from partnership to Powership

our research into how collaboration works

Collaboration. It’s how we work—as business partners. It’s what we do—as Mulberry Partners. In fact, our collaboration as co-founders has been so professionally enriching and personally meaningful, it’s inspired us to research the interpersonal and business factors that make partnerships work.

We wanted to know. What makes one partnership soar while others flop? What are the pitfalls along the way? What’s the secret sauce of successful collaborations? To find out, we interviewed over 100 women business partners across the globe from a myriad of industries and enterprises. Our findings revealed some striking similarities and insights.

What we learned. Successful partnerships share common threads: a willingness to take risks, mutual trust and complete accountability. In our interviews, we heard over and over how this type of honest approach allows partners to put aside egos, to fully listen, and to give and receive direct feedback.

What partners get. Our interviews affirmed that partners can realize shared aspirations and mutual goals when they are equally committed to making it work. We found that when partners successfully fuse their professional and personal priorities, the resulting working relationships are more powerful, more sustainable, and more dimensional than other collaborations. These elevated partnerships deserve a name of their own. We call them Powerships.

Why not partner? “I’d love to partner; where do I find the right one, or, what if it doesn’t work out?” Would-be partners fear not finding the right person. Our research shows that there is no “right” or “wrong” partner in a powership. A powership is possible for those willing to do the honest communicating, relationship-building and general heavy-lifting it takes to achieve a shared purpose. Powerships are based on quantifiable success factors that anyone can learn to develop.

How big are Powerships? Whether you’re in a partnership of 2 or an organization of 2000, the essentials of a successful powership are the same: trust, communication, and collaboration.

If you feel your partnership or your team could be working together more cohesively (no matter how many of you there are), contact us. We have the data, tools and experience to help.

- Maggie and Betsy

Powership at work

What turned a movie script idea, scribbled on a bar napkin during a first meeting, into the powerhouse duo behind Hollywood’s Legally Blonde?

How did an idea for making easy family dinners blossom into Dream Dinners, an internationally franchised company?

What was the innovative thinking that led former Best Buy co-workers, Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson to the White House, where they’re revolutionizing the way America works?

What transformed a friendship that began in high school chorus between Emily Salier and Amy Ray, into a Grammy-winning, internationally acclaimed, 20+ year career as the beloved folk singers, The Indigo Girls?

Their answers? Trust. Empathy. Flexibility. Honesty. And a lot of hard work.

partners we interviewed

Indigo Girls
Grammy-winning singer-songwriting duo
Amy Ray & Emily Salier

Legally Blonde
Hollywood co-screenwriters
Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith

Peotona
Women who helped topple apartheid in South Africa, now leading investors in infrastructure projects
Cheryl Carolus, Dolly Mokgatle, Thandi Orleyn , Wendy Lucas-Bull 

The Cupcake Girls
co-stars on Canada's W Network and owners of several bakeries
Lori Joyce & Heather White

National Women's Law Center
co-leaders of women's legal advocacy
Nancy Duff Campbell &  Marcia Greenberger

Dream Dinners
co-founders of prepare your own dinner franchise
Stephanie Allen & Tina Kun

New Ground - Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement
co-facilitators in promoting cross-cultural dialogues
Aziza Hasan & Malka Haya Fenyvesi

The Nanny Diaries, Nanny Returns
co-authors of best-selling novels
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Mundo Hispano
mother/daughter team behind Utah's largest bi-lingual newspaper
Gladys Gonzalez & Sandra Plazas

StarVest Partners
co-creators of US's largest women-owned venture capital firm
Deborah Farrington, Laura Sachar & Jeanne Sullivan

Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers
editors and publishers of award-winning magazine
Jennifer Niesslein & Stephanie Wilkinson

Brownstone Buddies
co-creators of  line of multi-cultural dolls featured at FAO Schwartz
Christa Granderson-Reid &  Janai Nelson

Chroma Art Gallery
co-founders of an award-winning gallery
and co-creators of Loja, acclaimed paintings
Lori Keith Robinson & Jan Clayton-Pagratis

Marian Rees and Associates
Hollywood movie-making team
Marian Rees & Anne Hopkins

Green-eyed Monster
co-creators of eco friendly Australian fashions
Anne Ryan & Christina Lew

Target Corporation
America's first job-sharers at top executive level
Gordan-Farsht & Ashley Sugalski

Hitched Bridal Salon
co-founders of chic DC bridal boutique
Carin Rosenberg Levine & Julia Lichtman Kepniss

Kaplan-Thaler, Advertising Agency
co-founders of agency behind the AFLAC duck
Linda Kaplan Thaler & Robin Koval

Kenan-Flagler Business School
first senior-director-level job-sharers at UNC-Chapel Hill
Meghan Gosk & Anna Millar

Kate Tempesta's Urban Golf Academy
partners in program that teaches city kids to play golf
Mari Lazar & Kate Tempesta

Litsy Designs
co-creators of a children's art company whose
 paintings were featured on Grey's Anatomy
Patsy Smith & Lisa Wojnovich

LocoPops
co-owners of a string of stores selling Mexican popsicles
Summer Bicknell & Connie Semans

The Marketing Group
co-promoters of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows
Tanya Grubich & Laura Matalon

Vietri
co-importers of handcrafted Italian products
Frances Gravely & Susan Gravely

Village Pediatrics
Doctor and nurse duo heading a pediatric practice
Dr. Kimberly Gush & Maria Mekeel

AK Environmental
an energy, environmental and engineering firm ranked the 6th fastest-growing women-led company in North America
Amy Gonzalez & Kelly Caldwell