Angelique Rewers and Phil Dyer needed to meet each other to finally understand that. But once they did, they built a thriving international business.
They did it by appreciating that a person’s Kolbe Strengths are a blueprint to their greatest abilities and will pay off exponentially in a person’s professional and personal relationships.
Phil, now Executive VP of Boldhaus, met Angelique, now Boldhaus CEO, in 2009 in a Mastermind group for small business owners.
The two hit it off, and Phil invited Angelique to his office for a working strategy session, with one requirement.
“He said, before we can strategize together, I’m going to need you to take a Kolbe assessment so I understand your instincts and how you’re going to go about this.” Angelique shared on the Powered by Instinct podcast.
Angelique took the Kolbe A™ Index and cried when she saw her result. She had always been told the way she did things (her messy desk, her multitasking, etc.) needed fixing. In reality, these were just how she solves problems, and her needs to question systems and to generate bold ideas were actually her “superpowers”.
Angelique Rewers
Angelique and Phil have built a powerful working relationship based on a mutual appreciation of each other, as well as each other’s strengths.
“I’m so thankful to Phil for introducing me to Kolbe back in 2009. We’ve grown this team to just under 20 team members. In addition to the thousands and thousands of folks who’ve attended our events, done our trainings, used our programs and products, we’ve done business in 72 countries around the world. We’ve worked with over 10,000 small business owners. And honestly, Kolbe touches every single piece of that.”
“It really gives you the permission to operate,” adds Phil, “to understand how you work best and then to operate that way.”
Adds Angelique, “We use the insights provided by the Kolbe assessments to create what we call ‘marital bliss’. It’s just so amazing because it’s really hard to picture any facet of the business if Kolbe wasn’t a part of it.”
They use the term “marital bliss” jokingly in this context, but Kolbe has been important in their marriages as well.
Angelique’s husband, Mike, is also the Boldhaus CFO, and an understanding of each other’s strengths has been key to navigating both their personal and professional relationship. Angelique knows not to use Mike as a brainstorming partner, but instead takes ideas to him once she has sat on them a bit. Mike is able to provide a natural stabilizing presence that greatly benefits the company.
Phil and his wife have very different MOs, and acknowledging those differences has been great for their communication.
“Having that seven page blueprint (from a Kolbe Comparisons: A to A™) on how to operate effectively together, whether you’re in business or in life, is super-duper helpful,” explains Phil. “Since I’m the Kolbe Certified™ Consultant, I take it on myself to manage that, but the nice thing is just a few little tweaks can make massive differences in removing conflict and potential from conflict from all types of relationships. Whether it’s boss to employee, team member to team member, spouse to spouse, or spouse to adult children.”
“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been in a private strategy day with a client and their significant other, and when we talk about the Kolbe, they just start to look at each other with this like, oh my gosh, that makes so much sense now, expression,” adds Angelique.
In fact, they’ve literally had people who’ve said a few weeks after Boldhaus worked with them, “I think you saved our marriage because we were going at each other and wanting to change the other person and make them wrong.”
“I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about Kolbe,” says Angelique, “is that you can really appreciate someone else’s perspective and you can appreciate their strengths. And when we do that, we have much more rewarding relationships.”
