RHOA star Kandi Burruss has decided to overlook her mother, Joyce Jones’ disapproval of her husband, Todd Tucker, calling him her “teammate for life.”

Kandi gushed over her marriage to Todd during her appearance at the Ebony Power 100 Gala on Oct. 29, PEOPLE reported.

“We have a real understanding of each other,” the RHOA star told Ebony at the Gala. She added that the secret to their happy marriage is “just great communication and having fun together,” as they’ve been married for over eight years.

Her sentiments seemingly haven’t changed despite her mother’s public disapproval of the pair. Joyce even recently threw shade at Todd, saying her daughter should’ve found someone on the same financial level.

“If I could have replaced Todd, I probably would’ve picked anyone that had a decent job. Somebody that was maybe in the same business, in the financial realm that she was in,” she said at BravoCon22.

However, despite the criticism, the 46-year-old has decided to stick beside her man. In defense of her marriage, she explained that the relationship with her husband “works” because they “keep each other motivated.”

“He pushes me in a way that I can’t say I had never experienced before being with him. I really feel like he’s my teammate in life,” she said. “We have intertwined our wants and desires. We have all these dreams, and sometimes, I’ll be all out of the box, but he’ll still be like, ‘Okay, babe, let’s do it.’ I think that’s what makes it work because sometimes I feel like, especially when you are a woman who has dreams and goals, you don’t always meet a man who is going to support your dreams and goals and keep pushing you.”

Kandi and Todd share two children: daughter Blaze (2) and son Ace (6). Both additionally have children from previous relationships: Kandi’s daughter Riley (20) and Todd’s daughter Kaela (26).