Arianna Huffington sat down with renowned interior designers and hosts of TLC's Nate and Jeremiah by Design, husbands Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, for an in-depth conversation about how they manage to not only run a chaotic household parenting two children under three, but successfully run a business together for the latest episode of the Thrive Global Podcast with iHeartRadio, brought to you by Sleep Number.
Nate and Jeremiah, who tied the knot in May 2014, are parents to daughter Poppy, 3, and son Oskar, born in March 2018, both via surrogate.
In the audio below, the couple, who star together on hit TLC show, say the key to coparenting and working together is communication.
“I think that we live in a very special time, and Jeremiah and I have always believed that love is love,” Nate shared with Arianna during their candid sit-down interview. “We both individually, and especially as a couple, wanted to bring children into the world and raise them in a way that honors everything that we've tried to understand about life, and the lessons that we've taken and forge a path with children in a home that is meant purely to support who they are meant to be. That's our philosophy and how we plan on raising both kids. We're certainly not experts. We have a three year old and a five week old today.”
“We talk a lot,” Jeremiah added of how they communicate, the key to their relationship.
“Yeah, we do. We're a bit like lesbians,” Nate joked. “We're just sort of in constant communication … Honestly, I think that we're both very much interested in life in balance,” he added. “We're both very much interested in what is appropriate to delegate and what isn't. We're both very grateful and aware in our family and in our home about those moments that are so important and so precious. … Nothing is more important than our family.”
Nate added that they also make a point to prioritize family over work.
“Everything else is not as important,” he continued. “The deal isn't as important. The show isn't as important. The licensing or publishing -- whatever is going on in our world -- we like to live a certain lifestyle; we're both ambitious, we're both hard workers, but nothing is more important that would cause us to miss Poppy's school play, and we both work for ourselves [so] we've created this world for ourselves where we can pretty much control our schedule.”
Surviving the 2004 Sri Lanka tsunami also caused Nate to take a second look at life.
“It reprioritized everything,” he said. “ … I think everyone has gone through some sort of tragedy. It may not have been as dramatic as a natural disaster, but all pain, I believe is the same. And I think there was definitely for me, a moment where my priorities and my character underwent sort of a change, a transformation. And that, I think, I can tap into still. It's not always perfect; I get stressed out about TV ratings and contracts and all these things, it makes me nuts. But, I know in my bones that that's not what is going to drive our love story. That's not what's going to drive the well-being of our kids, and I know that what will is those moments where … [we’ve] been able to stop the merry-go-round of life so often to say, ‘Let's stop and notice what we're doing. Let's stop and notice what we're seeing.’ And it's made a huge difference.”
Listen to their full interview in the audio above to hear more from Nate and Jeremiah.
The Thrive Global Podcast with iHeartRadio, hosted by Arianna Huffington, where she speaks with notable leaders, celebrities, athletes and influencers to learn how prioritizing well-being — instead of burnout and overwork — has made them happier and more successful. This podcast provides tips, tools and microsteps to transform your life and go from surviving to thriving.
The Thrive Global Podcast is brought to you by Sleep Number.