Simon and Natalie Bridges. Photo/supplied
With Valentine's Day tomorrow, indulge talks to three Bay couples about life, love and work.
Natalie Bridges and Simon Bridges
Natalie and Simon Bridges met at the University of Oxford 11 years ago and in a way this academic scene set the enduring dynamic of their relationship.
"We are always sharing ideas and learning together - it's a characteristic of our relationship that started at university and we've never deviated. We got to know each other reading books together in the library - quite literally," says Natalie.
"Yes, we really relish sharing our work with each other and find that very helpful," adds Simon.
Although the couple don't directly work together - Natalie is director of Blink PR and Marketing and Simon is the local MP for Tauranga, they take particular interest in each other's work arenas.
"Work is important to us both. We are both very work driven. I have had to develop a pronounced interested in politics and stay up with the play in that regard. It's a choice, and I want to make sure that I can talk with Simon in depth about the topics of the day because that's what he's dealing with," explains Natalie.
Politics is the inevitable chat around the Bridges dinner table - even their son Emlyn, 3, talks fervently of John Key and Parliament.
"We talk politics in our household an awful lot and we're unapologetic about that. It's integral and very important in our lives and everybody else's," says Simon.
The couple loves to read international news magazines and share insights - The Economist and Spectator magazines, Apollo (an international art magazine) and of course there's British Vogue with Natalie's previous role as editor of one of New Zealand's leading fashion titles.
"We don't watch a whole lot of TV. Natalie is mad on radio and of course we both keep up with New Zealand media across the board. Both of our jobs require that," says Simon.
"We try hard to go on date nights, but we're doing pretty well if we manage bi-monthly ones. I mean ones where we go out somewhere together. But usually our catch-ups are brief, but frequent, telephone calls through the week when I'm away in Wellington and then when I'm home for a few nights a week we get together in our 'blue room' after 8pm or so when we both try to tear ourselves away from work."
The blue room is a nook in the house, painted in deep blue and plush with two comfy armchairs, several busts and piles of books - Simon's, Natalie's and those of their two little boys Emlyn and Harry, 1.
"That's the thing about our jobs, they never really stop. They're 24/7 and fortunately we understand that about one another, most of the time anyway," laughs Simon.
"Work is kinda like our hobbies and our jobs. It's not always easy, but it keeps things interesting for us."
Chloe Wright and Wayne Wright
Chloe and Wayne Wright say they are "chalk and cheese" in personality, but when it comes to teamwork, they go together "like peas and carrots".
The couple share the same ethics and sense of social justice, which has made for a happy marriage and a successful working relationship. The couple's latest venture is the launch of their registered charitable trust, the Wright Family Foundation.
Its origin came from a shared heartfelt drive to enable individuals to achieve their full potential through education in its widest and most varied forms. The Foundation aims to benefit New Zealand communities and youth, and to promote family well-being and relief from hardship by advancing education and spreading knowledge.
It is the culmination of many years spent in the service of making a difference in the lives of children. For the last 18 years, Chloe and Wayne have built New Zealand's largest privately owned Early Learning Childcare organisation, Best Start (formerly Kidicorp).
Chloe says her and Wayne's success working together as a couple - in both business and raising their five children - started with being "deeply and passionately in love" with each other and a curiosity and respect for the character of the other.
"We shared a desire to create a joint future and we have both always been unconventional," Chloe says. "Wayne was always a true entrepreneur, and I have always been an adventurer and risk taker. This mix of personalities has enabled a life full of diverse businesses filled with possibilities. We are both optimists."
The couple has found that making joint decisions on ventures has meant shared responsibility for the outcomes. Their complementary personalities have allowed them to view opportunities from different angles - and either one of them has had the power of veto.
Equally, Chloe says it's been important for her and Wayne to have their own business passions.
We discuss fully the direction of these interests. If we didn't both reject gender discrimination there could be a real wrinkle in the relationship.
"Investments outside of New Zealand lend support to our goals and objectives. I can't remember when life has been so busy or rewarding."
Chloe says that a shared desire to put family first has underpinned all their joint and separate efforts.
"Our large growing family means we have so much fun and laughter because of our intimate knowledge of each other. Yearly family holidays and celebrations whenever we can find a reason bring the joie de vivre that we could never have imagined as the young adventuring pioneers we were when we began this journey.
"The values we share have enabled us to work in a way that protects the integrity of our love for each other and puts our family and friends before income."
Chloe says real power in marriage comes from unity and equality. And after all these years, it keeps getting better: "I am whisking Wayne away for a surprise Valentine's weekend," she says.
Juliette Yarrell and Rudy Van Het Wout
Juliette Yarrell and Rudy Van Het Wout each have three children, but they describe their business venture as their other baby.
For Juliette and Rudy, working together was a natural progression from a shared passion.
The couple were an integral part of the creation of Freedom Villages - with Rudy now the managing director and Juliette executive assistant.
When the couple fell in love 10 years ago, they were together only a matter of months before they decided to throw everything into the dream of creating a new type of retirement village for New Zealand.
A decade on, and after years of hard slog the dream has come to fruition and both their relationship and the business are thriving.
Freedom Villages is a new concept of retirement living in New Zealand - residents in the over-50s lifestyle villages can enjoy a brand new designer house in a resort-style environment and enjoy capital gains should they wish to sell down the track. The first village - Freedom Villages Papamoa - opened in 2014 and more villages are planned.
In the early days, Juliette and Rudy worked day jobs for the same employer at another business before spending their evenings working together again on the concept which would eventually become Freedom Villages.
"We made it work because we were united in a goal, found the right partners who shared in the vision, and really believed in what we were doing," Juliette says.
"With starting a business and having a blended family it was a busy time, but we have always worked well together and can't imagine it any other way."
Juliette says she and Rudy complement each other's personalities and working styles.
Rudy is very calm. He can carry a large amount of weight on his shoulders and absorb a lot.
"He has a huge amount of business and commercial acumen, which I deeply respect. He's very good at reminding me of whether something is priority A or priority B."
Rudy says both he and Juliette are chronic optimists and they bring out the best in each other. "We are always bouncing ideas off each other and we tend to feed each other's imaginations. We are both quite creative thinkers," he says.
Although both live and breathe work, they make it a priority to enjoy time out as a couple and with their family.
"We enjoy going out fishing on the boat and switching off."
"This year we have decided that now that the Papamoa village is standing on its own and run by a dedicated management team, we can take on growing the business farther afield. We will also plan to have a weekend away together every eight weeks. It's really important to do that, to nurture the relationship and have some time out."
Their other secret to successfully marrying business and relationship is never to lose their sense of humour.
"At the end of the day we are both a bit mischievous - we have a giggle and share the same sense of humour."
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