“Oasis specializes in positive energy and healthy living. Everything we do here revolves around making you feel better inside and out, from the very real, numerous health benefits of massage, to sending you out with a glowing face after a relaxing facial. And when you feel good about yourself it manifests itself in ways that are not only beneficial to you personally; when you approach people with a positive, refreshed attitude, it radiates and affects those around you. Happiness is contagious!”
Archives for May 2012
Eve Spence and Linda DeMase, Partners, Auntie Penny
“When I was a little girl, my father would take me every Saturday to our neighborhood toy store and buy me something. I was a tomboy so I almost always chose a Pinky ball. I knew that that ball would bring the two of us together as we played catch in the front of our house for hours on end. I lost my dad the year I became a teenager.
My business partner Linda also lost her father when she was in her early teens. For each of us, it was a defining moment in our lives. As the youngest in each of our families, our relationship with our fathers was pure mutual adoration. Linda’s father was an accomplished artist, so it’s clear that’s where her creativity and talents come from. My father loved kids. He would pile my sibs and me, along with some neighborhood friends in his work van and take us all for ice cream.
For Linda and I, owning Auntie Penny gives us the opportunity to revisit that time in our lives when our fathers were present, loving and protecting us, a time when nothing was better than a trip to the toy store with your dad.
For me, every day is like those Saturdays long ago. And yes, we sell Pinky balls. In fact, we’ll be giving out free Pinky balls to the first 25 kids who come in with their dads on the Saturday before Father’s Day!”
Licia Mikulicic, Owner, Step in Style
“I was visiting Angela who lives in Chappaqua approximately a year ago when I noticed the town didn’t have a real shoe store. My son-in-law James said: “Why don’t you open one?” So I did! I think I got my confidence from my dad; he was always so supportive of all three of his kids, including me. He guided us to make the right decisions. He also taught me about hard work. He was a chef on the night shift at Stage Deli in New York City for 25 years. My mom was also amazing; she took care of all of us for so many years and just missed her 100th birthday when she passed on March 18.
I miss them both a lot. I think they’d have been very proud of me opening a store here. I do think they are telling everyone from up in the sky, “Take care of her!”
Financial Whiz Andrew Samalin Keeps it Positive
Plans for his firm’s Memorial Day festivities were uppermost on Andrew Samalin’s mind when we sat down to discuss “positivity” for this issue.
Last year, the activities at King Street’s “old Crown House,” home of the award-winning investment advisory firm Samalin Investment Counsel, LLC, drew a few hundred people, and this year it’s going to be even better, Samalin said. Think face painting, balloon animals, cotton candy and more. Most of all we are lucky to have Maurice the Magician (who in his words, “is the best magician in his price range!!!”)
In part, Samalin is simply preserving the tradition of the former Crown House owners, but with two young ones of his own (Matthew, 6 and Talia, 4) he has his own special incentive! “It’s great for little kids,” noted Samalin. “It’s tough to be in a bad mood while eating cotton candy…” noted Samalin, who bought and renovated the Crown House in May 2010. The project was featured in the New York Times and highlighted Samalin’s ability to focus on a positive outcome in a difficult environment.
Great too are the accomplishments at Samalin which manages $130 million in client assets custodied at Fidelity Investments, with underlying client net worth of about a ½ billion, according to Samalin, who has been named in multiple arenas as one of the country’s Top RIAs. He developed the “BridgeProcess,” a proprietary wealth management process “by which we look to manage three essential goals: risks, returns, and income.” His firm’s success, he said, revolves around its ability to expertly address these essential tasks with its clients.
“Our market niche is attorneys and their clients; we offer unbiased, fee-only independent financial analysis and management without any corporate agenda.” If the financial crisis taught us anything it’s that advice may not reside solely in the providence of corporate behemoths; rather, it’s between people. Samalin noted that virtually everyone has blind spots in life, be it professional, personal or financial. “Our clients hire us to identify and help them find those financial blind spots, and manage through them.”
A strong focus at the firm is in the arena of divorce financial planning. He views his role as helping couples both understand their assets and income so that they can knowledgeably assess them, and in doing so, minimize the stress in the divorce process. In divorce, he noted, there’s frequently a financial knowledge disparity between the money and non moneyed spouse. “We help bridge that gap so that both parties come out feeling protected. It’s a delicate process but can radically change the outcome,” he said.
“Our goal is to help them achieve a positive financial outcome both pre and post divorce,” Samalin noted. “We are all faced with circumstances that we might prefer to be different; it’s how we hold and manage through them that makes all the difference.” In the interim, cotton candy and snow cones on King Street on Memorial Day is positively a great choice.
– Grace Bennett
The Clintons
By Audrey Mann Cronin
Editor’s Note: We are announcing “Me and the Clintons”–a photo jam of your favorite snapshot with our famous family! Inside Chappaqua invites all residents to submit one photo to editor@insidechappaqua.com and we will include as many as we can in our back to school September/October 2012 edition and on our site, www.insidechappaqua.com. Please include all relevant information about the picture and identify persons from left to right. Thank you in advance.
As we inch closer to the Presidential election, what seems to be on everyone’s mind is, “Will Hillary run for president in 2016?” This month’s “Leader’s Digest” centers around Hillary’s international impact and her many honors, Bill’s return to the campaign trail and Chelsea’s influence on the youth vote. Here is what our esteemed neighbors have been up to…
Former President Bill Clinton: Obama, Bill Clinton Join Forces as Romney-Obama Race Heats Up If case you had any doubts, don’t–Bill Clinton’s fully on board President Barack Obama’s re-election effort. “Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected president of the United States,” the former president said, as he joined the current officeholder at a fundraiser for the Obama re-election campaign. Once a tense rivalry, the relationship between Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton has evolved into a genuine political and policy partnership.
Clinton Endorsement Carries Candidates to Victory Bill Clinton has had a major impact this primary season with his endorsement carrying candidates to victory. According to Democratic strategist Jef Pollock, “President Clinton can be very effective and remains popular with a broad range of voters who will be key swing groups come November.” Indeed, Clinton is also one of the few politicians who gives his wife a run for her money in the popularity department. A Pew poll from about a year ago (the most recent we could find) showed 67 percent of people viewing the former president favorably, including 27 percent who viewed him very favorably.
Bill Clinton “Happy” if Hillary Runs in 2016 It has been reported that Bill Clinton weighed in on the prospects of his wife Hillary running for president in 2016. In an interview with Good Morning America he said, “It’s entirely up to her. I believe that she’s being absolutely honest with you when she says she doesn’t think she’ll go back into politics. If she comes home and we do this foundation stuff for the rest of our lives, I’ll be happy; if she changes her mind and decides to run, I’ll be happy.”
Dreaming of Hillary in 2016 Hillary Clinton holds the record for being named Gallup’s most admired woman, 16 years to be exact. Her favorability ratings among the general population are in the mid-sixties and among Democrats she has an 86 percent favorability score.
The question now is what is she going to do with this stockpile of good feeling?
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has denied that she will seek elected office after stepping down from her current position. More specifically, she has denied interest in running for the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination.
Secretary Hillary Clinton Urges U.N. Pressure on Syria U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the U.N. Security Council to adopt an arms embargo and other tough measures against Syria to try to halt 13 months of bloodshed, but she acknowledged such diplomatic actions would likely be vetoed.
Clinton’s comments to Western and Arab diplomats from the so-called “Friends of Syria” group came as the head of the United Nations accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of failing to honor a peace plan that recently went into effect.
Hillary Clinton Honored by TIME On April 24th at Lincoln Center, TIME magazine held a gala honoring its picks for the 100 most Influential People in the World–including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In the TIME issue, each honoree was recognized. In tribute to Hillary, Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, “In a world that is ever more complex, turbulent and dangerous, Secretary Clinton, 64, has made a singular contribution to strengthening this country’s relationships with allies, partners and friends; rallying other countries to join us in dealing with challenges to the global order, from Libya and Iran to the South China Sea; and reaching out to people in scores of countries to demonstrate that America cares about them.”
Chelsea Clinton: Board Member, Clinton Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative. Chelsea Clinton on ‘Change Makers,’ the Youth Vote, and More “Young people should look to politics to be the ‘change makers’ they want to see–by both voting and running,” Chelsea Clinton said in a joint interview with her father after the recent Clinton Global Initiative University meeting.
Now that Chelsea is somewhat of an elder stateswoman at age 32, she said, she sees today’s students looking not only for a way to contribute but to become “change makers” themselves, “I hope that young people will also look to politics as a vehicle to not only have their voices heard, but actually to be the change makers that they want to see. They are disaffected, understandably, but I hope that young people will not only turn out to vote but also run for office.”
Freelance writer Audrey Mann Cronin is president of Mann Cronin PR, a marketing, communications and social media consultancy. However, she considers her highest office as the noble leader of the Cronin family. A Chappaqua resident, she has been the enthusiastic recipient of multiple Clinton family handshakes and fuzzy iPhone photos.