Chalk and cheese the perfect combo: Foodie couple play to each other's strengths
Jo
We met at Massey University. Jamie was in his fifth year studying soil science and I was in my third year training to be a nurse. We had mutual friends and spent lots of time together
before we started to see each other officially.
When Jamie finished his PhD and I became a registered nurse we decided to travel. We backpacked round Europe and loved hunting out eateries off the beaten track, which is where our obsession with food really took hold.
We came home and lived in Auckland for a bit, but we always planned to move to the Bay of Plenty once we had children. We do a huge amount together ... exercise, socialise and, since we started the Good Food Trading Company, we now work together.
From the outside we look very different. I come across as chatty and confident and a good "shop floor" person. Jamie can appear reserved. From the outset, we have had very different roles in the business. Because of his calm, reflective disposition, Jamie has taken on all the human resource and management roles naturally and his analytical brain enables him to process our financial responsibilities competently. We started seeing each other 14 years ago when I was just 21, so we know each other really well. I feel like I learn a huge amount from Jamie about business in general. I'm creative and emotional, whereas Jamie is quite realistic and logical.
For us, life revolves around friends, good food, laughter, children, sharing fun times and relaxation. When I look at buying products for the shop, I tend to think in terms of these emotional values and Jamie takes a more corporate approach.
I admire Jamie's easygoing nature and clever brain, as well as his commitment to succeed in a career he is utterly passionate about, even though it's completely different from his field of study.
Jamie
When I first met Jo I was captivated by her cheeky smile and dazzling blue eyes. There was immediate chemistry, complicated by the fact that Jo was in a relationship at the time. On a drunken evening Jo invited me to her 21st birthday, two days before Christmas. I delayed my return home to my parents' place to go to the party. Imagine my disappointment when she told me my presence wouldn't be welcomed with open arms by the incumbent boyfriend. We work well together as a husband-and-wife team; in fact, I find it easier to work with Jo than I have anyone else.
We share the same vision, as well as understanding where each others' strengths lie.
Jo is a bright, bubbly and outgoing person.
I have never met anyone who makes friends so quickly. She's always coming home and telling me about dinner invitations from people she's never met but who she has won over with her infectious spirit. Take her as a fool at your peril. She lulls you into a false sense of security with constant questions which can make her seem like a dizzy blonde.
Underneath is a sharp and determined person who thrives on running a business and living a full life here in the Bay.
Good Food Trading Company has a free workshop at Flavours in the Bay food and wine festival on March 10. Tickets for festival from TicketDirect.