Ep 33: LOVE IN AMERICA: Love Isn’t Always A Zip, Long-Time Friends Lead To A Long-Term Marriage
Zigzagging from friends to parents to business owners, their journey wasn’t a zip! East Coast natives Liz and Mike Montante, who first crossed paths working at the same department store as teenagers, turn their long-time friendship into a 17-year marriage. Now owners of ZIPS Dry Cleaners of South Tampa, Liz and Mike sit down with Sarina Fazan to tell their love story!
It all started when Mike got fired from the family business - by his own mother – right after high school! As luck would have it, his next job at the local mall would introduce him to Liz.
Liz recalls meeting Mike on the first day of training, when she noticed him sitting across the table and invited him to lunch.
For Mike, there was a little more to the story. He says, “My one friend noticed when she got hired. He was like, look when you go into your first orientation, training type thing there’s a girl in there that’s really cute. I want you to talk to her. But, basically for me – for him!”
However, Liz had other ideas. “I pounced,” she laughs.
Mike exclaims, “I didn’t do anything and that’s exactly what I told my friend!”
Flashforward to their marriage today, Sarina wonders how Mike’s friend felt about him breaking the “guy code.”
“He was actually really good with it. He was fine with it, I mean he’s still one of my best friends today,” Mike reassures.
Friends first, the couple dated casually in college. At the time, Mike was studying at the University of Maryland, while Liz was preparing to go to McDaniel College in Maryland.
“Definitely I would not say serious at this point,” Liz says in regard to their relationship.
But Liz admits that she did see a future with her now-husband. “I knew. I knew that this was the guy that I wanted to be with,” she explains. “I don’t know about a love-at-first-sight kind of thing. But once we got to be friends…you picture what your life looks like over your lifetime and family, and what that looks like, I always pictured him next to me.”
On the other hand, Mike jokes, “It didn’t cross my mind until the ultimatum.”
Their relationship evolved as they graduated from college and their careers took off. Liz was working as an event planner, and Mike was fully invested in his family business as an owner/operator for McDonalds.
Liz says, “It grew into a legit relationship where we’re now dating, and it’s for real. It’s a real relationship. I think it gets to the point where we had been dating now like were still dating, and like I’ve known you forever, and I was like, so are we getting married?”
Mike says, “I guess it’s kind of cliché, but it’s like this is, this is really good, and we’re both enjoying ourselves, and we love spending time together. And that’s kind of it!”
As their friends moved forward in their relationships, Liz and Mike questioned if they would take the next step as well.
“We had a couple that was married, then we had another couple that got married, and then also got pregnant and had children and so like now I see our friends like evolving into these families, and were still at bars and hanging out,” Liz explains.
At this point, the couple actually split for six-weeks. But the break led them to the realization that they indeed belonged together.
“We went out and talked again and got back together and it was at that point that I kind of realized like if you call her back now and if this goes any further, this is it,” Mike recalls.
He made the decision that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Liz, and he knew then that he would propose.
Liz turns to Mike and says playfully, “Well, good, you made the right decision!”
“Every day I know I did,” he responds.
After first asking Liz’s dad for permission to marry her in an emotional conversation, he began to plan the surprise proposal.
“I open the door, and there’s like flowers all the way to the bedroom, and like on the floor whenever I had to follow through, and like as soon as you open you know something is happening,” Liz remembers.
She adds, “I put my stuff down walked in the bedroom, and he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him.”
Liz was so excited that she almost forgot to say yes.
Mike says, “It was at least a good minute, and it felt like hours, and she did not say yes. I was like you do have to say yes, like you have to say something!”
They were married on June 6th, 2003, and this year they celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary.
Two years after tying the knot, they had their first child. It was indeed an awakening for them as they went from newlyweds to new parents.
“I thought we were totally ready and then we had the baby,” Liz explains.
After having their first two boys back-to-back, they weren’t sure if their family was complete. But then baby fever hit the couple.
“My best friend had just had a little boy and both of us are like, we need one of these,” Liz remembers.
She found out she was pregnant with their third child on New Year’s Day, and she surprised Mike with the news. “I gave him a box of toothpaste, and it had the stick inside,” she says.
“At this point, the two boys are seven and five,” Mike recalls. “We had been going back and forth for like four years now on whether we should have another kid or not. And it was like when I wanted to have another kid, Liz didn’t. And when Liz wanted to have another kid I didn’t. So, I had absolutely no idea!”
After three kids, nearly two decades of marriage, and a new business together, Liz and Mike are still best friends and love spending time together.
“If you are able to marry your best friend, that’s your best choice,” Liz advises.
Mike agrees, “I think that it is super important going in and everything that you’re just honest about it, like be who you are. Be honest he entire time. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with them.”
Honesty, friendship, and communication are priorities in their relationship. And, that strong foundation helped to support them when they moved from Maryland to Tampa Bay, leaving family and friends behind.
Liz and Mike own ZIPS Dry Cleaners of South Tampa, the only franchise of its kind in Florida. After years in his family’s business, Mike was ready to do something different. He was looking for a more ground-level franchise that would include territory development – and ZIPS was the answer!
Meanwhile, Liz had been at home with the boys until moving to Florida. She is now actively involved in the business, networking in the community, and sharing her passion for ZIPS. Liz currently is an ambassador with the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
Together, Liz and Mike make a great team, and this is just the start of the next chapter of their story. They will definitely be back “On The Record With Sarina Fazan” to share more about their journey to Tampa and the start of their ZIPS franchise.
Click here for more information about ZIPS Dry Cleaners of South Tampa: www.321zips.com/tampa
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