Business & Tech

Dormont Couple Shares Fun, Challenges of Working Together

Dormont Dogs owners share experience of mixing marriage with business.

Rachel Dudley and Captain Barnes have been married to each other for 10 years, and to their business for nearly four.

The couple owns on Glenmore Avenue, and for the two of them, their relationship with each other and their relationship with their business are uniquely and enjoyably intertwined.

“We wanted to open up some type of restaurant, and we always joked about owning a hot dog shop,” Barnes said. “The opportunity came up in this community and we decided to do it.”

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Their dream of owning a hot dog shop might have started with jokes, but it became reality when they realized they wanted to take on the project, and that it would be an opportunity for them to spend more time together.

Before opening the restaurant, Dudley was a hair stylist and Barnes was a fine dining chef. Their schedules were practically opposite one another, Dudley said.

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“We never saw each other,” she said. “One of us would get home and the other would have to leave.”

Working together hasn’t been without its challenges. Dudley said Barnes, who was used to running a kitchen, often took a leadership role that she found a little off-putting. But she said she also had to learn not to take it to heart.

The couple agreed that they’ve found the balance that’s key to success in both business and marriage.

“We’re in this together and we work better together,” she said. “It’s challenging but I’d never go back to the way it was.”

Barnes agreed, and said the business is even more rewarding now that their sons, Felix and Oliver, are old enough to work alongside them.

And soon they'll have another business to throw into the mix. Dudley plans to open an all-natural salon on Potomac Avenue in April, where she also hopes to host the work of local crafters.

Although she mainly will run the business, she said it will be nice to have her husband around to help. Barnes said he's behind the new business, and both look forward to continuing to work together.

“We’re conquering a goal together,” he said. “It’s nice to kind of be on the same page and work on something together.”


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