Welcome to Becoming Wealthy. I’m your host, Michelle Bosch, and today, alongside my co-host Sophia Bosch, we have the pleasure of speaking with an extraordinary woman, Kelly Clements. Kelly is a marriage-centric business coach who helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses while ensuring their marriages thrive alongside. Her insights are particularly valuable for entrepreneurial couples navigating the complex interplay between personal and professional lives.
Understanding the Kolbe Index
The conversation kicked off with a discussion on the Kolbe Index, a tool that measures people’s striving instincts—how they naturally take action. Sophia shared her Kolbe results, which showed she is a “mediator,” possessing a balanced approach that allows her to adapt and respond to various working styles. Kelly emphasized the importance of understanding these instincts, especially for couples, as it helps in household management, planning, and even budgeting.
Evolving Striving Instincts
Michelle noted that striving instincts can change over time due to life transitions. Kelly added that while Kolbe results typically remain consistent, significant life changes, such as transitioning from a structured environment like the military or traditional schooling, can affect one’s striving instincts. This understanding can be crucial for both personal and professional growth.
Navigating Entrepreneurial Relationships
Kelly shared insights from her experience as both an entrepreneur and a supporting spouse. For driven women, she highlighted the importance of finding a partner who is supportive and not threatened by their ambition. This dynamic is essential for maintaining a healthy relationship where both partners can thrive independently and together, akin to a three-legged race.
Setting Boundaries and Prioritizing Play
A recurring theme was the necessity of setting boundaries between business and personal life. Kelly advised entrepreneurial couples to remain multidimensional and engage in activities that release oxytocin, the love hormone, through play and shared hobbies. These activities not only strengthen the bond between partners but also ensure that conversations aren’t solely business-focused.
Financial Decisions and Wealth Building
Michelle and Kelly discussed strategies for making financial decisions as a couple, especially when one partner is more of a quick starter and the other a fact-finder. Kelly emphasized the importance of viewing wealth as what comes in and what stays in. She recounted a valuable lesson from a Lifebook retreat: both partners contribute to wealth, whether by generating income or managing expenditures.
Dating and Relationship Advice for Driven Individuals
Kelly provided dating advice for Sophia, underscoring the importance of maintaining high standards and effective communication from the outset. She emphasized that how one dates often reflects how one will marry, and early boundary-setting is crucial for long-term relationship health.
Teaching Wealth to the Next Generation
Kelly also shared how she instills the value of wealth in her children, teaching them that true wealth is often unseen and lies in the gap between earnings and expenses. She encourages entrepreneurship and strategic financial decisions, ensuring her children understand the importance of managing and growing their wealth responsibly.
Balancing Business and Family Life
For entrepreneurial couples, Kelly identified the common challenge of the business receiving the best of their energy, leaving the family with the rest. She suggested practical solutions like dedicating 1% of their day (about 14 minutes) to family activities and maintaining a balance of compliments to criticisms in their interactions. This small investment in family time can significantly improve the overall atmosphere at home and, by extension, enhance business success due to increased confidence and support.
Kelly’s insights offer a comprehensive guide for entrepreneurial couples striving to balance business growth with a thriving personal life. By understanding striving instincts, setting boundaries, prioritizing play, and making informed financial decisions, couples can achieve harmony in both their professional and personal lives.