Dear friends,
It seemed like Patty Romanoff had been gone forever. Then one morning, she was back. Where on earth had she been? Everywhere, it turns out.
The longtime manager of Dar Williams, Susan Werner and The Nields and a familiar bright spot behind the bar at the Northampton Starbucks, Romanoff had traveled around the world on a year-long sabbatical, a benefit offered to Starbucks employees after 10 years of service. And she posted photos — fields of French lavender, souk stalls piled high with sumac and blue doorways in Morocco — along the way. The man standing behind me in line knew all of this already. “My daughter followed her on Instagram,” he explained.
Romanoff has charisma, to be sure, which Veronica Suchodolski’s profile captures beautifully. But she also models a number of lessons in how to live — blending passion, practicality and joie de vivre. She simply makes stuff happen and takes pleasure in the details. As Nerissa Nields explains, touring became infinitely more pleasurable when Romanoff came onboard.
“After a few weeks of seeing how we lived — always getting the cheapest Motel 6s — she went online and searched for bargains. Suddenly, we were staying in much nicer digs, for the same price,” Nields said. “She is the secret to our success, an integral part of our team. I can’t imagine our career without her.”
It’s such a good story about a series of bold and inspiring choices. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Read How Patty Romanoff spent her Starbucks sabbatical.Yours,
Katy
klukens@gazettenet.com