About Lauren and Chris Dufey:
How old are you both?
26 years
How did you originally meet?
Through mutual high school friends, we were high school
sweethearts.
How long have you been together?
Couple for 8 years, married for 1 year
When did you become qualified as a PT?
Chris in 2005, Lauren in 2010, both studied with the Australian
Institute of Fitness
When did the business start?
2011
What are the biggest challenges of being in business with
your spouse?
Kirsty explains, ‘The biggest challenge is keeping the
business relationship separate from our marriage. Not very
often, but on the odd occasion, one of us won’t like the other
telling them how to do something. We’ve found if we stick to
our roles this doesn’t happen.’
She adds, ‘Also, training each other – this is a definite
no-go zone! Occasionally we will run together – we have
completed the Sydney and Gold Coast Half Marathons
together, and by that we mean we crossed the finish line
hand in hand (a bit soppy, yes, but it was fun!) – but mostly,
we do our own training separately.’
Keeping an active social life also helps; Kirsty and Andrew
make sure they have ‘date night’ once a week so they can
be Mr and Mrs Page, rather than business partners all the
time. ‘It might be dinner, movies, a night away… whatever,’
says Kirsty. ‘We also make sure we do other things with our
own friends. For example, Andrew plays cricket with the
boys and I have regular coffee/nails/shopping dates with
girlfriends’.
What’s one of your favourite memories from your business?
‘One of our happiest days ‘on-the-job’ was taking our two
pug dogs (Bonnie and Bennie) to walk with a client in the
4km Parkinsons Unity walk,’ explains Kirsty. ‘This particular
client had Parkinsons Disease and could barely walk up the
steps when he first met us. But on that day he, us and our
pugs all crossed the finish line together. It was really special.’
What are your plans for the future?
‘In terms of business, we hope to keep our studio operating
as it is and work on getting the 40 Day Fat Loss Challenge
and No.1 BOOTCAMP completely operational by the end of
the financial year. And, on a personal level, after many years
in the Army Andrew has secured a permanent contract
with the Department of Defence in our local area, so we
are currently looking at purchasing our first home. This will
have a positive impact on the business, as we will be forming
firm roots in our area and hope to work more with the
community’.
LAUREN AND CHRIS DUFEY
Chris and Lauren Dufey were high school sweethearts.
They’ve been partners in life for eight years (married for one)
and currently run Vivid Fitness, which is an 18-month old
Sharing the same
goals for the future
is key to making our
situation work for us,
and to our advantage.
We seem to balance
each other out.
business specialising in fat loss (www.vividfitness.com.au).
Lauren specialises in pre and post natal, while Chris has been
a specialist in fat loss and body transformation for seven
years.
What are the biggest challenges being in business with your
spouse?
‘In the beginning, it was talking business too much, but we
quickly stamped that out. Now, we separate business issues
from our personal life by having set times in the week to talk
business, and then the rest of the time is for non-work’.
What’s the best part about being business partners?
Lauren says, ‘Working together towards the same goals and
success and being able to work in close proximity in small
doses, is very rewarding. Also, understanding each other’s
schedule helps – waking up at 4.30am is easier when we’re
both doing it! And although we’re married and in business
together, we still have our own interests outside of the
business.’
What are your plans for the future?
‘On the business front, we are rapidly expanding, bringing
on more trainers and tapping into different gyms to
generate greater client results,’ explains Chris. ‘We have
also just brought on a general manager, which we are
super excited about. ‘And on a personal level,’ adds
Lauren, ‘We are expecting our first child in June, which has
made us realise that we need a strong team around us,
that we can grow and rely upon.’
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