We were lucky to catch up with Seva Raskin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Seva, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I grew up in the Washington, DC region. I was lucky enough to own a beach rental condo in Ocean City, MD for a while. It was a 3-hour drive to get there so when renters would occasionally break items, I couldn’t get there fast enough to replace or fix before the next renters were due in. The property management companies were not able to take care of these issues due to how busy they were managing the renter turnaround. I decided to start a business to fill that gap if I was ever lucky enough to live in a beach area full-time. Fast forward many years later and I have move to the wonderful Crystal Coast area of North Carolina and knew it was time to start the business I had been thinking about for a long time.

This region is fast growing like many small towns across the United States, and there is enough business for all. Many homeowners who rent live 3+ hours away and have the same issues I had when I was in a similar situation. It takes time for new businesses to grow and I look forward to becoming an integral part of this small, but growing area. There are also great resources here like the Chamber of Commerce which has many programs to connect and help businesses grow. I connected with a local Small Business Center who have SCORE (Score.Org) business mentors who have retired from running businesses who guide you and that has been very helpful. In addition, there are business networking groups I am involved with.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the founder of new business, Living Salty Concierge LLC and partner with my husband, Jamie Lee, who is a licensed and insured HVAC business leader as well as a disabled veteran. He owns JJL Safety Systems LLC. Together we service people and their homes. My company serves as a “right hand” for homeowners (and renters) who need home watch (if remote owners), maintenance, projects, monitoring, errands, deliveries, and more. It is a hospitality services company where we ask, “What are your needs and how can we help you?”

These services are great for the many absentee homeowners who have rental properties but aren’t local to check on housekeeping, monitor construction/handyman or other vendor progress, meet with vendors on site, prep for storms (and check post storm damage), and more. It is a important to have checks on vacant homes as unmonitored water damage can cause high cost mold remediation issues among other issues of an unmonitored home.

We also service homeowners who are here who need general maintenance, HVAC (A/C),generator installation and maintenance services as well as the same for boat owners. We are in a storm prone area as well as on the beach and many homes near river systems which flood. In addition, we service those who need an extra hand with errands and deliveries such as the elderly or those who might live alone and need assistance. We service several counties in the area including Carteret, Craven, Onslow and Pamlico. As homeowners, we know the importance of protecting your home and we appreciate the trust our clients have with us to help protect their properties.

Previously, my husband owned the same business in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, and I started out as a freelance photographer in Washington, DC, covering galas, restaurant reviews, corporate events and more. I then transitioned to marketing and communications roles in various industry verticals in corporate America before moving back to entrepreneurship once we moved to the Emerald Isle, NC area. I am most proud of starting a second business which has been aligned with my vision for many years. When you provide a service that you are passionate about, it shows in the details, the care that you provide and the joy you have in serving.

We recently moved to the Crystal Coast of North Carolina and the small town, warm, southern feel of the people and environment is a welcome change for us. We are both beach people and are very excited and happy to have settled here. We are getting to know the community and look forward to growing our business services. We have met wonderful people here and have made the right choice to move to North Carolina.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

When I started my first business as a freelance photographer in Washington, DC, as a fresh out of college graduate, I decided to learn from those in the marketplace whom I admired. I picked several photographers to build relationships with to learn some of the trade, but more about business growth. I also picked business leaders in the community whom I admired in how they carried and presented themselves as well as how they told their stories and how much they gave back to the community through volunteer leadership, speaking engagements, and more. I listened to them and read the articles with interviews they gave, to learn what are the common themes of these successful community and business leaders and then worked to emulate their philosophies, behaviors and leadership styles so I could finetune who I was to become. I was also a 20-something who read Inc. Magazine and the business section of many other magazines and newspapers to get my “business MBA” from my own courses.

I learned that truly the most admired leaders were the ones spending considerable time supporting the community through volunteering, mentoring, and leading by example. Helping others was a consistent theme. I have taken that with me and step forward anytime I see a spot where I can help another.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience is my favorite word. To me, it reflects Darwin’s Origin of Species, “it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”

On one side of my family, I am a first-born generation American so growing up in an immigrant home, we were definitely taught the value of education as well as pull yourself up by your bootstraps and keep going. I have done that for many of life’s huge challenges, of which I have had many over the years. I give myself a very short time to work through and then I face forward and keep moving. One of Winston Churchill’s quotes is one I think is reflective of my spirit, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

I started my first business right after college without enough business training but forged ahead and learned on the job. I was able to grow exponentially where I eventually was photographing in the White House, for Washingtonian and Washington Life magazine, covering celebrities and more and having a really fun time while doing it. I am now, many years later, starting business again, in a new community. Different circumstances, different challenges, but enjoying the ride and with positivity that business will continue to flourish.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550757766105
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sevaraskin/