Duck Dynasty’s Korie Robertson on Family, Business

Sep 05, 2013 05:10 AM EDT

“Duck Dynasty” reality TV star Korie Robertson is a mother of five and helps run the family business with her husband Willie. Although she didn’t grow up with a hunting background and may “lean towards yuppie more than redneck,” Korie has been a faithful member of the Robertson family for more than twenty years.

Willie and Korie Robertson met at a Christian summer camp in elementary school. They went to the same church growing up, and began to date as teenagers. They were soon engaged, though Korie’s parents were a bit nervous about their daughter getting married at such a young age. The two were married about a year after graduating from high school, and went to Harding University together where Korie had a scholarship.

After college, the couple moved back to Louisiana and ran a Christian camp for several years before becoming involved full-time with the family business. Korie is now the office manager for Duck Commander, laboring alongside her Chief Executive Officer husband Willie. The two say they love working together, though it can be difficult to run the family business while filming the show. Willie and Korie have often incorporated their children into business operations - “I think so many families today, the focus is so much on the kids and what they do and all of their activities … they forget about the family and the core, what makes that family important,” said Korie in an interview with Josh Trolley – “Our faith is a commonality – we all have a strong belief in God and that keeps us together,” she said. The Robertsons understand the importance of being tightly-knit, and are grateful that the business gives them an opportunity to all work together to achieve family goals.

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Photoshoot of Korie Robertson (right) and her daughter Sadie (left) for Sadie's

After being married for twenty years, Korie says that the best advice she would give a newlywed couple is to “Laugh together, put your relationship first, and forgive freely.” Willie and Korie released “The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family and Ducks Built a Dynasty” in 2012, a book about “one of the strongest families I know … We’re all about faith, love, and in the end, food,” she jokes. “At the end of the day, we stick together because we’re family and we love each other,” says Willie. Each chapter of the book begins with a Bible verse.