Krista Kemper pt 1: A Marriage Modeled After Gomez and Morticia

Good Life Stories

"To live without you, only that would be torture. I wouldn't torture you with such trivialities." ~ Morticia Addams

In this episode, I talk with Krista Kemper about how her relationship with her husband is heavily influenced by the iconic couple, Gomez and Morticia Addams.

Krista Kemper is an artist, combat veteran, mother, dancer, QA tech, researcher, army officer's wife, gamer, mechanical designer, SAS and president of a mechanical engineering firm. She describes herself as an "infovore" who read the Tao of Pooh at an impressionable age of 12. Krista and her husband Bart found themselves struggling to reconcile their vastly different personalities and energy levels until they decided to model their relationship after the delightfully dark and devoted Addams family duo.

Krista explains how Bart's high-energy, constantly-dreaming personality clashed with her more subdued, grounded nature. They fought frequently as Krista tried to match Bart's frenetic pace, only to burn out. By looking to beloved pop culture references, they landed on Gomez and Morticia as the blueprint for how they wanted their relationship to function. Bart's background as a nationally ranked fencer, combat engineer and explosives enthusiast perfectly aligned with the Addams family patriarch, while Krista embraced the role of the serene, supportive Morticia.

"I didn't understand what it meant to just be and be adored. And I'm crying thinking about this because it was the hardest thing to learn how to do… he didn’t want me to meet his energy. He just he wanted me to accept his energy and he was okay with my slower, more chill way of being."

This podcast is for anyone who has encountered challenges blending vastly different personalities in a relationship. Krista and Bart's journey to finding their Gomez and Morticia dynamic offers a heartwarming and humorous example of how compromise, acceptance and a healthy dose of dark humor can be the keys to a fulfilling partnership. Listeners will be inspired by Krista's willingness to simply "be" and allow herself to be adored, as well as the creative ways she and Bart navigate workplace dynamics as a married engineering team.

To learn more about Krista Kemper, visit her website at https://kempereng.com/. Thanks again, and I love that you are here to listen to Good Life Stories.

More info: https://www.goodlifestories.com/

About Krista Kemper

I am a self-taught mechanical designer. I know the theories used in engineering, can do the equations and use the software, but I’m still not an engineer. I’m a technician. As president of an engineering company, my job is to wrangle engineers and keep them grounded.

Aside from that, I’m also a combat veteran (Army), mother, and artist. I worked in IT as a QA tech many moons ago, did a year at Cornish College of the Arts, and am on the autism spectrum, late life diagnosis. Born in upstate NY, raised between WA and MA, and now living in LA…the state, not the city. I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in life is to differentiate between dreams and goals. While they’re not mutually exclusive, they’re also not always one in the same. Another is that I’m not going to get to the fun part if I wait until I get over my fears. I spend a lot of time utterly terrified while I’m in the middle of doing things I’ve never done before. I’m never quite sure if I’m afraid of failure or success. My husband, Bart, and I often joke that it’s easy when things go horribly wrong, the problem is what to do if everything goes horribly *right*. That, and failure is an opportunity to learn. Data is data.

Last, My husband is also my principal engineer. I not only love him, I have a lot of respect for him. There are meme’s out there that call the relationship of Morticia and Gomez Addams “life goals” but I’m not sure most people really understands what that means, especially those who see Gomez as their version of prince charming. The enthusiasm Never Stops. Bart and I used to have issues because I thought I had to match his energy. That took a lot out of me. What I needed to do was simply be and allow him to worship me! LOL! Really though, to get through the difficulties we were having, we actually sat down to discuss pop culture relationship models, modern archetypes, as something to model our own relationship on. For us, it was Gomez and Morticia, to include the weird old house, fencing, and explosives. And, with both of us being combat vets, dark humor is pretty much a staple in our lives.

Krista’s Links
Website: https://kempereng.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kempereng/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KemperEng

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kemper-engineering-services-llc

About Tracy Crowley

Tracy Crowley has always been an entrepreneur. Whether it was making gowns for fellow Army wives, taking portraits in black and white, or working on her other businesses, she is always learning something new.

That passion for learning something new and giving something back collide nicely in this podcast.

Join Tracy for Good Life Stories, where simple curiosity brings out great stories, every single time.

Website: https://goodlifestories.com/

Check out Tracy’s new book! https://tracycrowley.life/