Conquering Couples: A Look at Austin Business Owners

Words by Shaina Jaramillo, she/her,

Images by Joy Zhou, she/her, @jobby_joy

The Austin area is a bustling business scene, with new companies popping up every day. While some are owned and operated by families, other local businesses are also run by couples. Many of these couples say that their businesses grew from a shared interest that drove their success as well as their relationships.

One famous story that many Austinites may be familiar with is Tiffany Taylor and Leon Chen’s Tiff’s Treats. The notable pair turned Taylor’s batch of ‘apology’ cookies for missing a date into a well-known dessert business that has now taken Austin, and many other cities around Texas, by storm. 

Tiff’s Treats is not alone in its unique founding, there are many other businesses around the Austin area that share a similar story.

Evan and Jackie Streusand: Highway Robery

photo by Zachary Hunt

During a road trip to West Texas, Evan and Jackie Streusand were given bright, comfortable and decadent robes at a place they were staying. The two were taken with them, but soon found that they were out of their price range and had to complete their trip home empty-handed.  

The memory of the robes stuck with them, however, and inspired them to design and create robes of their own. The two realized that their product was something others might also want to purchase, and decided to turn it into a business that they now run together.

“Our ideas feed off each other well,” Evan says. “So, doing it together made sense.” 

The two felt it was best to dive in headfirst and believed that if their plan fell flat it would just be something they could look back on and laugh about.

The couple’s retail business, Highway Robery, specializes in comfortable and vibrant robes with a variety of patterns to choose from. Living by the tagline, “May your days be cozy and carefree,” the couple wants their customers to “feel good” while also being fashionable.

With Evan’s previous experience of operating a business and Jackie’s design background, they assumed their roles in the business with little difficulty. Jackie took charge of design while Evan ran operations and logistics.

“We have always had just a very good partnership. Our relationship has always felt easy, I guess,” Jackie Streussand says. “I think adding a business to it, because we just work really well together, hasn't been super stressful.”

They explained that by working together, they were bound to grow closer. The company allowed them a space in their lives that they could share. 

“It also adds another thing in common,” Jackie says. “Starting this [business] earlier on in our relationship is just one additional thing that we now have in common and can talk about together.”

Hans Schrei and Luis Gramajo: Wunderkeks

photo by Joy Zhou

During a month-long vacation, Hans Schrei, inspired by a childhood tradition of baking with family on Christmas, decided to bake a different variety of cookies almost every day. The cookies garnered positive reviews and friends and family encouraged him to open up a business of his own. 

Schrei took their advice and opened Wunderkeks, a Guatemala-based bakery that was quickly met with large success and rapid growth. However, this unanticipated development soon left Schrei struggling to manage personnel and sales matters, prompting him to enlist the help of his significant other, Luis Gramajo. 

“I’m the numbers and processing guy and Luis is the people person,” Schrei says.

Gramajo had a well-established photography business and initially only assisted Schrei with little tasks, gradually becoming more and more involved until he eventually became his official business partner when the two moved to Austin in 2019. Gramajo’s sociable personality combined with Schrei’s logistic sense and management skills proved to be a harmonious foundation for Wunderkeks.

“It was kind of an easy decision I would say, because his skills are way different than my skills,” Gramajo says. “So, that’s really helpful when [you have] a business with your significant other.”

Working together has given the couple more faith in one another. “It forces you to trust your other half with your eyes closed,” Gramajo says.

Nevertheless, the two have had their challenges, especially when adapting to a new country and community. They also faced difficulties making fast decisions and keeping up with their booming business, which has now gone nationaland sells roughly 75,000 cookies per week.

The pair made an agreement to separate who is in charge of certain decisions in order to move on and deal with the next task at hand as well as avoid unnecessary conflict. 

“That was the key,” Gramajo says. “We’re gonna take risks and we’re gonna have some weight on our shoulders, but the important thing is don’t forget that we’re together. [In] the end we’re a couple and this is our marriage.”

The two also made it their goal to have at least one date night per week, and emphasized the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between work and their relationship.

 “It is something that needs to be a conscious effort,” Schrie says. “It’s something that is very easy to not prioritize.”

Stephanie and Steve Williams: Bennu Coffee

photo by Joy Zhou

Steve Williams met his wife Stephanie while working at a coffee shop. Stephanie recalls  commenting on the shop’s MySpace page and later realizing that the person responding to her was in fact Steve, the guy that worked behind the counter. 

Their initial encounter, shared music taste and banter over MySpace led to the start of their relationship, and eventually to opening up their own coffee shop, Bennu Coffee.

The name Bennu comes from the Egyptian bird of rebirth and resurrection. The meaning has a lot of symbolism for the pair, as it refers to not only the start of their own coffee shop, but also the start of their lives together. 

“For us it was this kind of beginning of something for he and I,” Stephanie says. “But also coffee is a rebirth for everyone every morning.”

Their business has grown over the years from just one shop to three, and the two have faced ups and downs along the way.

Bennu was born in the middle of the 2008 recession. The couple found themselves trying to scrape together funding and doing almost everything on their own, with some help from family and friends. 

Despite the shop’s rocky beginning, the two say that they would not take back the experience, as it allowed them to learn and grow. 

“We work really well together,” Stephanie says. “So when we’re doing something together I feel like we can handle anything that comes our way.”

Steve mainly handles day to day operations and catering, while Stephanie oversees the financial and organizational component of the company. However, both say that there is some fluidity in these roles, highlighting the confidence each has in the other’s abilities.  

“It’s great,” Steve says. “I mean you have somebody that you can always trust.”

Their business is also adamant about maintaining and creating a welcoming space for the Austin community, a value that stems from Steve’s prior experience working at coffee shops around Austin. 

“The old Austin coffee shop is kind of the heart of our Bennu business,” he says. “The place where you see some dudes playing chess. People sitting around contemplating philosophy. People working hard studying. We just want to be that gathering place for everybody.”