Posts Tagged ‘Why I Love What I Do’

I am simply in love with homebuilding! This business, in all of its many facets of responsibility, offers me a release for creativity, an opportunity for physical expression. In the end, what I do on a daily basis offers a long lasting reward that extends genuine benefits to others.

Charles Rinek Home Custom Home Builder Palm CoastFine personalized home building is not just an occupation; it is an orchestrated process that functions purely as a means to reach a glorious end. The complexities of the process simultaneously challenge me to stay sharp and multi focused on details even while watching a much bigger picture. Building is a study of wonderful contradictions and requires instantaneous changes in planning and direction. I have learned that I dare to take on such a complex whirlwind of organized chaos because as the creator, I am blessed to become empowered to make something that never before existed. Something we are able to touch, to examine and appreciate. Home building then offers to me exciting opportunities; the fluid continuum of process promises an ultimate microcosmic “Big Bang” creation experience of my very own to control. A fine home, one like no other before, will rise up from swirling debris of activity, maturing to fruition as a newly born physical monument offers promises for perpetual reward to the family who will share life within its walls.

Consider that a custom, personalized and meticulously tailored home will become somehow magically alive!

A successfully built home is mystically empowered to fulfill the changing needs of the clients who will dwell within. It will offer convenience, low maintenance and perpetuate utility throughout the owner’s current and future phases of life. As I direct from a centralized position of leadership, feeling like Fantasia’s Mickey, I look forward with excitement at the project tasking which lies ahead and how this will one day complement another’s life.

Hammock Beach Dunes Palm Coast Pool Ocean Rinek HomesAt the core, my process starts with the understanding that a home’s structure should ergonomically enhance an owner’s entire life experience and that their home’s design must pay homage to their history and honor their soul. I also have seen that a home’s true value is not necessarily about packing in every trendy gadget, it is rather more about using wisdom and sensibility throughout the entire process. Therefore I enjoy applying the real world lessons taught by classical architectural theory, for just as people are made in a unique manner, their sanctuary should be so. I love to tailor their home around them to wrap like a favorite pair of cozy jeans that conforms and perfectly fits to their own body of lifestyle.

For sure, the end results are a welcome source for satisfaction for me as well; the day a particular home project comes to a close, I experience my own catharsis, in a way like childbirth I deliver their home, handing them the key to their new base for life. As I walk away down the driveway upon that last day, I must leave my “child” with an understanding that I may be of no further use to that creation. I have done my job, but thankfully, just as a parent sees his child move away through bittersweet tender eyes, all at once I face a wonderful transition, a new phase in life on the horizon, a new creational process to look towards, a new dawning for the sharing of excitement. What can be better than that!

…the day a particular home project comes to a close, I experience my own catharsis, in a way like childbirth I deliver their home.

Building fine homes is, I suppose, a compulsion for me; over the years I have come to the conclusion that life’s journey is all about what we were meant to actually be doing, not what we had thought we should do at any one point in time. I was “supposed” to be an engineer according to my instructors and my family; they recognized mLuxury Dining Room Palm Coast Charles Rinek Homesy penchant for exacting detail in math and science, and concluded that my path should be obvious to me. A long story later, as I made my way through higher learning, supporting myself while working in the building field, I found that I was actually meant to use my passion in a much more tactile and practical world, one which allowed a more physical expression for creativity. I have a soulful appreciation for fine craftsmanship, thoughtful design, and the firm belief that proof of God will be found within each particular of detail. I felt an electric release in combining my innate understanding of architecture, structural dynamics, management and personal service with a holistic sense of “home” as a form of sanctuary. I still do, because this is what I was meant to be doing.

It is undeniable that the expected end result of my labors will be cherished and become a vital part of a family’s community. But for me, the reward of process is what speaks to my soul. I feel it allows me to understand God in some small way, elementary and plebian in nature to be sure, but nearer to him nonetheless.

To build such a complement to another’s life is a worthy opportunity and it is always a true blessing when I am chosen to perform; it is a wonderful relief to be able to express my passion. I celebrate my job; I do so love what I do!

Charles Rinek is the principal of Rinek Homes based in Palm Coast, FL, a fine custom home builder
serving Flagler and Volusia County; and the current the President of Flagler Home Builders Association.
You can connect with Charles on facebook, or on twitter.

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A Note from Business Life Stories Team:
Take a tour of one of Rinek Home models through this Palm Coast with Julie video:

the day a particular home project comes to a close, I experience my own catharsis, in a way like childbirth

Kari Cobham

When I woke up Sunday morning, I did not want to go into work.

The explanation includes a limo, champagne, roller skates, and the night before, but that’s another story.  And if it wasn’t a Sunday shift—notoriously difficult to fill on 30 minutes’ notice—I might have called in. The day’s main assignment:

Cover the Jewish Heritage Festival in Daytona Beach and write a 500-word story.

A photographer was already assigned.  The festival ran from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The story was due sometime after 6 p.m.  In other words, it was as complicated as I made it.

I arrived with a game plan: Find and interview the organizer.  Grab some literature.  Make a lap or two.  Talk to festival-goers and vendors. Head back to the newsroom.  Write.  File.  Edit.  Home.

On the second lap, I met Sara Fox.

Sara is a shy artist whose parents were both Holocaust survivors, but she didn’t know the extent of their torture and loss until she was in her 40s when her mother finally did a recorded interview retelling her devastating experiences.  Sara is 60 now with wispy blonde hair and sad, hopeful eyes; eyes of a sensitive painter who must feel to create.

It took her three years to paint six panels inspired by her mother’s and father’s stories. And I use the word ‘inspired’ loosely.  It was more of a journey of shared pain for the Israel-born artist. She could barely talk about it without crying.

Watch the video,” she said.  And so I did.

Her mother’s tale of losing her own parents and siblings in the Holocaust is wrenching. Sara finished painting her family’s story in 1995.  The large acrylic piece is full of haunting images of her beaten grandfather, Nazi soldiers, bodies, and death.  It also shows Sara and her siblings, all of whom are successful because of the quiet sacrifices of her parents.

When the video was done, there were three women seated around me and festival volunteers breaking down exhibits.  People had come and gone.  Some had stayed for a while and left; the video is so painful to watch, not even Sara stuck around.

But when it was done, I turned and she was there.  She looked at the expression on my face and said, “Now you understand.” And that’s when I cried.

Hate is wrong,” she said through our tears.  “That’s a lesson we learned. You are a writer and you are a beautiful person. Your words will change the world.

I left the festival crying.  It was about so much more than food and music and knick knacks, it was about a spirited culture that had survived Hell and learned to live and laugh again.  And Sara was the heart of my story.

This is why I love my job. Because I never know whom I will meet and I meet the most amazing people who change my life in one unexpected encounter.  And I get to share their untold stories with the world.

I’m glad I had to work on Sunday…

Kari Cobham is a staff writer at The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Read Kari's Article on Daytona Beach Jewish Heritage Festival.
Visit her blog: A Mi Ver. | Connect with her on Twitter: @KariWrites

Jonathan Stanley | PC Specialists - Palm Coast, Ocala, St. Augustine

Jonathan Stanley | PC Specialists - Palm Coast, Ocala, St. Augustine

by Jonathan Stanley – PC Specialists

I love fixing computers, it’s my passion.  But I’m not a geek.  Okay, I guess that depends on your definition: Yes, I love technology and seem to think on the same level as the machines.  But I believe most people think of a “geek” as the college age “kid” with a pocket protector and thick framed glasses standing at the counter in a retail electronics store. Maybe that’s the way it’s been for the last 5 years, but my story starts a while before that…

I co-founded PC Specialists, a computer service business, all the way back in 1990 in Ocala.  In computer years that’s a long time ago!  I have personally been servicing computers on a daily basis since then.  Back then most computers ran DOS, a text based system usually without icons or even a mouse.  I provided custom programming services to many area businesses.  At that time, there were no retail stores with shelves lined with hundreds of different computer programs.  Instead, I would go to a business, consult regarding their needs, and develop custom applications.  That’s how it all started, but things sure have changed!

Over the past 20 years I have lived through the changes in the world of computers day by day, watching the speeds and capacities multiply exponentially, servicing all the different versions of Microsoft Windows, being there when the Internet exploded onto the scene and changed the world.  Looking back, it seems like it all happened so fast, but for me it has been a gradual progression and I have enjoyed it thoroughly.  In 2005 I moved with my family to Palm Coast and have been providing daily computer repair and service throughout Flagler county.

My work is rewarding because I can take the technological experience I have gained and use it to solve problems for people.  I have been told so many times when I arrive: “We are about to throw this computer out the window!”

I totally understand that kind of frustration, we all rely on computers so much now.  It’s like when you think about cell phones and wonder how you ever got along without one.  A short time later the computer is working properly again, much to the amazement of it’s owners.  In many ways I am like a doctor.  While the sick patient is actually the computer, it is unable to express that it is happy to be working again.  But the smiles and thanks of it’s human owners sure do let me know.  And while I love computers and technology, helping other people to be happy is the real reward.

Jonathan on twitter: @PC_Specialists | On the Web: PCRepair911.com

Note from Business Life Stories: Jonathan has a very cool ad in the form of a comic strip, and we had to insert it here…

PC Specialists Comic Strip

PC Specialists Comic Strip

a guest blog post by Connie Rice, Daytona Food Examiner

I have held one job or another since I turned fifteen and got my eager hands on a work permit.  Since then every position I have had, every boss I have worked for, every task I have undertaken, every company I have represented – ultimately they have helped me grow and led me to where I am today.  In true 21st century fashion, I am a netizen wearing many hats on any given day.

I am the internet marketing arm of an established web design firm (www.creativepages.net) as well as a writer of fiction, visual artist, mother, and my most recent venture:  writing for Examiner.com as the designated Daytona Food Examiner.  My position as Daytona Food Examiner is a new adventure in creativity and marketing that I have found to be extremely interesting and rewarding.

Why do I love writing for Examiner.com?  I post articles according to my topic while incorporating a local slant.  We are paid according to page views, based on a formula which takes into account subscriptions and session length.  It is an outlet for some of my established pleasures (writing, cooking) as well as a way to educate myself in my current career (social media, search engine optimization).

Connie Rice

Connie Rice

On top of this I am able to incorporate my latest artistic pursuit: macro photography.  My previous affinity for painting has given way to a fascination with taking pictures of objects as close up and magnified as possible – and what other subject matter has the intricacy and mystery of food.  I believe that the unification of so many of my skills, interests, and strengths into one job is why I like Examiner.com.

Other reasons I enjoy working as an Examiner:  as a writer for the Food and Drink Channel,  I am given very little restrictions and no micromanagement.  This is heaven for an indepedent self-starter.  That being said, if help is needed it is not difficult to obtain.  There is a sense of community with the other writers and I have made at least one friend that I think will be with me for the long term.

As a whole I feel I am part of a fresh, dynamic, evolving segment of the Internet that promises to teach me more and take me into who knows what direction in the future.  It is reminiscient of having been swept up into the wild days of the dot com boom.   I like the feeling of embracing the unknown and of being part of what’s next.

I would like thank the Office Divvy Team for being so gracious as to let me pen a guest post for Business Life Stories.  I would also like to thank them for tweeting one of my favorite articles,  Top 10 Reasons Why Bacon is the New Black, on their phenomenally successful Twitter feed.

Connie Rice can be found on Twitter as @DaytonaFood
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Melissa Cousley, Director of Vivid Scope Early Childhood Education in Palm Coast

A Guest Post by Melissa Cousley, Director of Vivid Scope Early Childhood Education in Palm Coast

I am a pre-kindergarten program director and I love what I do!..

Difficult scientific concepts such as buoyancy are taught through “float or sink” experiments at the water table.  Reading and writing is practiced as a child writes an order at the pizzeria in the dramatic play area.  From observing the decomposition of an orange on the playground to constructing symmetrical buildings in the block area, young children learn academic concepts through play.

However, teaching through play is a skillful art.  Teachers plan lessons disguised in play. In addition to planned activities, the teacher must have the ability to recognize an unplanned teachable moment and utilize it.  The children play and do not realize that they are learning!

At Vivid Scope Early Childhood Center in Palm Coast, FL, the classroom is designed for learning through play.  Teachers are professional early childhood educators and have a passion for what they do.

Melissa Cousley - Director of Vivid Scope Early Childhood Center in Palm Coast

Melissa Cousley - Director of Vivid Scope Early Childhood Center in Palm Coast, Florida

I enjoy easing the transition from preschool to “big school.”  Why?..  The transition from preschool to elementary school can be scary for a child (and many parents).  In fact, most 10th grade high school dropouts really dropped out in first grade.  Dropping out of high school is a process that begins in early childhood.  Young children are often thrusted into the school-aged environment without the right preparation from their pre-kindergarten program.

A quality pre-kindergarten program is the bridge to higher education.  When I am working with a child in what may seem to be a “play” activity, it is so much more than that.  This may be where it all begins for them; a love of science, art, literature and information.  It is profound to be with them in that moment of honest discovery.  I am a pre-kindergarten program director and I love what I do!

Melissa Cousley
Director – Vivid Scope

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on the web: www.VividScopeKids.com
on twitter: @VividScope
on facebook: Vivid Scope Early Childhood Center, Inc.

My life as a “business match-maker” started well before I formally understood the concepts of brokering, or networking.  I believe I started to understand core business ideas as early as my first paper route.  But I couldn’t put words to what I was learning at the time.

I am a Digital Media Professional.  In this role, I’ve lead or contributed to many teams in the production of numerous media projects, that have ranged from Rich Media Applications; Web Development; Video; Print; Database Integration; Content Management; Multi-Channel Marketing Programs; Scent Marketing, Immersive Spaces, and now Social Media. Within those projects are rich stories about the people, the technology, the creative, the conditions, the outcomes, and then of course, when all is said and done the ongoing relationships.

My partners (Sim Taing and Ky Ekinci) and I were all working from our home offices and traveling to clients, and our client’s client locations, when we thought there would be value to a co-working space, where we lived in Palm Coast (in North-East Florida).  Recognizing that this business idea may be wrong or right, we decided to forge on and start Office Divvy.  We found ourselves meeting business people that for a variety of reasons did not want to carry the overhead of a full-time office.  We started our venture out of the kinship we were feeling with entrepreneurs and business owners like us.  We gained from being with each other and appreciated the periodic reprieve from our independent focused tasks, which seemed to bring a fresh perspective with it.

As we would meet prospective Office Divvy Members, they would see us as peers and quite naturally tell us their Business Life Story.  There was a lot of common ground and many areas to relate on.  Ideas, referrals and other forms of valuable input were welcome.  Member stories would include how they started, what matters to them, and often times accidental paths and self discovery at the most unexpected times that lead them one way or another in business. But the most common thread was why people love what they do.

In my consulting life, in digital media, I’ve had terrific success matching people and businesses.  It has always been a strong suit and an area I take great pride in.  As people tell us about their businesses, we cannot help but organically match them to a prospective buyers, like professionals or potential partners. It is sometimes something seemingly simple, like an extra ticket to a luncheon; something completely new like a member considering markets outside of the US;  or perhaps the birth of an entirely new product, whatever it may be, we’ve earned the role of trusted partner and advisor.

An example of a basic routine goal within our organization:  Introduce 2 people in our network who may benefit from knowing each other.  As we grow and add new members to our Office Divvy Team, we’ve had to create goals that are shareable and easy for people to make their own.

I love what I do.  I’ve had the most unbelievable good fortune, family and friends, business and life experience.  Working with diverse clients from Fortune 500 companies to sole practitioners has given me a truly well rounded view that aids me every day.  Because I am learning about new people, places, products, and ideas constantly, it forces me to have to look at things differently. I love what I do because I am in the world drawing connections constantly. Social media and the wave of what’s coming, positions me to be able to leverage the collective and share it, making the possibilities of who can be connected, through what ideas, over what time period – endless.  Just Fantastic. What’s not to love?

follow Lisa on twitter: @LisaFLA | @OfficeDivvy
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Routinely introduce people in your network who may benefit from knowing each other

Kayhan Ekinci

I stumbled upon a video of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on Leadership, in a CNBC piece from the Columbia Business School. At the end of this short segment, Buffett stated the following:

If the reason you’re doing something is because everybody else is
doing it, forget it, you haven’t got a good reason.. ~ Warren Buffett

Mr. Buffett’s statement seems obvious. “Don’t follow the herd” seems like fairly good advice.  But more so the idea of “having a good reason” stands out as something that requires more examination.

Adapting to a changing business landscape, perceived and real competitive threats, intelligence about what the customer wants can create significant change, usually at a fast pace, from what the founders had perhaps started with. Answering the question: “What is my reason for starting this business?” or “What is my reason for staying in this business?” or “Why do I love what I do?” can certainly yield useful results.

We’re offering a location for a broad range of business professionals to add their answers to this question “Why I Love What I Do?.”   We expect it to help shatter a few stereotypes, and interest readers in new and unique points of view. An honest answer to “Why I Love What I Do” may not always be one that you expect; however, keeping Mr. Buffett’s statement in mind, may lead to some genuine discovery.

Feel free to leave a comment for any blog entry. If you’d like to contribute with a blog entry, feel free to reach out to us.

With best wishes to you and your loved ones in this Holiday Season..

Ky Ekinci

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on twitter: @KyEkinci

Lisa Schenone Ekinci | Ky Ekinci | Sim Taing

Lisa Schenone Ekinci | Ky Ekinci | Sim Taing

Welcome to BusinessLifeStories.com –home of “Why I Love What I Do” and other articles about and by Entrepreneurs, Startups, Small Business Owners, Professionals, Investors, and Philanthropists.

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