class User < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :store has_many :stores, :foreign_key => 'owner_id' end class Store < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :owner, :class_name => 'User' end FactoryGirl.define do factory :user do name 'John Doe' ignore do store_name nil end store {Store.find_or_create_by_name(store_name || 'Test store')} end factory :store do name 'Test store' association :owner, :factory => :user end end