Chelsea Swain and her husband Will are the co-owners of Brimworthy, a branding and creative agency that helps co-found and build what they call “heart-ups”—in other words, startups with soul. They’re also one of VIDA’s newest members, and we know they’re going to be an amazing addition to our community.

Brimworthy grew out of the experience Chelsea and Will had several years ago when they built their first app. With backgrounds in the arts, design, and event planning, they were surprised to find the “hard tech” world was focused almost entirely on technical aspects and funding. Most resources they found neglected the brand development and strategy so essential for business growth. They started Brimworthy to help other entrepreneurs bring their big ideas to life and build humanity and connection into technology.

We sat down with Chelsea to learn more about how Brimworthy got started, what it’s like running a business with a spouse, and why resilience is so important for entrepreneurs.

What kinds of clients do you particularly like working with?

I love working with people who understand that figuring out who they are and why they want to be alive is vital to the success of any idea they have. Starting something big requires a lot of resilience and you need to be passionate to cultivate it. No one else can do that for you.

What’s it like running a business with your husband?

Honestly, it’s amazing. We were friends for many years before we dated and working on projects together is not only natural for us but I think keeps our relationship fresh and new all of the time. We take a lot of time to understand each other’s different perspectives on things (our lens of choice is the Enneagram!) and all of the tools we develop for our business help us in our family life too. I personally think every couple should try to run a business together, but I know a lot of people who disagree with me on that intensely (haha!).

Can you tell us about an inflection point in your career – a moment that maybe didn’t seem important at the time (or did!) that ended up changing the trajectory of your life?

When I was still working as an event planner, I was also freelancing for my uncle’s guitar poster company and helping him launch a Kickstarter to make more posters. A guy from Atlantic records messaged saying he would buy them all if he could have the posters on his phone and take notes with them. Basically, he wanted an app. I had no idea what went into making an app, zero clue, but I decided right then and there I’d figure it out. And now, here we are. Truly so many things contributed to this, but I still vividly remember that moment I knew I was going to try for something bigger and completely different than anything I’d ever done before.

If you could live a parallel life, what would you do with it?

Oh my gosh, I wish I could live 10 parallel lives, there is so much I want to do! I would love to be a therapist or a life coach for moms and families. I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum in both of my pregnancies. That ROCKED our world and it opened my eyes to a whole world of unsupported families and how mental health is not focused on for even typical pregnancies. It’s an area where people could be thriving when they are only surviving. I would love to be a part of changing that story.

If you could travel anywhere on Earth, where would you go? Why?

My favorite place in the entire world is Loch Ard Gorge on the coast of southern Australia. It’s just past the 12 Apostles and you have to take a staircase down to what feels like a bowl where if the ocean decided to it could swoop in and swallow you up. The colors are brilliant and you can sit there and watch the waves that are four times your size crash into the rocks. Then you can stay until the sun starts going down and the tide comes in and rushes up the stairs, “narrowly” escaping being taken out to sea. It’s not as dangerous as it sounds but it’s fun to pretend 🙂