Maintaining a healthy relationship with a business owner is tough. A program for spouses at the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is meant to help.

Being an entrepreneur is time-consuming, energy-draining, and often thankless—and that’s when things are going well. However tough as it is to be an entrepreneur, being an entrepreneur’s spouse has its own challenges. Spouses face difficulties that are often isolating because details cannot be shared with or understood by friends and family, says Gina Elkins, 48, of San Jose, Calif. For nearly a dozen years, Elkins has found help and support from the spousal forum program of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a networking group with chapters around the world. The elementary school teacher, whose husband, Hunter, owns Elkins Retail Advertising, spoke recently to Smart Answers columnist Karen E. Klein about how the forum’s Silicon Valley chapter has affected her life and marriage. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.