FOF Kristy was the head of a private school in New York for children with special needs. She said farewell two years ago, after working there for 35 years.
Now she splits her time between South Carolina, where her husband lives full time, and New York, where she sits on a number of non-profit boards and is an active volunteer with organizations focused on children’s learning.
“It took me a while to reinvent myself.” Kristy told me at a baby shower for her beautiful niece, Anika. “It was hard adjusting to the idea that an unpaid job is still work, important work.” Kristy eventually—and happily—discovered that volunteers are crucial to the success of non-profit organizations since the paid staff doesn’t have the time to accomplish everything.
When she’s not at business meetings in New York, or involved in one of her other passions (Revlon’s Walk/Run for Breast Cancer, for example), Kristy’s at her home in Fripp Island, SC, 20 miles from Beaufort and an hour from Hilton Head. The population is about 1,000—as un-New York as you can get—but she loves the close friendships she and her husband have developed, the island’s natural beauty and her relaxed lifestyle there. “Since many people have second homes in Fripp, where they vacation, children are always around,” Kristy said. This suits her just fine since she’s been around children her whole life.