Guests at Windrose Career Day Encourage Students to Explore, Find Work They Enjoy

At Windrose, Greenwich Schools alternative high school, Wednesday was career day which gave students an up close look at different career paths and a chance to connect their everyday learning with the real world.

While about 14 students were away visiting UConn to see if they could visualize themselves there in future, other students rotated through different classrooms to hear the stories of four successful local professionals and think about similar career paths.

The visits were organized by Cindy Moss who is career counselor for the Right Start Program at Family Centers, with support from Jessica Montgomery.

Windrose has about 50 students in grades 9-12, though most students are in grades 10-12.

Career day guests included Lorie Fagan from Salon Greenwich, Vinnie Insinga from Gateway Plumbing and Heating, Robyn Bordes, who owns several local restaurants including Constantino’s, and Toyota of Greenwich’s James Moreno, who is service and parts director, and master technician, Jared Greenwald.

Vinny Insinga, owner of Gateway Plumbing & Heating, emphasized his field is becoming more computer-based, and said young people are well positioned, having grown up with computers and digital devices, to work in his field.

Mr. Insinga, recalled not being particularly studious during his years at Greenwich High School, where he graduated in 1987.

“I went to trade school instead of college and became a plumber. I love what I do, and finishing a job knowing I fixed something. It’s great when customers say how happy they are,” he said, adding that he was a trade union member.

Insigna emphasized the value of trustworthiness. He said he had worked with some customers for 30 years, and was entrusted to keep sets of their keys.

“It’s the honesty part that matters,” he said.

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“Whatever you do, go to work loving what you do. Try to find something you are interested in,” he added.

Insinga said when he was 15 he started spending his summer vacations going to work with his father, a plumber, where he learned that he enjoyed working with his hands.

Running Gateway, he said he especially enjoyed being his own boss and that every day is different.

Insinga noted that today there is a shortage of electricians and HVAC specialists, and said there are many opportunities for young people in the trades.

He explained that to become a plumber requires four years of apprenticeship and 8,000 work hours.

“There is always something to fix,” he said.

James Moreno and Jared Greenwald from Toyota Greenwich talked about automotive careers.

Mr. Moreno said he had 26 years in the automotive business, and had started out of high school working at an oil change and detailing shop. He said he had tried college but left after a semester and, like Mr. Insinga the plumber, said he learned he loved working with his hands.

Prior to joining Toyota Greenwich, Moreno said he worked for Honda and Mercedes.

“I figured working with cars was cool, but learned it is a people business,” he said. “I started as a mechanic and worked my way up to being a service manager.”

Mr. Greenwald said he’d been in the automotive business for 30 years and had gone straight from high school to working in a foreign car shop.

“Then I went to automotive tech school and worked for Nissan,” he recalled, adding that his job was hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but he knew early on that he never wanted to “sit at a desk.”

Mr. Moreno emphasized that when hiring, everything counted from driving records, to attire, to time management and showing up on time.

“How you dress and carry yourself matters,” he said. “How you talk people is important.”

Also, he said communication skills, including listening, were critical.

“We can teach you how to work on a car, but we can’t teach you how to be on time and how to communicate,” Moreno said.

Lori Fagan, owner of Salon Greenwich on Greenwich Avenue, said she had worked in restaurants in Arkansas when she was growing up and worked in restaurants before attending culinary arts school. Later she worked in fashion photography, where at one point she was asked to cut someone’s hair, but learned she needed a cosmetology degree to do so.

“I said, why not?” explaining the deviation in the path that led to owning her own salon. “The bottom line is, you are an artist.”

Her advice to Windrose students? “Get out there and explore and observe. Try different things even if you find you don’t like them. Once you find something you like, you will never work a day in your life.”

Ms Fagan said that while there are probably 50 salons in Greenwich, hers has a perfect 5-star rating and her staff love what they do.

Still, she said, they are not complacent and try to always be on the cutting edge of services and products.

Robyn Bordes, who owns three restaurants in Byram – Constantino’s, Pasta Bowls and Love You a Latte – said she started working at the age of 13 as a bus girl in an arcade, and later moved up to front-of-house positions in restaurants, and then became a bartender at a successful restaurant.

She said the owners trusted her and ultimately sold their business to her despite others wanting to purchase it.

Bordes said today she tries to help her own employees move up the line and gave the example of one employee with an impressive work ethic who had risen to become a manager of her three restaurants.

“My goal is to educate the kids to want more, and give them opportunities,” she said.

Ms Bordes said she also owns a public relations business for celebrities and health care professionals, including doctors.

While she said she didn’t mix her restaurant business with her public relations company, there was a day last year when Mike Sorrentino was at an event in Stamford with other stars from Jersey Shore and wanted a place to film locally, she obliged, offering them a chance to film at Pasta Bowls.

Bordes’ advice to the teens was not to worry if they don’t yet know what they want to pursue as a career.

“Most people don’t know until they’re in their 50’s,” she said.

Bordes said a particular song by Baz Luhrmann, “Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen,” was apropos of career day.

The lyrics are timeless, but include, “Worrying about the future is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.”

“Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing. Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don’t waste your time on jealously. Some times you are ahead, sometimes you are behind. The race is long. In the end it’s only about yourself.”

See also:

Greenwich Schools Windrose Program Graduates Exemplify Perseverance