Hi, it's Fletcher Isacks, host of Out to Lunch. When you listen to a show like this you expect a person in my position to give you verifiable, factual information. But it turns out that statisticians are not collecting information about every subject I'm interested in.

I'm interested in the structure of businesses owned and operated by couples. That is, people who got married because they fell in love with each other, and decided afterward that they were going to run a business together. So, absent any factual information, we're just going to have to go with my anecdotal, impressionistic perception.

Some businesses are founded by couples who are equals – I’m thinking of recent guests who started a retail store together, and another couple who launched a swimsuit company. There’s another type of couples’ business, and that’s one that’s centered on the skills of one half of the couple. For example, one of the partners is a doctor or a plumber, and the other partner handles administration and book-keeping.

Now, this could be a result of my own poor memory and cultural bias, or it could be factual and the result of our patriarchal society, but it seems to me that in most of these types of businesses, the principal partner is the husband.

It seems much less frequent the other way around, where the wife is the practicing professional. Which is why I want to introduce you to Wendy Mignot and Lauren Pingree.

Lauren is Co-Owner of the Hidden Lantern Bookstore in Rosemary Beach.

This is how she’s described her current business arrangement: “This gentleman walked into the bookstore and asked me out. Two years later, we got married. And now we run the bookstore together.”

Wendy Mignot’s business, Mignot & Co, in Grayton Beach, is focused on Wendy’s creations of pearl and leather jewelry, and her business is supported by her husband, Jean-Noel, and their two kids.

Entrepreneur of the Week

My Entreprebeur of the Week this week is another woman in local business, Lauren Newton. Lauren's business is everyone else’s business. Lauren is the founder of the Found Marketing Firm in Panama City. If you live on the Emerald Coast, you might not know it but you’ve probably seen or heard her work.

The national Chamber of Commerce estimates that right around 40% of small businesses in the US are owned by women. In Florida, that number is higher. Here, around 46% of businesses are owned by women. And here on Out to Lunch today, that number is 100%.

Talking with Wendy Mignot, Lauren Pingree, and Lauren Newton, is statistically and personally a rare treat.

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Farm & Fire restaurant on Highway 331. Farm & Fire is one of Chef Jim Shirley’s family of fine restaurants. It’s open from 4pm, 6 days a week, and from 11am for brunch on Sundays.

You can find photos from this show by Brandan Babineaux at outtolunchemeraldcoast.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.