- Sabina Hitchen hired her husband as her VP of strategic partnerships in 2020.
- She was looking for someone with his skillset, and the business has grown since he joined.
- They work from separate rooms and prioritize dates to make it work and not affect their marriage.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sabina Hitchen, the 45-year-old founder of Press for Success. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I worked in PR for years before starting my company, Press for Success, a PR platform and community, in 2017. My husband, Alex, has worked in media since he was 18.
We met in 2012 when I was running from a rainstorm in NYC and went into a restaurant where he’d walked in the other entrance — it was like a romcom. I just wanted to read with a glass of wine, and he came up and sat with me. We haven’t stopped talking since.
When we finally decided to go ‘Facebook official,’ we realized we had 200 friends in common but had never met. Even with his background, I never expected to hire him for my company. Now, he’s my employee.
Like most couples, we used to weigh in on each other’s work
He was there when I had the idea of Press for Success; he even named it when we were newly married.
A year before the pandemic, he left his 9-5 job in media to start media consulting.
When the pandemic hit, our daughter was very young, and I didn’t want to quit my job. I love being a mother, but I saw so many women leaving their jobs to care for their kids, and I knew that wasn’t the right decision for me.
We decided my husband would quit his job instead
My husband became our daughter’s full-time caregiver so I could build my business. He quit in July 2020, and we lost about 60% of our income as I had returned to my business after working at less than full steam as a new mom.
I worked 24/7 to become our primary breadwinner and started making enough to make up for his lost income.
A year into that setup, he suggested we either move back to NYC and he’d start working in consulting again (we’d been staying in Maine during the pandemic as an escape from the city) or we figure out something else. That’s when I considered hiring him as VP of strategic partnerships and collaboration for my business.
His skillset fit what I needed
I didn’t want to hire him because he was my husband or needed work — his skills fit my company’s needs. I needed someone who understood media and PR and could inspire people and command a room. We decided, “Let’s just see what happens.”
He joined my small team and took a slight pay cut, but we see this as an investment in something bigger.
We saw a therapist to ensure we were approaching it correctly. She told us to give ourselves six months to see if it felt right, and if it didn’t, we could walk away without it being a failure in our relationship.
It worked. There are days when one of us has been hurt or upset, but we don’t hold grudges and move past it.
He’s always been encouraging of my career
I used to say, “My husband works with me,” and he said, “No, your husband works for you.” I thought that was so sexy. He knows I’ve been building my business for years and respects what I’ve built.
Compartmentalization makes working together feel seamless. We can butt heads on a work idea and then leave it behind to go to a family barbecue where I can be who I need to be as a wife and mom.
We both take our daughter to school every morning and on the way there, we sing Kidz Bop and jam out with her. The minute it’s just us in the car, we’re talking about workshops we’re planning and our members’ challenges.
We also physically separate while working
We tried to work in the same space initially, but I interrupted him constantly. Working apart while Alex is at an office during the day allows me to miss him. Having separate spaces gives us some of the mystery back.
We also work on separate things: He works on partnerships and collaborations while I’m leading the community and planning workshops.
Even working on individual projects, I had to let go of a lot of ego. I thought, “What is he going to think of me teaching?” and “This is my stage,” but when I shared the stage with him, he lit up, and people loved him.
It’s been amazing, but I did have to tell him he can’t call me darling while we’re on a live broadcast.
We also prioritize having date nights
In the beginning, every time my parents would babysit, we would work through our date nights. I forgot what it was like to date my husband. Now, we plan a fun date night weekly.
Doing business well is like forced therapy on yourself, which is the same as marriage. Many people say it’s a risk working together, but it gives us power over our family’s destiny.
Since he joined the company, it has grown in every way, including revenue. What started as a course platform is now a thriving membership community with a new platform, an app, and soon-to-come real-time text alerts.
I get to do what I love with the person I love for a higher purpose, which feels amazing.
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