© 2024 Blue Ridge Public Radio
Blue Ridge Mountains banner background
Your source for information and inspiration in Western North Carolina.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

In Business and In Pleasure: How Couples Who Work Together Find Balance

 Sarah & Austin (left) are in the band Chatham Rabbits together, and Danielle & Brandé (right) co-founded the CBD product company Unoia. They’ve learned a lot about making things work, whether it's for business or for romance!
Courtesy of Sarah & Austin McCombie / Courtesy of Danielle Gray & Brandé Elise
Sarah & Austin (left) are in the band Chatham Rabbits together, and Danielle & Brandé (right) co-founded the CBD product company Unoia. They’ve learned a lot about making things work, whether it's for business or for romance!

What is life like when your life partner is the same as your business partner?

Austin and Sarah McCombie, the married duo of the band Chatham Rabbits, and Brandé Elise and Danielle Gray, co-founders of CBD product and lifestyle company Unoia, describe the joys and challenges of work and romance with host Anita Rao.

Thanks to Areli & Leon Barrera Grodski and Joe & Terry Graedon for their contributions to this episode!

Tips for Finding Harmony In Your Relationship

Got an issue? Ease into it.

“We have started asking, like: May I give you some feedback? Or: When you're ready to hear this, I have a few things I'd like to share … And we also try to bookend it with a compliment and some praise.” - Sarah McCombie

Assume the best of your partner.

“You really have to trust that everyone at the table, which is just the two of us, is really coming with the best intentions. And there's no negativity.” - Danielle Gray

Let your partner do things their way.

“When you trust someone, … if you give them that grace to get it right, they'll feel comfortable enough to be that vulnerable with you again.” - Brandé Elise

Take time for yourself!

“It's healthy for us to have space, because when you're with somebody 24/7, you can start taking them for granted.” - Austin McCombie

Copyright 2022 North Carolina Public Radio. To see more, visit North Carolina Public Radio.

Kaia Findlay is a producer for The State of Things, WUNC's daily, live talk show. Kaia grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a household filled with teachers and storytellers. In elementary school, she usually fell asleep listening to recordings of 1950s radio comedy programs. After a semester of writing for her high school newspaper, she decided she hated journalism. While pursuing her bachelor’s in environmental studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, she got talked back into it. Kaia received a master’s degree from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism, where she focused on reporting and science communication. She has published stories with Our State Magazine, Indy Week, and HuffPost. She most recently worked as the manager for a podcast on environmental sustainability and higher education. Her reporting passions include climate and the environment, health and science, food and women’s issues. When not working at WUNC, Kaia goes pebble-wrestling, takes long bike rides, and reads while hammocking.
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.