The Profiles

» The Realtor: Sharon Remington Ford

» The Pilot: Teague Sobin

» The Money Manager: Patrick M. Sweeney

» The Artist: Mark Freedman 

» The Life Coach: Wayne Peacock

» The Hairstylist: Joseph Farias III

The Realtor

Sharon Remington Ford
Age: 54
Title: Realtor, RE/MAX Flagship
Income: $100,000–$200,000
Hours: 50–60/week
On the job: 8 years
Vacation time: 3 weeks
First Job: Math teacher, Cranston East, 28 years
Fantasy Job: Oversee team of realtors so I work less

I’ve always been intrigued by the housing market, so I started helping friends find houses. After a while I thought, ‘I can do this.’ I love people and I love numbers. When I started, the market was hot so I took early retirement [from teaching] and it just took off.

People don’t realize how much goes into this job. If someone sees that last year I sold almost $10 million in properties, they think I must be earning a lot of money, but the average commission is about two-and-a-half percent of the sale, then my expenses are between 20 and 50 percent of the gross. Sometimes I pay for a home inspection as an incentive, or cover something, like a dryer, the buyer didn’t want to pay for. It’s a great career, but it’s a twenty-four-seven commitment.

I had seventeen transactions in 2008 versus twenty-two in 2007. Buyers are now hesitant to purchase that summer home. People from New York and New Jersey are hesitant to buy because they’re losing their jobs on Wall Street. We’re all down, but I’m still in the top 10 percent of Rhode Island realtors. I’m an optimist. Though it seems to be doom and gloom out there, it’s really a great time to buy.

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The Pilot

Teague Sobin
Age: 39
Job: Pilot/first officer, Southwest Airlines
Pay: $85,000–$120,000 (depends on extra flying)
Hours: 30–40 hours/week on duty (20–25 hours/week actual flying time)
On the job: 3 years
Vacation time: 2 weeks
First job: Car washer for BMW in California
Fantasy job: A wave forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

When people find out I’m an airline pilot, I get the ‘Wow, cool’ response. It’s not like in the sixties when pilots were treated like rock stars and had the biggest house on the street. It takes a lot of time and money to get to the airline level. The washout rate is unbelievable. And if you do make it, being a pilot today is shaky. Once again the airline industry is in turmoil; high fuel costs and a slumping economy have forced many airlines to shrink and lay off employees.

I was laid off from my dream job as a major airline pilot after 9/11 and became a painting contractor and flew charters on the weekends to make ends meet. It’s good to have other skills when times get tough. For the first time in my career I have found myself on the winning team. Now I’m flying a lot; the pay is good and the company is great, but I do miss my wife and daughters. I was just overnight in a hotel in Manchester. I was so close to home, but I may as well have been in California.

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The Money Manager

Patrick M. Sweeney
Age: 42
Job: 1st Vice President of Wealth Management, SmithBarney, Newport
Pay: $200,000–$400,000 (variable with market)
Hours: 40
On the job: 17 years
Vacation time: 2–3 weeks
First job: Mutual fund accounting, Shearson Lehman Hutton
Fantasy job: Fishing charter captain and winter outdoor guide in Maine

I’m the one who has to say to a couple in their late fifties, ‘You can’t afford to retire yet.’ It’s intimidating for people to come in and give up control of their money. I listen to their needs, what their daily budget is and then we make a plan. With the market so down, I’m doing a lot of handholding and I just have to be realistic with my clients. In a recessionary market, people are more willing to listen.

I don’t think the term “stock broker” comes up anymore. We’re wealth managers and financial planners focusing on long-term investment; we’re not flipping stock. I have around $100 million under management, but I only take home, on an industry average, one quarter to one half of one percent of the returns on those assets.

I’m not working to make more money. I moved here from Boston and took a substantial pay cut to spend more time with my family. It’s slim pickings here for high-net-worth clients; the volume’s not here. Being able to hop out to the beach, have lunch with my kids—it’s more important than earning more.

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The Artist

Mark Freedman  
Age: 59
Title: Painter, oil, charcoal, pastel
Pay: $24,000
Hours: 30–40/week
On the Job: 35 years
Vacation time: “My whole life has been a vacation.”
Other Job: Art instructor for the elderly
First job: Groundskeeper at a country club
Fantasy job: Illustrator for The New Yorker

For every lion in the art world, there’s a swarm of good painters and artists just squeaking by. Most people recognize it’s a pretty difficult job. The top price for a piece is around $6,000, but the average selling price is $2,000 and I sell around ten a year. Having Brown and RISD brings a lot of out-of-town buyers.

I would call my urban landscapes a visual diary. I grew up in western New York and in the Rust Belt. I started out painting those abandoned factories, but I’m working on some brownfields across from India Point, which are much more pastoral. I’ve also done some freelance text-book illustration, but there are only certain times they accept the portfolio and I need to be more organized about submitting.

Providence has a very art-rich community. Before I came here I lived in a small town and it was marginalized. Here, anyone in the arts is accepted in the mainstream part of the community, and that allows us to keep going.

There’s a saying that if you find a job you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. I’ve worked a few days in my life, but it wasn’t painting.

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The Life Coach

Wayne Peacock 
Age: 70
Title: President, Walk With Wayne
Pay: $18,000 (for three to eight clients per year)
Hours: 10–20/week
On the job: 8 years
Vacation time: Flexible
First job: Global engineering executive, Allendale Insurance
Fantasy job: Co-Chairman of President Obama’s new Optimum Health and Fitness Initiative

There are only about twenty certified life coaches in the state. It’s a new profession and it’s been evolving since the early 1990s. I start from the principle that people aren’t broken, then we move forward co-actively, helping the client project what they want their life to be.

After retiring I studied with the Coach Training Institute; I’m certified by the International Coach Foundation. This is quite different from psychology because, in general, psychology looks to the past while coaching is about looking forward. It’s extraordinarily rewarding over time to see people play a bigger game and find their blind spots.

I do both private and corporate coaching, and I only have about three to eight clients at a time. When your income is based on your time, you’re limited and need passive income sources, so now I’m introducing a newsletter and writing an e-book.

It’s a very challenging profession. Some clients see it as coming to a doctor to get fixed. But then they go back to a C-plus life, as opposed to the D they came to me with, without realizing they need to keep working; there’s so much more potential. It’s like your ship is safe in the harbor but made for the sea.

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The Hairstylist

Joseph Farias III
Age: 28
Job: Hairstylist/owner Celebeautique Hairspa and Salon, Newport
Pay: $55,000–$65,000 for hairstyling commission with tips, all profits going back into business
Hours: 45/week
On the job: 8 years
Vacation time: 3 weeks
First job: Stylist assistant at Tiffany Salon, Barrington
Fantasy job: Creating and managing a mega facility tying together a restaurant, skating rink, dance hall, salon/spa, holistic center and nutritional center

I love to do hair, and I love people. I rely on word of mouth, so it’s all about my clients walking out happy. Stylists have been pushed into the limelight in recent years because of the paparazzi and society’s emphasis on vanity. There is a blossoming effect in the state; there are so many salons opening up.

I’m behind the chair sometimes forty-five hours a week. Different salons pay differently. Super Cuts pays hourly, mid-range salons do hourly plus commission or chair rentals, and at more high-end salons, stylists work on straight commission. My average coloring is $150, and haircuts start at $65 for women and $40 for men.

I see young women with MBAs wanting to be hair stylists. They went to a great school and wind up making $10,000 less than what I made my first year out of cosmetology school. You can’t service a client with a textbook. Most stylists get burned out because of the clientele. Some people want function, some want fluff, but some genuinely have a relationship with their stylist. That’s what I love about my work. 

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