Home Team Advantage

My kids play town sports. They are, of course, taught the rules and how to play each of the games in which they participate (soccer, lacrosse, basketball, football, etc.) but, regardless of the sport, they learn the art of how to be a part of a team. To me, that is the important part: to know how to be an effective team player. Mastery of that skill is essential on and off the field or court.

With that said, I felt it was long overdue for me to mention the other half of my team - my partner, co-founder and husband, Ken. Most company decisions are run through both of our brains. Even the idea of LikeWear was a joint conceptual effort. I was responsible for the overall business concept while Ken had the vision, business connections and quite frankly the energetic spirit (caffeine responsible for much of it!) to lay the groundwork – or should I say put in the grunt work – for establishing LikeWear as the first and only company to sell licensed apparel via the direct sales channel.

Remarkably, Ken and I have been able to work together and remain happily married (most of the time anyway!) since LikeWear’s creation in 2006. We have a shared view of what this company will look like in the future and we are equally committed to making that dream become a reality.

To that end, each of our daily lives has changed significantly over the past year. We have both had to step outside of our comfort zones. Ken left his job in the video game industry to work on what we at first were calling my “successful hobby”. Working from home has been an adjustment in and of itself – as he has always been involved in some kind of corporate environment. He has traded in an expense account and a company gym for a Costco account and workouts in our basement. I have gradually moved from a non-working stay-at-home Mom to a Mom that works part-part-time to part-time to most-of-the-time to what now feels like all-of-the-time! I have missed out on some of my kids activities due to work conflicts and have been forced to cope with the unfamiliar feeling of not being able to get it all done.

Running a business is more complicated than I expected. But so is being a parent. I think often of my elementary school days when the gym teacher would select captains who would then one-by-one select people to be on their team. As CEO of LikeWear I am essentially the captain of this team. I want to work with the best. A good team player can sense when his/her teammates need assistance and they rise to the challenge. They encourage and remain confident even when defeat seems near. And they never give up. That’s how I describe Ken. And that’s why he will always be my first pick.