Nicole: So I quit my job and I started doing some consulting on the side to continue bringing in income while we built the business. It took about a year and a half to two years to build the business. Then in 2007, we both started the company full-time.

Mario: We had been working with a big company on this huge deal that was about a $248K. We’re working on this deal in early 2007 and we hired lawyers to help us sign this fifteen page contract. I then leave the Mayor’s office which was time anyway since they were downsizing.

Within a month, we got a phone call that there was new management and they were changing the direction of the company. So they were no longer moving forward. We had already signed the contract, and were planning to meet with them for a signing party. We were just waiting for the counter signature. Literally three months after that happened, the recession hit.

We only had a certain amount of savings, and we eventually had to tap into the 401K and drain that. Then we maxed out every credit card that we had. We could’ve decided to go back and work for someone but we had already invested two years into this. We knew that if we could make it through this, then we knew we’re going to be able to make it in business a long time together and be successful. We were doing everything to rob Peter to pay Paul as bills were coming in. We were out there trying to hunt for any kind of contract we could get. I was taking change to the Coinstar machine to get gas money. So for us, it was our ultimate low.

Nicole: My mom was buying us groceries.

Mario: Yes. It was a very challenging, frustrating and confusing time, not knowing what the outcome was going to be.

BMWK: So what were some of those initial steps to come out of that situation and push past all of it? This is something that would tear most couples apart.

Mario: Yeah you’re right.

Nicole: We went through this for almost two and a half years. So if I had to name it, we were very conscious of every morning that we woke up, to be positive. As simple as that sounds, it’s not simple to…

Mario: to execute that.

Nicole: Right. To wake up and not know how you’re going to pay your bills. It was to the point we were paying bills daily beause the cash flow just wasn’t there. So it was constantly motivating each other and being each other’s backbone. On the days he was really down, I was up. And on the days I was really down, he was up. To this day, we still carry this motto: both of us can never be down at the same time.

So if we wake up and things aren’t going in the right direction, and we’re both moody, we’ll look at each other and figure out whose turn it is to have their little temper tantrum, and flip a coin if we have to [laughs]. It does not work when you’re both down.

We constantly had goals that encouraged us to continue the fight and that kept us motivated. We did a lot of praying, and our faith quadrupled at that point.

Mario: Also part of what happens when these challenges hit couples, is that different people react to money differently. Nicole’s style and approach to money to some extent is a position of worry. She worries a little bit about making sure we can pay next month’s bills and how we’re going to pay them. I try not to get caught in the actual moment. The lesson learned is that you have to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, then allow each to focus on their strengths. If you need to, find family members or friends that can support your weaknesses because that is what will ultimately break people.

It was because we constantly talked about what the big vision was and the ultimate plan was, and how we were going to try to get there. We constantly imprinted it in our head so we knew what we were sacrificing for. We knew how far we were willing to let this thing try to beat us down because of what we were pursuing. When you don’t have a coherent vision of what you’re trying to pursue and when money gets tough,that’s where you end up do anything you can to try to survive, but that can take you way off focus.

Nicole: At the end of the day, going through that challenge we went through taught us a bigger lesson. It doesn’t matter how much you plan because we did a lot of planning ahead of time, but there was no preparation for an unexpected recession. We realized we could hit rock bottom and still make it. And we also realized we weren’t making decisions based off of money because we still survived. We don’t have to do things that don’t feel right. We really learned how to protect, care for and nurture each other through that time.