Today we’d like to introduce you to Shirley and Shannon Austin.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We met in 1995 at a small private college in Huntsville, Alabama. When we first met, we both knew we could never be more than friends, so we thought! We had mutual friends and the more we hung out playing spades and having Saturday night get togethers and potlucks the more we started looking at each other a little differently. Throughout our dating journey, people were drawn to us and would share their relationship woes with us. Once we were married in 1997, we were apart of a marriage club with my brother Eric Thomas ‘ETTheHipHopPreacher’ who started it.
We would give each other what we called “Lemon Squeezes” which was sharing with each other how we could be a better spouse, showing each other our weak spots and holding one another accountable. This was something both Shannon and I were very passionate about. We went on to create a YouTube channel before the internet was the internet. We started gaining traction and then became discouraged because we knew we still had challenges in our marriage and so we shut everything down but we never stopped helping couples with understanding why they were having the challenges they were experiencing.
Fast forward in 2018, we had a dessert company and moved to Atlanta to expand. While here trying to get our feet wet in the food scene God kept calling us to go full time with the marriage ministry we started over ten years ago. We kept seeing the signs and knew that God had other plans for us, so in 2019 we officially went full time in Marriage Inc.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been as far from a smooth road as you could imagine. Shannon and I both came into our relationship with baggage that we didn’t realize we had and when we did, we didn’t know how to unpack it. Yes, we went to counseling but even in counseling, we just couldn’t seem to make the connection we were looking for. We have dealt with infidelity on both our parts. One day Shannon packed his things and left me and our two boys for another woman, he came back but by this time so much hurt had been done that I no longer wanted the marriage, when he touched me I told him it felt like rape, we hurt each other over and over again. One time Shannon was sitting on the bed and I woke up and saw him, just sitting, slowly rocking, it was around 3am, I asked him “Honey, what’s wrong, are you ok” he slowly turned his head to the side and said “I’m sitting here thinking about how I can kill you”. A smooth road NEVER that.
We have had our challenges in every aspect of life, we’ve been evicted and moved from one house to the next one apartment to the next, we’ve experienced walking outside a couple of times and our car is gone because it’s been repossessed, we experienced surviving off of food stamps, and sometimes Shannon would not and I’d barely eat so we could preserve food for our sons. We have spent years on the struggle bus. Then we were hit with health challenges. Shannons first diagnosis of a heart condition was in 2006, he had his first surgery. Then in 2016, he was diagnosed with Lung cancer and had to get part of his lung taken out. Not even two years later, while he was on tour he had fallen ill and found out his heart was working at 10-15%, he was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. We’ve dealt with deep depression, not wanting to walk this earth anymore, we have had our share of hardships BUT God! It is ONLY by the mercy and grace of God that we are standing together, healed, loving, and sharing our lessons with others so they too can learn to grow, heal and love.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Marriage Inc. – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our company is Marriage Inc, we take a business approach to marriage enrichment. Because we know what it’s like to run a business, we realize that many of the same patterns and tools to make a successful business are the same tools for creating a successful marriage. This is one of the things which sets us apart. Another component which sets us apart is although we are educated, Shannon has spent years as a nurse which he started while in the military and I spent years as a licensed social worker and went on to obtain my Masters of ED. We also have certifications as a personality specialist and John Maxwell Life Coach certified but what makes us super successful and able to produce and be effective in this space is because of our journey, we are brutally honest, extremely transparent, and by the time we break down how each individual is wired and show you things about yourself and your spouse no one has ever told you, we are able to break down the walls and the rest of the work is up to the clients. We are relationship/life coaches and our desire is for each person we get the opportunity to work with to understand that their biggest issue is a lack of understanding, once we help to make them aware, their dynamics in their relationship can change and they can literally create the life they were birthed to create. We are most proud of our clients who get it, they do the work and they are experiencing something they didn’t think was possible. We are most proud of their stories because we shared with them our story and the tools we used to break free from the brokenness.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are in the planning stages of our second online marriage conference since Covid hit. We have business coaches who meet with us and have challenged us to step it up and let the world know about the anointing, gift and passion God has equipped us with. We are so fortunate to have people who are beneficiaries of our work and believe in us so much. So right now along with the conference, we are creating content for people to pull up and watch at any time as tools and lessons on all things relationships and how to have healthy interactions. We have a growing coaching community where we are coaching couples and providing group coaching as well. We work not only with personal relationships but we also work with corporate clients to help create a stronger relational culture with the tools of our D.I.S.C Assessment which is life-changing. Another venture we are excited about is our weekend intensives where we rent Airbnb’s, have a chef on site and create a complete experience for couples having fun, breakthroughs and growth to a better life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marriageinc.us
- Phone: 256-374-6051
- Email: info@marriageinc.us
- Instagram: @marriageinc
- Facebook: @marriageincorporated
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