Today we’d like to introduce you to Adele Hendricks.
Hi Adele, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Since there was no surf in Cleveland, I moved myself to San Diego 45 years ago. San Diego has been very, very good to me. I found work and success with Dean’s Photo and then Fujifilm. I married my soulmate, photographer and all around renaissance man, Vahe Guzel. We moved to our 3 acres of North San Diego paradise in 1992 and began cultivating our “kinda off the grid, organic garden, and heirloom tomato growing and honey bee loving” lifestyle. After retiring from Fujifilm I became involved with some startup companies. In early 2000 I began to paint the beauty in my gardens. Today I belong to a great group of female artists, CG studios. For two years I have been co-VP of the RSF Art Guild. I just began to write a blog for the RSF website. I love to paint and grow food. I don’t really belong to any national art organization. I’m just a retired businesswoman interested in oil paint, vegetables, honeybees and the beauty of nature.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I worked for a local company, Dean’s Photo, and was their Vice President for a few years. In 1992 Fujifilm bought Dean’s Photo and I became President of the retail division with stores in San Diego, Phoenix and San Francisco. Fujifilm then sold this division to Ritz camera. I then worked for Fujifilm as the National Retail Director until retirement in 2008. I am very proud of the teams I built and supervised at both Dean’s Photo and Fujifilm. We all worked well together and we all have become successful on our own. I like the nickname I earned — “the Velvet Hammer.” I do believe that everyone wants to do the best job possible, given the opportunity and good direction. A good manager, parent, friend and leader can push those in their circle to achieve their own inspired goals – all of which helps the community in general.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The lifestyle Vahe and I have built over the past 33 years — growing a lot of our own food, remaining devoted to our core beliefs, and enjoying life to the fullest has worked well in this crisis. We remained healthy, entertained family and friends and enjoyed the time in many different ways. We are extremely thankful of those who held down jobs, pursued careers and raised their family during this crisis. We are also so grateful to those first line workers who remained on the job even during the scariest COVID moments. I think of them as precious heroes. I am so very thankful for my upbringing, my loving parents, my immigrant grandparents and ancestry. I am especially thankful to America and all the opportunities she has given me, a middle class, middle daughter born in the 50’s in Ohio near the burning river.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adelefineart.com
- Instagram: adele_hendricks
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