They are both used to holding high-profile jobs, and long worked together, but in differing roles, when they owned and operated Brunner Lodge, a private tourism facility, on the West Coast for 17 years, until 2001.
She ran the lodge, while he was a fishing guide and handled the marketing, the latter involving annual promotional trips together to the United States.
"I got used to her telling me what to do," he jokes.
Also a keen conservationist, Mr Grubb these days is a trustee of Tourism Dunedin and a first-term member of the Otago Fish and Game Council.
And he is happy to play a support role now that it is his wife who has the full-time job.
He does the cooking and also helps out in many other ways, including acting as chauffeur sometimes, if some long-distance driving is required as Mrs van der Goes travels around the large Otago region.
That driving and other back-up is "enormously helpful", she says.
"The reality is it would be very hard to do this job, if not impossible, if you didn't have a supportive partner, because it's demanding. There are often things to be done outside the normal working hours," she says.
"Conservation is totally central to New Zealand and New Zealanders. That's the way we look at ourselves and that's the way the world looks at us.
"That's not only in terms of having nice mountains or lakes.
"It's also about having clean water and the productivity that comes from that in terms of tourism and so on.
"It's big responsibility from that perspective." Mrs van der Goes is a passionate believer in conservation, but does not believe in simply locking the country's assets away beyond community access in order to protect them.
Her husband is supportive and also "does his own thing and, hopefully, I don't get in the way of those things", she says.
Mr Grubb says their current roles are a matter of "swings and roundabouts".
"Now Marian has got the pressure job and it's my turn to support her."
"She's probably got the most interesting job I could possibly imagine."
A "bonus" of her job is that, through it, he has learnt a lot more about conservation, but confidential work-related matters aren't discussed.
Their friends have been understanding, and only one golf-playing associate has given him a hard time for being a "kept man".
Mr Grubb also laughs off any suggestion he is a "power behind the throne"."We thoroughly enjoy our lives and have a partnership which works.
"It's a great feeling. It's great fun."
