By: Justine Barber, Poppy Barley Co-Founder
In 2012, I started Poppy Barley with my sister, Kendall. People are always so curious about running a business as sisters. Almost every journalist asks, “What’s it like working with your sister?” So, here’s what it’s really like to share a childhood and a professional space.
I was in Bali on vacation when I got the idea for the initial concept of Poppy Barley. I immediately reached out to the one person I wanted to make it happen with, my sister Kendall.
Growing up, Kendall and I were extremely close. We are only 18 months and one grade apart which gave us a collective childhood and high school experience. We shared the same friends and teachers, often played on the same sports teams, and over the years dated brothers and best friends :) As kids, we moved a lot (I lived in 6 places from birth to 18). We frequently had the experience of starting at a new school together and knowing only each other (this is the single biggest reason why I think it works for us to be entrepreneurs navigating uncertainty together).
At 17/18 we went our own directions for a while, living in different cities for university and our early professional lives. By our late twenties, we were both back in Edmonton and seeing each other multiple times per week, playing soccer and running together, and sharing friends and nights out.
When I first approached Kendall to work on my big crazy idea with me, she turned me down, but like a true sister, she offered to help me any way she could.
Thirteen years later, we are still building Poppy Barley together and overall it is going very well, though, like a decade-old marriage, we’ve had our ups and downs.
Here is the tea on working with my sister:
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We’ve had some big fights. Stress, like navigating the business through COVID-19, increases our conflict. Over the years we’ve gotten better at fighting and learned how we are different to help us understand each other’s perspective. Once we had to bring in a coach to repair our relationship.
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We now start multi-year company planning by sharing our 3-5 year goals for our personal lives. This helps us know what is driving the other person and ensures alignment with our business goals. This year, for me, it’s picking my kids up from school every day at 3:30 pm. I'm also hiring a tutor to teach me Spanish (for work and life), and joining a governance committee. I will continue to mentor other entrepreneurs through ThresholdImpact Venture Mentoring Service. And, I'm keen to improve my tennis game.
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Like most of our lives, Kendall and I are extremely close and have a ton of overlap in our lives, but we live in different neighbourhoods. I am glad we do because occasionally after a heavy day at the office, it is nice not to see Kendall again at school pick-up :)
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The foundation that makes it work is respect for each other and our belief in the other’s commitment and contribution to the business.
In the end, my instincts were right. I can’t imagine building this business with anyone better than my sister, Kendall.