They say working with your wife is crazy. That business and marriage don’t mix. That at some point, the office spills into the dining room and the dining room spills into the office, and that’s the end of that.
Maybe they’re right. Maybe it is crazy. But I’ve been living that craziness with Irka for years, and I can only say one thing: it’s been one of the most beautiful things that’s ever happened to me.
A Kind of Crazy That Works
We work together all day. Sometimes in silence, each doing our own thing, and that silence doesn’t feel heavy: it keeps us company. Sometimes we talk nonstop, about a campaign, a client, what we need to figure out tomorrow. Sometimes we’re both on calls, each with an earbud in, exchanging looks that say more than any meeting could. And plenty of times, there are kids laughing or crying in the middle of it all, because life doesn’t stop while you work, especially when you have three kids.
It’s hard to explain. It really is indescribable. It’s not just working together: it’s building together, growing the agency and our family at the same time, without either taking anything away from the other.
Irka
My wife’s name is Irka Pardilla. She joined Alterno in 2019 as an account executive, and she hasn’t stopped growing since. Today, she oversees and manages the agency’s main accounts, and she does it with a dedication and warmth that clients notice from the very first meeting.
I see her every day. I see her negotiate, organize, figure things out. I see her put out a fire on a call and, a minute later, tend to one of the kids without missing a beat. And I think: how lucky am I to get to see her up close, work by her side, and learn from her in the very same place where we build everything else.
What Nobody Tells You
What nobody tells you about working with your partner is that, when it works, it makes everything bigger. The wins are twice as sweet because they belong to both of you. The setbacks hurt, sure, but the weight rests on four shoulders instead of two. And at the end of the day, we don’t have to tell each other how it went: we already know, because we were there, together.
So yes: maybe it is crazy. But it’s our kind of crazy. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
