in the city
Love & Manage Couples who work together share secrets for remaining sweethearts BY ELIZABETH RAHE
Marriage is filled with joys and challenges. The same can be said of running a business. For couples who share both, life would seem to be doubly challenging. However, several local couples appear to juggle the two ventures quite successfully. They even find time for some Valentine’s Day fun – which may be one key to their harmonious enterprises.
Clay Conley & Averill Mackin Conley buccan and Imoto restaurants, Palm Beach Brickhouse Public Relations, West Palm Beach e s chef/owner of buccan and Imoe’s to restaurants r in Palm Beach. She handles public relations for the eateries and se serves as executive vice president/ partne partner of Brickhouse Public Relations. Their complementary talents have serve served them – and their enterprises – quite well. Critics have praised the big flavo avors dished on small plates at the casu casual-yet-cosmopolitan buccan and the Asian-inspired Imoto. Clay and Averill met at Florida Sta State University in 1993. “It was
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really love at first sight, but I had another boyfriend at the time,” Averill says. They started dating after she graduated and ended up in Las Vegas to open the Bellagio – he was a sous chef for Todd English at Olives Las Vegas; she opened VIP Services. Eventually, on Oct. 6, 2001, they would marry at the Bellagio. Fast-track careers also took them to Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Boston before they settled in South Florida. Life still moves faster than a Valentine’s Day dinner rush for this dynamic couple. However, they did take time in September for a Jamaican escape and in December to celebrate their daughter, Micaela’s, first birthday. What are the joys and challenges of working together? Sometimes it’s the only time we see each other. I know Clay so well I can predict his answers and choices pretty accurately, so we’re an efficient team. The challenges are what you’d expect – keeping any personal issues separate from the work environment. How will you celebrate Valentine’s Day? Well, I don’t think we’ve ever been able to spend one actual Valentine’s Day together – it’s a very busy night in the business. We’ll probably go out to dinner the Monday before. Now that we have a baby, ‘date night’ takes on a whole new meaning. What has been your favorite getaway? The Jamaica Inn [in Ocho Rios, Jamaica] last September. It was the first vacation we have ever taken where we didn’t really do anything. We napped, read, lounged,
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1/24/13 6:36 PM