Reinvented Lives

How faith, love and tragedy compelled these locals to rewrite their life stories

Life’s about the journey and not the destination. Most of us have heard these wise words and perhaps have even repeated them a time or two. Although we know it’s sometimes best to take the path less traveled, it’s much easier said than done. Motivated by personal tragedy, desire for a better life or a second career after retirement, there are inspiring people in the Emerald Coast who have lived those wise words by dramatically redefining their lives. Here are their stories.

Photo by Scott Holstein

Water lovers, Heather and Chris Thomas, chucked their “day jobs” and dove head first into their vacation boat rental business. They are photographed with their 19′ Cobia center console, the first ever rental boat to be entered into the Destin Fishing Rodeo in its 64-year history. Surely the first of many for these innovative entrepreneurs.

Water lovers, Heather and Chris Thomas, chucked their “day jobs” and dove head first into their vacation boat rental business. They are photographed with their 19′ Cobia center console, the first ever rental boat to be entered into the Destin Fishing Rodeo in its 64-year history. Surely the first of many for these innovative entrepreneurs. Photo by Scott Holstein.Build a Legacy

Taking any leap of faith is a scary step into the unknown. Giving up a job, uprooting a family and wondering how to pay the bills are real fears to consider when making a drastic change in career. No couple knows that better than Chris and Heather Thomas, owners of Destin Vacation Boat Rentals.

Chris and Heather have always been drawn to water. Growing up in Destin, both savor fond memories of childhood spent playing in emerald waters. Chris remembers working on his dad’s charter boat as a teenager and cleaning the catch of the day. Heather reminisces about crabbing with her grandmother on Okaloosa Island. Despite Destin’s lure, the couple decided to move to Jacksonville, Fla., to pursue a life of their own. With an eye for detail and the patience of a fisherman, Chris pursued a career as a network operations manager at AT&T Corporation for 13 years. Heather, who has the ability to put people at ease with her warm smile, saved lives as a cardiac nurse for seven years until she stayed home to raise their family. When AT&T bought BellSouth Corporation in 2006, Chris knew it was time to make an exit strategy.

“Things went down [in the company] fast,” said the 39 year old.

Chris’ dad’s health was also going downhill fast. At the age of 61, Larry Thomas, a charter boat captain who had fished Destin’s waters for years, was diagnosed with cancer and died six months later.

“I realized how precious life is,” Chris said.

Losing his dad was the last push the Thomases needed to leave the corporate world, move back to Destin and start over.

Always the planner, Heather was skeptical and saw the move as a huge risk.

“Fear is paralyzing,” said the 35 year old. “If it was up to me, we wouldn’t have done it. But there was something Chris said to me: ‘You can’t steal second base if you still have your foot on first.’”

Within three weeks, an office on the water became available.

“We had faith those doors opened for a reason,” Chris said.

With three sons in tow, the Thomases moved to Destin and officially launched their full service boat and watersport equipment business in 2009. Whether vacationing families want to have fun tubing or wake boarding or on a high performance pontoon, a fish charter or a sunset cruise, Destin Vacation Boat Rentals delivers.

Within two seasons, the business doubled and outgrew its first location. Now life has come full circle as the business is located at the East Pass Marina at the Destin Harborwalk — where Chris worked with his dad on his charters. Coming back to his fishing roots proved to be a successful leap of faith for Chris, a self-proclaimed thrill seeker, and Heather, who found her new calling caring for families looking for fun in the sun. Together, they are an unstoppable duo earning well-deserved recognition from their customers as EC Magazine’s Best Charter Boat/Watersports category for the past two years.

“Small businesses don’t typically make it past the second year, so this was a huge accomplishment,” Chris said.

The Thomases are grateful to be in the “World’s Luckiest Fishing Village” again, raising their sons Drew, 11, Ian, 9, and Zach, 6, as the next generation of fishermen. The couple plans to take their business to the next step by expanding their offerings.

“We hope the good luck continues to follow us,” Chris said. “No matter what, we will continue serving customers the way they want to be served.”

Read about other ‘Reinvented Lives’ on the next page of this article

Seize the Moment, Seize the Day

Photo by Kansas Pitts

True partners in love and work, Ann and George Hartley’s friendly restaurant, George’s at Alys Beach, is filled with romantic metaphors, including menus branded with princely frogs who can choose to Behave or Misbehave.

When a fiery redheaded fashionista from Panama City links up with a tall, charming Texan, the chemistry is unmistakable — even after 29 years of marriage. George and Ann Hartley’s love story is one for the books, literally. It has been published by a local artist as an inspiring fairytale of how two frogs, Princess Ann and Prince George, found courage and strength to endure life’s hurdles and to count them all as blessings.

For years, the Hartleys would leave their home in Dallas, Texas, to vacation every summer at the Emerald Coast with a dream of one day retiring on the beach. Both were successful in the corporate world. George had been a banker, in the oil business and insurance. Ann was the top salesperson for Xerox, owned a fashion line and managed a retail store. They were raising three kids in a very competitive, fast-paced environment in the big city.

In 1996, their world changed when both George and Ann’s dads died. They rented a house that summer for a month in Grayton Beach for a much needed break. During a discussion with the best friend of Ann’s dad, they realized life was too short to continue the rat race in Dallas.

“He told us if we have a dream to live it now, because there may not be a tomorrow,” Ann said. “I didn’t want to be in the corporate world anymore. We decided to get off that wheel for a simpler environment.”

So they called their realtor in Dallas to put their house on the market, and within two weeks it was leased. That’s when everything started to fall into place. With no real plan, the family planted roots at the beach while George commuted to Dallas one week a month for two years until he was able to work from home. Ann was also able to sell her business.

The Hartleys made a point to slow down, live in the moment and relish every life experience, including traveling around the world with their kids for six months.

One day, George went to get a drink at a restaurant in Seagrove known for serving the area’s best shrimp po’ boy. He overheard the owners talk about how they wanted to sell the restaurant. Without much thought, George asked them how much and bought the restaurant on the spot.

He went home and told Ann the news. Ann was shocked, saying he had no clue about running a restaurant, but George vowed to learn from the ground up.

Now they operate that restaurant as Seagrove Village Market. Its reputation for serving deep fried love has been featured in the pages of national magazines like Coastal Living and Travel + Leisure. The couple have since opened two additional restaurants on Highway 30A: La Cocina, serving Mexican style fare, and George’s at Alys Beach, serving healthy organic meals.

“Customer service is all the same, whether you’re selling tires, clothes or a sandwich,” George said. “It’s all about the love, and it’s all about the customer. We think like the customer, and the rest takes care of itself.”

Ann said when they started their restaurants, their attitude was that failure would never be an option.

“Everything we’ve done is because we love it,” Ann said. “If people did what they truly love, this [world] would be a happier place.”

One step into George’s at Alys Beach and it’s evident that the Hartleys and their staff treat customers with the same hospitality they would if they were in their living room.

“Part of loving on them is genuinely caring for them and forming relationships with our customers,” Ann said. “We want to give back to the world and lift people up.”

George and Ann are glad they took a chance and didn’t wait until retirement to live life on the beach.

“We’re still trying to figure out what we want to do when we grow up,” Ann said. “We’re having a ball.”

Read about other ‘Reinvented Lives’ on the next page of this article

Pursue a Passion

Photo by Scott Holstein

Award-wining master bladesmith John White jumped ship from his career of boat building and into the fire to forge Damascus and carbon steel knives in his studio on the banks of Boggy Bayou in Valparaiso.

After building boats for 35 years, John White of Valparaiso now forges metal for a different purpose, as a master bladesmith with an international following that has him booked up with orders through October 2014.

What started out as a hobby to pursue during retirement has quickly become a full-time job. The spry 69-year-old works in his home studio, which gets as hot as 115 degrees, melting and manipulating metal into works of art with the fervor of a youngster.

White’s steady hands magically turn mundane metals into intricate patterns and wave-like designs with ornate embellishments. Despite their beauty, these blades are also high-performance tools sharp enough to fillet fish but sturdy enough to cut down a small tree. Ask him a question about his new passion, and he’ll give you an earful. He appreciates the history of knife making and strives to preserve the tradition.

Over the past 10 years, White has made 314 knives, which he calls “jewelry for men.” It takes him about a month to make one “jewel.” Depending on the materials, the knives can cost between $1,200 and $5,000.

“I wanted to make something useful and beautiful with my hands,” he said. “It’s an urge most humans have. There never was a time in history we can find when humans weren’t making something pretty.”

Growing up the son of a building contractor in Austin, Texas, White has been working with his hands since age 12. By age 15, he was earning a full wage putting himself through college by building houses. After completing an anthropology degree, White said he decided to do what the “rest of the hippies in the ’60s were doing” — build a boat and sail away.

And that’s exactly what White and his wife, Jill, did for two years. They sailed up and down the Florida coast until White found work building boats in Clearwater Bay Marina. The couple moved for Jill to pursue graduate school and work as a vice president of instruction at colleges in Pensacola and Seattle. Meanwhile, John continued to build countless small yachts and watercraft, even the 36-foot boat they lived in for four years in Seattle.

“Not many people can live on a boat together,” White said. “Some people live on a boat and feel free with no responsibilities. Other people feel confined.”

After their sailing adventures, the couple finally settled in the Emerald Coast, where Jill worked and retired after 13 years at Northwest Florida State College, and John looked for a new hobby.

A friend who collected knives invited him to an Atlanta blade show featuring more than 600 knife makers.

“How many knives does a person need?” White remembers asking himself. “I thought it was absurd.”

Intrigued, White looked into the American Bladesmith Society and completed its two-week bladesmith course in 2003. Within the first year, he had an exhibit at the show in Atlanta, sold four knives and had six additional orders.

By 2004, White proved his proficiency in his new craft by passing the guild’s high standards of knife making, going from an apprentice to journeyman. He also was recognized by his peers at the show with the Best New Knifemaker Award and the highly coveted George Peck Award for the Best Journeyman Knife. In 2007, he became a mastersmith, reaching the pinnacle of his craft.

“I inadvertently changed my life twice with no regrets. I didn’t intend to make changes, I was just following something I was interested in,” White said.

He continues to refine his craft at his home studio, where he forges metals like Damascus steel in 2,300-degree gas forges and pairs them with handles made out of mammoth tusk, walrus ivory and exotic hardwoods for knife collectors overseas. As a perfectionist, White will continue to challenge just how far he can take his craft with new designs and elements until his hands can do no more.

“I’m fortunate to be able now at the end of my work life to be making things that are very decorative. I create a reality in my work,” White said. “If you’re going to do something, do it well and do it right.”