Media Coverage
Midtown couple dreams their way to success
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 FranNcis Ccrescia/TownN Ccrier |
DREAM TEAM: Farah and Martin Perelmuter in the park near Forest Hill Village where they used to dream about their future. |
It sounds so romantic: a young couple fall in love, get married, quit their respective jobs and then start a company — against the better wishes of friends and family.
But it’s a company so successful that the couple just bought a home they’ve been dreaming about for over a decade.
It’s happened for Farah and Martin Perelmuter, midtown residents and founders of Toronto-based speakers’ agency Speakers’ Spotlight.
Married and running their business together for 12 years now, the couple’s story is as inspiring as it is simple: have a dream and go after it until you get it.
Though the couple agrees the secret to their success sounds rather like the popular self-actualization book The Secret, they can’t deny the role goal-setting and visualization has played in their successes.
“Having a vision for the better part of 10 years opens you up to possibilities,” husband Martin says.
The wonderful thing about the Perelmuters’ story is they made the decision to follow their dreams as they were planning their lives together.
Before marrying in 1995, they were working in jobs they hated. Then they had an epiphany that changed their lives.
While traveling in southeast Asia, they saw families that were living without running water – yet these families seemed so content, wife Farah says.
“We had this realization – we just wanted to be happy,” she said.So they returned to Canada, tied the knot, and quit their jobs, much to the horror of their parents. “They thought we were crazy,” Martin says.
Although the couple felt relief over having listened to their gut instincts, the first few years were difficult. “We had no money, we weren’t able to go to movies or out for dinner, or go anywhere really.” Farah says.
“We were working so hard, we rarely even saw our friends. ”But every day, they’d walk around Forest Hill Village, Martin’s childhood home of 18 years, and they’d dream about their future.
Strolling through the park where Martin learned to take his first steps as a baby, the couple would always end up at the same place looking at a particular house just visible behind the trees. “I was pretty bold,” Farah says with a laugh. “I told people, ‘I’m going to live in that house’.”But they missed their chance when the house went on the market a few years ago. They simply couldn’t afford it. When they saw a For Sale sign on the property in October, they knew they had to see the inside of the house they had admired and loved for so long.
Both can’t believe how they felt when they saw it. “I walked in and had this weird feeling that I was home,” Martin recalls.
Farah agrees: “I never felt like that in my life.” And though there were other offers on the house, theirs was accepted. The owner told them later they felt they were the right people.
Having just signed off in early November, the Perelmuters are still in disbelief the house actually theirs. But they are somewhat philosophical about how they got to where they are in their lives. “A lot of people don’t realize there are opportunities out there. They just need to listen to their gut,” Martin says.
Farah adds knowing what you want out of life is half the battle.“When you have a goal, it’s easier to stay focused,” she says. “Then you rejoice.”With all the magic in their lives, though, the couple hasn’t underestimated the power of common sense and hard lessons learned. Working with your spouse has had its challenges, they admit. It took six hard months to figure out what role each would play in the company, but once they did, they never looked back and have retained those roles to this day.
A healthy balance in personality has also helped. Farah says she’s the visionary and a bit of a wild card. Martin, on the other hand, is more strategic. Having kids also helped them achieve more balance in their lives, as did instituting house rules once their business was more established, such as their no-talking-about-business-after-8pm-if-we-can-help-it rule.
“That’s why we had kids. We needed more to talk about,” laughs Farah.
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