Contractor Evolution 266. How to Run a Contracting Business With Your Spouse (Without Killing Each Other) - Caleb Auman
Apr 1, 2026
Caleb Auman, landscape design-build owner and Kid Contractor Podcast host who rebuilt after bankruptcy, shares hard-won rules for working with a spouse. They discuss defining clear roles, rebuilding trust after failure, setting work-home boundaries, fighting productively, and using relationship habits to keep business and marriage healthy.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Turn Hard Lessons Into Service Businesses
- Their wider ventures (podcast, academies, marriage retreat) exist to save others from Caleb's hard lessons.
- They monetize by packaging those lessons into training and content to prevent others repeating costly mistakes.
Bankruptcy Bonded Their Partnership
- Caleb and Brittany went through bankruptcy together and rebuilt a new company with proper counsel.
- Caleb came out with $20 and used Dave Ramsey-style steps to structure finances, bonding them through extreme scarcity.
Divide Roles Before Growth Forces It
- Do define clear, divergent roles as the company grows so spouses stop stepping on toes.
- Caleb put Brittany in marketing/systems while he shifted toward operations and client relationships to reduce overlap.
