Candidly, I would have to say after Alan Kersner introduced me to Hall Willkie in 1998 when Hall appointed me director of information, the best real estate story I’ve been grateful to be part of is the one I joined that very day: The Story of BHS. All the fundamentals of an inspiring, exceptional adventure are here in our great company’s continuation, professionalism, service, success, development, vision, promise, and reach. Today it’s the story we’re all a part of in our own way, and for that reason, I feel it’s the best.

 

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For me, it’s the privilege of seeing the strength of the company flourish from the strength of character in our working relationships at their core. Our best work comes when trust and confidence in ourselves is supported by trust and confidence in teammates, colleagues, managers, executives, and ownership. We’ve been strong enough to keep our principles in place and our success in focus. Excellence—as Aristotle said—is a habit.

 

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The resounding success of the BHS brand will be your professional stamp of approval and a big part of your own success. Remember that we sell homes, but profits are not a higher purpose or a single focus, because at BHS there are infinite possibilities to rise in taking care of clients and customers—and each other—nourishing trust and belief in meaningful relationships every day.

 

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Let’s quote Bess Freedman. “Try to focus on the present moment, and don’t get attached to the outcome. It’s not about the garden, it’s the gardening. It’s the process along the way…it’s about right here, right now. You can be happy today. You can enjoy yourself today. You can focus on the things that are right in front of you.”

And I will add: Find your discipline, persevere, take the high road, and do the right thing. These are the challenges that will enlarge you as a person and produce authenticity and gratitude in your life, in your success, and in your best work.

 

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So many icons on one hand. One World Trade, Chrysler, Citicorp, a subway platform, a bus stop, a sidewalk, a street garden. But when I make a photograph, I try listening for something new that I haven’t heard before, where I haven’t yet seen what’s there, to speak from itself and to say something fresh.

 

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Lately, just a few blocks away, Casa Lever, which is the jewel behind that red door (and Bess and the general manager Antonio Colombani are friends).

 

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The Year Of the Whale by Victor B. Scheffer. An indelible, life-changing read, because (from the prologue), “We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals…They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” Henry Bestown – The Outermost House

 

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