Peer to Pier--Interview...Lynn Pirozzoli~Part 2...continued

View From the Pier condinued-- Part 2

We courted for two years and decided to tie the knot. After helping so many brides plan the details of their weddings over the past 14 years, I had a new challenge–planning my own. Our wedding odyssey began at the Black Horse Inn where we were married for the first time about a month before departing for Rome Italy where were married a second time in a 14th century church near the Vatican. Following the ceremony, a reception was held at Casina Valadier, a restaurant located high atop one of Rome’s famous seven hills in the Villa Borghese, a 17th century park and unparalleled views of the city. Jimmy and I shared a horse and carriage ride through the city, stopping at all the magnificent sites in the city. Since many of our family and friends could not join us in Rome, our third and last wedding was held in the fall of 2006 at the Black Horse Inn, for the entire cast of family and friends. So…Jimmy and I have been married three times now as respective spouses!

Meg: You came to the conclusion that corporate life was not for you and deciding to pursue your entrepreneurial instincts. Since then, you have successfully created a livelihood that combines a life-long passion with service to others. Any words of wisdom to others who seek to create a meaningful vocation from their passions?

Lynn: Corporate life ceased to be of interest to me when I was asked to do something that I considered unethical. I was at the top to the top as VP of a large environmental consulting firm based out of Sacramento, California, and I suppose that the closer you get to the top, the more management pushes you to pursue opportunities that they see as profitable, no matter what the cost. I was not willing to compromise my morals and ethics. Subsequently, I decided to become an entrepreneur and start my own business with the proceeds of the gold mining options that I had exercised. The change in lifestyle afforded me the luxury of setting my own schedule and enjoying the sports that I was passionate about. I would ride frequently and enjoy participating in the hunt.

Weaning myself from the comfort of corporate life took some doing. It was uncomfortable at first not having a corporate office to go to daily. I was restoring an old inn with my business plan literally penciled in on the back of an envelope. I had no cushion to pad myself with. There was no steady stream of income and I had to watch every dime to ensure my success. It was scary when the phone didn’t ring, because I would ask myself if I had taken the right course of action in marketing properly. It was scary when the phone did ring, because I was a single woman running the entire show and the success or failure of my new business was completely dependent on me. It took some time before I felt comfortable with the freedom of not having a 9-5 job anymore, but as time progressed, I finally got into a groove of enjoying the business and creating a wonderful life for myself.

As the business has become more successful, life has come full circle. I struggle daily with running the business and taking the time to enjoy family and friends. There is less and less time to enjoy those things that I value most highly and I know that I will soon need to readjust the way things are done to allow myself time for the important things in life. As I stated before, time is a thief and we mustn’t let time pass us by without enjoying the fruits of our labor. We must learn to smell the roses along the way and cherish our family and our relationships with others. The most gratifying thing about having the Inn and working with brides on their weddings is that I can give something back to them in this regard. Their perfect day is one day where I can help them to slow down and relax and enjoy the ones that they love the most. When they arrive on property they put their cares and troubles behind them and focus on the most important things in life– including family and friends. When it all comes down to it, these are the treasures that we have in life and if I can play a small part in assisting them with one of the most momentous occasions in their life, then I a m proud and honored to do so.

Meg: It seems your career has involved a willingness to take calculated risks. Would you agree and if so perhaps talk a little bit about your process and how you balance your “head” and your “heart”?

Lynn: My words of wisdom: timing is everything! There are ebbs and flows in business and in the economy and you must take advantage of the moment. Calculated risks are successful if all the key elements are in alignment. However timing is one factor that must not be overlooked. Building a nest egg while the economy was on a high was key to my success, much in the same way that investing wisely in times of economic downturn. Buy low; sell high is the old adage.

However, knowing when to take advantage of the crests and troughs of the economy is like reading a crystal ball. There have been many instances where my heart has urged me to make a move, but in my heart I knew that the timing was not appropriate. I would override my desires with my head and wait for the appropriate moment to make a move. Balancing my heart and my head has not always been easy, but being able to chart a course with the appropriate timing has certainly been a key to my success.

When I bought the Black Horse Inn in 1992, the property was in a shambles and needed extensive renovation or as we would call it in the mining industry “reclamation.” I had waited nearly a year and a half to make an offer, and finally did so at the appropriate time, when the real estate market return would be at it’s highest for my investment. At my first party at the Inn, prior to its restoration, my friends laughed and told me to step outside, that they would be happy to torch it for me. I said, “you have no vision…this will be a jewel someday.” With my earnings from the mining industry, I started restoration of the Inn and reclamation of the grounds. Fortunately, the timing was right and today my initial investment has turned into a “gold mine.”

History repeats itself and my husband and I recently restored a “shack” in St. Michael’s, MD. Fencing on the property was deceptive and most buyers never looked beyond the fence to see that the property boundaries just happened to have one of the prettiest views of St. Michael’s harbor. My husband and I both realize that with a little “reclamation” a minimal investment could become another gold mine–in time. Our purchase of this property in 2009 was when the real estate market was at an all time low, and contractors were hungry for work. Our “shack” is now called “Second Wind” and is a respite for us from our hard work and busy schedules. We hope to retire there someday.

Meg: Your life seems to have been a successful combination of drive and karma, with the latter being evidenced to a certain extent by that first job offer and meeting your husband. Would you say that both personal ambition and fate have been factors in your life?

Lynn: I agree that personal ambition and fate have had much to do with the outcome of my life. I have a lot of drive and when I set my goals on something I generally get it done! I focus so strongly on getting from Point A to Point B, that I sometimes miss anything else that is going on outside the box. My personal ambition and drive made me a successful corporate executive, government official and entrepreneur. It made me a terrific athlete and enhanced my personal ability to kayak Class V waters and ride to the hounds with ease.

It is a wonder that with such strong personal ambition that I didn’t forget to stop and smell the roses as I was achieving my goals. I was so driven, that I thought I was forever destined to be a business woman, rather than a wife. It wasn’t until I was in my late 40’s that fate took me for a ride and showed me that I could have both a wonderful husband and a thriving career. I met the man of my dreams and he has become a huge part of my professional life, ensuring that everything runs smoothly at the Inn and with all of our weddings at the grand ballroom, The Gilded Fox, where we host weddings that must be perfect for a bride’s special day. Regardless of rain or shine, emotions or bridezillas, we do our best to ensure that each bride’s event is customized and that each event is as perfect as it can be.

Without Jimmy, my life would be empty. He is the “rock” that I come home to at night. Having been close to death in a fire at the Inn, which consumed nearly two thirds of my body, I now realize what is really important in life. It isn’t the countless hours that you spend at work. It is surrounding yourself with those special people, your family and your friends. That is what life is all about. My husband, my family and my friends complete me.

Meg: Your courage is amazing—would you be comfortable sharing about your near-death experience?

Lynn: In July of 1992 I was consumed in a gasoline fire that exploded behind the barn at the Black Horse Inn. Over two thirds of my body was severely burned. I had trained as a hell-attack firefighter (attacking fires by helicopter) in California and Oregon, back in my college days and fortunately I knew the game plan which was to drop and roll. I was able to extinguish myself and I calmly walked through the barn and said goodbye to my horses, as I knew that I was seriously injured and it would take many months to heal. I called 911 and immediately went to my room, filled the claw-foot tub with ice cold water and jumped in it. Having the presence of mind to do so, probably saved some of my skin, however, my face was charred and half of my hair was burned down to the scalp. The hospital should have called the helevac unit to take me to the nearest burn unit, but they didn’t and instead they released me that evening to go home.

I was part of a prayer group at the time and they would stay over each night to feed me and help me through the night. I was so fortunate not to have died of shock. I was in so much pain that dilaudid (a form of morphine) and oxycontin became a staple in my medicine cabinet. I would use them heavily on days that I went to therapy for “debreeding” which is where a therapist removes the damaged skin from your body. My limbs, which were burned the worst, swelled so terribly that it was very tough to get around. I would literally crawl to the bathroom in the morning. On the verge of throwing in the towel I asked to be admitted back into the hospital. It was there that I contracted a staff infection, which caused considerable scarring. None of the doctors could diagnose the infection, and why my skin was not growing back. Finally, I called the burn unit in Washington D.C. who had me come in that same day. They correctly diagnosed the staff infection, and had me fitted for compression garments that I would have to wear for a year to help with minimizing the scarring.

Fortunately, my face only had second degree burns and my hair grew back, but my arm serves as a daily reminder of how fortunate I was that my “angels” were looking out for me that day. My family, who has always provided a cushion for me in all aspects of my life, was there for me. My parent and my sisters came to the rescue, and took turns caring for me and running the Inn and the weddings. My oldest sister actually left her home for two months and lived at the Inn with me to get me through the physical therapy treatments, as well as detoxing from the mega doses of pain medication, while taking care of business at the Inn, quite successfully I might add. It made me realize just how precious family is. I cannot thank them enough for all they did for me. Additionally, my strong belief in the Lord and my prayer group got me through the worst of it.

There was much concern that my skin, with grafting and the like would not grow back with enough elasticity to ever ride again. By the grace of God, I was able to hop on my horse eight months after the accident, wearing compression bandages. It was the best therapy of all. After the accident, I had abandoned the possibility of ever marrying. After all I was in my late 40’s and I was one big scar. Just as you abandon all hope, it seems as though the Lord grants you your wishes. Sure enough, my wonderful husband came into my life shortly thereafter. The scars were never an issue. I guess he looked past the scars and into my heart. He has helped me immensely through the healing process from a psychological perspective. Today I really don’t even notice the scars. On occasion I will notice someone staring at my arm and I will think about how proud I am to be able to have survived the ordeal and still be standing to tell the story. I wear the scars proudly, as my badge of courage.

Meg: As someone who has searched for gold and found it both literally and figuratively, what words of advice would you offer to someone pursuing a dream?

Lynn: Dreams are golden. Time is the thief. Don’t let the passage of time steal your dreams away from you. The fact is, the pursuit of our individual dreams is as important as our business and family dreams because they define the quality of our lives. At the end of the road, more often than not, we regret what we didn’t do, not what we did. So, don’t abandon your Individual Dreams – those dreams that are specific to you, that rest in your soul that you long to pursue… It may be the passage to the destination of your dream, not arriving at the destination that can be the most rewarding part of pursuing your dream.