#TeamSimonsen : Relationship Profile

A few decades in of adult-ing, here's the revelation: Relationships are hard.

"My dad once said to me, life is not a fairy tale, love is not the way it is in the movies, love is hard, sometimes you make sacrifices for someone you love, and when they love you they also will make sacrifices for you. He was right, love and relationships take a team and require dedication and hard work, because it is not always smiles, gifts, performance accolades, awards won, perfect reviews, promotions, and big checks coming in, sometimes you work together to figure it out, and sometimes you support the one you love who is working on their own to figure it out. - Michelle

"In life, it's best if you have your heart broken [and I mean badly, where you feel physical pain from the sadness], you, unfortunately, break someone else's heart, because after you have been on both sides, you will know what love is when you find it. You'll know when you're ready to have someone on your team forever." - Walt

Add freelancing as a career into the mix, and sometimes it gets even harder.

scheduling. friendships. networking. working anywhere. working any time. stress. health & wellness. life. time on the road. balance.

money. communication. time. long term investments. exercise. big decision making. being a team. traveling. leading. working together.

There is no true normal, or bar you should ever compare you relationship to or against. We will say, having a functional, happy, content life as you determine it, so worth the time and effort you put into understanding your partner and the challenges that exist when you add a freelance career to the mix. Awareness of the challenges and ups and downs you may face or share may help your perspective and your overall happiness.

We get asked for relationship advice from time to time from friends in our industry (music) and outside of it. We are by no means perfect, and we've learned from a lot of mistake making. We've sought professional help when we thought we needed it. We support each other, and cheer each other on, we often think of our relationship as the ultimate life team, thus, #TeamSimonsen. The articles we'll share are just our musings on topics we've discussed over dinner with friends, or been asked for advice when our friends were on the edge of making huge decisions. This is a bunch of our two cent pennies put together curated into topics, a little "When Harry Met Sally" he said, she said, but also some revelations we've had in hindsight, or some awareness and experience we've gained along the way.