Marriage and Business: How Glenia Alexandre and Her Husband Make It Work | #130

In this heartfelt episode of the 'Milk and Honey' podcast, host Lemon Price discusses the dynamics of working with a spouse, featuring guest Glenia.

Glenia shares her journey from high school sweetheart to COO of her husband’s successful law firm.

Topics include the importance of communication, setting boundaries, and the value of mutual respect and support in both business and marriage.

With anecdotes of overcoming hardships and celebrating victories, this episode provides practical advice and inspiration for couples considering working together professionally.

00:00 Introduction: Working with Your Spouse
00:19 Welcome to Milk and Honey with Lemon
01:21 Meet Glenia: COO and Immigration Advocate
02:20 Glenia's Journey: From Massage Therapy to Immigration Law
04:22 Starting the Law Firm: Challenges and Growth
07:51 Balancing Roles and Responsibilities
11:14 The Importance of Clear Communication
12:39 Future Plans and Reflections
20:50 Advice for Couples Working Together
24:05 Conclusion and Farewell

Connect with Glenia:
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Chapters

• 0:00 Working Successfully With Your Spouse
• 12:39 Building a Successful Spousal Business
• 23:51 Inspiring Wisdom for Spousal Business

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

If you have ever tried to work with your spouse, or maybe you currently work with your spouse or you've been thinking about working with your spouse, then today's episode is for you. My guest is going to break down how her and her husband have worked successfully together for decades. I think you're going to love this episode, friend. Hey, friend, welcome to Milk and Honey with Lemon. The Bible says in Numbers 14, 8, and if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. On this podcast, we talk about stepping into that overflow that God has for us by becoming those ultimate Proverbs 31 women. Hey, I'm Lemon. I am just like you, sister, friend. I knew God had something more in store for me, but I couldn't see a way out of the laundry piles and, frankly, I resented that Proverbs 31 woman. How was I going to live up to the hype? That is until I found out how to really step into becoming this Proverbs 31 woman through leadership development. In this podcast, you're going to find financial freedom, leadership, growth and motivation so you'll be able to do all the things God has called you to do with ease and really step into that land of milk and honey.

Speaker 1: 1:18

Welcome back to the Milk and Honey podcast. I'm your host, lemon Price, and I'm really excited about my guest. You guys will know who this is because, listen, we have a fabulous mutual friend, thais Alisson. She was on the podcast a few months ago, and so I have my friend Linnea here. She is from Brazil You're going to be obsessed with her accent, like I am and she's the chief operating officer at her husband's law firm. He is a leading immigration attorney in California and New York and internationally. They've been doing this for over a decade Amazing. They have a beautiful son. He's four, which I think is so sweet. It's my favorite age. I just I love her. I love her so much. She is amazing, and we're going to talk about working with your spouse, because you've been doing that for a long time. So just thank you for being here, friend.

Speaker 2: 2:10

Thank you so much for inviting me, and I'm excited to share my experience. And let's do it.

Speaker 1: 2:18

I am really excited. So you're the COO of your husband's firm right, correct, okay? Was this something you always wanted? Did you always want to go into business, or was it like a product of the relationship?

Speaker 2: 2:33

It was definitely a product of the relationship. We met when we were really young. We were only 16 years old, so we were dating. We're high school sweethearts. We got married at 21. We met in Miami at a Brazilian church.

Speaker 2: 2:46

So that was something different and I always wanted to do something where I could help people make a difference. But not necessarily. I thought it would be like an immigration or just helping people come to the USA in different aspects of life, whatever. Come to the USA in different aspects of life, whatever. But I've always thought that maybe I could be a psychologist or I went into different things, I tried different things. I even went to massage school because I was like I love it and I like doing it and can help people. I wanted to do it for children with disabilities because I really believe in massage therapy. So that's where I started. And then we got married.

Speaker 2: 3:26

My husband went to law school and of course, I didn't go to law school, but I did, and I just see him go through law school and being there with him, supporting him, going to the library with him at one o'clock in the morning when he had exams the next day. I didn't want to be home by myself. So I was there supporting, reading my books. So I started having a taste for it, but not necessarily. I wanted to go to law school. And then he found his passion of helping others as well. We went to China. We lived there for a year and a half. He speaks six languages and Chinese is one of them. Yeah, so we're like, okay, let's do it.

Speaker 2: 4:02

And after he graduated from law school, he got an opportunity to work as an attorney in New York upstate New York and my first job there was as an immigration paralegal and I loved it. I loved it so much. I was like you know what? I'm going to? Go to school, I want to get my bachelor's in paralegal studies and see where this takes me, and a year and a half down the road, my husband's. You know what? I just need to do more than what I'm doing Just sitting in an office going to court every day. I just need to be out there helping people. I want to help as many people as I can use my languages, and Rochester, new York, is not the place.

Speaker 2: 4:40

So he decided to open his own law firm and then we're like what are we going to do? We'd never done any kind of business. Before I'll go with you. Let's embark on this journey together and see where it takes us. And we started August of 2013 and we never stopped. So we started in Florida first. He had family there His parents lived there at that time so we decided to just open it there. We had an immigrant community in Orlando as well at that time, so we decided to just open it there. We had an immigrant community in Orlando as well at that time, and ever since I just started increasing my love and passion for this field of helping immigrants I'm an immigrant myself and being around other immigrants me and my husband we've seen a lot of people gone through many hardships, and many of them have gone through hardships unnecessarily.

Speaker 2: 5:29

At the time we didn't know because we didn't have the experience, but it was just sad to see people lose their status for no reason. Some of them lost status because they had bad advice or just attorneys that didn't know opportunities or other stuff that there is out there for them to do and stay here legally and work and use their careers and professions to make a difference in the country as well. So then we just started meeting all these different professionals and people that really needed the help and we just wanted to do the work that we do with honesty and make sure that people are not falling into the cracks of bad advice and then losing their families, their status. Then they have to get deported. So it was just really sad to see that happening and now being empowered to make a difference and do it the way we wanted to do it the right way. He knew the legal part of it, but not like having a business.

Speaker 2: 6:23

So when you say COO, then I've asked this question to myself in the beginning. I'm like I went to paralegal studies to have my bachelor's degree, I have a lot of experience, but, hello, we're just going to open a business. Yeah, this is what God wants us to do and this is what we're going to do. We're going to figure it out and that's what I have done. I've done everything in a business that you can think of.

Speaker 2: 6:45

From the beginning, we didn't have all the resources, the financial resources that I would love to have at the beginning, to start a business. So we decided to learn on our own. It was just that desire, that burning desire to do it and to be out there and helping other people, and I said you know what we have, dr Google Mr Google is out there, no-transcript us the opportunity to grow together as well, to get to know each other more. We were together for some time already and that gave us a chance to deepen our, our, I would say our relationship and our closure to each other. Now understand where he came from, where I'm coming from, what I want, he wants, and at this point, we already had set goals that we both wanted to reach. It wasn't just what he wanted, what I wanted. We had common goals.

Speaker 2: 8:07

And then, from the beginning, we said how are we going to do this together? We're going to be in the office together all day long. How is this going to work? Yes, we're going to have a life, because we have common goals. We have to respect each other. So there is a line, there's a defined line if you want this to work right.

Speaker 2: 8:22

And so we were able to do it, knowing that we wanted to get to the same place and knowing that we had differences and setting limits and setting our own responsibilities, our own duties. You're going to do this. I'm going to do that. We're not going to step on each other's toes. This is what you're good at. This is what I can help with, and we have different personality and experience, so we complement each other. So that's how we see it. Like I can do it without him and he can do it without me, and putting it together we make a great team, and that's how we see it. It's just been so great and a blessing for all of us, for our family too, because now we get to, we have a flexibility on our schedule, and I'm sure how that feels too, like you can plan your own vacation when time is appropriate to do that with your whole entire family. There's more pros than cons when it comes to working together, at least for me.

Speaker 1: 9:18

I love this so much. There's so much I can pull out of what you just said, because it is, I feel, like everybody thinks either you're going to work together with your spouse and it's all sunshine and rainbows and everything is great and you don't argue, or I get the opposite. People tell me they could not imagine spending this much time with their spouse, which I always think is weird, because what are you going to do when you both are retired? Or like you're empty nesters, like you're going to have to spend some alone time with your spouse, more so than you did in the beginning. So I'm like I don't know, but I love that. You're like, yeah, we struggled through things together and it brought us deeper and closer and then set common goals. I think that's so important to what you just said.

Speaker 2: 10:02

Definitely. And I think, like when you say you know, sometimes we don't get into arguments, but sometimes we do disagree with each other, and I think it's important that we it's okay to disagree and it's important to disagree. We're different people, right, but we just need to do it with respect and understand that whatever we're doing, it's the best for the business. It's not a competition between me and him and we've never had this competition. It's the opposite. He's always cheering me on and I'm always cheering him on and I want to see him successful. And this makes a difference when you know like you're in disagreement but do it with respect and know there's boundaries. I know his buttons were not to press, went to press and we need to keep that at that.

Speaker 2: 10:46

And because that's, I think that's where it gets very dangerous for a lot of people. It's when you can't control your temper and your personality and you just say, no, I'm right, and I'm right and I'm done, I'm right. And that's when things start getting downhill, but thankfully it's been 10 years, so done, I'm right. And that's when things start getting downhill, but thankfully it's been 10 years, so we've been through it and we know when it's time to stop. Okay, we don't agree right now, we'll come back together and we'll talk about it again.

Speaker 1: 11:13

I really like that. And something I really like that you said too is you have very clear like defined roles and responsibilities in the business, right? Not clear, like defined roles and responsibilities in the business, right? Not even just talking about your marriage, but like in the business. That's separate.

Speaker 1: 11:25

And I just had this conversation with my husband, actually the other day, because he's doing the company that I'm in with me, and when he just joined we just opened a men's division and so he was on a call that I was leading because I have a group of women that I normally lead, and so he was on that call with me, a group of women that I normally lead, and so he was on that call with me.

Speaker 1: 11:44

And afterward he called me and he said I saw you completely differently than I see you, even though you're in the office that I walk past every day on my way to our bedroom. But in that moment you were a completely different person and it was really easy for me to separate you from being my wife to you being the leader situation, and I think that's been really helpful for us like working together and saying this is your lane, this is my lane, and let's like champion each other right, like you and your husband are each other's biggest cheerleaders, and when to not push or when to push I think that's a really important distinction is to know, like, when do you go at them a little bit? Do you feel like it's easier to move the business forward or whatever forward, because you're his wife? If he had hired a different COO, right, if this wasn't something you were interested in doing, do you think it would have had an impact on the business?

Speaker 2: 12:35

That's a very good question and we've talked about it recently too. I don't want to be a COO for the rest of my life. I know and I believe there's always somebody better than you that can do better. The business is growing, the team is growing and I want that COO that has done years and years of a much bigger company. That's where this care comes. Are they going to be able to do it as well as you do?

Speaker 2: 12:57

The COO knows everything about the business, right, but the COO taking myself as the spouse out of the picture also knows a lot about the CEO or the owner of the business and what he likes and likes where to respect him, when to respect him. Would he be okay if I made this decision, or not? So when I'm at work, I am the professional. When I come home, I can be bubbly, I can be the wifey, I can be the mommy. When I'm at work, I am as serious as I can be. If I am the CEO, I take it seriously, I give all my heart and the passion is there. So my husband sees that, and then that's when the question comes would somebody else be doing the same, or as much as you do, with all the love that you put into it, but it's just a matter of time just finding the right person.

Speaker 2: 13:49

But I think that the fact we decided to do this together from the beginning, I think that made a huge difference, honestly, than just hiring somebody that we don't know. Would this person really embrace it with all this passion and just giving it your all to make it happen? We did everything in the beginning. The career was our focus, the business was the focus for both of us. So I think you'd have definitely impacted if it wasn't that way. Because if we had started the business as professionals coming from another business, and we knew what a COO really meant and we really knew the COO that could handle this and we had the financial resources to hire that COO, maybe it would have been different, would have started it differently, but that's where God had us start. That's what we had in hand. It was just each other. And now it's hard to see us following that path and the journey without each other. I just think it's really hard, yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:51

No, I love that because, as you're talking, I hear like a passion, right, and I totally get it, because you probably feel about your husband the way I feel about mine, right, I just want him to be successful, right, and whatever he does, I want to be his biggest cheerleader, I want to support him in every way I can and he's the same thing with me. So I am going to push him a little bit harder than maybe somebody else would, or I'm going to have it back differently because we're married and also the success of the business. It makes a difference for you and your family, like it's impacting you and your husband and your child, right, and your mom and all these things. And you guys are passionate about this topic together, right, it's different than hiring like a coo off the street or something who maybe doesn't have the like. You immigrated here, right, so maybe that's not the background that they have or they're not as passionate about immigration law, and you guys come at it with a servant leader, heart, posture, right, and you're coming to serve people and so, yeah, I think it would be radically different actually if you hadn't gone through those things together and hadn't Like the things my husband hates doing are things I actually really enjoy doing, and vice versa, and we're so complimentary in the best ways possible.

Speaker 1: 16:02

But when you're with the wrong person it's like a pain in the side because the rib's not the right rib. That's true. That's a good way to put it. How do you separate? Let's say you had a tough day at work, right? How do you separate them when you come home? Because you can't go home and vent about your boss.

Speaker 2: 16:18

Yeah, I'll be honest with you, like now, it's a lot easier than it was in the beginning. The business grew. Now we have offices in California, in New York and in Florida. We have an office in Las Vegas. So he travels a lot, and sometimes I also have to travel, so he's always so busy doing what he needs to do that I barely have time to talk to him. You wouldn't believe this, but it's true. I have to schedule appointments to speak with him so we can have our monthly meetings or our weekly meetings. I just can't walk in his office and talk to him. He's that busy already.

Speaker 2: 16:51

Towards the end of the day I actually get to say how was your day In the beginning? I saw every detail of his day. Even though we work in the same office, most of the time he's doing his thing. I'm on the other side with the team giving trainings, going through the processes and systems, just making sure goals are being met, and then coming to him and talking to him about it. The business is already that big where we can really be in the same business, but not together. Every minute of the day, as we're driving home together, we get to share what happened during the day. He doesn't get to know every little detail that happens with all the staff members. Even myself, I don't know every little detail that happens.

Speaker 2: 17:32

We have a staff that helps us, like a support too, so we get to celebrate all the little victories on a daily basis, and I like to say that now we're in a stage where we're enjoying the business as much as we can the little good things, and not that I want to say I have people just doing the horrible things or the things that are really annoying, but everybody is good at what they do, right, I can't be doing everything that I used to do Website marketing, instagram, this and that I just can't. I'm only one person, and the minute that we started doing coaching and just decided to grow, this is what we're going to do. We're just going to be endless. Let's bless as many families as we can. Then we need a team.

Speaker 2: 18:13

So coming home to this, it's always like a blessing, and sometimes we even share with our son, like today. We went, we helped a family. This family is together again. Our son has a hard time separating from us, so we like to say why we're gone for so long. Our son has a hard time separating from us. So we like to say why we're gone for so long and this is what we're doing and it's sharing with him also the victories. So nowadays it's a little bit easier to work together, just because we're not talking to each other all day long and doing the same things all day long.

Speaker 1: 18:43

I love that you share with your son the victories you guys have, right, like we reunited this family or I just. I think that is so beautiful and I think it's easier when you get children buy into. My kids are completely bought into what I'm doing. I will never forget there was one time I told that it was like last summer and I said to them I said, hey, like mom's gonna be really busy during this season and here's why. And then they heard someone. They heard it from the other room. They heard somebody send me a voice memo crying about the impact that it had on them the work I was doing. And they came in and they're like every sacrifice and stuff was worth it for that and I'm like beautiful, I love it. And so they have full back. I think it makes it easier, right, and your family is bought into this vision that you guys have and I think that's really beautiful what you have going on.

Speaker 2: 19:32

Thank you. Thank you, lemon. Yeah, it's really a blessing. We don't see it as a job. We see it really as a career and a purpose here on earth.

Speaker 2: 19:40

We love making a difference in people's life and doing whatever we can to help them and just to navigate the troubles of an immigrant life and making sure that they're here, because there's a lot of great professionals that can contribute so much and they can't do it because they don't know how to. And we're here to help them get their status, get a working permit and do it the right way. So to see that sometimes we have cases, the other attorneys, they have to go to court, and sometimes we get videos of these clients just bawling their eyes out with their families hugging each other, because they're waiting for this moment for 10 years, 20 years, and they're finally here together or they're finally not in deportation status anymore. Now they get to live here. And we're talking about professionals, people that have degrees, doctors. We've helped all kinds of people that had to leave what they had in their country for whatever reason. So it's really been a blessing for us and our family to have this business.

Speaker 1: 20:38

I love that so much. I love your mission. I love your vision. I love the way you and your husband are doing this as a family and as like real partners right, that's really like we're supposed to be with our spouse, and so if somebody was listening and they're like all right, I want to work with my husband or whatever, what advice would you give to them before they start that journey? I?

Speaker 2: 21:00

think, communicate a clear communication of what the goals are, what the boundaries are, your likes, your dislikes, when to press and not to press. Get to know each other to that level and make sure that you know how to separate your work from your personal life. Sometimes you have to have tough conversations at work about work. Don't take that home. The troubles do come and the challenges do come. But if you have these goals and if you have the understanding that you can disagree productively, it will go well. It's going to work and you're going towards the same direction.

Speaker 2: 21:36

Don't give up. Don't let a bad day ruin the whole thing, ruin your plans and say your prayers. God is there to help you through it, make you stronger and help you. During your tough times, like sometimes, you have to take a deep breath and count to 10 and count on God. When you have to do that, say your little prayer and just give me strength. Don't let me lose my temper. Everything is going to be okay. I need to focus. We have a goal. I don't want this to ruin anything and just believe in yourself and your husband and everything can work out if you put God in first place.

Speaker 1: 22:12

Oh my gosh, that was such good advice. You could write a book and have a chapter. Be every single piece of advice that you just gave and get a deeper dive on it.

Speaker 2: 22:19

It's true.

Speaker 1: 22:20

I love that you said disagree productively. That might be one of my favorite things that I have ever heard. Yes, it's okay to disagree, but be productive in the disagreement. I think that is beautiful advice, my friend. So where can everybody go to connect with you and find you?

Speaker 2: 22:39

Okay, so I'm everywhere. I'm on Instagram. On Facebook, I'm usually more active on the Alexandra Law Firm's Instagram, but I also have my Instagram. It's glenyaalexandri. Alexandra Law Firm's Instagram, but I also have my Instagram. It's glenyaalexandri, and that's where you can find me. I'm there to support. If you have any questions, if you want to talk and just hear more stories and have a shoulder to lean on, I'm here.

Speaker 1: 23:07

I love that Y'all. I will link to everywhere you can find her in the show notes. Please go connect with her because I just think she's amazing and you're always traveling and I feel like I always see cool stuff that you're out doing. So go follow her at least for that, because she's always doing something really cool. She's literally everywhere. I don't even have a passport and you're world traveling, so I need to set my game up a little bit.

Speaker 2: 23:24

So, yes, let's travel. We need a lot of beauty out there.

Speaker 1: 23:28

Yes, that's what my son said. He just wants to travel and go eat. He just wants to eat around the world because he's definitely like a foodie, which I think is funny, so it's on our list.

Speaker 2: 23:37

I think my husband was trying different foods, culture, anything that has to do with traveling, that's him yeah, that is my oldest.

Speaker 1: 23:45

He think he wants to be a chef, so he wants to eat everything all the time. I love it. So just thank you for being here so much and just sharing so much wisdom. I love this conversation. I will take it to you and just apply some of these things to as I work with my husband. So just thank you for sharing that, my friend.

Speaker 2: 24:03

Thank you so much, Lemon. Thank you for your time.

Speaker 1: 24:06

Hey friend, what a joy it has been to share today's journey with you. If you found a spark of inspiration or a nugget of wisdom that resonated, would you bless someone else by sharing this episode with them? It could be the encouragement they need to step into their purpose and calling. Also, if you could spare a moment to leave a review, it would mean the world to me. I really appreciate your feedback and it really helps our community grow. Remember, the road to discovering God's call for you isn't one you have to walk alone. So join me again next Monday for another episode where we'll continue to explore the depths of leadership and the heights of our heavenly calling. Until then, keep seeking, keep growing and keep trusting in his plan. God bless you and I'll catch you on the flip side. Bye, friend.