As Featured on Real Leaders.com
Don Wenner is a husband, father of three, and the founder and CEO of DLP Capital, a private real estate and financial services firm with high growth and impact.
He’s also all about work-life integration, which has gained popularity as a more holistic, blended take on the
concept of work-life balance.
Wenner lives with intention and focuses on what he calls “the eight Fs of life:” faith, family, friends,
freedom, fun, fulfillment, fitness, and finance. He uses a baseball analogy to describe how he can be
working on several Fs at the same time, loading his bases and aiming for triples and homeruns.
“I want to have as much of my life that’s integrated together,” Wenner says. “I want as much as possiblenot to have any conflict between my job as a father and my job as a husband with my job as a founder and CEO of my organization.”
He is thankful that work-life integration is much more achievable in today’s culture of remote work. For instance, he can work late from home if needed and still catch family dinner in between, unlike at a remote office. Wenner and his wife also value travel, so they homeschool their children and divide their time almost equally each year between St. Augustine, Florida; Asheville, North Carolina; and a world travel destination. For support and structure, the Wenners hire a traveling teacher and a chauffeur/helper.
“I’m still working maybe 50 to 60 hours a week, but I’m fully present with my family the rest of the time, intentionally giving our kids the kind of experiences and lifestyle that my wife and I want to create,” Wenner says. “It’s definitely different. It’s not for everybody, but it’s been wonderful for us.”
While growing their family — their children are now ages 11, 10, and 1 — Wenner simultaneously has grown his company by 50 percent or more every year since its inception 17 years ago, now with over 450 employees. Wenner’s DLP Capital was repeatedly recognized for its fast growth and as a best place to work, surpassed 2,000 investors in the DLP Impact Funds, and has $5 billion of assets under management. But he’s mindful of not letting work consume him.
“Understanding that my job as a father and a husband outranks my job as founder and CEO of my company has been there from day one,” Wenner shares. “I’ve been present and home for dinner more nights than not. I’m home and present on the weekends. I’ve coached 17 seasons now of flag football for my kids. I want to have as much influence as possible over who they become and how they experience the world and learn. I’ve been blessed to build an organization that has given me the freedom and flexibility to do that." For Wenner, work-life integration is the formula for a rewarding life.