In this first of eight episodes, guest couple Meg and Gary Hirshberg listen and respond to Danny Iny and Bhoomi Pathak’s conversation about what a couple should consider when deciding whether to work together. Meg and Gary also describe the very difficult early days of Stonyfield Farm, now the largest organic yogurt company in the world.

Welcome to For Better or For Work. What’s it like to be partners in business and in life? Mirasee owners Danny Iny and Bhoomi Pathak tackle the unique challenges as well as benefits of working with a spouse or significant other. Each episode features a guest couple who also share their experiences, perspectives and hard-earned wisdom.

“I would advise people to be really wary about the sensitivities that exist, those kinds of meta messages that go on between couples with expression, tone of voice, body language, all that kind of stuff that really gets dispensed with in the workplace, because you’re just trying to get something done.”

Meg Hirshberg

“The business is a member of the family.… The business has its own life, it has its own demands, it has its own call on your time and your consciousness. And you have to think of it that way.”

Gary Hirshberg

Meg Cadoux Hirshberg is founder of The Anticancer Lifestyle Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting evidence-based lifestyle transformation for cancer survivors. For 15 years Meg was a freelance non-fiction writer, whose work appeared in Yankee, New Hampshire magazine, and the Boston Globe magazine, among other publications. In 2009, she began writing a regular column for Inc. magazine called “Balancing Acts” that explored work-life balance and the intersection of family and business in an entrepreneurial setting.

Meg’s book, For Better or For Work: A Survival Guide For Entrepreneurs and Their Families, expands on her column topics. Axiom Business Book Awards, AMEX Open Forum, and entrepreneur magazine cited Meg’s book as one of the best business books of 2012. Meg has also written two yogurt cookbooks. She is married to Gary Hirshberg, chairman and co-founder of Stonyfield Yogurt. The couple has three children.

Gary Hirshberg is cofounder, chief organic optimist, and former longtime CEO of Stonyfield Organic, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer. He is also cofounder and chair of two organic advocacy and education NGOs and the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute, which supports mission-driven entrepreneurs. An active investor and philanthropist, Gary is involved in a number of projects, among them establishing an organic entrepreneurship center in Motueka, New Zealand. 

He has received 12 honorary doctorates and numerous awards for corporate and environmental leadership, including a 2015 Champion for Children Award from Mount Sinai Hospital’s Children’s Environmental Health Center and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:
Mirasee
Meg’s website
Meg’s book
Gary’s website

Credits:
Guest: Meg and Gary Hirshberg
Host: Danny Iny and Bhoomi Pathak
Producer: Cynthia Lamb
Executive producer: Danny Iny
Scripted and assembled by: Geoff Govertsen and Michi Lantz
Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
Audio Post Production: Post Office Sound
Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

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Music and SFX credits:
Track Title: A New Adventure
Artist Name(s): Reveille
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Track Title: Lift It Up and Feel Good
Artist Name(s): Rhythm Scott
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS