Podcast: Download (Duration: 49:26 — 56.9MB)
For the 500th episode of the podcast and our 20th wedding anniversary, I brought my wife Jen back on the show to talk about what has actually kept our marriage, our family, and our business working for two decades. Jen is the operational backbone of everything we run together, and her answers on marriage, business, and where she wants to be in five years surprised me on tape.
We built Bumblebee Linens out of our garage over four years, moved it into a warehouse, eventually bought that warehouse, and now run the store, the blog, and the podcast alongside raising two kids who are three to five years away from college.
Here is the full 20-year debrief: what made the marriage work, how Jen and I split the business, why we deliberately kept things smaller, and the specific decisions we would (and would not) change.
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Table of Contents
Key takeaways
- The three things Jen credits for a 20-year marriage: aligned family values, matching spending habits (both frugal), and trust that the other person’s intent is good even in a fight.
- We play to strengths. I run big-picture, marketing, and tech. Jen runs operations, financials, and the day-to-day of Bumblebee Linens. Neither of us tries to do the other’s job.
- Jen works about 20 hours a week most of the year, and then goes full-time from early November through the December Christmas rush. Mondays are her busiest day (weekend orders backlog).
- We deliberately kept Bumblebee Linens smaller than it could be so it stays manageable during the years our kids are still at home. There is a long list of growth moves we are not making on purpose.
- The single biggest business inflection was moving the operation out of our garage after four years. Buying the warehouse this year removed the last recurring stressor: landlords jacking rent up around 30% at every renewal.
- Jen’s #1 piece of advice for anyone who wants this lifestyle: take action. Small steps beat perfect planning, because most people never actually start.
What has kept our marriage working for 20 years
Three things have kept our marriage working for 20 years: aligned family values, matching frugal spending habits, and trust that the other person’s intent is good even when we fight. Jen’s answer surprised me on tape.
She said she never wonders whether I meant something maliciously, so a rude moment does not spiral. That trust is the load-bearing part.
Aligned values matter more than most couples give them credit for. If one of us were a spender and the other frugal, or if we disagreed on how to raise the kids, we would be having a much harder conversation.
We are both cheap in slightly different ways. Jen will spend more on a family vacation; I will spend more on an NBA ticket. Neither of us minds the other’s category because the total household spend stays disciplined.
We also play to strengths. I am the ideas and marketing person; Jen is the operations person.
On tape she said, “You know what will make growth or what will be overall good for our family. My strength would be more of implementing.” That division has been true for the business and for the household.
How Jen and I split running Bumblebee Linens
Jen runs the operations and the day-to-day at Bumblebee Linens; I run the marketing, the tech, and the content side of our businesses. Neither of us tries to swap. That split has kept both the marriage and the P&L healthy for 17 years.
Jen manages inventory, embroidery scheduling, invoice printing, packing supervision, and making sure Amazon stock levels stay right. She also manages household finances, plans family vacations, and is the point person on the kids’ school life.
I handle site design, blog and podcast content, product listings, ad strategy, and anything technical. The one place we overlap on purpose is grocery shopping. Everything else, we specialize.
Jen’s weekly work schedule
Jen works about 20 hours a week for most of the year and expands to full-time from early November through the end of December for the Christmas rush. Mondays are her busiest day because the weekend order backlog (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) hits at once and everything has to be printed, embroidered, and packed.
She typically drops our son at school, goes to the warehouse in the morning, has lunch, and heads home around 2 pm. She takes most Fridays off. During the holiday peak, Black Friday through Christmas, that shape goes away and she is at the warehouse most days.
Why we kept the business smaller on purpose
We deliberately kept Bumblebee Linens smaller than it could be because we chose to trade growth for time with the kids. There is a long list of things we could do to grow the store more aggressively that we are not doing right now, and that is by design.
Our kids are on the runway to college in the next three to five years. Volleyball tournaments run most weekends of the year and practice takes three to four evenings a week. If we scaled the business hard right now, one of us would end up absent from that window, and neither of us is willing to trade it.
Jen’s five-year plan surprised me on tape. She hopes to be less involved in Bumblebee Linens, not more. Her focus goes to whichever college the kids land at, and possibly volunteering or mentoring high schoolers after they leave.
Business milestones over 17 years running Bumblebee Linens
The milestones that stand out to us most are not the biggest revenue numbers. They are the moments the business felt like it had crossed a threshold. Some of them looked exciting from the start; others only felt significant in retrospect.
| Milestone | Why it mattered |
|---|---|
| First bulk wholesale order (~10 dozen items) | Our first order that dwarfed anything else we had shipped. Jen took it on the phone from our house, told the customer everything, and (thankfully) the customer never complained about the packing. |
| Moving out of the garage into our first warehouse | After four years in the garage, moving out let Jen stop constantly getting ahead of orders on nights and weekends. It also added rent as a permanent monthly obligation, which was stressful for me. |
| First bulk shipment arriving from overseas | The moment sourcing shifted from small quantities to real inventory scale. |
| Getting featured on the Today Show | Validation that the brand had reach beyond our own channels. |
| Hiring our first employee | The end of “just the two of us in the garage.” |
| The blog hitting $46 in a single day | The moment I realized content could cover a mortgage payment on its own. That trajectory turned into what became a real second business. |
| Buying our warehouse in 2024 | Removed the last major recurring stressor. Landlords had been raising rent by roughly 30% at each renewal, and now the cost is fixed. |
What we would do differently if we started over
Jen would not change much about how we built the business, but she would have bought commercial real estate sooner. Watching rent get hiked roughly 30% at each renewal turned out to be the most stressful line in our P&L, and owning removed it entirely.
The other move she flagged was trusting people earlier. Both of us tend to hold operational tasks too long. If we had hired for warehouse and packing earlier, Jen would have gotten back nights and weekends sooner.
I would give one piece of career advice to my younger self: when I got the Nvidia offer around 2003 or 2004 at what turned out to be an all-time-low stock price, I turned it down out of loyalty to my then-employer. Jen wanted me to take it and never said so at the time because she did not want to influence me.
On paper we would be substantially wealthier. In reality, I would still be working nonstop at Nvidia and neither of us would have this lifestyle, so it worked out.
Advice for people who want to build a business around family life
Jen’s core advice for anyone who wants a business that gives them time with their family is simple: take action, even a small step, because delaying is what actually kills most attempts. She has watched too many of my course students get stuck in planning and detail work without ever launching.
The second piece is aligning with your partner on values before anything else. A shared view on money and on raising kids is what makes running a business together survivable in years three, seven, and twelve.
The third piece is being honest about your role. Not everyone should be the operations person; not everyone should be the marketing person. Trying to be both is where couples running businesses together burn out.
Frequently asked questions
How did Jen and Steve Chou build Bumblebee Linens together?
We built Bumblebee Linens out of our garage starting in 2007, ran it there for about four years with a racked indexing system, moved into our first warehouse, and eventually bought that warehouse in 2024. Jen runs operations and the day-to-day; Steve runs marketing, tech, and content. Every major decision has been driven by staying present for the kids while the business scales.
How many hours a week does Jen work in the business?
Jen works about 20 hours a week for most of the year. From early November through the end of December (the Christmas peak season), she is at the warehouse full-time. Mondays are her busiest day because the weekend order backlog needs to be printed, embroidered, and packed.
What kept your marriage working for 20 years?
Three things: aligned family values, matching frugal spending habits, and trust that your partner’s intent is good even during a fight. If one of you spends freely and the other saves, or if you disagree on how to raise kids, those become chronic fights. If both agree, and if neither doubts the other’s motives, the day-to-day gets much easier.
Should couples work together in the same business?
Only if you can honestly divide roles by strength and stop trying to do each other’s jobs. In our case Steve runs marketing, tech, and content, while Jen runs operations, financials, and household logistics. Blending or duplicating those roles is where most couple-run businesses break.
When did you move the business out of your house?
We ran Bumblebee Linens out of our garage for about four years before moving into our first warehouse. The move was operationally freeing for Jen (she stopped constantly working nights and weekends to get ahead of orders) and financially stressful for Steve (rent became a fixed monthly obligation). We bought our own warehouse in 2024 to remove landlord rent hikes for good.
What is your best advice for someone who wants to quit their job and build a family-first business?
Take action, even a small step this week. Most people who want this life never actually start because they get stuck on details that do not matter yet.
Pick a business model that can generate revenue relatively fast (e-commerce or a service business), match roles to strengths with your partner, and keep growth deliberately bounded to what your family season can absorb.
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