Podcast summary and Notes on "layandgo"

Episode 57: Working with Your Spouse

Today, I’m excited to talk to Amy & Adam Fazackerley, Co-Founders of Lay-n-Go, a company that designs and manufactures innovative organizational solutions for life, play, and travel.

I’ve interviewed them both individually, so if you haven’t listened to those episodes, add them to your playlist!

But today we’re doing something different - and talking to them about what it’s like to work with your spouse day in, day out.

Welcome, Adam & Amy!

In this episode…

Instead of the speed round, they start out with a few either / or questions. Both Amy and Adam both feel it is easier to work with their spouse than anyone else in the family! They have very distinct strengths and weaknesses, which, perhaps is part of the secret. Adam laughs as he shared his weakness is he is always in trouble and Amy’s strength is she is forgiving. Amy shared a true benefit in being founders together is the ability to work things together versus another founder who hops in his or her car and drives away.

Together, they run their business a different way. They are lifestyle based, work hard, and always want what is best for their family. However, it isn’t always smooth, and days do not always start out with having breakfast casually. What is really important is really understanding the other person. For Amy, balance is really important to each of them.

Stephanie wanted to know if they feel as though they are working more than an average person because they work together. Both, Amy and Adam, stated yes and that is the nature of the base. They both agree their kids have been a pretty cool part of the journey. Making best use of their time, such as in the car, it very important. They’re very focused and intentional on what they want their business to be.

After ten years in business, the number one question is where do they want to be in five years or ten years and what do they want it to look like? What they do fall back on is the trust they have in each other.

One of the other things they like to do is give back by teaching the next generation about the things they went through in starting and running their business. Together they are very active in extracurricular entrepreneurship things. Working with other people is what makes them tick.

Other than a shared vision, there are other parts of working together that have contributed to their success. They include communication, trust, and really looking at going back to the strengths. Adam feels understanding those hot spots is ultra-important. For instance, if there is friction, Amy does not want any part of that. It isn’t always as easy as a line down the middle.

When it comes to other founders, there are certain things they should look for, but there are also those they should avoid. Adam shares that a lot of times the teams that come to them are paired up, but if they’re not, just remember you are picking a partner so find someone who has the strengths where you may lack. If there are issues between partners, they like to push for resolutions that are fair.

Amy shares that it is important to stick with what you love, what will get you out of bed every day and stick with that. It shouldn’t feel like work. Just look at what drives and motivates you.

Before involving a family member in your business, there are some questions that need to be asked of yourself. Such as, “What do you want out of this?” In fact, that should be a mutual question. If everyone wants success and progression, it’s a pretty good start. If you are going to involve family, figure out ways they will help build the business but also do it in the family role. They do consider their friends as their family as well. For them, their friends also started as their first focus groups.

On the flip side, everyone needs to make sure it is working for those involved. Keeping open lines of communication are so important, family or not.

They close with one piece of advice for others who are going to work with family, and that is to just have fun and move on. Also, give one another enough slack to make mistakes, forgive and learn.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

LinkedIn Profile : https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfazackerley/
UUNET : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UUNET
Fortify.vc : https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fortify-ventures
Lay-n-Go : www.layngo.com
PATENT 9,0984,459 (July 2015) : https://patents.google.com/patent/US9084459
PATENT 10,016,036 (July 2018) : https://patents.google.com/patent/US10016036
PATENT 10,561,213 (February 2020) : https://patents.google.com/patent/US10561213B2
Finance-Ability
Stephanie Sims
Stephanie Sims LinkedIn

Sponsor for this episode...

Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.

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What's Your Ask? with Stephanie Sims

enMay 26, 2021

Episode 55: Find Your Pain, Fix It and Create Your Business with Amy Fazackerley

In this episode, you will hear how Amy felt her scariest ask was how to get started in business, how to get started in manufacturing, where do you go? It’s hard to go overseas, share your ideas and not know anyone not to mention hand over a prototype and negotiate dollars and all the major details.

After stepping on loose Legos drove her over the edge, she brainstormed on how does one clean, corrale, and pick up after them without having to throw them all in buckets.

Her advice to others wanting to start a business is to know your pain point and solve it. Questions they should ask themselves include:

Do you understand your audience and their price points?
What problem are you solving? To Amy, it was “What would I want?”
How do you plan to get the message across to make it better? Will they look at the product and say, “Oh my gosh, I need that!”

Some people can get stuck in perfectionism when they are getting ready to launch a product, and they shouldn’t. Learn from the mistakes you make, but get it out there. If something goes amiss, then quickly pivot and fix it. It’s a learning process, but it makes your product better and your brand stronger as well as reviews better.

Ask for feedback, always. Feedback is so important! It shows the customer you are listening to them. Customers want to feel like they are part of what you’re doing, so make it a priority and engage with them. Make your brand feel real!

Amy shares she goes through every day, week and year bumping into other problems. She loves finding products that provide simple solutions to make her daily life better.

When just starting out, how does one get feedback, expand and get people engaged? The strategies they used were organic growth by telling their stories. Someone out there will relate and react.

So, start with your story, grow organically, reach out to your friends and family, and use technology to your advantage.

Not everyone “gets” or listens to feedback that is shared, but all feedback needs to be listened to as it’s all positive and all an opportunity. It’s all information you can put in your toolbox to make it better and stronger.

Feedback could indicate changes are needed in education, changing the product, whether or not it’s off-trend, etc. Don’t look at negative feedback as a reason to throw everything out and start over rather look at it as if something needs tweaking. For instance, you might have the right product but are in the wrong place selling it to the wrong person.

It’s easy to get lost in ideas and start branching out, but you need to remind yourself to stay focused. Your core is your core. Sometimes you just have to say “no” as it isn’t aligned with your mission or vision. It’s easy to get distracted.

When it comes to sharing her time, Amy starts with family and friends, which lots of the groups have become. Looks at where she can add value.

Amy’s ask of listeners: If you’re listening to this, take a look at their website and share feedback. Would love to hear thoughts and ideas.

Promo code: April40 to get a 40% discount on any of the items!