Central Oregon couples share their love stories, the challenges they’ve overcome and some secrets to their successes — both in professional and romantic partnership. How a husband-and-wife duo built a thriving fitness and play space while balancing business and family. The owners of Somewhere That’s Green share their love for the business, the community and one another. Through communication and recognizing each other’s strengths, the couple behind Legend Cider has learned to divide and conquer. The stylish couple behind ju-bee-lee and Jack + Millie reflect on their love for design, collaboration and building a business together.
For couple Seth and Rachel Augustine, love and business go hand in hand. As the co-owners of Free Spirit Yoga Ninja Play in Bend, they have created a dynamic space that offers a little of everything — from yoga classes to a ninja gym plus workshops and camps, all designed for kids and adults alike.
The couple founded Free Spirit six years ago with a shared vision: to provide a space where families could focus on health and wellness through movement. Today, Free Spirit offers yoga classes, ninja warrior training for kids and open play sessions for toddlers.
“We had the idea of having a place that focused on health and wellness through movement for the whole family,” Rachel says.
Seth and Rachel met 18 years ago, both with backgrounds in art, and have been collaborating on projects ever since. Before moving to Bend, they opened their first yoga studio in San Francisco, later creating a new endeavor with Free Spirit.
Running a business together as a married couple while balancing personal and professional lives is challenging, but the Augustines have learned to set boundaries and schedule regular meetings with each other. “As small business owners, there is that feeling that you never get to turn off when it comes to work. That part is challenging, especially with family life, because we’re open seven days a week almost every day of the year,” Rachel explains.
Their business partnerships have flourished over the years as they bounce ideas off each other and utilize their unique skills. Rachel admires Seth’s organizational skills and his coaching abilities with kids. “Seth is super present with the kids he coaches. He has this amazing balance of being in charge, while keeping things fun and upbeat. He makes kids laugh, have a great time and feel more confident,” Rachel says.
Seth, in turn, appreciates Rachel’s deep connection with clients and her ability to build lasting relationships within the Free Spirit community. Over the past six years, they have welcomed families through every stage of life — from prenatal yoga to toddler play and beyond.
Free Spirit Yoga Ninja Play
320 SW Powerhouse Dr., Ste. 150, Bend
freespirityoganinjaplay.com
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The Romance Behind the Plants
The beloved plant shop Somewhere That’s Green (and its adjoining theater, The Greenhouse Cabaret) is a local gem and the successful product of co-owners and romantic partners John Kish and Matt Marson. After eight years together, the two have found a way to balance their work life and love life while maintaining a passion for their shop.
Kish started the business in 2018 when he and his partner, Marson, were living in Portland. The two had left Bend due to the high cost of living. Wanting to move back, Kish knew they needed a more stable financial plan. He’d always had the idea of a plant shop and decided it was finally time to take the leap.
Originally, Kish says, it was a plant store, coffee and tea shop and theater. Once the business was on its feet, Marson joined as co-owner in 2020, financially supporting it in their first two years of growing the business.
Bend is a special place for Kish and Marson, who are proud of their success in the community. Having had their first date at Spork and first kiss at Dogwood, the two are thrilled the business is now 100% providing for them to live in the community they love.
“I honestly don’t know if I could have started the business without having him be my rock or catch net should I have needed it,” Kish says. “Having him work with me, while it does have its downsides in the romance department, it has been so rewarding working and trusting each other and learning to communicate within the relationship.”
When it comes to running the business, the two are both very involved, according to Kish, but their day-to-day responsibilities largely differ.
“Matt is great at marketing analytics, payroll, contracts, paperwork, taxes, financial reports, etc. I’m the visionary and manicure the shop, meet makers, create events, communicate with vendors, teach plant knowledge, direct shows, etc.,” Kish tells the Source Weekly. “Our opposites are something to be celebrated honestly! It’s been a dream scenario.”
When asked about how the two balance their love life and work, Kish admits that while it was hard at first, the two are finally getting the hang of it after six years.
“Matt is way better at it than I, and for years, he tells me I need to rest. I’m finally understanding burnout and that I can’t be everything for everyone,” Kish says. “We also have the most solid crew working, and it truly helps us step away and have a few days to rest every week. Also, having our Berner, Hygge (Hoo-guh), is great for snuggles and endless love cuddles to heal any work trauma.”
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A Legendary Partnership
In the early twenty-tens, Tyler Baumann was going to school at Southern Oregon University in Ashland where his future wife, Adrianne, was from. The pair moved to Bend a couple of years later and decided to start a business together, a food cart — “which was the third food cart in Bend, so it was a long time ago,” she laughs. The Hawaiian barbecue cart was called Mauna Kea Grill and was first located at The Lot (touted as Bend’s “original food cart pod,” according to its website) before moving to Crux.
“[We] started out as just good friends,” Adrianne recalls, “and after a while, just realized that we were each other’s soulmate, and have been best buds and together ever since.” So, it’s all been happily ever after since, right?
The food cart experience “was really the true test of our resilience as a couple and business owners,” Adrianne tells. The cart was small (“about 10 feet by 20 feet”) and “we ran it with his brother as well, and we all lived together. So that was our first huge relationship challenge — all living together and working together in the food cart on a daily basis in such small quarters. Somehow, we managed to get through it.”
“There were highs and lows,” she says, as well as “frustrations and growing pains as we figured out our respective roles and how to communicate with each other.” In the end, the business wasn’t a turnoff, though. It was a catalyst to go bigger and better.
“Fast forward to 2016, we opened Legend Cider Company,” Adrianne says. “Through our experience working at the food cart, we realized that the way that we manage a business with success, without conflict, is we basically just divided roles.” They now understood each other’s strengths and let that person run with those tasks. “We really are careful to communicate with each other and get opinions,” she says. “We have different ways of dealing with problems or opportunities, and so that helps us a lot. Basically, [a] divide and conquer technique,” she sums up.
With two locations — in La Pine and Talent — and numerous employees, there’s no shortage of tasks. Adrianne handles front of house duties like sales, taproom management and marketing, while Tyler runs the back of house, working closely with the production team and creating recipes. “He is the one that creates the concepts, and then I take them to market,” she says.
There’s no question that there are times when their relationship takes a backseat to the business. Right now, Adrianne says, “we’re in a period where I have to make some sacrifices on the family and relationship side, to really focus on the work side and get it where it needs to be for the family.”
During these times, Tyler’s picked up the slack on the household side, whether that’s caring for their 5-year-old daughter or just reassuring Adrianne that she’s spending her energies where she should be.
“He’s really stepped up to the plate in all those ways, which just makes it so much easier for me to focus on work and not feel like I’m letting my family down,” she says. “It really takes that partnership and understanding that there’s times when work requires his focus and his skill set… and then there’s times that I need to focus. Through all of our years of working together, we really have realized that that’s not something to make someone feel bad about; it’s something to support that they’re going out and spending time and energy and focus on the business.
“Once a couple realizes that everything that they do is for the other person and for the family and for the business as a whole, it just becomes so much easier to support that and not fight it,” Adrianne says. “Once you have that genuine support from your partner to focus on work, to do what needs to be done, it just makes everything go so much smoother, and it’s so much more enjoyable, too.”
They still prioritize time for each other outside of work, and for family time. The Baumanns have also had the luxury of creating a La Pine taproom that’s a family-friendly space where they’d want to spend their time outside of work. Featuring an indoor play area, “We basically built the bar that we wanted to be able to go to with our little one,” she says, a place for family time that’s “super fun for everybody.”
Not all couples could run a business together, but Adrianne says “we’re super lucky because… we genuinely are one of those couples” who “love to be together 24/7. He’s my best friend, and he is who I want to be with the most for any given activity or time. We really prioritize each other in a genuine way, which makes everything so much easier.”
Legend Cider Company
16481 Bluewood Pl., La Pine
legendcider.com
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A Creative Duo
In the heart of downtown Bend, two thoughtfully curated stores — ju-bee-lee and Jack + Millie — reflect the creativity and vision of husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Abraham and Kirsten Gilreath. Their journey as business owners has been one of passion, perseverance and plenty of fun along the way.
ju-bee-lee, a boutique filled with unique and whimsical finds, was Kirsten’s dream project, launched 14 years ago to bring her creative vision to life. Five years ago, the couple saw an opportunity to expand their ideas, leading to the opening of Jack + Millie, a stylish men’s and women’s clothing store. “Our stores Jack + Millie and ju-bee-lee each have distinct emotions and creative visions behind them,” Abraham says. “A lot of that comes from Kirsten’s eye for merchandising, interior decorating and design.”
Married for 33 years, the duo has been building businesses together since their 20s, first with a snowboard apparel company in California called Mission Six before planting roots in Bend. While Kirsten leads the creative direction and product duration, Abraham brings the ideas to life — quite literally — by building displays and fixtures for the shops. “We both get so excited to go on a trip to go find new merchandise [and] check out stores, and that’s something we share that has been a great foundation for the businesses,” Kirsten says.
Like any business owners, they’ve had their share of challenges, from store closures, economic downturns and even a fire at the Jack + Millie’s location in the past. “It’s incredibly difficult for any small business owner and entrepreneur to find a good work-life balance,” Abraham admits.
“But we’ve navigated when to put on our ‘work hats’ when needed and take them off when it’s time to just be together,” Kirsten adds.
For couples considering going into business together, Abraham offers simple advice: “Give it a shot and see how it works. And if it doesn’t, that’s not necessarily a reflection on your relationship.”
For this pair, the best part of running businesses as a team is sharing in the creative process. “We’re lucky — we get to wake up every day, collaborate on our visions and get excited about future projects,” Kirsten says. “For us, it’s been an adventure filled with challenges, creativity and shared success.”
ju-bee-lee
903 NW Wall St., Bend
instagram.com/jubeeleebend
Jack + Millie
929 NW Wall St., Bend
jackandmillie.com
This article appears in The Source Weekly February 6, 2025.
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