I n 2019, Emily Wibberley was hiking with her husband, Austin Siegemund-Broka, in Florence, Italy, on their honeymoon, when she couldn’t help but break the one rule they established before leaving on the trip: Do not talk about work.
“We came up with a great book idea, and just kept brainstorming as we walked through all this amazing architecture,” Wibberley says, laughing. “We returned home and were like, ‘Well, here’s this incredible idea that we came up with against our will.’”
Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka’s resulting co-authored novel, The Roughest Draft, was a hit, as is their latest, Heiress Takes All—a testament to the couple’s shared ambition and vision for success. Growing up in Los Angeles, they were partners on science projects in high school before graduating as co-valedictorians. Wibberley went on to Princeton and Siegemund-Broka attended Harvard, but the pair ultimately reunited in their hometown after college and eventually married. They always knew it was a marriage of shared ambitions, which included both their professional and personal interests. “Success used to be defined in a purely financial way,” Wibberley says. “Now, I think we live in a world where people continue to strive for that, but within fields they love—and this brings us closer together as a couple.”
Today, the kind of ambition core to Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka’s creative and personal partnership is generally considered a positive trait. But it wasn’t always this way. Benjamin Franklin, for example, used his last will and testament to codify his gratitude for living a life free of ambition, which was at the time seen as a character flaw, linked with avarice. Since then, however, cultural connotations of the term have shifted, moving away from a simple desire for money or power to an admirable determination to succeed, on terms that can be as personal as actualizing a creative vision or acquiring a new skill.
“What was once a sin to have is now a sin to lack,” says Casey King, author of Ambition, A History: From Vice to Virtue.
This shift in meaning reflects a deeper change in our culture: a new breed of goals to pursue. Binge-worthy TV series set in the hard-charging worlds of finance and media continue to portray ambition as a propulsive human motivator, but rarely a path to happiness. The reality, however, is that many people these days view, and pursue, ambition in a broader context, with a range of both material and immaterial things to achieve, from work-life balance that works for them to a career that might offer the freedom to work from anywhere. They also have a more mindful, intentional method for pursuing career goals in concert with ones for personal fulfillment, creative expression, and emotional connection.
Carolina Sandoval and her husband Jesus Sotelo of Dallas make time for regular talks with one another designed to ensure they are balancing priorities. Sandoval credits this purpose-driven mindset of staying in step with the successful launch of her handbag business, Maria Victoria, which she co-founded as a way to uphold the craft of weaving from their native Mexico after the couple put down roots in Houston, Texas. Early in the company’s history, Sandoval handled the creative side of the business while Sotelo supported his wife’s ambitions by setting up her e-commerce operations. All this while also together raising twins.
“Supporting each other’s goals is key,” Sandoval says, “but we’re mindful of how ambition impacts our family. For instance, we turn off work emails during family time, and have regular check-ins to stay connected. And no matter how busy life gets, we make sure there is always time for a date night, family outing, or simply silent time.”
Think of the synergies of Sandoval and Sotelo and Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka as the latest iterations of the “power couple,” a term believed to have been coined by Newsweek in 1983 to mean two people who’ve developed dynamics that elevate each of them—and their partnership—exponentially. Today’s power couples are not only business moguls, politicians, or industry titans. Instead, they are often people who are ambitious individually and together, committed to achieving excellence in whatever they prioritize, whether it’s building a business, raising a family, or nurturing their relationship.
“Couples now define ambition and success in a wider spectrum of balances,” Siegemund-Broka says. “The truth is that we don’t have much of a work-life balance, but it doesn’t feel that way because it’s all a joy—professionally, emotionally, and romantically.”
image by Mario Hugo
Ambition in a More Equitable Age
John and Abigail Adams. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Marie and Paul Curie.
For centuries, high-visibility couples were largely defined by the profile of men, regardless of how significant a spouse’s contributions may have been. “John and Abigail Adams seemed to be equals,” King points out. “But when push came to shove, he really didn’t want to codify their equality by allowing her to vote.”
Even when women were recognized in a power relationship, the honor often felt qualified. After Marie Curie first discovered radium, for instance, her husband, Pierre, left his own work to advance the research, knowing her discovery was more important. The duo ultimately shared a Nobel Prize in 1903. But would Marie have received the prize if her husband had been the first one to discover the element? “I suspect not,” King says. “As a society, we prefer to believe in the myth of a solitary person who conquers a mountain.”
In the past half century, however, this dynamic has shifted. McKinsey’s 2023 Women in the Workplace report shows that women are equally ambitious as men, and that they are more ambitious now than before the pandemic, which was believed to have been a global ambition-compressor. Key to achieving those ambitions, the study found, are flexible workplaces, in which remote work and customizable hours allow for more equity, particularly for households blending two careers and childcare. “Success means to live our everyday life to the fullest, maintain just enough financial stability, and grow both individually and together,” Sandoval says. “We value strong family bonds, contributing to our community, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.”
Romantic pairings, too, have diversified – no longer strictly defined by marriage or the gender norms of the 20th century and earlier. In fact, another meaningful way notions of ambition have evolved is by making room for a romantic pairing in the first place: Gone are the days when it’s assumed personal ambitions are easier to realize if one forsakes personal relationships in order to eliminate distractions.
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Managing Dual Ambitions
Two driven people under one roof can still pose a challenge. Those who strike accord and find strength in the dynamic do so by directing their career and personal ambitions so that each individual can grow while at the same time supporting the other. Along the way, of course, power struggles will occur.
“It’s often not easy,” Wibberley says. “We can clash when it comes to work, but it’s important to close the computer and move onto dinner, ensuring that a disagreement over a manuscript doesn’t bleed into our personal life.”
Whether working together or cultivating separate careers, power couples tend to back one another both in and out of the office. As a result, their shared ambition results in even greater production and success. “Jay-Z and Beyonce are a great example of a power couple,” King says. “Jay-Z is primarily a composer and producer, while Beyonce is a master performer. They’re both excellent at what they do individually, but then come together to contribute to and support each other, increasing their production and success collectively.”
For Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka, the key to maximizing support is a consistent schedule with boundaries. First, Wibberley writes an initial draft with plot points and dialogue. Then Siegemund-Broka, who also works as an attorney in private equity, fleshes out the story. They write one book at a time, aiming for 6,000 words a week, and brainstorm continually throughout the process—pushing each other when appropriate while also knowing when to relax.
“It’s important to find someone who matches your goals and drive,” Siegemund-Broka says. “We’re not shy about pressing the gas because the other person is with us, but we’ve also mellowed and take time to hang out with our dog, friends, and families.”
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Explore Ambition’s Evolution
Read through to visit key power-couple moments throughout history.
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47 BC
Cleopatra unites with Julius Caesar
Locked in a power struggle with her brother, Cleopatra convinces Caesar to back her with his army to maintain rule of Egypt. This early power couple eventually have a son and remain in touch until Caesar’s death in 44 BC.
1903
Marie Curie wins the Nobel Prize
Studying at the Sorbonne, Marie discovers radioactivity in the metal thorium. Aided by her husband, Pierre, Marie makes multiple breakthroughs in the field of radioactivity (a term she coined) before going on to win the Nobel Prize for Physics alongside Pierre.
1960’s
The birth control pill launches careers
Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1960, the pill becomes widely available to young women by the end of the decade, allowing an influx of women to spend more time cultivating careers.
1983
Meet the “power couple”
Newsweek coins the term to refer to Robert and Elizabeth Dole as “a Washington power couple, heirs to all the attention and mystique the title implies.”
1987
Rise of the DINKs
A Los Angeles Times article describing “double income, no kids” (DINK) couples highlights a growing trend of young Baby Boomers prioritizing career over family. In 2023, the term resurfaces as a trend on TikTok.
2000’s
Rise of remote work
As technology becomes more mobile and untethered—and cultural shifts erase the notion of ambition chaining us to our desks—the ability to work from home, or virtually anywhere, makes it even easier for households of two ambitious people to pursue success side by side.”
Expressing Success as a Couple
The dynamism that comes from a modern power couple is the confidence it instills in each individual—knowing there is a wind at their back and a net to catch them if they fall. “Success is a legacy that we can all be proud of; one that embodies common values and dreams,” Sandoval says. “We do this by being in alignment, mutually supportive, and creating a life full of love, purpose, and fulfillment.”
From Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, power couples tend to project a swagger that stems from their confidence, one that manifests itself in myriad ways. At the heart of this success, though, is a freedom for individual self-expression in both personal and material ways, from clothes to house to choice of vehicle. Though often dedicated parents, these couples maintain developed passions and roles in their community that avoid the perception they’re programming their children’s lives at the expense of their own personal development. Perhaps most of all, a power couple manages to continue finding magic in that most universal way—having fun in both work and play.
“We’ve been together for 15 years, and manage to keep our passions like watching movies and TV and playing video games together,” Wibberley says. “And, of course, I beat him at everything.”
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