do our clients meetings together and conference calls. Other than that, we really don't see each other. He's doing other things that are working on as a bikers tonight.
Or now he's, I don't know, instituted this new thing where he's not coming in Monday, Tuesdays and Fridays. So I only really see him once a day. I know how to move on to aspire to. Yes, right.
So I only now see him once a day. So that helps. It really does. And so part of what you're saying is working together doesn't mean it's like sitting together at the same desk.
We can even carpool together. I won't allow that. I want to drive to work. If I have to go, I have to go.
And if I need my car. I need, I think we both need to make a drill. That's very smart. So we don't ever carpool together.
Well, I think there's something to be said for that. As somebody that works from home, that's something that we, all of us, we all talk about. It's kind of drawing that line between your workday and the beginning. And it's like, if I'm sitting at my dining room table, when am I at work and not?
And like, I don't have a commute. But taking that time to sort of start my workday and end my workday and that thing is working. But there isn't really as much as Alex and I say, we don't want to bring work home. Ideas come up at 11 o'clock at night or on a Sunday morning, you know, like you just kind of out of it.
Like, it's going to happen. The only time when Alex and I do not talk about work, it's Wednesday nights, we have date nights. We're not allowed to talk about work. That's like pretty much the only time that it's just he and I.
Okay. But working together has a lot of pros as well. I get to see what he does every day and how it pays off and what the industry thinks of him. And, you know, he's a great leader, even though I don't know where.
He's a great leader. But there's a reason why, because he has somebody that he can trust, you know, to make sure that everything's going to be taken care of at the office. Well, he's all doing whatever he wants to do to grow his practice. So getting to travel with him, you know, meeting people like you guys going out and enjoying.
I'm not just Alex's wife. It helps that I work for him and I understand the business and everything that comes with it. I think that's a very key point because, again, going back to this idea of a lot of the advisors that we work with are small business owners and, you know, I have built businesses before and I know and I have faced failure just due to my lack of willingness to trust someone. I have a willingness to trust somebody with the growth of the business.
So I won't let go of things and then it can't grow beyond me because I was scared to let go of it. And being able to have that relationship that you can lean on probably gave you a new dynamic as a couple and as a business to grow because you have that level of trust. Definitely. I know that, you know, whatever he's doing, it's for the family and he knows the same thing.
Anything that I want, it's not like, oh, it's not my business. I don't care, whatever it works. He's like, no, anything that happens here, it's for our future, our kids, our business. And we both have the same goal.
So it helps. So I was very selfish in wanting to have this conversation with you because it's something that's personal to me for my life and my future. Which I'm happy to hear. Thank you.
What recommendations would you have for couples who are considering this, for businesses that are considering this, like give me your biggest successes and your biggest talents. You need to have boundaries and you need to have respect. And you need to respect your significant other more than you respect all of your other employees. You guys should never have arguments in front of your coworkers because whatever happens, you know, they don't need to see that and it creates animosity.
Then they feel like they have to think between, you know, you, what do you want? No, they're talking sides. They're talking sides, obviously. Obviously.
But it's very important to be respectful and we all have our bad days. And because even though you're trying not to break problems home or to, you know, work or whatever the other way around, sometimes it stops. Not you're having a bad day. So, days like that, I'll take a sick day off and I said, you know what, I'm not coming in today.
And we established that if we're having a bad day in our household, we don't want to bring it to the office. So we just work home. So that, you know, doesn't cause issues around the monstrosity in the office, which you don't want. Yeah, because no one's perfect.
Right. And it's... It's not realistic to think that Alex and I have this perfect world and we never have arguments or we always agree. Trust me, we don't agree on 99% of things, but we have to respect the other's, you know, decision.
I don't have to agree because opinion, I just have to respect it. That idea of structure and clear boundaries. I mean, that's really the formula for success and just about everything. But in this type of dynamic, I can see how that would make such a difference in that.
And at that time, it didn't happen overnight. So, it's a good year or two after we got married for us to really, you know, nail that. And when we got married, it was really important for us to say if something doesn't work out, our marriage, our family, our kids, we are our blended family. They already been through a lot, so it's more important for us to work on our marriage.
Yes, no, I can't replace him. No, I can't. But every place to go, you know, he can find someone else who's taking my role at the office and he can't do that at home. So we have to come to the conclusion of that, you know, we need to do what's best for our family.
And if at any time it doesn't work out, I will accept the fact that it's our work for somebody else. Right. So, yeah. Well, this has been very insightful and I appreciate you taking the time to just share a little bit about your work life and really your whole life.
So we appreciate it very much. Is there any parting words of wisdom that you would share to families considering this? Well, it's doable. Just, like I said, be respectful to one another, support one another.
You guys are not going to agree, you know, telling you you're not going to agree, but it's going to work if you guys want it to work. That's well said. That's a good perspective to keep us back. If you want it, you want it, it's going to work.
You have to make it work as much as you can. Well, thank you for joining us. Thank you for being a part of this, then. All opinions expressed by podcast guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Potomac Fund Management.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for investment decisions. Clients of Potomac Fund Management may maintain positions and securities discussed in this podcast.