No matter your sexual preference, navigating marriage can be a challenge. It's important to know where you stand and the power you have in making your relationship your own.

Creative powerhouses Sophia and Heleana Blackwell share their experiences as a married same-sex couple, how they handle problems and difficult tasks in their business, and the importance of aligning your marriage with what you want instead of what society expects of you.

Tune in to this episode: Wife Material with Sophia and Heleana Blackwell

Key points covered in this episode:

✔️ Marriage isn't the endpoint of a relationship. Now that you're committed, it's actually where all the work begins, like learning how to set boundaries, saying no, and exploring each other's different facets. Marriage provides safety and containment for a deeper exploration.

✔️ Marriage needs to be queered, no matter your preference. You don't have to submit to societal conventions. Be empowered to create your own traditions. Feel free to leave aside wedding practices that you don't feel comfortable doing.

✔️ There is happiness and joy in same-sex marriages. It's about time we break the myth that gay relationships are doomed to fail. Sophia and Heleana Blackwell aim to demolish the stereotype and proudly share their journey with the world.

✔️ Couples can make a business relationship work. Sophia and Heleana have recognized each other's strengths and weaknesses. This allows them to easily bounce off their ideas, take breaks, and focus on being a couple when needed.

✔️ Creative collaboration can open up different sides of people. It also encourages trying new things and taking on new challenges that you wouldn't have tried if it weren't with your partner.

Whatever your gender identity and sexual preference may be, relationships come with ups and downs. But it's crucial to be firm in your values, know what you want the relationship to look like and how you want it to feel, and curate it to become an adventure that brings joy to you and your partner.

Sophia Blackwell is a performance poet, and radio and podcast host for Resonance FM, The Polari Podcast, and Virgin Radio Pride. Her most recent collection with Burning Eye Books, The Other Woman, was longlisted for the Polari Prize.

Heleana Blackwell is a stand-up comedian and Max Turner Prize Semi-finalist who has performed at a range of top London nights such as LOL Word at Battersea Arts Centre, Foc it Up at 21 Soho and 2Northdown, as well as at Brighton and Camden Fringes in 2022.

Links:

Website: www.wifematerial.co.uk

Heleana's Instagram: https://instagram.com/h_a_blackwell

————————————————————————————————

★★★ About Marie-Elizabeth Mali ★★★

Marie-Elizabeth is the founder of Relationship Alchemy, where she helps women near or in midlife reconnect with their deepest desires and truths so they can build lives of passion, purpose and joy without shrinking themselves or dimming their light. She does this through coaching, retreats, and community, using her PassionBody Activation Method.

★ TAKE THE "GROWN-ASS POWER" QUIZ ★

For passionate women having a "Now what?" moment who are ready to turn on their unapologetic power. http://relationshipalchemy.com/power-quiz

As the founder of Relationship Alchemy® and the PassionBody Activation™ retreats, and two-time TEDx Speaker, Marie-Elizabeth Mali helps women connect more deeply with themselves and communicate more effectively in their lives and businesses. Her clients transform patterns of thinking and behavior that get in the way of love, connection, and success in relationships and business. Drawing on her Master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and over 20 years of working with clients, she teach women how to show up as authentic leaders in their relationships and work instead of twisting themselves to fit in. Her work has been featured in Thrive Global, SWAAY, and Forbes. Marie-Elizabeth is also a philanthropist and published author with an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College, and an underwater photographer who has a thing for sharks. Learn more at https://relationshipalchemy.com.