Sunny Sheu is the Co-founder of Mpowered Families, a company dedicated to helping high-achieving entrepreneurial couples intentionally balance their family and business lives. His entrepreneurial journey began at a young age, assembling bikes at his family’s toy shop, and he later expanded the business into furniture retail. Sunny continuously seeks personal and professional growth through organizations such as the EO, YPO, Stagen Leadership Academy, and Strategic Coach. Together with his wife, Ann, he focuses on helping couples set long-term family goals and balance business success with personal fulfillment.
Ann Sheu is the Co-founder and CEO of Mpowered Families, a company dedicated to helping high-achieving entrepreneurial couples intentionally balance their family and business lives. With nearly 20 years of experience as a consultant, advisor, board member, and Certified EOS Implementer, Ann combines business principles with personal growth strategies to drive meaningful outcomes for families and organizations. She is passionate about helping families enhance communication, create a collective vision, and build stronger connections.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- [2:20] Sunny Sheu shares how growing up in a family business shaped his entrepreneurial mindset
- [5:35] Impact of family business success on Sunny’s parents’ relationship
- [7:30] Ann Sheu discusses how her skills as the oldest child evolved into an event-planning business
- [8:38] Ann’s approach to helping families by applying her legal and event-planning skills
- [10:39] The importance of communication and conflict resolution in marriage and family dynamics
- [12:25] Why having marriage mentors is critical
- [13:20] Insights on applying business planning techniques to personal family goals
- [16:04] How ‘decade dream’ helps couples set long-term goals for family success
- [21:42] The significance of iterative goal setting and knowing when to recalibrate
- [24:46] Techniques to include children’s input in family goal setting effectively
- [34:59] Ann and Sunny discuss their trial-and-error experiences in achieving family goals
- [38:09] How to ensure that the pursuit of major goals doesn’t compromise other areas of life
In this episode…
Many successful professionals struggle to balance the demands of their careers with the need for a thriving, connected family life. Professional success doesn’t automatically translate into personal fulfillment, and families often operate on autopilot, neglecting meaningful communication and long-term planning. Is there a way to harmonize personal ambitions with collective visions of well-being?
Ann and Sunny Sheu address this challenge by integrating business principles into family life. They advocate for couples to create a ‘decade dream,’ a long-term vision that aligns family and individual goals, ensuring both partners work towards a common purpose. Ann emphasizes the importance of starting with personal values, helping couples understand each other’s triggers, and using tools like free days to build intentional time together. Sunny highlights the importance of regular recalibration, encouraging couples to reflect on their progress and adjust their vision to stay connected and fulfilled.
Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Ann and Sunny Sheu, Co-founders of Mpowered Families, about helping high-performing couples build purpose-driven family lives. They discuss the trial-and-error process of applying business strategies to family dynamics, the power of setting a ‘decade dream’ to create long-term alignment, how marriage mentors can provide guidance, and strategies for empowering children to contribute to the family vision.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
- John Corcoran on LinkedIn
- Rise25
- Sunny Sheu on LinkedIn
- Ann Sheu on LinkedIn
- Mpowered Families
- Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)
- Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO)
- Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS)
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
Quotable Moments:
- “The work consumed every facet of our lives, but it was cool to build something and start seeing some success.”
- “If you’re not fighting in a relationship, there’s probably not enough dynamic. Somebody’s holding something back.”
- “A strong decade dream serves as an amazing filter, making it easier to say no to things that don’t align.”
- “Values are foundational. Without starting there, you’ll bring a diluted version of yourself to the table.”
- “Goals are just a mirage. Once you attain one, you’re off to the next one. Stay true to yourself.”
Action Steps:
- Define individual and family decade dreams, reflecting on personal values and family unity to set aligned goals: This approach directly addresses the need to balance individual aspirations with collective objectives, benefiting both personal growth and family cohesion.
- Set clear, actionable steps toward achieving decade dreams – breaking down long-term visions into manageable tasks: By doing so, couples and families can proactively work toward their dreams, preventing them from feeling overwhelmed by their ambitions.
- Establish regular check-ins to monitor progress and recalibrate goals as necessary, ensuring that goals remain relevant and motivating: Frequent assessments and adjustments help maintain the commitment to the decade dreams while allowing room for life’s inevitable changes.
- Incorporate children’s perspectives in family dream discussions, fostering a sense of inclusivity and shared vision: Inviting children to participate in the goal-setting process helps them feel valued and teaches them essential planning and collaborative skills.
- Prioritize personal well-being alongside family goals, striking a balance between individual needs and collective dreams: Balancing personal well-being and family objectives ensures that the pursuit of long-term goals doesn’t detrimentally impact other aspects of life, leading to holistic success.
Sponsor: Rise25
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Cofounders Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran credit podcasting as being the best thing they have ever done for their businesses. Podcasting connected them with the founders/CEOs of P90x, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, Rx Bars, YPO, EO, Lending Tree, Freshdesk, and many more.
The relationships you form through podcasting run deep. Jeremy and John became business partners through podcasting. They have even gone on family vacations and attended weddings of guests who have been on the podcast.
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Episode Transcript
John Corcoran: 00:00
Today, we’re talking about how to be intentional about your family and how to juggle family and business and entrepreneurship, and really treat your family like it’s work to really plan for it and make it a very intentional part of your life. My guests today are Anne and Sunny Sheu. I’ll tell you more about them in a second, so stay tuned.
Intro: 00:22
Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show.
John Corcoran: 00:38
Hey. Welcome everyone. John Corcoran here I am, the host of this show. And you know, every week I get to talk to interesting CEOs, founders, entrepreneurs from all kinds of different companies. If you check out our archives we’ve had and Netflix and Grubhub, Redfin, Ginkgo, Gusto, Kinkos, YPO, EO, Activision Blizzard, go check out the archives.
Lots of great episodes for you to check out there. And of course, this episode was brought to you by Rise25, our company where we help B2B businesses to get clients referrals and strategic partnerships with done for you podcast and content marketing. And you can learn more by going to Rise25.com or emailing us at support at Rise25.com. All right. I’m excited to have our guest here today.
It’s Sunny and Ann Sheu. They are the founder and CEO of Mpowered Ventures. And we’ll explain what that is in a moment. And is an entrepreneur who is dedicated to helping high performing couples and families create purposeful, aligned and connected family lives. And she has a background as an attorney, as I did.
So we connected over that and also as a certified EOS implementer and Sunny, I know through the Entrepreneurs Organization world where we’ve taken some programs here together, and he has a background, having worked previously in a family business in the furniture space, which we’ll talk about that in a moment as well. But, you know, so excited to have you guys here. And I always love to learn about what people were like as a kid. And so I love to dive into any stories of lemonade stands and babysitting and, you know, mowing lawns and things like that. And I learned an interesting fact about Sunny here, who got his start assembling bikes for a toy shop that was inside of a bazaar.
Now, what was that like? Tell me about that.
Sunny Sheu: 02:20
Yeah. Hey, thanks for having us. I mean, I grew up in a mom and pop shop. My parents were first generation immigrants and immigrated here. Did what a lot of Asian couples do, but they started.
A restaurant. And had several failed ventures of that. Like they did a toy wholesale and then failed there. And then we were actually trying to get rid of the last truck of stuff from that venture.
John Corcoran: 03:00
And when the toy wholesale business. Yes. And how long has that truck been sitting around? Has that been a long time?
Sunny Sheu: 03:07
I don’t know. I was very young at the time, but that’s it. They just needed an outlet to sell it. So they just kind of rented a stall inside a bazaar and. Okay.
A rough part of town. And. And that’s how we started bargaintown. And then we sold through that, and then it was like, oh, shit. It’s pretty.
That was. That was kind of easy. And so let’s buy more stuff and then let’s, let’s sell more stuff. And so that’s kind of how we started. I was probably 5 or 6 at the time.
And then I have one younger brother. He’s a year younger than me. He’s a Neo Tokyo by the way. But that’s another story. And then we just after school we would go to work and then after work we’d go home, eat dinner, and then rinse, repeat.
And so we didn’t really have any. Afterlife or friend life or sleepovers or stuff like that. It was just straight up work. And then and than school work back and forth.
John Corcoran: 04:12
A lot of hard work. And, you know, sometimes people react to that by being, you know, afraid or they don’t want to go anywhere near the family business. But it sounds like that wasn’t the case for you. Or was there a time in your life where you were where you really, like, ran away from it?
Sunny Sheu: 04:29
Well, it wasn’t a choice. We had to contribute by necessity. And our only strategy was $4. So for two and then work long hours it’s retail, but I mean we had success with that. Like us, we started buying better and then selling more.
We started expanding our locations and eventually we started acquiring our own locations and started dabbling in furniture. And then at some point, furniture became the main focal point of the business. And yeah, I mean, I don’t know, we had much of a strategy other than don’t be poor. Yeah.
John Corcoran: 05:12
And I know, I know given the work that you do now, helping couples, especially entrepreneurial couples, to achieve more balance in their lives, we’re going to get into that discussion. But reflecting back on this period of time for you with your family, observing your parents, what was it like for them? Did you recall them, you know, bickering or fighting? Was it hard for them?
Sunny Sheu: 05:37
It’s like any entrepreneurial family. I mean, there’s definitely disagreements. I mean, I mean, in our case, like, the work consumed every facet of our life. Like even when we went home and cooked and made dinner and sat at the dinner table. We were talking about work issues and customers and this and that and like finances.
So it consumed every part of our lives. But, I mean, it was also cool to build something and start seeing some success at some point. I mean, this is like years, like decades. Before we start seeing success or feeling some type of success. But long story short, I mean, after we attain the goal of not being poor, which we don’t even know when, like my parents started growing apart.
They just started seeing, not eye to eye. And I think that was a result of not recasting the goals. Like, hey, if at some point we earn some money or have some financial success, like what is it that we want to do with that later? And I don’t think they ever asked themselves that question. They just got sucked into The grind and then never knew how to let go of it.
And that drove them apart. And eventually they separated. And that was kind of a wake up call. This was early in our relationship when we were dating, and that was a wake up call for us because, I mean, I’m over here proud of what we’ve accomplished. And then all of a sudden they’re separated and like, why the hell did we do this?
John Corcoran: 07:14
Like, right, right, right. And when you were growing up, you were the oldest child, organized, resourceful. And you eventually became the event planner in your circle of friends. And then that turned into an event planning business.
Ann Sheu: 07:30
Yeah, I think just I think a lot of older children, you know, daughters can relate just being the organized one, the one that everybody turns to when they need to get something done. And that kind of just became my personality. And so when somebody needed help with planning a fundraiser at school, I would step up and help with that. When somebody needed help with planning a birthday party, I would step up and help with that. And I just found myself constantly wearing this event planner hat.
And in college, it kind of spun up as a little side hustle and that was great, easy work for me and gave me, you know, a little bit of play money in college. And it came so naturally to me and I was really good at it. I’m really great at seeing the vision and then, you know, bringing that vision to life and executing on the details. And, it was fun.
John Corcoran: 08:26
I can already see the parallels between how you apply that to helping families from, you know, the world of event planning and organizing a lot of logistics and details around an event.
Ann Sheu: 08:38
Yeah, just helping people think about what it’s like, you know, on wedding days. What does your dream look like? What is it that you want your wedding day to look like? And we’re doing that same work with families. Now just asking them like, what does your ideal family life look like?
What do you want it to look like in ten years? And then just helping them work backwards. Okay, what do we need to do? What are the baby steps that we need to take to get there?
John Corcoran: 08:59
And you had an interesting stop along the way before you got to what you’re doing today. You, like me, became a lawyer and did business and employment litigation and then found your way into the district attorney’s office and actually prosecuted a lot of cases.
Ann Sheu: 09:14
Yeah, that was a lot of fun. And, you know, people ask me all the time, like, what skills did you learn there that are transferable to what you’re doing now? And I just think, you know, getting in front of a jury advocating for what I think is right and, and trying to enforce the law. I feel like that skill set is so transferable to being in front of a group of couples, trying to show them the possibility, the potential of Implementing a process of procedure into their family that will really help them get some structure. And so, you know, it’s kind of the same for me, just getting in front of the room and, and trying to tell a story and get people to, to believe it and, and see it and, and the potential of, you know what, what could be.
Ann Sheu: 10:03
Yeah. Yeah.
John Corcoran: 10:04
Or you, you did business and employment litigation before getting the DA’s office. And I say to people all the time that, you know, a lot of litigation arises from a communication breakdown, whether between between business partners, between, you know, a business partnership of some sort, between a customer and a service provider, a communication breakdown, and the inability to communicate and resolve some kind of dispute leads to litigation. And so learning to communicate better helps in so many ways of your life, whether it’s with a family or whether it’s in business.
Ann Sheu: 10:39
Yeah, absolutely. And that’s why so many of the things that we’re doing at Empowered Families are really focused on knowing yourself better, knowing your spouse better, and then learning how to take all of that knowledge and that new wisdom and apply it as you are navigating the conflict. That’s inevitable in relationships, right? Like if you’re not fighting. Like, sometimes we come across couples and we’re like, oh, we never fight.