Power couples are fierce forces of nature, able to have successful careers as well as meaningful relationships. These seven duos conquering technology disciplines across Atlanta give us at Hypepotamus some hefty goals for life and love.
Stephen + Claire | Rigor + Calendly
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Stephen Krauska: Business Development at Rigor
Claire Suellentrop: General Manager at Calendly
Rigor provides first-class web performance monitoring for internet and web-
Claire and Stephen met at a photography studio/cafe, where Claire, a once waitress there, tried to open the locked darkroom door where Stephen was developing some film. Stephen thought “she was a homeless person attempting a break-in (the cafe was in a crusty area of town). Love at first sight.” Since then the engaged couple helped build two of the startup-stars at the Atlanta Tech Village – Rigor and Calendly. “While I’m optimizing Calendly’s onboarding sequence, he’s developing new outreach cadences to improve Rigor’s email-to-demo rates,” said Sullenthrop.
“Together, we’ve grown and thrived in the toughest environments,” said Krauska. “Claire’s always had guts, and that means a lot to someone as rambunctious as I am.”
Andy + Jenny | Field
Andy Silvestri: Co-Founder & Design Strategy Lead
Jenny Sun: Co-Founder & User Experience Lead
Field is a UX studio that helps companies build meaningful experiences for end-users by creating informed design built from the ground up.
Andy and Jenny first met at a training session during their first few weeks at a DOT COM back in 2003, spending a year as friends before diving into dating. From there, the Atlanta natives spent two years long distance (traveling between ATL and CHI), eventually making Atlanta their permanent playground for daughter Parla.
“After finishing school in Chicago, I found a job here doing design consulting and decided to move back,” stated Jenny. “Andy was working at Moxie and in 2010 we decided to start Field.” “That’s pretty much it in a nutshell,” chuckled Andy. “In between we got married, had a baby, and got Field off the ground,” Jenny chimed in (no small feat that’s for sure).
LeShelle + Gary | CNN + Georgia Tech
LeShelle May: Senior Software Manager at CNN, Turner Broadcasting System
Gary May: Dean of the College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair at GA Tech
Meeting over two decades ago as math and science tutors at Frederick Douglas High School, the Mays “believe love is a journey, not a trip” and attest that humor is the secret to their 22-year marriage. Together they “both have engineering degrees and an underlying geekiness.” Gary is an avid comic book collector while LeShelle continues to code despite holding a senior management position at CNN. The duo also maintains an equal partnership – Gary can be doing laundry while LeShelle is changing faucet fixtures – that is rooted in their commitment to compromise and sacrifice. LeShelle and Gary have raised two daughters, one which is following their footsteps as a computer science major at Purdue.
“As the Dean of Engineering of Georgia Tech, there is a political dynamic that requires interfacing with many technical leaders in Atlanta and around the world,” said May. “There is no doubt that having a spouse with a technical background makes that dynamic seamless.”
Anna + Ryan | Laboratory Tactical Consulting
Anna McDevitt: Owner & Brand Development
Ryan McDevitt: Partner
Lab Tactical Consulting is a brand and business development startup for healthcare providers, currently working within the home medical space.
Anna and Ryan are the epitome of genuine midwesterners, bumping elbows at BW3’s and falling in love over a bucket of wings. The Detroit natives have been in startups most of their relationship, building an energy drink company together in 2007 and working on their latest company Lab Tactical.
“We went to Pittsburg together to present on marketing metrics, and during the event Ryan got a job offer in Atlanta. On the drive back we decided to move down. Once we were here, I started Lab Tactical and in January of 2015 Ryan joined me,” said Anna. “It’s definitely a cool dynamic being married and doing business together – Anna’s the right-brain and I’m the left-brain which allows us to build a great business.”
Daniel + Lauren | LD Studios
Daniel Rice: Co-Founder & Software Developer
Lauren Schneidewind: Co-Founder & CEO
LD Studios is a web application development company that primarily focuses on the finance industry.
For any doubters out there, online dating can work, and Lauren and Daniel are perfect examples. Shortly after getting hitched in 2013, the twosome launched LD Studios and it’s been straight hustle in love and business since then.
“The best decision I ever made was starting a business with Lauren,” stated Daniel. “I started a few other companies in the past, and the main reason they failed was because I didn’t truly know my partner. Knowing Lauren and I work well together, and that our goals for LD Studios are aligned, makes me confident in this business.” “Good answer,” Lauren chuckled.
Kat + Brooke | Slalom Consulting + 24 Seven
Kathryn Katalinich: Director of Business Development
Brooke Creef: UX Consultant
Slalom Consulting designs and builds strategies and systems to help clients solve complex business issues. 24 Seven works with creative minded global brands uncover the best talent in the biz.
Rekindled love is some of the best kind of love if you ask us, and that’s exactly what Brooke and Kat embody. After taking some time off for personal growth, these two ladies are back together – enjoying love and life (and, no doubt, their enviable trip planned to Puerto Vallarta).
“When we first met, Kat and I found we share the same sense of humor,” said Brooke. “We were dropping one-liners from ‘Anchorman’ and we hit it off from there – 60% of the time, it works every time!,” exclaimed Kat. “But to be earnest for a moment, I love that Kat and I are able to discuss our careers but also unplug and share quiet moments together – it’s all about balance.”
Brian + Jennifer | Cypress.io
Brian Mann: Founder & CEO
Jennifer Mann: Front-End Developer + Co-Leader for Girl Develop It Atlanta
Cypress.io is a web testing engine that allows developers to run unit and integration tests from the comfort their browsers.
Jennifer and Brian go way back – we’re talking all the way back to middle school folks – but started officially dating at the ripe age of 18 when they moved from Columbus, GA, to Atlanta. And while the duo took a few years off from their relationship, the words of Jack Johnson’s “we’re better together” never rang more true – in fact, it’s rare to find the two apart.
“We are at our best together and realized we hadn’t found anyone who shared love for the same things that we shared together,” stated Jennifer. “We watch old films, enjoy the same music, listen to Radiolab on roadtrips, and are passionate about staying involved with tech and development – and geeking out about it.” “We also had this great opportunity to build this product together that is very in line with the developers we’ve met here – which makes for a very symbiotic relationship,” Brian added.
