The PodcastEPISODE #44
Lovin' IT: Amy & Elden Quesinberry of Layer 8 Consulting, Part 2 We continue our conversation with a couple whose businesses isn’t exactly romantic, but has definitely improved their life and their lifestyle. Elden & Amy Quesinberry of Layer 8 Consulting have experienced change in their lives and in their careers. We hear about their business philosophy, which treats employees like family. But why does that include interviewing a job candidate’s spouse? We also look at what happens when you think your partner is capable of doing something in the business—but adamantly does not want to do it. Conflict? Perhaps. CLICK HERE FOR A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF PLACES TO HEAR THIS SHOW FOR ITUNES, CLICK HERE FOR SOUNDLCOUD, CLICK HERE DOWNLOAD THE MP3 BY RIGHT-CLICKING HERE AND SELECTING "SAVE AS" |
Elden and Amy Quisenberry talk about their business philosophy, why Amy almost gave up working in the business, and what makes running a business together work.
Takeaways
- How they can give each other a different perspective
- That working together has made their respect for each other to grow
Summary
- How they turn off work (02:17)
- How their business grew through referrals and word of mouth marketing (02:52)
- Their business philosophy (04:01)
- Why, when they interview a prospective employee, they also interview the spouse (05:04)
- How they make each other better (06:50)
- The moment Amy almost gave up on being a part of the business (10:38)
- Why they feel blessed to be working together on their business (12:30)
- Elden’s persistent chasing after Amy for a date (16:09)
- How their relationship has changed through working together (18:08)
- Elden admits to being an ass (20:35)
- Who they would hire, if they could hire anybody (21:26)
- Amy describes Elden as anal (24:31)
Links
Layer8 Consulting
https://l8c.com/
THE TRANSCRIPT
Blaine: 00:00 We've got a plane. We've got
cars going by. One of the problems with recording on the street in Los Angeles.
Cars and leaf blowers.
Honey: 00:10 Leaf blowers.
Blaine: 00:11 Leaf blowers. Those guys
done?
Honey: 00:13 I think so, but I think
they're playing music.
Blaine: 00:15 Right. Welcome to CoupleCo. Working with your spouse for fun and profit.
Honey: 00:20 It's business, and it's
personal.
Blaine: 00:21 I'm Blaine Parker.
Honey: 00:22 Which makes me Honey Parker.
Blaine: 00:24 And as a couple in business
together, we're coming to you from the CoupleCo
[inaudible 00:00:29] transamerican [inaudible
00:00:29]
Honey: 00:29 We are navigating the nation
in search of standout couples in business together.
Blaine: 00:33 And we're bringing them to
you so you can hear their inspiring stories of crushing it in business without
crushing each other.
Honey: 00:38 The show is also brought to
you by a couple owned business.
Blaine: 00:41 Smoking Mary. Smoked bloody Mary mix.
Honey: 00:43 Made in small batches with no
reconstituted tomato juice. They only use fresh whole beautiful succulent-
Blaine: 00:54 Today, today.
Honey: 00:55 -tomatoes.
Blaine: 00:56 Smoking Mary. Smoked bloody Mary mix. Hey, nice
tomatoes. Online at smokingmary.com. Are there any topics, issues or special
interviews you think you need to hear on this show?
Honey: 01:07 If so, we wanna
hear from you. Just send an email to [email protected]
Blaine: 01:12 We are interested in any and
all input from the CoupleCo's who listen to this show
and that includes you. So like the woman said, send an email
[email protected]. Last week, we started a conversation with a couple who
runs one of those businesses that isn't quite so romantic, but has definitely
improved their life and it's giving them quite a lifestyle.
Honey: 01:35 And a lot of people listened.
Blaine: 01:39 I think this speaks to the
difference between the pragmatists and the starry-eyed dreamers.
Honey: 01:41 It was very interesting.
Elden and Amy Quesinberry of Layer 8 Consulting have
experienced a change in their lives and in their business.
Blaine: 01:49 And today we'll continue our
conversation with Elden and Amy and we're gonna hear
about their business philosophy, which treats employees like family.
Honey: 01:56 But why does that include
interviewing a job candidate spouse?
Blaine: 01:59 We're also going to look at
what happens when you think your partner is capable of doing something in the
businesses?
Honey: 02:04 But he or she adamantly does
not wanna do it.
Blaine: 02:08 Conflict?
Honey: 02:08 Perhaps.
Blaine: 02:09 Here now, part two of our
conversation with Elden and Amy Quesinberry of Layer
8 Consulting in Westminster, Maryland.
Elden: 02:17 Are you ever able to just
turn off work? I mean, you can turn off work.
Amy: 02:21 We can turn it off and I
think we turn it off at the same time and that works.
Elden: 02:26 Well, and you pick up on each
other's signals, like you might start talking, I might be babbling on about
work and she'll ignore me while she's getting dinner or put the hand up and you
learn what the signals are, so.
Honey: 02:26 Yeah.
Blaine: 02:39 The ignoring you part works
really well, doesn't it?
Honey: 02:47 That's the manana hand.
That's the bring it hand.
Doing
the woman owned business didn't really pan out. But what is something that did
pan out, as far as a marketing effort to bring in more business? Or do you
market? Is it all word of mouth?
Amy: 02:59 We don't do a whole lot of
marketing. A lot of our business is referrals. It's word of mouth, which is
great. And now we have this salesperson, so we'll see how that goes. But I
mean, our business grew naturally. It grew from clients talking to other people
and getting new clients from these clients and we haven't done a whole lot of
marketing. I mean, we have a webpage.
Elden: 03:23 Marketing through just ... yeah, talking to
other people and all. I mean, I guess my background's a techie and not a
salesperson or marketing, so, all I know is the honest approach. Here's what we
do. I'll tell you if we can't do it. Our rates are fair. Our client retention
rate's great. Once we get our foot in the door and start working, 98% of the
time they love us. We've never had anybody that's hated us and kicked us out.
And I can just say, "Here's a good marketing thing. Which one of our
clients would you like to talk to for referral? They're all references."
Honey: 03:57 That's great.
Elden: 03:57 Pick any one. I'll give you a
list. You pick.
Honey: 04:00 Do you have a business
philosophy? Is there a Layer 8 approach to business like, we do things this way
or it always has to be this way? We stand for this. Anything like that?
Amy: 04:13 We have a trademark.
Elden: 04:14 Trademark tagline, now officially trademarked.
Blaine: 04:17 Congratulations. Add that tagline [inaudible
00:04:19].
Elden: 04:19 Clients doused, results
driven.
Amy: 04:22 So we focus on the client and
the results they want and that's what we strive.
Honey: 04:27 Did you come up with that
tagline yourselves?
Amy: 04:30 Yes.
Elden: 04:30 We did. And actually, maybe
not surprisingly, I went out to look a couple years back and it was more of a
service mark than a trademark, I guess it's the same thing at the patent
office, but we looked and it was taken. I'm like, "Ugh." So we just
waited and waited it out and they basically abandoned it in their terms and we
snagged it, so.
Honey: 04:50 That's smart. Yeah, a lot of
them do get dropped.
Elden: 04:53 But now, with the advent of
hiring the sales guy, which was a scary venture for me, that's an exciting
thing now. Scary and exciting at the same time.
Amy: 05:05 Getting back to philosophy too. Layer 8. We
wanted Layer 8 to run like Rob Miller ran RPM. Rob Miller was-
Elden: 05:17 Shameless.
Amy: 05:19 -personable and he cared
about his employees. Cared about his clients. He was in touch with all of his
employees. And that's kind of how we wanted to run our business. When we
interview a consultant for a job, we include the spouse. We want the spouse to
be comfortable with this-
Elden: 05:38 Arrangement.
Amy: 05:38 -consultant coming on board
with us, because she's gonna be a part of Layer 8 too
in an offhand way. Maybe not directly, but indirectly, she's a part of Layer 8.
She's going to be a part of the Layer 8 family.
Elden: 05:38 He or she.
Amy: 05:52 He or she. So we include the
fam.
Honey: 05:59 That's very interesting.
Amy: 06:00 So we like to be more
family-oriented. A lot of our clients become friends.
Elden: 06:07 We'll drink in happy hour
and-
Amy: 06:07 Right.
Elden: 06:09 Actually, here in a couple of weeks we'll have
a big Layer 8 barbecue in the backyard with barbecue and kids running around
and beer and wine.
Blaine: 06:19 I'm sorry to be missing it,
even though we haven't been invited yet.
Honey: 06:22 No no
no. But it's easier to just say [inaudible 00:06:24]
[crosstalk 00:06:24]
Amy: 06:24 Interview's not over yet. You might have been
invited at the end.
Elden: 06:28 October 20?
Amy: 06:30 20th.
Honey: 06:31 We'll be gone. I was gonna say, we're gonna be back.
We're going to Europe in a couple days in [inaudible 00:06:37].
Blaine: 06:37 And by the way, if you're
listening to this ... now wait a minute, we're back from Europe by the time
this airs, aren't we?
Honey: 06:42 Yes.
Blaine: 06:42 Oh well, never mind.
Honey: 06:44 The CoupleCo
is parked two houses away and we have to come back and get it in a couple of
weeks.
Amy: 06:49 Well, good for you.
Honey: 06:50 Thank you.
Blaine: 06:53 Elden, this is an important
question. It could get you in trouble with the answer. How does Amy make you
better?
Elden: 07:00 How does Amy make me better?
Well, for one, I don't have to deal with anybody else for something as to me,
sensitive and confidential, the books, HR. She fits in well and the guys like
her, call her for questions-
Honey: 07:19 Of course the guys like her.
Look at her.
Elden: 07:23 Well, there is that.
Blaine: 07:26 She's blushing.
Elden: 07:26 I don't know what to say
about that.
Amy: 07:29 Well I think I balance you.
When you get all uptight and-
Elden: 07:35 Puckered?
Amy: 07:35 -stressed and puckered as we
call it.
Honey: 07:39 No idea what that's referring
to.
Amy: 07:44 And I think you do the same
for me. But, I think we balance each other.
Honey: 07:48 It goes back to that yin and
yang thing.
Amy: 07:52 He'll vomit a bunch of stuff
out and I'll be like, we talk about it and I think that makes you better.
You're able to look at it a little better and handle it maybe a little better.
Vice versa.
Honey: 08:01 Yeah. So I was just gonna ask you Amy, how does Elden make you better? Is that
what you would say, that he balances you?
Amy: 08:08 Absolutely. Yeah. He does.
Honey: 08:11 So what-
Blaine: 08:11 This is great. It's almost
like they share a brain.
Honey: 08:13 I know. Well, what trap would
you fall into if it wasn't for Elden? How does he pull you out of you personal trap?
Amy: 08:21 I can get a little uptight
about stuff. I'll get frazzled or not knowing how to handle a certain thing and
I'm not real good with ... I'll compose an email and I'm like, "Elden, you
need to read this 'cause I'm not sure how this is gonna come across to this person. It might not be really
what I wanna say." And so he'll read it, and
he'll help me reword it maybe a little more diplomatically.
Elden: 08:46 It is kind of odd because
sometimes she'll be frazzled about something and I'll come home and she'll say,
"I don't know what to do about this." And within 30 seconds I'd be
like, "Just do this this and this."
Amy: 08:57 We'll have it figured out.
Elden: 08:59 It's simple to me. And other
times I'll come home or be here and say, "Oh, crap. This came up today and
I'm thinking, I'm thinking," and she goes, "Just do this this and
this." I'm like, "Why didn't I think of that?"
I
don't know what you'd call that, but-
Amy: 09:12 Right, absolutely.
Elden: 09:14 It's the way it works.
Honey: 09:18 Perspective. [crosstalk 00:09:18]
Amy: 09:18 I'm not afraid. I'm not
afraid to ask him for that kind of input where I most of the time don't take it
wrong when he's like, "Just calm down and this is what you need to
do."
Honey: 09:30 I mean, I think that that's
definitely a plus of working with your spouse because while it's easier to say
things to your spouse that might send them off, things that you wouldn't say to
a different coworker, you can also say things to your spouse about needing help
where you don't feel maybe as vulnerable as you would have if you had expressed
that to a coworker that isn't connected to you.
Amy: 09:56 Absolutely. Yes.
Honey: 09:58 Because you know he's on your side so you know
that if you say, "I'm having a challenge with this." He's not going
to look at you like you just cried in a meeting or something.
Amy: 10:08 Right.
Honey: 10:09 I saw someone cry at a
meeting. I got very upset with her.
Blaine: 10:12 Just for the record, nobody
at [inaudible 00:10:13] marketing has ever cried in a meeting except for
possibly our clients.
Honey: 10:17 Our clients. Our clients have
cried in a meeting, but tears of joy.
Blaine: 10:20 Yes, we make them cry for the
right reasons.
Honey: 10:22 We presented people's brands
and they've cried, which we didn't think was gonna
happen.
Blaine: 10:25 I think that's a good marketing
slogan. We make our clients cry for good reason.
Honey: 10:29 We will make you cry.
Blaine: 10:30 I'm going to guess-
Honey: 10:31 No.
Blaine: 10:31 -the answer to this question.
I'm gonna ask it anyway. But knowing full well how
they're going to answer it.
Honey: 10:31 Okay.
Blaine: 10:36 I think. Has there ever been
anything that's almost broken you and made you say, "We can't do
this."
Amy: 10:43 Yes.
Blaine: 10:44 Really?
Amy: 10:45 Yes.
Blaine: 10:45 Didn't see that coming.
Honey: 10:46 Wait. Heres
the sound of me whipping off my glasses.
Blaine: 10:50 Wow. I hope that comes
across. I think dubbing a sound effect if necessary.
Amy: 10:55 Well, yes, it was very ... it
was kind of early on after I came onboard and I came onboard doing the books.
Elden: 11:06 I'm not sure what's coming,
by the way.
Amy: 11:07 And then he added this, like,
"Hey, how about you take on this? And hey about you take on this?"
All of it was kind of fine, until it came to the point where "Maybe you should
try to go out and do some sales?" And I'm not a salesperson. It's not my
personality. That's not me. I'm just not a salesperson. But he pushed it and
pushed it and pushed it and then that may have been the one time that we had
... we probably didn't talk for a couple days and it was like, you know what,
it's not what I wanna do. I don't wanna
do sales. I don't wanna go out and do sales. I don't
mind going out and being around the customers. But I don't wanna
go out and sell. I just don't wanna do it.
Elden: 11:51 See, I thought she'd be a
natural, right?
Honey: 11:52 Did you know that she was
that upset about this?
Amy: 11:56 Yes.
Elden: 11:57 I learned it pretty quickly.
Amy: 11:58 Yes, he knew that.
Elden: 12:00 I just thought it was like,
she's not a extrovert-
Amy: 12:01 He thought it was natural.
Elden: 12:03 -extrovert by nature. So I
thought, just a little bit of coaching and "Hey, you'll be a natural. You
just go out and talk to people and be honest with them and you can do it."
I was 100% confident and she was adamant and the more I pushed, the more she
pushed back and yeah, somewhere along day two I realized yeah I crossed a
border there.
Honey: 12:24 Day two.
Blaine: 12:24 I think I can see exactly why
you might have thought this, and Amy I can see exactly why you would push back.
So, conversely, has there ever been a time when either of you said, "I
can't believe I'm lucky enough to be doing this with this person."
Amy: 12:39 A lot. We say that a lot. I
say that a lot.
Elden: 12:42 This is gonna
sound all coached and whatever, right? But no, it is.
Amy: 12:46 I say it a lot. I feel very
blessed that I can work from home, with my husband, in a business that's
successful. I feel very blessed.
Elden: 12:57 And 90% of the time, get
along and not have any issues. I mean, there's a lot of advantages to being
both employees of the company. Financially, and otherwise, but, retirement
accounts and we do company contributions, our retirement accounts, so we're two
employees of the same family so we each get contributions. I mean, it's nice.
Amy: 13:25 Yeah.
Elden: 13:25 So if our employees are
glistening to this, yes, it's the same contributions that you get.
Honey: 13:31 At least every other day
Blaine says, "We win." And that's what that's about.
Amy: 13:38 I mean, how great is it? Now,
it's to a point where we're flexible enough that we have a place in Florida,
that we can go to Florida. We can work from home in Florida.
Elden: 13:38 Because of the nature of the business.
Amy: 13:50 Because of the nature of the business. We can
work down there, so we might get up and work a half a day and then we go to the
beach.
Blaine: 13:57 Have you got an office in
your house in Florida, with perpendicular desks?
Amy: 14:01 As a matter of fact, we do.
We share a desk.
Elden: 14:03 We share a desk in Florida.
We have a folding chair that we pull up to the same desk.
Honey: 14:09 You know, for us to correctly
do this, I think we need to go to Florida to take pictures of that office.
[crosstalk 00:14:13] we're half representing the business.
Elden: 14:16 Come on down. We're about,
what, 20 minutes north of Clearwater?
Amy: 14:20 Yes.
Blaine: 14:21 [inaudible 00:14:21] north of Clearwater. Okay.
I like the golf course. My mother's got a place in Boca Grande and we've got a
friend in Tampa.
Amy: 14:28 Now that was a funny story,
because that's the one time I actually did get involved outside of the office.
The admin part was ... we had that job in Florida for one of our clients.
Elden: 14:40 You have ... you have done
other things.
Amy: 14:40 Not very much.
Elden: 14:42 We did the security
assessment in St. Petersburg.
Amy: 14:42 We did a security assessment.
Yeah.
Elden: 14:46 So we went down there-
Amy: 14:47 I actually went out and helped
him do the security assessment, so that was kind of cool.
Elden: 14:52 Took notes. Asked questions
on the interview. It was kind of cool.
Amy: 14:55 Yeah.
Elden: 14:55 You did work when we were
doing the data center in Columbia, the big data center build we did. You
actually were ringing out and testing cables and all.
Honey: 15:03 Testing cables.
Elden: 15:04 Testing cables. My clients
who knows us really well are like, you know, "You're just a pimp. You'll
bring members of your family, your kids, your wife out, if they're a [inaudible
00:15:16] resource." I'm like, "Why not?"
Blaine: 15:18 And Larry 8 changes their
name to Mac Daddy Consulting.
Honey: 15:23 Mac Daddy 8.
Blaine: 15:24 And Mac Daddy 8, right.
Honey: 15:25 Consultant. [crosstalk 00:15:26] I was gonna say, Mac Daddy 8 might be available 'cause that's bizarre.
Blaine: 15:32 Okay. So what would you tell
somebody who thinks they want to start a business with a spouse? Preferable
their own spouse. Not someone else's spouse.
Honey: 15:44 That was funny.
Elden: 15:45 Again, you gotta make sure that foundation is there because if there's
crinkles in the foundation, I will guarantee it will be a house of cards and
it's gonna come down at some point. And I have seen
people ... maybe not business owners, small business owners, but people that
work in the same company and when things go bad, yeah it gets ugly at work. So.
Blaine: 16:09 And the way you know you've
got the right relationship is if you had to stalk your wife and convince her to
go out on a date for months.
Honey: 16:17 That is kind of fascinating.
Okay, I'm just curious. Had you ever stalked anybody else?
Amy: 16:24 Let's answer that question.
[crosstalk 00:16:27]
Honey: 16:27 Because even after this, that was a major ...
this person who doesn't wanna date me, I need to make
this happen, did you ever do that before?
Elden: 16:37 Well, to keep the story
short, I didn't go into everything, but here's my friend Ray and Mary. So we
would go out on bike rides. We would do stuff. Ray and I have known each other
for years and years before this whole introduction thing, and I had hit kind of
a dry spot. When you're dating, you get these roller coasters where you might
have two dates in an evening or a weekend and then-
Honey: 16:57 Two dates in an evening?
Amy: 16:58 He's bragging. That might be
a little [crosstalk 00:17:01]
Elden: 17:01 Back in the day. Or it would
be two months between a date and I was in one of those dry spells and Mary's
like, "You know, I got this girl. This girl I used to work with. Cute
little brunette. Bla bla bla." And I'm like, "Come on Mary, cough it
up." And she's like, "Well, let me talk to her first and see."
And then weeks would go by and a month would go by and I'm like, "Mary, you're
holding out. Come on."
Blaine: 17:23 I can see why you pursued
this. Okay.
Elden: 17:25 So yeah, Ray was like,
"Yes." And I'm like, "Ray, come on. She's just trying to ...
she's puffing things up." And he goes, "No, she's kind of hot."
I'm like, "Come on, help a brother out." So, yeah, after a while,
she's like, "Well, you know, I worked with Amy Lucas." And I'm like,
"Oh, first name, last name. Got it." And I just kind of took it from
there.
Blaine: 17:47 Good for you. As somebody who
had to be persistent in his own relationship-
Amy: 17:54 Yeah, so what's your story?
Blaine: 17:55 That's another episode.
Honey: 17:57 That's another episode but I
said no a lot.
Blaine: 17:59 Yes you did. So-
Elden: 18:05 Yeah, there's a story there.
Honey: 18:06 You were talking about having
to have a solid foundation if you're gonna take on
something like this. Obviously, you had a solid foundation. But, I'm curious to
know, has working together made you better as a couple?
Amy: 18:19 I think the respect grew. I
think that we respect each other. When I first came into the business, and I
did go out and visit some clients with him, I was amazed at how he could talk
to these people and just talk about what he did in our business and I think the
respect grew.
Elden: 18:40 Yeah, because a lot of times
you have husband goes this way and wife goes this way to work. I mean, there's
some talk and you know what each other does and all that, but until you
actually see it, go there and see it, you don't really know it. You might go to
an office party and people were talking and you're like, "Wow, people
really like my wife or husband or whatever."
Amy: 19:03 Trust grows. You trust me to
be able to handle certain things and I trust you to handle certain things and
it's differ tn. You're trusting ... I'm trusting him with something different
than maybe a couple who did not have a company together or work together. But,
I think the trust grows. The respect grows.
Honey: 19:24 I guess why I ask is because
I feel like, and I feel like I see it in you guys, I feel like you have to be
better at everything to make this work. It's completely worth it when you're
doing this with the right person and it's the right project. I think it makes
you better at everything.
Amy: 19:40 Yeah.
Elden: 19:40 It's really corny, but the
whole communications, trust, everything. I can see it being the analog db meter, right. It either slams to the right or it slams
to the left, and you'll be that. But, yeah, if you don't have the foundation,
or there's cracks or whatever, meter slams this way but as you work together
and it really works, the meter goes the other way and there might not be
anything in between that. I don't know.
Honey: 20:05 That's interesting.
Blaine: 20:05 Yeah.
Honey: 20:07 You may be right. I mean,
nobody's ever said that, but you may be right. There may be nothing in between.
Amy: 20:13 Right.
Blaine: 20:14 So we're going to take that
with nothing in between, that's an example of a really good one.
Honey: 20:19 Yeah.
Blaine: 20:19 All right. You know what that
means?
Honey: 20:19 It's time.
Blaine: 20:22 It's time. It's time for the
lightning round. Ding ding ding
ding ding ding. Okay. This is the first time we've ever had music.
Honey: 20:28 We've never done sound effects.
Blaine: 20:29 Yeah. Okay. This is the
fearsome five. Are you ready?
Amy: 20:34 I guess.
Blaine: 20:35 Elden, what is her biggest
pet peeve about you?
Elden: 20:38 Biggest pet peeve. I can be an ass. I can just
press and press and press as she talks about me wanting her to go out and do
sales. I can press until the hand comes against my forehead and says,
"Enough." Sometimes I don't pick up on the little subtleties.
Honey: 20:58 All right. Amy, what is
Elden's biggest pet peeve about you?
Amy: 21:02 Pet peeve about me. Well, I
don't know. I think you're right with the extrovert. I'm not as extroverted as
him. If there's a situation and he'll say, "Why don't you pick up the
phone and call?" 'Cause I'm like, "Read
this email." "Why don't you call this person?" That's probably
his biggest pet peeve about me.
Honey: 21:02 Okay.
Blaine: 21:23 All right. Elden, what single
person living or dead would you hire if you could?
Honey: 21:27 Or fictitious?
Blaine: 21:28 Or fictitious. Yeah, it can
be fictitious.
Elden: 21:30 I got an idea of a perfect
candidate. We've hired a number. They're working for us already. I don't know
how else to answer that. Like, a given person?
Honey: 21:39 Anybody.
Blaine: 21:39 Anybody. Somebody who's-
Honey: 21:41 Anybody walking the earth. It could be somebody
that everybody knows or it could be your grandfather's best friend.
Blaine: 21:44 We've had Bill Gates, Abe
Lincoln, Harry Potter was one.
Honey: 21:50 George Clooney came up.
Blaine: 21:51 Oh yeah.
Honey: 21:52 Mostly because somebody
thought that he'd just be good company.
Blaine: 21:56 Well, I think it was a guy
who said that.
Honey: 21:58 And that was a guy.
Blaine: 22:00 Yeah.
Honey: 22:00 But the wife was like,
"Yeah, he could work there."
Elden: 22:03 I don't know that I have
other than ... no, I don't really know. Because I think in everybody there's
things, pluses and minuses I could see in people. I have no idea of a perfect
candidate and candidates, guys, girls, but I don't know that I could-
Amy: 22:20 You can't even think of
something fun to say.
Honey: 22:22 All right, Amy. What single
person, living, dead, animated, anything, would you hire if you could?
Amy: 22:33 I don't know either. But I
was thinking Bill Gates just because of the technical thing and how innovative
he was and I was thinking, "He could help us with all of that, but he
might be a different technical [inaudible 00:22:43]."
Blaine: 22:43 Spoken like PC users.
Honey: 22:46 Well, he'd probably be a plus
for the company.
Amy: 22:46 Right.
Blaine: 22:49 No Steve Jobs here.
Elden: 22:50 Now if we're talking about
pure humor and dumb stuff-
Honey: 22:53 You can pick for any reason.
Amy: 22:54 Well we already have a
nickname for Brandon. The Oracle. So that would be a fictitious oracle.
Elden: 23:00 Right. I was thinking of
Dilbert just because I enjoy the-
Blaine: 23:03 You'd wanna
have Dilbert around. That's a pretty good one. I like that. All right.
Honey: 23:07 Amy, do you have any balance
for Dilbert?
Amy: 23:09 No.
Honey: 23:09 Okay.
Blaine: 23:10 Okay. All right, Elden. What
do you do just to get Amy's goat?
Elden: 23:16 Probably that same thing. I just know things
that will make her call me an ass, so sometimes I can just do that. Especially
on a Friday afternoon. Just push and push and push and just watch her get
steamed until she just breaks and then I laugh and I'm like, "I'm just
kidding. J/k."
Amy: 23:33 Then we both end up laughing.
Honey: 23:36 At least you both end up
laughing. Okay, so Amy, what do you do just to get Elden's goat?
Amy: 23:39 I don't know that I really do
anything just to get his goat, 'cause to get his goat
is bad. That's not a good thing.
Blaine: 23:46 Wow.
Honey: 23:47 She pretends to be an
introvert and in about five years she's gonna tell
you this whole thing has been a ruse.
Blaine: 23:54 You're gonna
find out she's got a one-woman show she's been doing for years-
Elden: 23:57 Right, exactly.
Blaine: 23:58 You thought she was going out
with her friends.
Elden: 23:59 That will acquire a company
and pay nothing and-
Blaine: 24:02 You can answer this next one
separately or together. Since working together, what has been your best date
night?
Honey: 24:10 Or at least a great date
night.
Amy: 24:10 I'd rather not disclose that
information.
Blaine: 24:14 That is not the first time
we've had that answer.
Elden: 24:17 [inaudible 00:24:17] it'll be a steamy night
tonight, as a matter of fact.
Honey: 24:18 Your second best date night.
Blaine: 24:21 It sounds like you both
agree. Is that the case?
Amy: 24:22 You've really brought the
best out of us tonight, so yeah, it might be a good night tonight.
Honey: 24:22 Okay.
Blaine: 24:22 It could be tonight.
Honey: 24:28 All right, we're gonna be packing up in a second.
Blaine: 24:29 Okay. Elden, describe Amy in
one word.
Elden: 24:35 One word.
Amy: 24:40 I got this one.
Elden: 24:41 One word. That's two words.
Completes me is two words. Synonym. Don't have my phone. Right hand. Hyphen.
Hyphenated.
Blaine: 24:52 Okay, we will-
Honey: 24:52 We'll let that one ride.
Blaine: 24:54 We'll let that one ride.
Amy: 24:55 Well, I feel bad because are
you gonna ask me that question?
Honey: 24:58 I am.
Amy: 24:59 Okay.
Honey: 24:59 Amy, describe Elden in one
word.
Amy: 25:02 Okay, I feel bad because I
was gonna say anal.
Blaine: 25:05 Wow.
Amy: 25:08 Because that is really him.
Elden: 25:10 Interview extended.
Amy: 25:17 No, but-
Elden: 25:18 It's part of the job. It's
just what we do. You have to plan to the nth degree and a lot of people don't
understand that. And when I start asking question after question, they get
tired of questions after a while.
Blaine: 25:30 I completely ... having done
a lot of production and understanding what you do to some degree, I get it.
Honey: 25:35 You're just sticking up for
the guy.
Blaine: 25:37 No.
Honey: 25:39 [inaudible 00:25:39]
Blaine: 25:40 I used to do production
management and production and it's just similar. You've got to have all the
wires there. You've got to have them all connected. They've all gotta do what they're supposed to do at each end.
Elden: 25:50 If you don't, it fails or
you'll look bad and I'm not in for that.
Blaine: 25:53 Yeah.
Honey: 25:54 So Amy, were you gonna change your word? 'Cause
you said you were gonna say anal.
Amy: 25:57 Well, I mean, it's the same
thing. He's my best friend. He's my right hand. He's my safe harbor. He's
everything.
Blaine: 26:08 Everything.
Amy: 26:08 I don't really have one word.
Well, everything.
Blaine: 26:08 Say everything.
Amy: 26:08 He's everything.
Elden: 26:08 I like that.
Blaine: 26:14 I was listening and thinking,
"What is the word?" And you said it. Everything.
Amy: 26:14 Everything.
Honey: 26:18 All right.
Blaine: 26:19 All right. Amy and Elden Quesinberry of Layer 8 Consulting. Thank you for sitting
down with us and sharing your kitchen table.
Honey: 26:27 Thank you so much.
Amy: 26:27 Thank you, Honey and Blaine
for interviewing us and sharing our story and-
Honey: 26:32 It's a good story.
Blaine: 26:34 It is a good story.
Elden: 26:34 You were interested enough to
come over.
Amy: 26:36 As nervous ... I mean, I was
nervous but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna
be.
Honey: 26:40 This is one of those interviews
that makes me wish it was on video, because watching you two watch each other
was pretty great. That was good stuff.
Blaine: 26:53 Thanks for being fun.
Honey: 26:55 Thank you.
Amy: 26:55 Thank you.
Blaine: 26:55 Thanks for being a good CoupleCo.
This
has been part two of our conversation with Elden and Amy Quesinberry
of Layer 8 Consulting in Westminster, Maryland.
Honey: 27:07 If you enjoyed this podcast,
and you think it would be useful or fun for other couple entrepreneurs, please
go to iTunes and leave a star rating and a review to help them find it.
Blaine: 27:16 And join us next time when we
sit down in Tampa, Florida, with a couple you are going to have to hear to
believe.
Honey: 27:21 Their story is like a movie.
It's Stand and Deliver meets The Blind Side.
Blaine: 27:26 And I liked both of those
movies.
Honey: 27:28 I think this is better than
both of those movies.
Blaine: 27:31 Dominic and Andria Owen of Train Up First are
an example of an almost accidental nonprofit organization that is impacting
tens of thousands of kids.
Honey: 27:39 We sat down with them at
about 8:30 at night after they'd already had a full day at work, and they were
still energized and dynamic and gracious and wonderful.
Blaine: 27:49 It was one of those
interviews I walked away from going "Oh boy."
Honey: 27:52 We need to be better people.
Blaine: 27:53 Yeah. Not just about a couple
better people, but they told us a story that is incredible. Andria Rogers Owen,
Dominic Owen, of Train Up First-
Honey: 28:01 Also known as TUF. T-U-F.
Blaine: 28:03 In Tampa, Florida. Next time,
here on CoupleCo. Working with your spouse for fun
and profit.
Honey: 28:08 Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
Blaine: 28:11 Love you, baby.
Honey: 28:12 Love you too.
Blaine: 28:13 CoupleCo out.