When love is work, literally

Last week, we discussed how the young couple, Joseph Tay and Stephanie “Stenie” Coyiuto-Tay, started their own luxury furniture business, Casa Bella Home and Living Furniture.

Working as a couple is not simple, not least because it is well-nigh impossible to compartmentalize business issues, without them affecting family matters and vice versa.

Central to the challenge of working as a couple would be capitalizing on each other’s strengths and affirming each other’s differences.

At the start, the couple confessed to getting in each other’s way—and on each other’s nerves.

“Before marriage, we had never worked together,” Stenie says. “So at the start, we had this romantic idea that doing business as newlyweds would be easy. After all, we respect and love each other.

“But then we found ourselves duplicating tasks, with little role division, arguing about small things.”

To become true partners in marriage is not easy; in business, this is even trickier.

“If couples are not careful,” Joseph says, “working together all the time in business gives them more ammunition to quarrel and find fault in each other, which can affect the home.”

Joseph and Stenie had to juggle the life of newlyweds, a growing business, difficult pregnancies, raising kids.

“It’s very tough,” Joseph told Stenie. “But we’ll figure it out.”

Wrestling with business and family, Stenie prioritized her health and her children. In doing so, she ceded operational matters to her husband, and was “pleasantly surprised” at how he handled them.

“You have to understand,” Joseph says, “Stenie as a corporate professional is well-versed in deliberate, strategic thinking.  As an entrepreneur, I would focus more on daily calibrations. I knew how to manage needs since I started out in animal feeds with my parents, but I had no experience in creating wants, which our furniture business requires.

“At the start, Stenie wanted me to think more long-term, and she wondered why I did not plan for the future or analyze issues enough. For my part, I thought she was being unrealistic, because we were entrepreneurs, and I wanted her to be able to live with some uncertainty.”

Nothing is right or wrong, I point out. Both viewpoints can be assets or liabilities, depending on the situation.

Both agree. “The way I put it,” Joseph says, “Stenie is the soul of the company. I am the arms and legs. She is the creative director; I am COO.”

Key to their growth is “deliberate, honest conversation” plus love and respect for one another. They recognize each other’s strengths, leveraging these for the benefit of the company.

Because of Stenie, “I now think more strategically,” Joseph says. “For instance, I hire people not just for specific functions or not just to please me as the boss, but also to have accountability in terms of culture, direction, etc.”

Because of Joseph, “I am now more patient,” Stenie says. “I am used to taking control. I used to compare our company with what I thought were the best in the field. I would obsess over design and other things, because I want everything to work.”

“But I have learned to deal with change. I have learned to let go of small things. We have moved showrooms, we have discarded nonworking ideas, we are starting new lines.”

Stenie today focuses on home design and decor, while Joseph handles corporate needs.  Roles are more defined, and the couple have learned to enjoy building an enterprise together.

“Even if I am the one dealing with corporations, because of Stenie’s experience and expertise, when she gives suggestions on marketing to companies, I listen to her,” Joseph says.

“At times, we engage in friendly competition among our teams,” Stenie says. Such playfulness is integral to the sustainability of a business.

This power couple genuinely complement each other, strengthening both family and business.

For world-class furniture brands, visit casabellahomeandliving.com.

Queena N. Lee-Chua is with the board of directors of Ateneo’s Family Business Center.  Get her book “All in the Family Business” at www.lazada.com.ph or call National’s Jennie Garcia at 0915-421-2276. Contact the author at [email protected].