THE SAME PRINCIPLES THAT HOLD A MARRIAGE TOGETHER ALSO BUILD STRONG BRANDS
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
HERE’S THE THING
We’ve been together 31 years… since I was 18 and Marc was 20.
We grew up together, built senior creative careers in parallel, and eventually started
Schparkly, our branding, design, and creative strategy studio in London.
And somewhere along the way, we realised something simple:
We don’t switch behaviours when we go from home to work.
We just… are who we are.
Same tools. Different context. Slightly more deadlines.
And it works more often than you’d think.
WE TALK. A LOT. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE LISTEN.
Not in a “communication is key” kind of way.
More in a “we deal with things early before they grow teeth” kind of way.
If something feels off, we say it. Calmly. Early. Without drama.
Because small things don’t stay small.
They just wait.
And waiting is where problems get complicated.
So we don’t wait.
We listen properly… not just to respond, but to understand what’s actually going on underneath.
Sometimes that means better questions. Sometimes it means slowing things down enough to see the real issue.
We do exactly the same thing with clients.
At Schparkly, a branding agency in London, we spend a lot of time at the beginning of every project understanding:
the business
the audience
the goals
what’s assumed vs what’s actually happening
Because the first version of a problem is rarely the real one.
And once you understand it properly, strategy becomes a lot clearer.
THE QUALITY OF THE RELATIONSHIP SHAPES THE QUALITY OF THE WORK
This is the pattern we’ve seen everywhere.
In marriage. In client work. In creative collaboration.
When there’s trust, everything moves faster.
When there’s clarity, decisions get easier.
When people feel heard, the work gets better.
When those things aren’t there, everything slows down.
That’s why we care so much about how we work with clients… not just what we create.
WE CHOOSE KINDNESS
Kindness isn’t a “mode” we switch on.
It’s just how we operate.
That doesn’t mean avoiding honesty.
It means we don’t confuse honesty with sharpness.
We can challenge ideas without making things heavier than they need to be.
And when things do go wrong, which they do, we fix it quickly.
No lingering tension. No slow burn.
Just reset and move forward.
Usually with a laugh about how unnecessary the whole thing was in the first place.
NO EGO ABOUT WHO LEADS WHAT
After 31 years together, ego stops being useful pretty quickly.
If one of us is better placed to lead something, they lead it.
Design, strategy, client conversations, and detail shifts depending on who’s closest to it or strongest in it.
No hierarchy. No performance. No territory.
Just trust.
And that same approach shapes how we work with clients too.
The best ideas win, not the loudest voice.
WE GIVE A DAMN (PROPERLY)
We care deeply about the work.
About our clients.
About getting things right.
So yes, we push. We challenge. We ask better questions when something doesn’t feel strong enough yet.
But it’s never about winning.
It’s about improving.
And when tension shows up... usually just tiredness in disguise... it passes quickly (after a nap).
Sometimes with a laugh.
Sometimes with a reset.
Occasionally with a very serious high-five.
Which is strictly reserved for us.
THE HIGH-FIVE RULE
We have a completely unnecessary but very important high-five that only exists between us.
It shows up for wins.
For survival moments.
For “that was chaos but we did it anyway.”
And sometimes for no reason at all.
It’s small.
But it quietly reinforces something important:
We’re on the same team.
WE’RE NOT ALWAYS IN PERFECT SYNC... AND THAT’S FINE
We don’t need instant agreement.
We’re not trying to mirror each other.
We’re trying to understand the shape of a decision well enough to move it forward.
Sometimes that takes conversation.
Sometimes space.
Sometimes just one of us saying:
“I think we’re both just tired, aren’t we?”
And that usually clears more than anything else.
WHAT THIS REALLY ADDS UP TO
We didn’t build a framework.
We built a life together.
And over time, we realised something consistent across everything we do:
Listen early. Communicate clearly. Don’t let small issues grow. Share leadership based on strength, not ego. Repair quickly. Stay kind under pressure.
Nothing dramatic.
Just things that hold.
WHY THIS MATTERS FOR SCHPARKLY
Schparkly is a branding, design, and creative strategy studio in London.
But more than that, it’s a way of working built on trust, communication, and long-term thinking.
Because after 31 years together, we’ve learned something we see reflected in every strong brand we build:
The quality of the relationship shapes the quality of the work.
And that’s true whether it’s marriage, partnership, or client collaboration.