One of the greatest pleasures I derive from my real estate practice is meeting all sorts of interesting people—all of whom have stories to tell. I want to share with you one family I have met and worked with over the past year, and see if you don’t agree with me after reading this—they are quite something else.Carlton Grooms, a professional photographer who owns Big Bamboo Creative (commercial, architecture and fashion photography,) and his wife Deborah Grooms, who owns Deborah Grooms Photography (portraits) in Sarasota, and their son Conner and daughter Alexa (ages 10 and 12 at the time) took a year off from work and school, carrying only 4 backpacks and traveled to 23 countries photographing “our world”, the result of which is a 200+ page coffee table-sized book of the images they each captured on this incredible journey.
A little bit of insight into Carlton (most people call him Carl)….if you go to his company website, http://www.bigbamboocreative.com/, the opening page states “We specialize in images that are striking, causing viewers to stop and simply say ‘wow’. Our singular focus is to exceed our clients’ visual and service expectations.” That statement pretty much states my response to his work for me in my real estate practice. Carl goes beyond the norm and gets “the shot”, no matter what it takes—even climbing into trees, or better yet, scaling boat lifts or rooftops to get the angle he wants. I mostly just shut my eyes when he does this, and of course, say more than a prayer or two until he is back safely on ground.And now a little insight into Deborah (that’s Grooms)….the opening page of http://www.deborahgrooms.com/ has a striking image of the young couple and the statement….”We embrace different. We are passionate about our family, our photography, international travel and our charities focused on Africa.” This is most assuredly a “can do” Mama with such a youthful sense of adventure and compassion for others.
While in Africa, young Conner observed school children, and the conditions in which they learn prompted him to pose the question, “Why can’t we build schools for these kids?” It was his passion and wisdom for seeking truth beyond his tender years that prompted the family to build on this vision and it has now become a dream put into motion.
“Portraits of Our World” was created by the entire Grooms family and they have self-published the book. Carl personally got involved in overseeing the printing that was done in Italy. All profits from the sale of the book are going toward building schools and supporting children’s causes in Africa. One book will educate one child for one year.
While having lunch on our terrace overlooking Little Sarasota Bay on a Saturday with the entire Grooms family (including Carlton’s Mother who was visiting from Maine), my husband Walton and I began to brainstorm with the Carl and Deb about ways to sell the books. Having a publishing background (we owned and operated Beacham Publishing, a reference book company, in Washington D.C. before moving to Florida 14 years ago and going into real estate full time), I thought about a book party. If they had not self-published, their “publisher” would have given them a party to launch the book. So, the idea was born that together we would throw a book party and sell books! We had a wonderful party on April 23, 2008 at Saks in Sarasota—here’s a wonderful thing about Sarasota. Sally Schule, the general manager of Saks Fifth Avenue, is known as one of the most gracious hosts in this town—freely giving of the store’s space for charitable events. She was more than willing to participate and co-sponsor this event with us by donating not only the store’s space, but chairs, tables, microphone—you name it. The photo of young Conner with me is kind of interesting. He did not want to “speak” at the book party, but I coaxed him into it, and he was just great at impromptu speaking—telling stories of how the family washed their clothes in an assembly line in their hotel rooms, and about riding an ostrich and he got a little too close when one bit him on the nose. Alexa was next—she also indicated to me that she was much better at writing her stories than telling them, but her brother merely handed her the microphone and she was off and sharing stories as well of their fascinating journey.I announced at the event that I will donate a percentage of each real estate transaction I am involved with toward supporting this incredible family’s dream. To contribute your part to this dream, go to http://www.portraitsofourworld.com/ and order this amazing book—knowing that with each book’s purchase—you will educate one child for one year.
