We recently connected with Troy & Shantel Brooks and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Troy & Shantel , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Spartners- Spouses who are Business Partners- is a faith-based integrated framework for spouses to elevate their marriage through working together professionally. Within this framework, married couples have access to an online and in-person community, tools & practices, personal development, and retreat experiences that will empower. engage and educate them as they embark on their journey.

Now, let’s rewind.

Troy has been a serial entrepreneur and visionary for most of his life. Over the course of his adult life, he’s built a following and his personal brand. Shantel worked full-time as an educator, both teacher and administrator for years, but helped Troy with his social media presence for some time. She’d take videos, photos, and help with captions here and there. But honestly, she never really understood the depth of his work and connection with people.

Shantel was not fulfilled at her job, but found happiness that Troy was able to live out his passions and purpose. She was okay working the 9-5 traditional job that provided us financial security, so long as Troy was working in his purpose. Over time, this weighed on her, and Troy as well. He constantly asked her to officially join him, but she was stubborn and was stuck on doing what she wanted to do for her, not THEM.

Ultimately, after a major move, homebirth, and 8 months of self-exploration, Shantel was convicted to work with Troy officially. She realized she’d wasted so much time trying to do HER versus THEM which created so much more fruitfulness. Instead of each of them working on their own pages, blogs, communities, etc individually, we could work on all of it TOGETHER. This allowed us to spend way more time together, model for our children what teamwork looks like, and enrich our marriage in communication, connection and intimacy.

Once we got in their groove, Troy was guided by God to call us “Spartners” and to lead a marriage movement of spouses in business together. We had no idea if this was already happening by professionals, we had no idea how this would be profitable, and we had no idea if people would really need this (definitely all the things “they” say you should know and research before starting a business). We just knew that God called us to this chosen path and that we needed to obey it.

God has anointed our marriage and given us a “secret sauce” to enriching marriages. We are eager to share that sauce with those who are in a healthy marriage/relationship and want to make it better, as well as those already working together and looking to grow it stronger.

Troy & Shantel , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Troy & Shantel co-own the TB Effect, a faith-based organization that specializes in Content Creation, Marriage Enrichment and Speaking.

For so long, we ran on different paths, collecting bits of knowledge and experience that catapulted us to where we are today. Shantel is a scholar, thought leader, and servant who does everything with poise and purpose. Troy is a culture mastermind and lifestyle curator who, at his core, prioritizes cultivating solid partnerships and relationships with people and brands worldwide.

Together, not only are we awesome parents and spouses, but we are amazing business partners. Spartners. By pushing our egos to the side, leaning into our strengths and being strategic in our relationship, we now have the autonomy we desire, we work with a shared purpose, and we get to build a legacy for our children, together. And what’s best? Our marriage continues to thrive and get stronger the longer we work together.

Our unique journeys have taught us so many lessons individually, but most importantly, it showed us that the best partner we can ever have is the one we married. By rising to meet the challenges life throws our way, we continue to lean into our faith and each other for support and guidance. We are a dynamic team excited to expand our media production and content creation network to a community built on faith and fruitful marriages.

Spartners, (Spouses who are business partners), is our latest venture and is an integrated framework for spouses to elevate and enrich our marriage through working together professionally. Through our online courses, group coaching programs, 1-to-1 support, and live events, we help spouses who are business partners (Spartners), or those aspiring to be, elevate their marriage to be more fruitful through business. If you’re ready, we’’ll help you navigate the complexities of love & business, with God at the center.

They are most proud of our ability to be obedient to God and help build HIs Kingdom through their marriage work.

Currently, they are leading two marriage learning groups for their home church, creating accessible and affordable online courses to support marriages struggling and thriving, hosting their podcast, Spartners, and finishing up final touches to their new book, “Sparters: Elevate Your Marriage through Business. ” They are excited for all that’s in store and all the marriages, families and communities they will help impact.

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We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Shantel’s response: We were friends since our middle school years. I was 12, Troy was 13. We were just friends.

Over time, we’d see each other here and there depending on where the wind blew. We always were platonic, always friendly, and always had nothing but love for each other.

Years passed and we connected on the infamous “Facebook”. Troy was party promoting and I was a party girl. He invited me out to join him a few times, and I dismissed it each time. Not for any specific reason, but I had other plans. One day, he ran into a mutual friend in LA while he was living there. They both messaged me and said how crazy it was to run into each other. The next day, I went to Facebook, clicked into the search toolbar, and typed “Troy Brooks”. “What was he up to these days anyways?” I wondered.

He had a great profile picture of himself. He was strong, attractive, and just radiated something different that I hadn’t noticed before. So like any Facebook stalker, I began to scroll. After not seeing any red flags, I messaged him. I used a different tone, the “xo” signature, and was definitely more assertive than any message prior. He had no clue what I was up to!.

I remember meeting him for the first time in years. It was so weird, it just felt so different than any other time I saw him, or any friend for that matter. He greeted me with that same love and chill that we always had. We had a great first session and decided to continue to train together. Our next session ironically fell on Valentine’s Day.

After that Valentine’s Day session we decided to grab a drink with each other. I came in hot, as I knew that I wanted him in in my life, and not just as a trainer. I bombarded him with questions- “Do you want kids?”,” How many?”,” Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”, “What gets you excited?”,” What was one challenge that you’ve overcome?”, “How’s your relationship with your mom?”, etc. I asked it all.

Troy couldn’t believe all the questions that were coming out of my mouth. I think he was actually frozen in disbelief like, “What did I just walk into?!” I then told him that if we were going to actually date (I knew what I wanted and found no reason to beat around the bush), I’d need him to take the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test. (If you don’t know about this book, check it out!). I’ve used it for business, but I wanted to use it for our relationship. I wanted to know what strengths, assets, and perspective he had and how they complimented mine.

It’s amazing how we used business to get together and now we’re in business together! God works!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We always wanted to venture out and live anywhere in the world we set our hearts on. We daydreamed about moving to Santa Barbara and what it would be like to sip wine while looking out over the coast. We fantasized about living in Dubai, where we knew we would thrive and feel a magic we never thought we could get in the United States. We even talked about moving to beautiful Vancouver, where the water is so blue, the city is bustling, and we would fit right in.

Atlanta never came up as a place to dream about, fantasize about, or move to. It wasn’t until a series of unfortunate events began happening for Shantel that she told Troy they had to get into a geographical area that was more inclusive, diverse, and overall just better for them. We loved where we were living in New York, but between home prices (this was at the peak of housing inflation in spring 2021) and real-life experiences, we knew it wouldn’t be home for us for long, and definitely would not be home for our boys.

We needed to PIVOT. But, we did not LISTEN.

We continued to live our lives the spring of 2021 as any normal house-hunting expecting parents with a toddler would during any global pandemic… we stayed inside, searched for homes day and night, and continued to stay rooted in our faith that something would work out.

We thought it actually did until the sellers pulled out of our deal three days before our closing date of our new home, June 1, 2021. We were devastated and anxious, but still faithful that God had our back.

We needed to PIVOT. We finally LISTENED.

After praying for direction, God spoke to us. He said, “Go to Atlanta.” We looked at each other once more. We knew it was time.

Troy hopped on a plane two days later to meet with our realtor in metro Atlanta in hopes of finding a home, as Shantel stayed back, 8 months pregnant, leaning into faith as she’s never let go of this much control ever. We put offers on about 12 homes and prayed.

One offer was accepted 4 days later, and we closed 21 days after that, June 25th. Within one month, we were officially homeowners, and God revealed our next step. But then it hit us… we were actually going to have to move.

We were actually going to have to say goodbye to our jobs, family and life as we knew it.

We were going to have to PIVOT.

And so we did.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thetbeffect.com
• Instagram: troy_brooks, sbsinspirations, wearespartners
• Facebook: Spartners
• Linkedin: shantelbrooks