Growing in Your Relationship While Building a Business with Lesley Eccles, Serial Entrepreneur

Lesley Eccles is the founder and CEO of Relish, a relationship app that’s on a mission to improve all relationships. She was also the co-founder and head of marketing for the FanDuel fantasy sports company. She now works as a serial entrepreneur and start-up advisor.

In today’s episode of the Love Intently Podcast, Lesley shares with us her love story right from where it started and some tips to maintain a healthy relationship. She also dives deep into entrepreneurship and her journey in this field.

Lesley and her husband Nigel Eccles met in college on the East Coast of Scotland. Nigel was two academic years behind Lesley, but because she found him charming, she found herself considering the two-year issue and getting over it eventually. (“he was just charming. He was really lovely and funny. So I thought it was really cute, and I got over the two-year issue quite quickly.”

She also shares her entrepreneurship journey and how they started FanDuel. It was back in 2007 when the idea first surfaced in their conversation. At that time, she says, it wasn’t the right time to start a business. They had just had a baby, taken a huge mortgage, and moved countries. However, she thought about her husband’s idea and decided to venture into it. ( “If we are not going to do this now, it’s never going to happen. And I don't want to live life with regrets.”

Lesley says the best advice for couples who are entrepreneurs and working together or separately is to set boundaries between work and relationships. If you are working for separate companies, figure out how you can support your partner and how you need to be supported. (“figure out how you can support your partner and how you need to be supported.”

She says that what inspired her to start Relish after leaving FanDuel is her definition of success. Although she didn’t want to do another startup, she spent months contemplating what success means to her. She says, “success is how you feel in your heart about other people and how they feel about you.” Creating great relationships with other people kept her going at FanDuel, and this inspired her. Therefore, she wanted to use technology to build stronger relationships. Other inspirations came from her friends and family’s divorce issues and how she imagined women balancing their careers and relationships. She needed to find a way to build an app around helping people strengthen their relationships.

Lesley says there has been some positive feedback about the app, and user engagement has increased during the pandemic since couples are spending more time together. So many people have experienced changes in their relationship by using the app, including herself. “I’m still learning about him. I don’t think you can ever learn about somebody fully.”

She advises Relish users to establish routines and rituals during this period to avoid boredom in their relationship that could lead to infidelity temptations.

Having worked in the Technology industry, she talks about her experiences in this male-dominated industry and how her husband has been helpful with his advice. She also advises other women in similar situations to avoid playing the role of the “mother” and stay professional within their roles.

She shares the three truths of life: not having any regrets, being kind, and knowing that there’s no silver bullet. She also says that the best relationship advice is to stand in your partner’s shoes, feel and think like them.

She also shares her thoughts of what it is to love intently. (“Intent love is about choice. It’s important to know that you both choose to be in this relationship. It’s about choosing to be the best version of yourself, as often as you can.”

In This Episode We Discussed:

How she fell in love and met her husband. (“We actually met in college, on the East Coast of Scotland.”
Entrepreneurship journey. (“We first talked about doing a company together in 2007.”
Advice for other couples who are entrepreneurs. (“setting boundaries and figuring out how you can support your partner or how you need to be supported.”
What inspired her to start Relish. (“for me, success is not about career success or lots of money. Success is how you feel in your heart, about other people, and how they feel about you. So, If I can find a way to build an app and company around helping people strengthen those relationships, I personally am going to feel like I have been successful.”
Advice for Relish App users during the pandemic. (“establish routines and rituals.”
Advice to other women in male-dominated industries. (“you’ve got a lot of work to do. So don’t waste your time playing mother roles.”
What to do to stop beating yourself up. (“Breathing and relaxation, mindfulness and meditation.”
What she wishes more people knew about her. (“Whenever people work with me, they realize that my big thing is, we have to trust each other. I’m not scary.”
What she wants people to know about her husband. (“He’s funny, keeps me going, and takes away my worries.”
Lesley’s 3 Truths about life & love: (“Don't have regrets. There is no silver bullet to success. Be kind.”)
Lesley’s Best Relationship Advice: (“Stand in your partner’s shoes.”
What does Love Intently mean to Lesley: (“Intent love is about choice. It’s important to know that you both choose to be in this relationship. It’s about choosing to be the best version of yourself, as often as you can.”

Connect With Lesley:

Find Relish on Instagram
Find Lesley on Twitter
Download Relish App

Connect with Sophie:

Find Sophie on Instagram
Find Love Intently on Instagram
Take the Attachment Style Quiz
Apply for Relationship Coaching with Sophie

Golden Ratio: Use code "LOVEINTENTLY" FOR 15% off your first order!
The Adventure Challenge : Use code "LOVEINTENTLY" for 10% off your first order