Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/459961
February 2015 | Boating Industry | 17 [ All in the family ] www.BoatingIndustry.com a strong, healthy marriage and within thriving business partnerships. And when your business partner is your spouse, they are more important than ever. Bill Fulton founded BMC Boats in 1998, the same year he and Paula Fulton met. At the time, Paula was working at Sea World but she began working at BMC Boats just before the couple was married in 2000. Similarly, Sherry and Larry Tague of Lake Viking Marine purchased their marina in May 1988 and were married in July of the same year. Larry was already working in the marine indus- try at the time and Sherry was working on a gas dock. Sherry is the CFO and Larry is the presi- dent, having recently transitioned ownership to his son, Randy. It's important to set boundaries for when to talk about the business at home, but a huge ben- efit of working together is understanding what is happening in each other's jobs and being able to bounce ideas off one another. "That's how we work through problems," said Paula. "We're able to talk about it. It helps both of us to figure out what the solutions might be." The Fultons also actively maintain expec- tations on where everyone stands within the company. In the case of BMC Boats, Bill is the original owner and he ultimately has the final say on any business decisions. The Fultons be- lieve someone has to take charge – husband or wife, depending on the circumstances of that individual business. "If you both try to [take charge], you'll butt heads all day long and you'll never make the business work," Paula said. "I'd hate to see a couple get together and both of them have headstrong ideas and they could never compro- mise with the other. Because if they don't, they'll never make it." Ultimately, spouses should be able to trust each other in their areas of the business and rely on each other to help make decisions de- spite any "pecking order." This mutual respect is paramount. The Fultons do try to "turn it off" as much as possible when they are home. They schedule a number of vacations throughout the year, usually in the spring and in the fall around their anniver- sary. These vacations are almost always cruises because their phones won't work and it allows them to truly step away. "We work all the time so we look forward to those times together," said Bill. "It's impor- tant that you have those quality times together where you're really just relaxing, and truly [the business mode] is turned off and you're enjoy- ing each other." Trusting your partner completely and com- municating any issues is advice you'd hear in a marriage-counseling course, but it is also integral when working with your spouse. "The first time you hold something in, the problems will begin," said Sherry. "And if you can't trust your partner in personal or in business, it won't last." Sherry believes there are definitely advan- tages to those relationships blending. She never has to worry about trusting her manager because two couple supports one another constantly. "We decided when we made this choice that we were going to be there for each other in both personal and business, and there wasn't going to be any fighting. ... We were going to come across to the customer and the employees as a united front," said Sherry. Paula's strengths are with marketing and At BMC Boats, employees often treat husband and wife Bill and Paula Fulton as the dealership's "mom and dad." Front row: Larry Tague, Sherry Tague, Randy Tague (Larry and Sherry's son) Back row: Robert Heldenbrand (Larry and Sherry's son-in-law), Haleigh Heldenbrand (Larry and Sherry's daughter) Meagan Threlkeld and Luke Threlkeld (Larry and Sherry's granddaughter and grand-son-in-law)