Success in Business, Strength in Love: One Couple's EO Journey

By Brian Burnsed, EO Global Senior Writer

Fittingly, Grant and Nora Hayzlett’s relationship with the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) began on a dinner date. In 2013, the couple had been married for a decade and worked together as the top executives of her family’s successful signage business. One evening, they went out for a bite with some friends and were struck when the couple who joined them spent time gladhanding a handful of others in the restaurant, including its owner.  

“Wow,” Nora said to them. “You guys are pretty well connected.”  

Her friend Dawn Cartier explained that she owed those connections to her time spent in EO, an organization where like-minded entrepreneurs gathered to learn from one another’s personal and professional experiences. She encouraged the Hayzletts to join. Soon after, Grant made the leap and began regularly attending events held by the EO Arizona chapter.    

“He was like, ‘My mind is blown,’” Nora says. “‘I’m just feeling very connected, and I’m feeling like I’m learning from this experience.’” 

Encouraged by his enthusiasm, Nora joined EO Arizona in short order. The decision has, in the decade since, broadened their social and professional circles and introduced them to lifelong friends, including several other couples who Nora has recruited to join EO.  

 “We have been in EO for 12 or so years and can say that it has played a key role in our communication skills, which affects everything from our marriage, family life, and company,” Nora says.  

Growing Together   

The pair met at the University of Colorado—even as students, both were already focusing on their own businesses. Nora contributed to Arrow Graphics, her family’s directional signage company, and Grant helmed a small property maintenance and management firm. Rather than working odd jobs to make ends meet as many of their friends did, they found themselves with more free time than their peers and bonded over their shared paths and interests.

“We made our own schedules,” she says. “We ended up spending a lot of time together.” 

All that time together led to a marriage in August 2003. Nora remained committed to her family business and Grant was in the process of building a new one of his own when he was diagnosed with cancer in January of 2004. His diagnosis and the subsequent arrival of their two children made it obvious to them that they should focus their energies on one business. She could function as the CEO of her family firm and, with a clean bill of health, he could leverage his business development skills to help streamline and grow the company. Arrow, which specializes in directional signage for builders and municipalities, has since expanded to eight offices around the United States.  

As a member of EO’s community, Nora has focused on building a stronger network and creating meaningful relationships. Grant, meanwhile, has appreciated the myriad opportunities to learn. They tend to emerge from EO gatherings having had two distinct, albeit complementary, experiences.

“What’s funny is we would go to the events, and we would have completely different takeaways,” she says. 

In particular, they say they have garnered tremendous value from EO Forum, a confidential regular gathering of small groups of members—led by trained moderators—in which they can discuss deeply personal and professional challenges in confidential trust with their peers. They belong to separate Forum groups within the EO Arizona chapter and often return home to compare notes about what they learned.

“It permeates your work, your marriage, and your interpersonal relationships,” Grant says.  

Spreading the Love 

Nora has held several leadership positions during her time in EO and eventually ascended to become EO Arizona’s president in 2022-23. Along the way, she wondered why she did not encounter more couples who shared the gift of EO membership, given the volume of entrepreneurs who work together. Once, at a regional event, she spoke with the president of the EO Nashville chapter, who mentioned that they had eight member couples. Meanwhile, despite being a comparably sized chapter, EO Arizona only had two.

“I have a competitive streak,” Nora chuckles now. “Why are we not going after couples? When you know that they both work in the business, let’s talk to them both. Let’s get them both.”  

Her competitive bent paid off: At EO Arizona’s peak, the chapter also boasted eight couples among its members. Beyond the bonds formed during EO events, the Hayzletts routinely found themselves out to dinners and social events with their fellow EO couples.

“Couples usually stay in EO because they're each finding their own area in it, and they have their own Forum. They're getting their own experience,” Nora says.  

Though they have deep roots in the Phoenix area and EO Arizona, the Hayzletts are preparing for a new adventure. With the nest empty and both kids in college, the couple has purchased an apartment in Paris and anticipate moving within the next year. They plan to manage Arrow from afar and will build out a new network and new group of friends through membership in the EO Europe Bridge chapter, which Nora recently joined. Grant plans to join as well. If he does, they will become that regional chapter’s first couple, perhaps sparking a similar trend in their new market.

“We have some good connections over in Europe already,” Nora says. “It’s like a head start.”