by Jon Carroll

When my wife Nkechi and I got married in 2002, we were both rising in our  respective professions. She was working as an economist in New York and I was a classroom teacher in New Jersey. Both of us were following in the  footsteps of our parents.

Within a year of saying “I do”, my wife decided  that she had paid her dues as an economist long enough and began to  seriously pursue developing her acting craft. We had a conversation about  our goals, and she expressed that she did not just want to be recognized on
the “Great White Way,” but she wanted to take her talents to Hollywood  where there would be more opportunities to find her way onto a TV show.

Given  that I was a teacher, and that there are no shortage of schools in  California, I had no problem with the prospect of leaving the East Coast  behind for an uncertain future in Los Angeles. I never had a moment of  trepidation because I fully believed in my wife’s drive and determination  to realize her goals. We started our new life in Los Angeles on January 1,  2004.

After  trying the traditional route of getting into TV via auditions and casting workshops, Nkechi started to write and produce her own shorts while still  holding down a 9-5. When I decided to leave teaching to go back to  graduate school and pursue coaching opportunities, we had a conversation  and she supported me. This was no small feat as it would have been much  easier for her to work on her entertainment career had I continued to both  teach and coach at the same time. Our lives became even more complicatedwhen our son Isaiah was born on Thanksgiving Day 2006.

When Nkechi decided that she wanted to focus on writing as opposed to  acting after Isaiah was born, we discussed how she would move forward in  that career. The discussions that we have at every critical juncture to  reassess goals and talk about plans and contingencies moving forward have  been key for us in our walk together. We also both believe in and support  each other to a fault. After ten years, no one trumpets her  accomplishments more than me, and she has always been my biggest and  loudest cheerleader. We have also always made time for each other, and  because of that we make sure to maintain outlets for our shared interests  so that we do not lose sight of our interests. We recently welcomed Elijah  Emeka to our family via adoption, and we will soon sit down and plan how to  continue moving forward doing the things that we love given our new family  context. For us, marriage and parenthood have not meant deferring dreams,  but instead devising new ways to pursue them using strong communication.

Fast forward to June 2011, and on the same day that I celebrated receiving  my doctorate in education, Nkechi found out that she had been hired to be a  part of the writing staff on the FOX show, “The Finder.” It was a moment a  long time coming as we had worked through not being able to find jobs  initially, and experiencing what the term “starving artist” really  means.

Find out more about Jon Carroll and his wife at their website, A Breath of Fresh Air with Jon and Nkechi.