Never Mix Business With Pleasure, Right???
We’re living in a fast-paced, impersonal world with limited time to connect and share with others on a meaningful level. By nature, we are social creatures that have evolved through the social interactions that have literally mapped and developed our brains. For a long time now I have been feeling a deep disconnect from our roots. There’s a yearning feeling inside to reconnect and unite. If you are anything like me, then you are far removed from Mother Nature. Most of our day is spent sitting in front of a computer screen, a tablet screen, phone screen or a television screen. Do we have a choice? Seems like we either embrace technology in order to keep up or struggle to exist without it. Screens are the new windows to the world.
Knowing that we most likely will never meet up at the corner cafe to get to know each other, I felt the next best thing was to tell you a little bit about myself through a screen. In a workplace setting, sharing certain personal information is frowned upon to avoid creating conflicts that could jeopardize our work relationships. The least we expose ourselves, the safer, right? I disagree and believe that we should create a new paradigm shift. Let’s learn more about each other while learning about how to be more tolerant. Let’s be more open and genuine so we can connect on a higher conscious level.
I was born in Philadelphia and raised in its suburbs. My Mother, Tove, was born in Oslo, Norway of Thor Reidar Pedersen and Mimi Alvilde Hansen-Bodding. She left Norway as a young adult for England, with her final destination America. Tove was a professional dancer that danced with the likes of Fred Astaire. It still amazes me thinking about her stories of winning amateur Latin dance contests in Miami in her late fifties as a Norwegian. I’ll never stop appreciating the dedication she gave supporting and relentlessly protecting us. No matter my age, she never stopped reaching out to let me know it was going to rain and to remember my umbrella. After all she endured in life, she never adopted a victim mentality. We were raised to be self-sufficient and to fight tooth and nail for what I believed in.
Unknowingly she instilled an “ask for what I need or else I will not get it” mentality. My Mother was blunt and direct with her words and actions yet very sweet and affectionate. You did not want to rub this feisty Norwegian woman the wrong way though!
My Father Vincent was born in the United States of Italian immigrants, Luigi Scarano and Anna Bonaddio. They arrived via Ellis Island, New York. He met my Mother at dance classes while serving in the military. My Father was definitely was not going to win any awards for being a communicator but he definitely took first prize for working, working and yes working some more. This must explain where I got my deep dedication and sense of responsibility for my work and customers. I am very thankful for the hard work and discipline he instilled in us. Not sure how thankful I am that he made me de-weed the yard in the heat of the summer every year! My Father was obsessed with Frank Sinatra. Growing up I woke to Frank blasting from the speakers in the living room early every Sunday morning. He even took us all to Carnegie Hall for a family road trip. Not the kind of music a child appreciates but I certainly love to hear his music now.
My mother knew that I needed to get away from the sheltered upbringing my Father fostered at home. She pushed for me to attend the University of Miami in 1988. In my Junior year, my Father passed away at 49 years young from a heart attack. He never forgave my Mother for sending me so far away. Getting away played an integral role in shaping me. My graduation gift was a plane ticket to Europe. I lived and worked there for about 6 months. This experience opened my eyes tremendously. Future trips around the world added to my growth. Living without fear and seizing opportunities was liberating.
In 1993 I came back to Miami and resumed working for a small, family-owned furniture store that I had worked for while attending the University of Miami. This experience inspired me to open my own furniture and accessory store in Miami Beach. Humbly spoken, I was too immature, underprepared and in over my head. About a year and a half later, the optimistic venture failed miserably leading to a very large debt owed to my Mother. Before closing the store in 1996 I partnered with the ironworks company that had made the wall brackets for my store. It felt so natural learning the nuances of metal fabrication. How satisfying it was to be able to think up an idea and then have it made right in front of my eyes by talented artisans. In 1999 I took full ownership of Le Fer Forge. From that point on we shifted the focus to manufacturing drapery hardware to the trade.
Over many years, I ended up paying my Mother back every dime plus some as a grateful gesture. I may still have the long spreadsheet that included every little payment entry.
In 2009, my health took an abrupt nosedive after a dentist extracted a silver amalgam dental filling without using the safe IAOMT removal protocol. I became chronically ill. Those dark fillings contain more than 50% mercury. A hair test confirmed my heavy metal poisoning. It saddens me that our government and dentists still place this neurotoxin into our mouths today. In 2011, I received a second acute case of mercury poisoning when a crown popped off exposing another silver amalgam. My immune system could not handle every time I brushed over that filling in my tooth. If you are not following me, click here for a short Dr. Oz video that explains it all.
Once again a hair test confirmed my symptoms. Many dark and confusing years followed filled with gloom and uncertainty. Nobody around me understood what I was going through. My brain has never been the same. Keeping Le Fer Forgé’s doors open was not optional, it was a dire necessity. My loss of mental capacity along with all of the other symptoms proved to be a huge challenge. Through the journey, I never lost faith and never quit on all around me. As a single Father, I made my daughter the number one priority. She was my strength.
Looking back, falling ill was one of the best things to have ever happened to me. If I could go back in time, I would not change a thing because I gained the strength and knowledge to educate on healing. I became the person I was meant to be. To this day it’s difficult to find anyone who truly understands the simplicity of the body’s self-healing abilities that I now know and teach. There was no choice but to learn because nobody could help me. Today I freely share my gift of knowledge on most health conditions for anyone who desires to help themselves. This is my way of giving back to humanity for a second lease on life.
On this journey of healing, my Mother passed away to pancreatic cancer which strengthened, even more, my will and devotion to helping others in need. With the knowledge I have gained, if it could have been applied, I do sincerely believe that she would still be with us witnessing my daughter Michaela’s life. The remembrance of lying next to her in the hospital bed while she took her final breath will never be forgotten.
Getting personal adds more to every relationship. Now that you know a little bit about me, I hope that you will find me to be an open, trusting and hardworking individual. I would love the opportunity to manufacture drapery hardware for your company and your customers. It would be my honor to serve you.