A Regal Love

from RoyalTee Winter Edition 2021: A Regal Love Feat. Mark and Brittney McKinnon

Spread A Little Love Joy

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ROYALTEE: Let’s talk about quarantine life. How has life been at home?

MM: For us, it actually has been really good. The first month, of course, was a big shocker to both our businesses. But what I'm proud of is that we both grew up throughout it because we were forced to be together and everything was shut down. So, it was really good to be in a position to learn more about each other because you think you know everything about a person until you’re literally with them 24/7. With the busy lives me and Brittney had, it was really hard to spend that time together. I feel like we managed to grow a lot in our personal lives and in business.

BM: Honestly, the biggest thing I got out of it was learning more about each other as a leader. It will be some things that he [ Mark] might say on his team calls and I'm like, ‘Oh, that's really good. Let me implement that in my business.’ And it will be some things on my calls that he will implement too. So, it allowed us to, like, create a synergy within our marriage that we honestly didn't discover before.

ROYALTEE: Some couples can make entrepreneurship work in their relationships and others can’t. How important was it for either one of you to find someone who supported your entrepreneurial endeavors?

MM: It means the world! Fortunately for us, we were already in our fields. I was an actor. I was already running my acting studio. Brittney was already doing marketing. We had to accept who we were. It wasn't always perfect. Over time, we continued to communicate, continued to have those open conversations, what made us feel uncomfortable, what made us feel comfortable. And I feel like that's why our relationship is so strong because the level of trust that we have. But number two, we came in knowing like, ‘this is what this person does so I know how to support it, or what more I can do to help that person in their field. BM: I have never dated an actor before…But over time, I saw his heart and God showed me like ‘Hey, this man is going be your husband. It’s bigger than what he's doing on camera, it’s bigger than what he is doing in these films. He’s bringing Me [referring to God] through everything that he touches.’ People are going to be able to see Christ in his performance. I would never sit up here and say, ‘Oh, it's completely easy being the wife of an actor.’ And that's not true. But knowing that he's doing this out of passion allowed me to be even more supportive of his entire career.

ROYALTEE: Did you manifest the person that you ultimately wanted to be with?

BM: Yes and no because we were neither’s type at all. Mark was not attracted to brown-skinned women. I was only attracted to like drug dealers and thugs. I had a little crazy past (laughs). But I remember one time writing in my journal, right before I met him [Mark], and I was like, ‘God, I'm just tired of doing the same thing. I’m tired of talking to the same men that are no good for me; please bring me a friend.’ That’s all I asked for was a friend. And that's how we actually started. I just asked God to bring me a friend. And somebody who kind of knew that I had a past, but someone who's not going judge me from this past and is going to love me through it. And, literally, Mark became that person.

MM: For me, I saw Brittney's heart. After the friendship, once we got a chance to grow and know each other, that’s when God started showing me more things about her, when He was like, ‘Yo, that’s your wife.’ I know a lot of times in the dating world now, as soon as you meet the person, it's like, okay, I want to know, right away, do you have all these things? But sometimes it takes time to know who a person is or sometimes your perspective changes after you became friends for a while.

“We had to acce pt who we were. It wasn't always perfect.”

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ROYALTEE: Would you call yourselves a power couple?

MM: Every time someone says that it’s hard to say thank you. We’re grateful, but we are who we are. We don't let that get to our head. We don't try to do anything to try to make us look like a power couple. I think we're just two individuals who are great at what we both do. And it just so happens that we are together. So, it may come off as a power couple, but we don’t walk around with that on our shoulder at all.

ROYALTEE: How would you describe your relationship now; from where it started to where it is now?

BM: I would definitely say the love has grown. And I would say it has grown more intentionally. I think when we first started, we were just getting to know each other. It's like, ‘Oh, I'm in love. I like this person, he looks nice. And we're gonna get married.’ But as you grow, to see a person's heart, grow to see they can handle responsibilities, that's what women really are attracted to.

And so, every single day, we're learning more about each other, we're being more in love, and we're being more intentional about loving each other. So that means at eight o'clock, nine o'clock, whenever we're done with our day, phones need to be down, and we need to ask each other about our day. We need to really be invested in one another as opposed to when we were in our early 20's, just dating and trying to figure it out. But now as we're older, we're more intentional about our love. Like we want to make sure we spend time with one another, we want to make sure we do date nights every single week. Because as you get older, and as you get super busy, you sometimes forget about those moments, and I want to make sure that we always incorporate that in our marriage and our love as we continue to grow. MM: One thing I'm very grateful for is that we actually spent time in the beginning of our relationship before we were officially together just being friends. We all know that relationships aren't perfect. You will have that moment where you do not like the person. But that friendship is what carries us through. So, I think that's the biggest difference between where we were in the beginning. Even though we're married, our friendship has grown the most because your friendship gets tested. Whether it's your girlfriend, your boyfriend, whoever, your friendship gets tested over time. So, to be able to be in this relationship, even when we're not happy with each other, we're able to continue to be friends. And that's what keeps us getting through our arguments or getting through our moments. We never go to bed upset or angry. We always make sure we find some type of resolution. If somebody is upset, give them permission to be upset for a moment, but you cannot let that carry over into the next day.

“We don't try to do anything to try to make us look like a power couple. I think we're just two individuals who are great at what we both do. And it just so happens that we are together. So, it may come off as a power couple, but we don’ t walk around with that on our shoulder at all.”

“I just asked God to bring me a friend. And somebody who kind of knew that I had a past, but someone who's not going judge me from this past and is going to love me through it.”

“After the friendship, once we got a chance to grow and know each other, that’s when God started showing me more things about her, when He was like, ‘Yo, that’s your wife.”

“I feel like we managed to g row a lot in our personal lives and in business.”

ROYALTEE: What are your couple goals for 2021?

MM: We [Brittney and I] did our vision board and we're really looking to coming together. Instead of having our two separate places [ my studio; Brittney with her office], why not come together to make a creative art studio with both of us that can benefit the community? Benefit people in the arts, but also in business? That's one of our goals for 2021. BM: On the personal side, starting a family. I think it's time to get about starting a family. That's going to really be a main priority for 2021. And then also owning some properties and adding some more investments to our portfolio so we can leave to our children.

As for me, I love traveling, I want to travel, so I'm going to throw that in there. (laughs)

Follow Mark McKinnon:

@themarkmckinnon @mckinnonactingstudio

Follow Brittney McKinnon:

@thebrittneymckinnon @b.cartersolutions

“What makes me a Royal Woman is that I really focus on better serving other people. I care about what's going on around me. I care about people; I care about making an impact and making a difference in the world. That is what makes you a Royal person.”

“What makes me a Royal Man is being a man of purpose because your purpose is all about how you're helping someone else. That's just my heart. That's how I was raised. But also making sure that I’m staying true to myself, I think that's what makes me Royal as well. You have to be your true, authentic self. No matter what's going on in life, no matter what life throws at you. You’ve got to stay yourself and be transparent. The more I tapped into that, the more I became bigger in my purpose.”