“As long as you don’t fuck my husband or mess with my relationship with my kids in any way, we’ll be fine! Anything else, we can work out.” Those are the words I said to Debbie Aglietti the moment before we signed our 22 page partnership agreement and legally solidified our bond.
It’s not easy for two passionate women to be business partners. Especially when those two women are from opposite backgrounds! A client once told us that we were like Greenwich Village meets Greenwich Connecticut. As many of you know, Debbie is every bit the suburbanite in cardigans, khakis and neatly styled hair and I have a more, well… “relaxed” approach to my appearance. Debbie grew up in a “white picket fence” middle class American home with the love and structure of a close family. Me in a “broken home” infused with drug addiction and financial struggle.
What most of you don’t know and would have no way to know is that Debbie suffers from depression. Real and debilitating depression, that she is currently being treated for. I share this with you today, with Debbie’s permission for two reasons. First, because she is amazing and incredible and her work as a doula is the only thing that can pull her out of “the hole” when her depression is at it’s worst and secondly, because MANY women will benefit from hearing Debbie’s story. This blog is a launching point for Debbie to periodically blog and share her personal triumphs and amazing strengths in hopes of empowering and inspiring others, the way she does me.
Now, all of that being said, sometimes I wanna kill her! You see, although my childhood was in every way the recipe for adult disaster, I, over the years have worked through my shit and made myself a confident, assertive, predictable and extremely positive woman.
For the first year of our business relationship, I had no idea that Debbie was enduring this personal battle with depression. She seemed perfectly normal to me and then she hit a wall. She began to seem confused, decision making became debilitating for her and she couldn’t focus on a single thought or idea. What I didn’t know was that her doctor was adjusting her medications and her mood swings and behavior was stemming from those adjustments.
I was going crazy! I was so pissed off, all the time! “Get your shit together, Debbie! We own a business! Can you go back to being the woman I signed a 22 page partnership agreement with, please!” I couldn’t stand to be around her and at the same time, I would fall back in love with her when a client was in the office because talking about birth made her normal again! I looked forward to client meetings so “the real Debbie” would reveal herself, but the moment the client left, this new Debbie came back.
I am thrilled to tell you that she is in a great place now. With the love and support of Phil and her boys as well as her doctors, friends and myself, she IS the strong competent and capable woman that I signed that contract with and call my friend! Stay tuned to our blog and please show Debbie some love as she opens her heart and shares with you, the REAL, Debbie Aglietti!
Authored By: Randy Patterson
