Speaker 1: Welcome back to a very special episode, bonus episode of
Speaker 1: Big Business, and I'm joined by a guest. It's a
Speaker 1: guy that you all know and love, and we have
Speaker 1: absolutely forced him to be sitting in the chair across
Speaker 1: from me right now. Welcome Aj to the podcast.
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you. I really don't want to be on here, so.
Speaker 1: Look today's episode it's just a bonus episode. We have
Speaker 1: fun with these and today I thought I would chat
Speaker 1: to you all about what it's like to work with
Speaker 1: your partner. I've had a lot of people over the
Speaker 1: years say to me, how do you and AJ actually
Speaker 1: manage to work together? I thought I would also tell
Speaker 1: you how it exactly came to be, which was never
Speaker 1: part of my plan. As you all know, I'm very
Speaker 1: against hiring friends and family, but somehow working with my
Speaker 1: partner is apparently fine for now, so I guess we
Speaker 1: And by the way, we really are pressuring AJ into
Speaker 1: being in this podcast right now, so no pressure for
Speaker 1: you to actually take the reins. But I'll start with
Speaker 1: the story of how AJ and I ended up working together. So, Aj,
Speaker 1: what is your actual profession?
Speaker 2: My profession is an electrician.
Speaker 1: And how long did you do that for?
Speaker 3: So I started when I was sixteen, just left you
Speaker 3: attended high school. I did it for what fifteen years
Speaker 3: till I was about thirty one, and then jump ship.
Speaker 1: So the way that we got into working together, AJ
Speaker 1: was obviously with me when I started Fate, like we
Speaker 1: were dating then. I don't even know how long we've
Speaker 1: been together. A really long time.
Speaker 2: Now too long?
Speaker 1: Yeah, too long? RIGHTO. You can just take the piss
Speaker 1: out of me in this episode. That's what you're good at.
Speaker 1: So if that means you're going to talk by taking
Speaker 1: the piss, just do it.
Speaker 2: Fate.
Speaker 1: So AJ was there when this all came to be.
Speaker 1: We were living in a three story so annoying townhouse rental.
Speaker 1: I would never recommend having a three story house like
Speaker 1: you know, garage and laundry at the bottom, then your
Speaker 1: laundry and then your bedrooms at the bloody top. Nightmare.
Speaker 1: And I started Fate and we set it up in
Speaker 1: the garage downstairs. AJ lost his car spot because that
Speaker 1: turned into the packing area and the photo shoot area,
Speaker 1: and essentially I started Fate and I didn't even consider
Speaker 1: what you thought of it at the time. But it
Speaker 1: was just really this little thing, wasn't it like it
Speaker 1: was never meant to be this big, crazy business that
Speaker 1: we're doing now. And AJ would go to work every day.
Speaker 1: You would work like what's seven till two or seven
Speaker 1: till two thirty, and then he would come home, finish work,
Speaker 1: behome before three, and then he would jump into the
Speaker 1: garage and help me. So he would help me packing
Speaker 1: the orders, doing the returns. We were doing everything really
Speaker 1: wrong back then. I'll tell you something funny that we
Speaker 1: actually used to do when we first started FATE. When
Speaker 1: you print out a shipping label, you know now, like
Speaker 1: it prints out from this special printer and it's a
Speaker 1: sticker already, so then you just peel it and you
Speaker 1: stick it. Because we didn't know that you could get
Speaker 1: like a label printer that would do that, we would
Speaker 1: print our shipping little labels out on an A four
Speaker 1: piece of paper because we had a printer and a
Speaker 1: four paper. Then, like like shit, you not, we did
Speaker 1: this for every single parcel. We would get scissors and
Speaker 1: cut out the because it was only in the corner
Speaker 1: of the A four piece of paper, it wasn't the
Speaker 1: whole size of the piece of paper. We would cut around.
Speaker 1: Then we would place it on the shipping bag and
Speaker 1: then sticky tape four pieces of sticky tape around and
Speaker 1: we did that for every single order. And mind you,
Speaker 1: even though Fate was new, like we would sometimes have
Speaker 1: like one hundred orders to pack here and one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty to pack there, and we were fucking hand
Speaker 1: cutting from an a four piece of paper every single time.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't until like a year in that a like, wait,
Speaker 1: I think we can get this printer that prints these
Speaker 1: labels out for us. So we wasted so many hours
Speaker 1: doing that. And one thing that I really noticed in
Speaker 1: those early days of me doing Fate and I was
Speaker 1: still being an influencer and then Aj was working full
Speaker 1: time being an electrician, is Aj was really unhappy doing
Speaker 1: what he was doing. It's not that you like, absolutely
Speaker 1: hated being an electrician, but I was noticing it more
Speaker 1: in his everyday mental health. I guess that he was
Speaker 1: coming home and he was angry, and in the mornings
Speaker 1: when he was waking up, he was like raging from
Speaker 1: the second that he woke up. And it was something
Speaker 1: that I would bring up to him to be like, hey,
Speaker 1: like you seem really mad, Like you know, when the
Speaker 1: alarm goes off, I'm sure It's an experience that most
Speaker 1: of us feel when we're going to work, like that
Speaker 1: alarm goes off it you would literally just be like fuck,
Speaker 1: like you really didn't you really didn't like it. And
Speaker 1: I used to feel that way when I worked in
Speaker 1: various roles, and I would bring it up with AJ
Speaker 1: and say, hey, like, I've noticed that you're not happy
Speaker 1: when you're waking up and you're getting home and you're
Speaker 1: really angry. And I would say to AJ, why don't
Speaker 1: we Like I was trying to like come up with
Speaker 1: resolutions for him, so I'd be like, why don't you
Speaker 1: apply to work at a different electrical company, like just
Speaker 1: to change it up a little bit.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I was really angry.
Speaker 1: But you didn't realize it at the time.
Speaker 3: I didn't realize it, but yeah, now I look back
Speaker 3: at it, I was definitely angry.
Speaker 2: I worked with my.
Speaker 1: Family, so you were fighting all the time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you'd go to work, you'd see your family, you'd
Speaker 3: work with them all day and then like it was
Speaker 3: just too much. It was a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're all boys and they're all fight. So
Speaker 1: it was like his dad and then his brothers. We
Speaker 1: love them, but they fight a lot when they're working together.
Speaker 1: That's why I don't hire family. And so I would
Speaker 1: bring this up with AJ and he'd say, oh, no,
Speaker 1: like what else am I supposed to do? Like I
Speaker 1: was getting desperate at one point where I would say
Speaker 1: to AJ, like why don't we because he's so great,
Speaker 1: I'm like, why don't you become like a paramedic? Like
Speaker 1: I was like thinking full career change, like why don't
Speaker 1: you become a paramedic a firefighter? Like I was throwing
Speaker 1: shit out there, and because he was in that really
Speaker 1: negative headspace of like hating his job and he'd been
Speaker 1: doing it for so long that he couldn't see that
Speaker 1: he could do something else. And I think that's a
Speaker 1: mindset that a lot of people get into, is they
Speaker 1: get into a job or a career or whatever and
Speaker 1: they think, no, this is it for me. And I
Speaker 1: remember we would almost even like argue about it a
Speaker 1: bit because I'd get so frustrated with his anger because
Speaker 1: it was like bringing my mood down. And I'd say
Speaker 1: like is this it for you? Like is this all
Speaker 1: you want to do in your life? And he'd be like, yes,
Speaker 1: this is all I'm gonna do because he couldn't see that,
Speaker 1: like you can get out there and do something even
Speaker 1: if you are thirty, Like you can fully change your career.
Speaker 1: So anyway, he never ended up getting another job. He
Speaker 1: just stayed working with his family, and he was continuing
Speaker 1: to help me in the garage. And then we moved
Speaker 1: from the garage into our first little warehouse, and then
Speaker 1: again he'd be coming to the warehouse after work every day.
Speaker 1: Mind you, he's like working eight hours a day with
Speaker 1: his dad, crawling under houses, pulling cables, and then coming
Speaker 1: to help us in the afternoon. So he was working
Speaker 1: a lot. Then it got to a point where he
Speaker 1: then started to come and work with us on Fridays,
Speaker 1: and then he went four days with his family. Then
Speaker 1: he came to work with us on Thursdays and Fridays,
Speaker 1: and then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: before we knew it, maybe like what two years ago
Speaker 1: now two and a bit years ago, he made the
Speaker 1: decision to come and work full time with us, and
Speaker 1: it's been that way ever since. What do you actually
Speaker 1: do it, Fate.
Speaker 2: AJ, Well, a bit of everything. I stay out of
Speaker 2: your way. That's the main job.
Speaker 1: AJ runs our warehouse essentially he looks after all that
Speaker 1: shit with everyone that's working in the warehouse.
Speaker 2: Obviously, AJ don't want to take the credit off the girls.
Speaker 1: No, AJ does all the warehouse shit. He knows the
Speaker 1: business just as well as I do. And he pays
Speaker 1: all of our invoices now, which is great because I
Speaker 1: used to and it's like really painful paying your big invoices.
Speaker 1: So now AJ looks after the money side of things,
Speaker 1: and he's just essentially my soundboard for all.
Speaker 2: Things, and that's my main job.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I tell him all my crazy business ideas and
Speaker 1: people have often said, how do you work together? I
Speaker 1: could never work with my partner, and I think it's
Speaker 1: just one of those things where it does work for us.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's any like special source or magic
Speaker 1: recipe as to why it does. That's just the way
Speaker 1: it is, Zander. What do you want to say?
Speaker 4: So AJ, I want to know what is the best
Speaker 4: thing about working with Britt She stays out of my way.
Speaker 1: I would say that we just have fun. And like
Speaker 1: even this morning, I chucked up an Instagram story of
Speaker 1: us on the way here today because we're doing other
Speaker 1: stuff after the podcast, and someone said, like, do you
Speaker 1: and AJ have a fight. Like you guys just seem
Speaker 1: like you get along really well, And I just think
Speaker 1: we are lucky in that sense where we do just
Speaker 1: get along really well. We can work together really well,
Speaker 1: and I know a lot of couples couldn't. I know
Speaker 1: a lot of couples would rip each other's heads off
Speaker 1: when they're working together.
Speaker 4: Has there been one particular time whilst you both have
Speaker 4: been running fate that has challenged you.
Speaker 1: There's definitely probably small moments, but there's never been like
Speaker 1: a huge moment where I'm like, this is fucking affecting
Speaker 1: our relationship. But if anything, I'd say it'd just be
Speaker 1: more so like money things when we're like making huge
Speaker 1: financial decisions and we're both just getting a bit stressed
Speaker 1: about it, or maybe even just like dealing with like
Speaker 1: a staff conflict or issue or something, and then it
Speaker 1: comes into our relationship because we're talking about it at
Speaker 1: home and we might get a bit heated. But nothing
Speaker 1: like major again, luckily, but I think as a couple,
Speaker 1: like we're not like that anyway, Like we're very similar
Speaker 1: in a way, so working together works for us. And
Speaker 1: also we don't work side by side like I think
Speaker 1: if we were working side by side every day, like
Speaker 1: sitting at desks next to each other. Then yet we
Speaker 1: might get more frustrated with one another. But like there's
Speaker 1: so many days where we don't even see each other
Speaker 1: because he's off there and I'm over here. So it
Speaker 1: just works for us.
Speaker 4: Do you both have certain boundaries set in place, for example,
Speaker 4: like maybe you don't talk about work when you get home.
Speaker 1: No, we talk about all the time. But I think
Speaker 1: one of the best things about what AJ and I
Speaker 1: do is we enjoy what we do so much that
Speaker 1: we like, I know it's lame to say, but I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm never working Like everything that I do
Speaker 1: I love and we have so much fun together. And
Speaker 1: we do have so much fun at work, so we
Speaker 1: don't really have a life that we feel like we
Speaker 1: need to escape from or switch off from, because we
Speaker 1: do just enjoy it. But when we do go home,
Speaker 1: like we do switch off, like you know, we'll talk
Speaker 1: about stuff that we need to talk about, but otherwise,
Speaker 1: like where it's chilling and live in our own lives
Speaker 1: and we might talk about work here and there or
Speaker 1: say my next crazy business idea. But it's just a
Speaker 1: really good dynamic and balance.
Speaker 4: For you both as a couple who run a business together.
Speaker 4: Is there a point that you both want to get to?
Speaker 4: Is there a certain goal you want to reach.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good question. I don't think either of
Speaker 1: us could have predicted fate getting to where it is now.
Speaker 1: Like if you told us when we were in the
Speaker 1: garage that this is where it would end up, we'd
Speaker 1: be like, no fucking way. So the sky really is
Speaker 1: a limit. But I guess in an ideal scenario, like
Speaker 1: maybe it would be in the future us stepping away
Speaker 1: from the business more and which we're doing little bits
Speaker 1: here and there, Like we've got so many good staff
Speaker 1: in place now that they're kind of like running the operations.
Speaker 1: But I'd like me anyway, like I'd like to see
Speaker 1: us step away from it more and maybe enjoy our
Speaker 1: lives a little. If we enjoy our lives anyway, but
Speaker 1: you know, we could maybe go holidaying and like, you know,
Speaker 1: enjoy all the hard work that we've done and the
Speaker 1: money that we do earn. So yeah, i'd say that
Speaker 1: was the end goal. But I mean I still feel
Speaker 1: like we're just getting started.
Speaker 4: And outside of fate, have you guys got any you know,
Speaker 4: personal plans coming up. I'm looking at you, Aj, possibly
Speaker 4: no plans.
Speaker 1: No plans.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 1: People always say, like, when are you going to get married?
Speaker 1: When are you going to have kids? There's a good
Speaker 1: clip baby title for this episode, like when Brittany and
Speaker 1: aj are getting married and having kids. We always say,
Speaker 1: like we think we would just go and like being us,
Speaker 1: like we would just go in a lope and do
Speaker 1: something ourselves and then maybe have a barbecue at home
Speaker 1: or whatever. Because if I'm having a wedding, it's going
Speaker 1: to be like three hundred grand and I don't want
Speaker 1: to I don't want to do that. I'd rather put
Speaker 1: that in the business. But we actually have no personal
Speaker 1: plans at all, like because our life is just so
Speaker 1: good the way it is. We're renovating our house at
Speaker 1: the moment, so we're hopefully going to finish that before
Speaker 1: Christmas this year and just keep slaying it at fate.
Speaker 4: I want to know, would you guys release a fat
Speaker 4: baby range.
Speaker 1: I mean, it would make sense if we had kids,
Speaker 1: and then we did, and who knows, maybe I can
Speaker 1: capitalize on that in the future, but no, for now, like,
Speaker 1: our life is just so good and we still feel
Speaker 1: like we're really just getting started with this whole fate thing,
Speaker 1: even though we're years in, but it really does feel
Speaker 1: like the start of the journey.
Speaker 2: So now we just need to bring out a men's range.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we do. We are working on that because
Speaker 1: AJ has been bugging me for years for that, so
Speaker 1: we'll make it happen.
Speaker 4: Will you model the men's range? AJ?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Oh, I don't know if we can afford you though,
Speaker 1: Like your rate's pretty.
Speaker 4: High, all mind's low if you want to use me, okay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll use you instead. But yeah, anyway, that's a
Speaker 1: little bonus EP of Big Business. Thanks AJ for being
Speaker 1: on and saying like four sentences. Yeah, that's all right,
Speaker 1: you're going to send us an invoice for this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what's my going right?
Speaker 1: Fifteen hundred a minute?
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, nice, that's already talk for less than
Speaker 4: a minute.
Speaker 1: So well, anyway, friends, thanks listening to today's bonus EP
Speaker 1: of Big Business, and I'll see you all next week
Speaker 1: for my main episode.