In Good Company

Experts advise to never mix business with pleasure—let alone with friends or family. But Robert and Tammira Lucas aren’t your average couple. Since marrying in 2011, they’ve built five businesses, attributing their success to hard work, sacrifice, and faith.

“You have to stay strong and focus on your goals,” says Tammira, who was named one of the Baltimore Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” in 2016. “The biggest thing for us is that we support each other.”

Both of the Lucases discovered their entrepreneurial talents early on—Robert in high school, with a successful custom T-shirt business, and Tammira in college, where she ran a mobile kids’ spa. “You have to fail a lot in order to grow,” says Robert. “You don’t always strike gold, but when you jump off that cliff, you build your wings on the way down.”

So it was no surprise that these natural-born business people started working together, especially in light of another shared interest: their daughter, Ryann. After launching a successful kids’ accessories line in 2010, the couple saw what they could achieve in tandem, and went on to open a home maintenance company, a co-working space, pictured, a car dealership, and a business-consulting firm.

“We saw that there were opportunities out there to better the African-American community while still working as a family, and we wanted to help others do the same,” says Tammira, who also co-founded Moms As Entrepreneurs to teach business skills to low-income women. To share that message, the couple recently launched a podcast called “The Lucas Brand,” available on iTunes, where they share the ins and outs of working as a team.

“Hopefully,” says Tammira, “we can inspire other young, black couples to strive for their dreams.”