Almost two months ago I got married. One of the first questions I was asked by someone was if I would give up ZipFit and stay at home. Simply put, hell no. If anything, it drives me more to build a successful business and help support my family in the future. I thought through a few reasons why I would have been asked this question, and my responses to it. 1. Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs, regardless of their sex. We (entrepreneurs) are all driven to build successful businesses, which means we work hard to make that happen. We wake up every morning wanting to change the world through our businesses. At ZipFit, we want to put every man in his best fit denim. Did that change because I got married? Absolutely not. I still want to fit every man I see for jeans. For example, a few days ago I was at a doctor’s appointment with my husband. The doctor asked me what I did, and we had a 5 minute conversation about how he and his brother could use some great fitting jeans because they had horrible experiences in the past. My husband also chimed in about how he struggled finding jeans before he met me. 2. This Question Is Rarely Asked To Men. The person who asked me this question has a daughter who stays at home. She stopped working when she got married. I think a lot of times people rely too much on stereotypes between men and women. If you’re going to ask this question to a woman, please ask it to a man next time and gauge his reaction. That is how a working, career-driven woman feels when you ask her the same question. 3. Marriage for a female does not equate to a desire to stay home, clean and birth children. My only version of staying at home is if I’m working from home for the day. Do I want a family? Absolutely. Do I want a clean home? Sure, but my home life won’t stay intact without both my husband and I putting in the work together. Career-driven women want it all. We want a family, but we also want to work. We like to be challenged and continue learning and growing in the workplace as much as our significant others. 4. Who should stay at home? Do I want my husband to stay at home? No. Does he want me to stay at home? No. Before even considering marriage, we both discussed this in detail. For us, the best choice was that neither of us stay at home. Yet, many of my co-workers from my consulting days have husbands who are the stay-at-home dads. Their careers were not taking off as much as their wives, so they take care of the household tasks. Regardless of whether both spouses work or one stays at home, it’s a personal discussion between a husband and wife, and it definitely isn’t your call as an outsider. 5. Should you even ask someone that question? I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with a spouse staying at home. For some families, it’s actually cheaper for one of them to stay at home instead of putting their children in childcare. However, I do not believe a woman should be the one asked this question just because she is a woman. If you don’t know a couple’s current occupations, then it’s safer to just keep your mouth shut and ask them how their honeymoon was. Let them volunteer the information if they want to share it.
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