All Work, All Play
Here's a new one: The family that plays together stays . . . in business.
When Jake is feeling under the weather and can't go to
preschool, his mom, Nicole Gulledge, brings him to work. But the
3-year-old isn't sleeping under a desk or waiting for Nicole to
get out of a meeting. Instead, Jake gets to hang out in a giant
playground, the showroom his parents opened last spring when they
brought the Woodplay franchise to Tampa, Florida.
With more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience
between them, Nicole, 37, now sells Woodplay redwood play sets to
families, day-care centers and housing developments, while husband
Jason, 34, handles the on-site installation. After nine months in
business, the couple is earning nearly $1 million in sales.
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"It's a great balance, because we're not
necessarily working together seven days a week in the same
space," Nicole explains. "Jason is in the field, in the
warehouse or meeting with developers, [and] I'm usually in the
store."
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In and out of the store, family comes first. The Gulledges start
business at 10 each morning so they can eat breakfast together
before taking Jake to school. Nicole takes Fridays off and Jason
has his Saturdays free, allowing each one-on-one time with their
son. Sundays are family day.
Jake's play set itself symbolizes the Gulledge family's
success in blending their personal and franchise lives. "It
has a picnic table underneath, and Jason and I had dinner by
candlelight on [it]," Nicole says. "It was just us adults
enjoying the play set in a totally different aspect."