ule it. This wasn’t always the case, but it turned out that way more often than not. I witnessed physical fights, intimidation, name-calling, verbal or mental abuse, power plays, and general discontent. I frI worked as a Yellow Page consultant for nearly 25 years, and before that ran an advertising agency. Over those three decades, I met with many husband and wife teams. The small business was, and still is, the backbone of the directory business. I got to observe the good, the bad, and the ugly. Being in a relationship, whether as a marriage or a business, a partnership can bring out the best and the worst in people. I don’t think that a business arrangement can save or improve a bad marriage. But it can certainly put a strain on one.

During my tenure, most of the time the man was the boss. The wife was the accountant, junior partner, advisor, or vice-president. But, although I met with the husband, the wife always seemed to have the last word. He would begin to make an advertising decision and then she would overrule it. This wasn’t always the case, but it turned out that way more often than not. I witnessed physical fights, intimidation, name-calling, verbal or mental abuse, power plays, and general discontent. I fre

e backbone of the directory business. I got to observe the good, the bad, and the ugly. Being in a relationship, whether as a marriage or a business, a partnership can bring out the best and the worst in people. I don’t think that a business arrangement can save or improve a bad marriage. But it can certainly put a strain on one.

During my tenure, most of the time the man was the boss. The wife was the accountant, junior partner, advisor, or vice-president. But, although I met with the husband, the wife always seemed to have the last word. He would begin to make an advertising decision and then she would overrule it. This wasn’t always the case, but it turned out that way more often than not. I witnessed physical fights, intimidation, name-calling, verbal or mental abuse, power plays, and general discontent. I fr

le. I don’t think that a business arrangement can save or improve a bad marriage. But it can certainly put a strain on one.

During my tenure, most of the time the man was the boss. The wife was the accountant, junior partner, advisor, or vice-president. But, although I met with the husband, the wife always seemed to have the last word. He would begin to make an advertising decision and then she would overrule it. This wasn’t always the case, but it turned out that way more often than not. I witnessed physical fights, intimidation, name-calling, verbal or mental abuse, power plays, and general discontent. I fr

ountant, junior partner, advisor, or vice-president. But, although I met with the husband, the wife always seemed to have the last word. He would begin to make an advertising decision and then she would overrule it. This wasn’t always the case, but it turned out that way more often than not. I witnessed physical fights, intimidation, name-calling, verbal or mental abuse, power plays, and general discontent. I frule it. This wasn’t always the case, but it turned out that way more often than not. I witnessed physical fights, intimidation, name-calling, verbal or mental abuse, power plays, and general discontent. I frequently got the front row seat to a “brawl in the hall” or the “doom in the room” and therefore it wasn’t pretty.

That’s not to say that all couples fought. Some were relatively compatible and still used subtle ways to get their points across. I noticed that the older ones tended to battle less. Perhaps it was because they knew each other longer and better. But even with them, there was still this struggle to maintain control. I watched several divorces born from this atmosphere of conflict and progress toward an inevitable outcome. Later, they would split up and divide the business. One gentleman kept his share and had to offer his wife a massive buyout. Another situation had the man leaving with all the firm’s accounts, letting his wife keep just the business name. Another split the business and each had to co