CLEVELAND — On a typical, busy morning at Roasted Coffee Shop in Olmsted Township, you'll find owners Todd and Lauren Phillips chatting up customers and workers serving up smiles.
But on full display, is the team mentality this power couple lives by every day. You see, they're business partners, parents to four children, and lifesaving heroes for the Cleveland Fire Department.
"I just passed my 25 years," Todd said. "I've been a firefighter for about 16, 17 years," Lauren said. "And I've been with Cleveland just going on five years."
It's been an incredible journey for the couple who said it was basically love at first sight when they met back in 2012.
"I knew I was gonna be with him after the first date," Lauren told us.
"I really think I met somebody that, I mean, I'm really into and I think this is the one I want to keep moving forward with," Todd said of their beginning days.
At the time, they were both single parents. They knew blending a family would be a challenge, but they wanted forever.
"We laugh because she brought a daughter and three cats into the family and I brought a dog and three children into the family," Todd said.
The couple married in 2015. A few years later, Lauren set her sights on joining Todd at the Cleveland Fire Department. It had been a dream of hers.
"It wasn't until 2018 that I actually got on Cleveland fire," Lauren said.
She didn't just walk on, she shattered the ceiling as the one woman on a 700-man department for the first three years of her career. When she sworn in, Todd was there to pin her.
"Even if women didn't know that I was on the job and then they see I'm on the job, you know, maybe it's just a little extra push where it's like, 'Oh my gosh, we absolutely can do this,'" Lauren said.
Firefighting runs deep in Lauren's blood. Her grandpa served on Cleveland's force. She knows he'd be proud of her ... and Todd.
"They would've connected on so many levels of life that my grandpa would've just like absolutely adored him," Lauren said.
"Everybody talks about, you know, the boys club or whatever else and it's like, and they know that coming in and that mentality and it's just, it's been a non-issue," Todd said of Lauren joining the Cleveland team.
They see each other every third day, and when their paths do cross at work, they make it count.
"We like hanging out with each other. We like life together," Todd said.
And, just like any other husband or wife, they worry for each other.
"I mean, there is a true life and death aspect about what we do and we're really working," Lauren said. "He's still my husband. I don't want anything to happen to him. So if I, especially if I know he's going to a fire, it's always like, 'Be safe. I love you. Take your time.'"
They share a life, a career, and a business. Not every couple could. But their love and admiration for one another keeps them going.
"You're always gonna have something, but it's like, if you have the same goals, the same ambitions, the same drive, it makes it so much easier to keep pushing each other forward," Todd said.
As strong as they are as individuals, together they can do so much. This team is for life.
"Todd inspires me because he is probably one of the most hardworking people, caring, loving, and selfless people I've probably ever met in my entire life," Lauren said.
"I just love her because she is such a great partner in life," Todd said.
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