06/29/2018
From our owner, Vince Tarry:
Bittersweet.
It’s a word I’ve used on several occasions throughout my life. Whether it was a piece of chocolate or an experience in life, I have never had such a powerful sense of what bittersweet meant until this past Tuesday.
On Tuesday, I locked the doors and turned off the lights on my Bay Area studio for the last time. I realized that I have had an active studio in the Bay for over 17 years, and the feeling of walking out the door for the last time was truly visceral.
Tuesday was spent frantically trying to wrap up the last shop I’ll have on the Peninsula. As I drove around the Belmont/San Carlos area on the various errands I had to do, I was vividly reminded of why I happily moved away from this insanely crowded area. The simple task of going to Office Depot and Home Depot was just plain insane. The traffic from construction on El Camino was at a standstill. It took all of my local knowledge to make this simple trip from Belmont to San Carlos and back a one-hour adventure. I could feel my blood pressure rising as the day was slipping by, with me stuck in my car. It literally felt like the Bay was telling me to get the hell out of here. I just wanted to get back to my shop to finish cleaning and clearing out the last bits of furniture and fixtures. Oh man, I hate this mess!
Get me out of here. Bitter for sure…
A few hours later, and I’m finally finished with clearing the shop, vacuuming the floors, patching and painting the holes in the walls. I finally had it done.
As I was doing my last walk through the space we had occupied for the last three years, it hit me. The memories of all of the amazing people I have had the chance to work with throughout this run in the Bay hit me like a brick. I realized that without the help of so many individuals through the years, this little company wouldn’t be even close to what it has become. I’m very proud of Vince Tarry Studios, but even more so with iClickSmiles. I’m proud of the school photo company we built that broke the mold when it comes to school photos. We were able to compete toe-to-toe with the biggest companies in the country, and we won. I’m incredibly grateful to all of those who have helped in this journey.
Such sweet memories!
Turning the lights off for the last time and walking out the door was a feeling that is hard to explain other than bittersweet. Yet, I feel the word doesn’t do justice to just how sweet it felt to be free from the stresses that came with trying to run a studio in the Bay while also running one at home, 140 miles away.
What was the bitter part in it all? Maybe thinking about how I grew to resent how much I had to rely on the Bay for work and how I was continuously sucked into Bay Area frenzy week after week. Disclaimer: I’m not trying to offend my friends in the Bay, but you just don’t know how good it can be ‘til you get out.
I’m incredibly happy to be free of the obligation and the crossing of the always crowded bridges at this point in my life. Yup, so sweet to be done with the intensity that makes me bitter. I look forward to reduced stress levels for sure. I’m still going to serve my commercial accounts and portrait clients on the Peninsula. These people have been with me from the start and I’m definitely going to make trips down to take care of them. I just won’t have a studio on the peninsula nor the obligation to be down there every week.
I’m looking forward to the continued growth of my business in the El Dorado Hills area. I’m as grateful as ever to my lovely wife, Jacqueline, for her continued support in all of these ventures.
These people all had a part:
Jeff Firestone (my mentor, the Bill Walsh of it all)
John Meyer
John Van Berkum
Patrick Ford
Sindi Ramirez
Cortney Claiborne
Sylvie Gil
James Everett
Melissa Campos
Jeff Macias
Zach Heffner
Gani Pinero
Miranda Larsen
Ethan Righter
Travis Watts
Mike Malament
Paul Staphorsius
Anita Barcsa
Sarah Kellner
Lauren Sampson
Bobak Radbin
Andy Modica Walker
Katie Kirkpatrick
Kassandra Siebel
Chris Kisela
Emily Weinzheimer
Jessie Lim
Joanna Hafter
Jeanine Koenig
Melissa Turner
That’s a solid list of some fantastic people! I’m one hell of a lucky dude!
