“HONEY, I HAVE AN IDEA”

Being Married to an Entrepreneur

By Renee Presnell

“Everyone can tell you the risk; an entrepreneur can see the reward.”

Robert Kiyosaki is a wildly successful entrepreneur worth millions. He has written what some call the #1 personal finance book of all time, but I have never read it. He also wrote a book called Why “A” Students Work for “C” Students and “B” Students Work for the Government. I’ve not read this one either, but I have heard of it. I believe my now-entrepreneurial son was inspired by that book. At least, he mentioned it a time or two when his grades were a bit lackluster. Entrepreneurs. They are a unique breed of people. Our nation is filled with them: everyday men and women who have incredible ideas of how to pave their own paths and are willing to take the risk. I married one of these entrepreneurs.

I knew what I was getting into when I married Larry. He had already helped his parents start a successful printing company that began in their basement and grew to be a key supplier of print materials for businesses in the Triad area. This success did not come easy, as any small business entrepreneur will tell you. It entails long hours, continuous challenges, stressful deadlines, and ongoing concerns, especially when you have employees depending on you for their livelihood. It can take its toll. That is why it takes someone driven, decisive, and persevering to be an entrepreneur.

There have been many ideas and ventures since those printing company years, including the software company Larry now runs. An entrepreneur is always imagining, dreaming, strategizing, creating, thinking outside the box. It is a mind that is constantly in motion looking at the “what ifs” of their ideas and imagining the ways to make those ideas become reality. My mind does not work that way. I am not the risk taker, but I admire those who are.

I am the “retired” homeschool mom. After twenty years of educating my children, I looked forward to jumping on those halfcompleted projects lying around my house, including all the baby books I never put together. I anticipated all the new recipes I would try. Maybe I would learn to bake sourdough bread or take up an actual hobby! This was a new chapter in my life. It would be my “catch-up” chapter. But before the next page could even be turned, my entrepreneur husband decided to start a new chapter of his own.

“So, I have an idea to share with you. I know what our next venture is going to be.”

“Our?”

“Yep. We are going to make peanut butter.”

“Peanut butter?” I was sure I had not heard him right the first time.

“Yes indeed,” he exclaimed confidently. “So, I was watching YouTube the other night, and I fell asleep. When I woke up, this lady was making peanut butter in her kitchen. I was like, ‘we could do that.’”

I guess the “catch-up” chapter has now been moved to another part of the book. So, the entrepreneurial husband and his not-soentrepreneurial wife began the process of seeking to produce an all-natural peanut butter that would be healthy and great tasting at the same time. For two years we have searched for quality ingredients, experimented with unique recipes, gathered willing taste-testers (not hard to do), bought the needed equipment, and figured out how to market this product