117. Marriage, Money & Business: The Real Talk After 11 Years Together with My Husband, Mike Watts
Plenty with Kate Northrup
Kate Northrup
4.8 • 697 Ratings
🗓️ 15 July 2025
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What does it really take to stay connected in love, life, and business—especially when you’re doing all three with the same person?
In this deeply personal and heart-opening episode of the Plenty Podcast, I’m joined by my favorite guest (and life partner), Mike Watts, as we celebrate 11 years of marriage and 14 years of building a life and business together.
We get into the real talk—what we’ve learned (and unlearned) about marriage, money, parenting, business, and our own healing journeys. From making the big decision to move to Nashville, to shifting from survival mode into what I’m calling the era of easy blessings, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re evolving as individuals, as partners, and as co-founders.
Here’s what we dive into:
- Why filling your own cup is essential before pouring into your partnership
- The systems we’ve put in place to support—not strain—our relationship while running a business together
- Mike’s health and healing journey, including his decision to have surgery to remove a titanium plate and what that taught us about listening to your body
- What it really takes to co-parent while building a company (hint: it’s not about doing it all)
- Insights Mike gained from leading men’s circles in our Relaxed Money community—and why men need spaces to be seen and supported too
- How we’re redefining our relationship with success, rest, and what's enough
We also talk about the importance of clear communication (especially around finances), how modern fatherhood is evolving, and why it’s critical to create a nurturing environment for both our children and ourselves.
This episode is packed with honesty, laughter, practical wisdom, and love. Whether you’re navigating a new season in your partnership, craving more ease in your business, or simply seeking a deeper connection to your own truth—this conversation is for you.
🎧 Tune in for a refreshing dose of realness and a reminder that abundance isn’t just about what you have—it’s about how you live and love.
“I have to get my own cup filled outside of you, and I need to learn to bring a full cup to you.” - Mike Watts
🎤 Let’s Dive into the Good Stuff on Plenty 🎤
00:26 Introduction to Support and Marriage
02:43 Family Dynamics and Celebrating Anniversaries
04:42 Health Challenges and Personal Growth
06:43 Midlife Reflections and Future Planning
09:42 Managing Pressure and Seeking Support
13:46 Coping with Change and New Beginnings
16:59 Reflections on the Past Year
19:25 Family Values and Living Arrangements
22:30 Business Challenges and Growth
25:04 Marriage Reflections and Growth
28:44 Self-Advocacy in Health
33:10 Finding Balance in Life
37:28 Reflections on Resentment
39:45 Men's Perspectives on Money
43:00 Hiding and Blame in Relationships
47:40 Comparisons and Self-Worth
51:59 Openness and Communication
55:49 Navigating Business Relationships
1:00:17 Future Desires and Aspirations
Links and Resources:
Sacred Sons
Rosebud
Function
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, we both need to get our own support and we can't rely on each other to fill each other up |
| 0:06.1 | sometimes. |
| 0:06.9 | Like, I have to get my own cup filled outside of you and I need to learn to bring a full |
| 0:12.2 | cup to you. |
| 0:13.7 | That by far has always been something that's, I think it's been learned more in this last |
| 0:19.0 | year than before. Hello. I have my most popular and most frequent |
| 0:26.2 | guest back for you. His name is Mike Watts. He is my business partner and he's my husband. |
| 0:32.1 | And today we are, well not exactly today, but like roundabout right now now we're celebrating 11 years of marriage and so |
| 0:40.3 | I wanted to have him on and just like check in find out biggest lessons from the last year of marriage |
| 0:48.0 | um his best tips for working together with your spouse. |
| 0:55.6 | What else did we talk about? We talked about healing and how to stop going from a one or a 10 |
| 1:02.6 | in terms of like commitment to things or like our engagement with things. |
| 1:07.2 | You know, so many of us and I am absolutely can be this way where it's like, |
| 1:16.3 | we're either a zero or we're 100. And then if we're not, if we can't be 100, we just go back to zero because it's like all or nothing. So we talked about that. And, oh, we talked about |
| 1:23.5 | transitions. Thank you. He's just right off camera doing me. We talked about transitions and how |
| 1:29.5 | we made our decision as a family to move to Nashville and what we're looking forward to in this |
| 1:34.9 | chapter at the time of the release of this episode. We already live there. So it's kind of fun. |
| 1:40.1 | It's like a time machine of us talking about it. And I hope you enjoy the episode. |
| 1:45.1 | It's definitely like a peek behind the scenes at how things work over here in our life and in our business. |
| 1:51.1 | Enjoy. |
| 1:53.1 | Welcome to Plenty. |
| 1:54.6 | I'm your host, Kate Northrop, and together we are going on a journey to help you have an incredible relationship with money, |
... |
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