Riparian - The Rivers School

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Student News alumni News Q&a with Web Design entrepreneur eric Grossman ’80 Conducted by ADAM CONNeR-SIMONS Q. How did you first get involved in web site design? A. I was working for a computer repair company back in 1998 and asked the owner, “where do you see the future of computers going?” He said it would be in database development, while I thought it would be with web site development. It actually ended up being both. I saw a need for web sites and there were very few web developers at the time. Because of that, I decided to go with basic html web site development. Q. What was it like to start your own business? A. It was rather spontaneous, as I saw an opportunity on the horizon and wanted to move quickly to capture it. My wife works in real estate, so I received a lot of business from her clients that kept me going, and then clients would refer me to their people, and so on and so on. I didn’t have to market my services with any ads or promotions because it was such a hot trend. Q. What is the appeal of entrepreneurship for you? A. To create something out of nothing—like taking a seedling and watching it grow into something bigger. Although the hours are longer and the stress is greater than many regular full-time jobs, the potential reward is more satisfying, and it’s great to be able to work different hours to fit in with my personal schedule to achieve a good balance between work and play. Q. What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly in light of the recession? A. With this economy you are testing yourself as an individual in terms of how thick your skin is. As my father said to me years ago, “If it’s too hot, then get out of the kitchen.” With the web design business I caught a good economic wave to surf on, and business and profit came pretty easily and quickly. With this economy the waves are few and far between, so the challenge is much greater, but that’s okay if you have the determination to be successful. Q. How did you transition from your web site development company to your current position at Engel & Voelkers on the Cape? A. A few years ago, I decided to get my real estate license and join my wife in growing our real estate business. We purchased the franchise license for engel & Voelkers in Osterville, Cape Cod, a company with worldwide brand recognition in the high-end real estate market. I developed and marketed the website for the business. The concept of an e-buyer for real estate was virtually an unknown then and the local competition felt it was just a fad that buyers were going through. After all, who in their right mind would buy a house just by looking at pictures of it? Q. How did your experience at Rivers help spur your interest in entrepreneurship? A. I appreciated the spirit of the teachers supporting us 110 percent. As I reflect back now, I realize that it was the support from teachers that really helped spark the fire in me to pursue my own business. 22 23 • Riparian • Fall 2009 Chris von Rumohr ’89 with Niall Carney ’89 and his wife Gretchen c L a S S O F 1 9 8 4 Nick Zafiropoulos has been practicing orthodontics in cape cod for the past 14 years. he enjoys living on the cape with his wife, marliese, and their three year old son, Payi. c L a S S O F 1 9 8 7 manny Planchart writes, “my little baby antonella Planchart Daza is now 18 months old!” c L a S S O F 1 9 8 8 John Stimpson is in sales and marketing at a hedge fund in New York city. c L a S S O F 1 9 9 1 carolyn Kavanagh Gaither e-mailed, “2009 has been a big year for us. in march, my family and i relocated back to houston, TX after 2 1/2 amazing years in melbourne, australia. Words cannot express how difficult it was for us to leave our “overseas family” but thankfully we’ve returned to even more friends and family in the u.s. i’ve also returned to work for exxonmobil corporation after an extended leave of absence. so far it’s going great (although my four year old and two year old beg to differ!) hope to see everyone next time i am back east!” Jeremy Levine e-mailed Jack Jarzavek, “so great to hear from you; what a surprise seeing your name pop-up in my inbox. i was married on march 7th to lisa
Student News alumni News Lisa Raftery ’93 and baby Audrey at 3 months Class of 1994: Front (l ro r): Beth Reid Grannan, Amy Kelleher Merk, Sara Masucci, Lindsay McConchie. Rear (l to r): Mark Rosen, John Gaines, Robb Yahn. Russo with a nice, long honeymoon to Thailand and the maldives. i am still in NYc where i’m currently the vice-president of sales and associate publisher of billboard/billboard.com. Prior to that i was the associate publisher at men’s Journal. i live downtown in the lower east side so there are lots of galleries near me and blocks away in soho.” c L a S S O F 1 9 9 2 carl Robinson welcomed son, sawyer Robinson, on september 2, 2009. Class of 1999: Front (l to r): Lindsay Rich, Neil Luke, Rebecca Roblin, Georgia Butler, Elissa Hintlian, Ryan Gauthier, Kim Bilello. Rear (l to r): Ben Henry, Dave Lyons, Scott Prieur, Dave Garsh, Dan Head, Todd MacDowell, Aaron Gauthier, Chris Fuller, Andie Farro, Nicky Shifman, Greg Kadetsky, Dave Sneider, Aislynn Rodeghiero, Esme Williams. c L a S S O F 1 9 9 4 brendon bates is teaching writing and math at the carroll school in lincoln and living in maynard. he is in a program at lesley college to receive a masters Degree. c L a S S O F 1 9 9 5 Sam Kobrick e-mailed, “hey, everyone! hope this e-mail finds you all doing well. i just wanted to share some exciting news with you all, which is that i am engaged! sean proposed while were away on vacation last week. cheers!” Dan Zibel e-mailed alex stephens, “hey! it’s been a long time, but i was back in boston a few weeks ago, found myself near Rivers, and took a drive on through. i barely recognized the place. amazing the amount of construction that’s happened since the last time i popped on through. and then i got an e-mail about my 15th (yikes...) reunion. all is well with me. chrissie and i are still living in Washington, D.c. i’m working as a lawyer at a Rebecca and John Cyr ’99 small, union-side labor/litigation firm called bredhoff & Kaiser. We represent labor unions in all sorts of matters, from internal issues to union/management struggles. more importantly, we had a baby boy benjamin a few months ago. my firm actually gives six weeks of paid paternity leave—a phenomenal perk. hope all is well.” Fall 2009 • Riparian • 23
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