Leaving a job she enjoyed to work with her husband in an industry with high failure rates, it’s fair to say Jill Willis was taking a big gamble in more ways than one.
But, as she explains, they’ve reached a compromise that keeps their working life varied and their working and married life delineated.
Jill, 31, opened her cafe business, called Taste, in 2006, having left her job in PR, while her husband, Richard, left his role as an advertising/media buyer to join her.
Adam Bannister: What made you leave your job in PR?
Jill Willis: We were both still really loving our jobs at the time, but they’re the kind of jobs where you ask yourself: “Do I really want to be doing this in my 40s and 50s?”
Obviously, when you run your own business you don't take maternity leave in the traditional sense of the word, but in the long run it offers more flexibility
It just felt like the time to change, because I didn’t want to be commuting into London when I had a family.
AB: That’s very brave, giving up your jobs when you still enjoyed them – most people quit their jobs when they’re sick of them. When’s the baby due, and at what point will you take a back seat for a bit?
JW: It’s due at the end of July.
Obviously, when you run your own business you don’t take maternity leave in the traditional sense of the word.
But in the long run it will offer more flexibility; when we have children at school, certainly.
From the beginning of July I’ll take a real back seat for three or four weeks and not be on my feet all day in the cafe.
From the beginning I’m going to need a day a week split across the week where I’m answering emails and the HR stuff that I do, keeping my toe in the water.
I’m just going to see how things pan out – it’s very untested territory.
AB: Could you have envisaged starting this business without your husband?
JW: We do tend to plan everything quite meticulously, whether it’s work or life.
We knew when we’d be getting married and I knew that soon after I’d want children.
So, for us, we knew we’d have a three or four year window to get it established and profitable before starting a family.
I certainly wouldn’t have gone into business without a partner.
I have a friend who used to run a cafe in Cardiff, which he started on his own.
Although he did really well, sold it as a going concern and made a good profit, it was so draining running it on his own – the staff problems, the food issues, everything happening six days a week.
It was too full on, whereas sharing that burden makes everything really achievable.
AB: But isn’t there more scope for conflict seeing each other in work and at home?
JW: Well we don’t actually work in the cafe together because it doesn’t need two managers.
We split our time equally between the shop and home, and it works really well insofar as we’re not always in each other’s pockets.
It’s really important – and we always say this at trade shows to other cafe owners – for married couples who work together to have set areas of responsibility, almost as if they’re in a multinational organisation.
I know that I’m responsible for marketing, HR, the kitchen and the menu; Richard is responsible for financial control and new business.
This way we don’t step on each other’s toes, and the responsibility to make decisions ensures we don’t start fighting among ourselves.
It’s especially important to your self-esteem if your previous jobs had lots of responsibility and autonomy.
