Whether inventing the first flying machine renovating homes, changing personal computers as we know them, entertaining millions or just making great ice. cream – the sky is the limi when you find the yin to your yang in business.
Jeff Hunt and Jenny Filkins, Jeff Hunt & Associates, 6 Queens Folly Road, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928, (843) 422-5933, www.jeffh.dunestrealestate.com
They say first impressions are everything. Just a few weeks into her tenure working alongside Realtor Jeff Hunt, Jenny Filkins, also a licensed Realtor and Jeff’s personal assistant, did something that, even a year later, continues to impress her boss.
The pair of them were loading bikes at the north end Walmart for delivery to children around the Lowcountry. This massive undertaking is something Hunt does every year, purchasing hundreds of bicycles to donate to Deep Well, The Boys & Girls Club of Bluffton, and Antioch in Jasper County.
“It’s a simple thing, but Jenny noticed that some of the bikes had some rust on them from sitting outside, so she came to me and said she was going to get something to clean them up,” Hunt said. “That is really something special to me, that she wanted to make sure the bikes were perfect for those children. She recognized the problem, acted, and made things better for other people. It really speaks to who she is as a person. This attitude of making sure everything is done right spills over into her work in real estate. She is extremely detail oriented, holds a high ethical standard, and is well-versed on the ins and outs of real estate contracts.”
For Filkins, it’s just a reflection of Hunt’s generous spirit, something that brings joy to her job. “It does make it feel like the work we’re doing is not just for us, but it’s something that we’re doing for the community,” she said. “It is the same, whether donating bikes or working with someone trying to buy or sell a home. It is all about care and integrity. Some people think Jeff only works with high-end clients, but he puts so much care and diligence into every transaction, whether they are selling a multi-million home or something as simple as a quarter share. Jeff respects all people and all their investments equally.”
That initial impression proved to Hunt that Filkins had been the perfect hire for his firm, and it has led to a professional relationship built on trust, mutual admiration, and a shared outlook that’s pure optimism.
“Jenny has been a breath of fresh air,” Hunt said. “Her attitude toward not just work, but life, is very similar to mine. It is just positivity. That has really inspired and energized me. Plus, she is always ready, willing, and able to spring into action.”
The feeling is completely mutual.
“It is really refreshing to work with someone who is so kind, hardworking, resolution-oriented, and always able to see the sunny side. He has taught me that every problem has a solution; sometimes you just need patience and to think outside of the box,” Filkins said. “In my time working with Jeff, he has taught me so much about both real estate and life. He’s somebody I’m proud to work with.”
Matthew and Christopher Curry, CurryCrete, 535 Stiney Road, Hardeeville, SC, (843) 540-5386, lcpaver.com/currycrete
If there’s a genetic marker for creating opportunity, you’ll definitely find it in the Curry bloodline. Look at how Tom Curry saw the opportunity in a cinder block plant, transforming it into Lowcountry Paver and creating a massive local business in the process. Fast forward 20 years, and his sons Matthew and Christopher have now found their own avenue for planting their flag at CurryCrete.
“A lot of our customers at Lowcountry Paver are concrete finishers, and the only reason they didn’t buy concrete from us was that it wasn’t an option we provided,” Matthew said. Like their father before them, Matthew and Christopher have constructed a plant for ready-to-mix concrete, using their extensive knowledge of the industry and endless youthful energy to take it to new heights.
But unlike their father, the Curry boys are entering into this new business venture alongside a partner they’ve known their whole lives. The brothers have been hands-on parts of Lowcountry Paver starting from a young age and have developed the perfect dynamic for running a business together.
“We’ve always had our own separate roles,” Christopher said. “He’s always been the more mechanically inclined one, while I’ve always done more of the money handling and office duties. As business partners, it’s still that same dynamic.”
It’s a dynamic that ensures the Curry dynasty of self-determined success will continue into the next generation.
Barry and Lamar Johnson, Johnson & Davis, PA, The Victoria Building, Suite 200, 10 Pinckney Colony Road, Bluffton, South Carolina 29909, (843) 815-7121, www.jdwpa.com
For more than 40 years, life-long Beaufort County resident Barry Johnson has built a legendary law career in everything from litigation to land use and development matters. As the firm he helped build, Johnson & Davis, PA, has grown, so has his reputation as one of the area’s most esteemed attorneys. But the thing he’s perhaps proudest of building is a legacy, one that has continued since his son, Lamar Johnson, joined him.
“It takes the parent-child relationship to a greater level of parity,” Barry said. “We work together to do the right thing in the right way. I like history, tradition and legacy, and we’re building on those things.”
Now in his fifth year as an attorney, Lamar joined the firm with an eye on continuing the life-long lessons he received from his father. “Our relationship hasn’t changed an extraordinary amount save for growing into more of a mentorship. It’s an excellent benefit for me to continue learning under my dad,” Lamar said. “I couldn’t see working for anybody else. We’re a close-knit firm.”
What’s perhaps most astounding about Lamar following in his father’s footsteps is that it was never a given, never an expectation. “I needed to make sure he was A) making an independent decision and B) knew the work and uncertainty ahead,” Barry said. While he never pushed his son into the law, when you set the kind of example Barry Johnson has, it’s easy for a son to follow suit.
“You make decisions when you’re young, and then your decisions make you,” Lamar said. “I would make this decision again in a heartbeat.”
Dr. Heather Hinshelwood and Henry Criss, The Fraum Center for Restorative Health, 1403 Main St., Hilton Head Island, SC 29926, (843) 779-2670, fraum.com
Stepping into and continuing a three-decade legacy of delivering patient-centered and relational care, Dr. Heather Hinshelwood and Henry Criss are taking the helm at the Fraum Center for Restorative Health, committed to improving patient outcomes and expanding services to reach as many people as possible with pioneering wellness care.
Hinshelwood and Criss are engaged—as a couple in their personal relationship—and professionally, in this joint venture to merge their shared experiences and training, and their yin-yang of complementary skillsets to build the business.
“Heather brings a great deal of technical knowledge and skill as a board-certified physician for more than 20 years,” Criss said. “I’m always impressed with her vast understanding of what’s happening in her field and how to interact with patients and meet their needs. My organizational management experience from public and private sectors builds the practice around those skills, assuring an organization capable of accomplishing what we set out to do.”
“Henry has a background in military and public service, which means he understands mine as an emergency physician and naval vet,” Hinshelwood said. “That makes him the perfect complement to build this business. I can be the best doctor, but if I’m not good at the business side of the house, who’s going to benefit from that care? There’s an empty space in wellness, but our ability to move into that space is limited if not for his expertise.”
At the Fraum Center for Restorative Health, already the premier clinic in the Southeast under the 30-year leadership of Dr. Brad Fraum, the couple’s plans focus on “a personal guarantee of relational capital” that Hinshelwood has established with her patients along with a reputation for advanced services and expertise.
“We continue to add new and innovative tech and tools to our tool chest every three to four months: a comprehensive neuropathy program, laser and pain relief modalities, moving into peptides—helping people by hearing them and having a plan for the best resources that call on the body’s innate ability to heal itself,” Hinshelwood said. “People see our success and think these outcomes are easy, but it’s born of how established we are in this field and how high we’re reaching to make elite treatments available to and successful for our patients.”
Leslie Bigwood and Ashley Cubbage, Now We’re Talking Therapy Services, 1536 Fording Island Rd Unit 105, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926, (843) 837-2080, nwt-therapy.com
They say talent attracts talent. What’s always interesting, however, is the way in which that happens. Sometimes they’re drawn to each other, and sometimes they fall into each other’s orbit through happenstance. Such was the case when Leslie Bigwood found her son needing a speech therapist and was introduced to Ashley Cubbage.
With her background in speech therapy and her current position as owner of a comprehensive outpatient pediatric private practice in Georgia, Bigwood quickly knew Cubbage was the best around.
Right away, the possibilities opened up for these two talented professionals. “We decided to pool our resources, with Leslie having that knowledge of the business and with my investment in the Bluffton and Hilton Head communities,” Cubbage said.
They founded Now We’re Talking Therapy Services, which has since grown to a team of 20 professionals dedicated to offering quality pediatric speech, occupational, and physical therapy. “We are yin and yang for sure. I’m like the front of the house and she’s the back of the house.”
Bigwood said. “Our team members say, ‘If you want a warm hug, find Ashley. If you want an answer, find Leslie.’”
Their shared laughter in telling this proves they both know it, and both realize how strong it makes them as a team. That give and take has helped fuel the practice’s expansion, with a freshly signed lease ready to usher them into 2,000 additional square feet to serve more children in need of speech, occupational, and physical therapy.
Kori Brett McKeithan and Joseph DuBois, ,Liberty Oak Law Firm, 71 Lighthouse Road, Suite 230, Hilton Head Island SC 29928, (843) 671-5550, www.libertyoaklaw.com
The best marriages are those in which each person finds not just love, but a sense of completion in one another. The famous line in Jerry Maguire, “You complete me,” sums it up perfectly. And when a married couple can take what makes them complete and apply that toward the practice of law, you get something amazing. Just look at the way husband-and-wife team Kori Brett McKeithan and Joseph DuBois turn marital bliss into seamless teamwork at Liberty Oak Law Firm.
“People ask how you can work with your spouse, but we do such different things at the firm. So rather than micromanage each other, we’re able to collaborate to better serve our clients,” McKeithan said. Her practice areas skew more toward the real estate closings side of things, while DuBois’s lean toward personal injury, worker’s compensation and medical malpractice.
“One thing about Kori Brett, she’s not only the most motivated, she’s also a very good attorney. She’s able to take a comprehensive look at transactions from a legal perspective and give her clients the full view,” DuBois said of his spouse.
She’s equally effusive in praise of her husband and legal partner. “Joe is truly brilliant and also extremely motivated, so much so that he just passed the Georgia bar exam to expand into that region,” she said. “The way he commands a courtroom is amazing to watch.”
This blessed union of talents shows that a great marriage can make for a great dynamic in and out of the courtroom.
Frederick G. Weniger, MD, FACS & Carmen A. Traywick, MD, FAAD, LUX ~ A Medical Spa, Bluffton: 350 Fording Island Road, Suite 101, Hilton Head: 24 Shelter Cove Lane, Suite 50, info@luxhhi.com, luxhhi.com
Sometimes a duo works well because of their chemistry. Sometimes they work because of a shared vision. In rare cases, a duo simply works because the combination of their skills, talents and expertise creates something more than the sum of its parts.
When looking at the respective careers of Drs. Frederick G. Weniger and Carmen A. Traywick, you can see that they work for all those reasons. Professionally, they came together over mutual admiration of one another’s expertise in their respective fields. They quickly found they both shared a vision of a medical spa built on a foundation of exceptional experience.
And they realized that vision together, creating LUX – A Medical Spa, a premier medical spa informed by Dr. Weniger’s expertise as a plastic surgeon and Dr. Traywick’s renowned skill as a dermatologist. Together, they could offer the entire continuum from medical dermatology to plastic surgery, with LUX representing the expansive cosmetic crossover between these fields. No other facility could offer every skin and cosmetic solution in one location.
“Dr. Traywick provides the solution for many of the particular skin-related concerns that are outside of my expertise,” Weniger said. “In fact, she provides LUX patients a resource for even their most unusual or rare skin conditions that plastic surgeons aren’t at all familiar with.”
“Dr. Weniger provides the surgical expertise at LUX, being aware of the limitations of non-surgical approaches and the knowledge of the start-to-finish top-notch cosmetic experience,” Traywick said.
It was that recognition of their mutual skills that brought them together, and that deep shared talent pool that has turned LUX – A Medical Spa into a destination for health and beauty. Now, patients can experience the only location where they can be directed straight to the most appropriate specialty even when they don’t know who to go to. The only medical spa in the Lowcountry owned by a plastic surgeon and a dermatologist, LUX has grown in the 10 years since its inception into the premier medical spa in the Southeast, with locations on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton.
Ryan and Lisa Lockhart, group46 Marketing, 1323 May River Rd #202, Bluffton, SC 29910, (843) 258-5943, grp46.com
“Anybody can do it like everybody.” Standing far and above that standard is a dynamic duo holding court on a historied corner of downtown Bluffton: Ryan and Lisa Lockhart, the professional “brand navigators” behind the full-service marketing and brand development agency, group46.
What started as a knack for founder and owner Ryan Lockhart, grew to a distinct ability that would ultimately set his intuitive influence and the agency apart. In a story known to clientele from around the world, Ryan originally came to the States on a student visa “with nothing more than a backpack, credit card, and a one-way ticket.”
That spirit of adventure would lead him down a path toward helping business owners get discovered, heard, and known. It would also lead him to his life and business partner Lisa (Lewellen) Lockhart, who would bring the missing piece to the business with her expertise in accounting, leadership, and organizational management.
As a brand visionary and innovator in the advertising landscape, Ryan invests his diverse sales and marketing experience as a coach and fractional CMO for brands and businesses, mentoring and training clients with consistent tools and practices that help them find and stay focused on their true north.
Fulfilling their mission at every turn, Lisa and Ryan leverage partnerships and resources to work with and for you, “to change the course of your company, craft smart brands, create the path to success, cultivate the means to get there, and connect your brand and ideal client in the most profitable engagement experience.”
Lofty objectives, yes. But this is a couple that spends their weekends reaching tremendous mileage goals through “section hiking,” conquering trails marked “extremely difficult” with their Labradoodle, Mate. Just as they completed the Georgia Appalachian Trail this year before forging into N.C., they know the gains of making progress one mile at a time, reminding clients, “Simple things done consistently over time create extraordinary results.”
Brand development, digital solutions, strategic planning—it’s all part of the package when you “raise your game with group46,” conquering those measurable goals while they guide you higher, toward your most meaningful goals.
With Lisa who handles ever-changing needs, making sure promises get kept, and Ryan with a far-reaching rep as the “Brand Whisperer,” together they guide their roster of clients—new businesses and established brands—beyond perceived ambitions, on a search and discovery mission for the “best true thing to say.”
Dr. Timothy and Melissa Gross, Dr. Timothy Gross’ Dental Excellence , 15 Bow Circle, Suite 104, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928, (843) 342-7700, www.drtimgross.com
While most people only know Dr. Timothy Gross for his 14 years serving patients with his trademark dedication and dental expertise in the Lowcountry, most don’t know that his time here is, in fact, his career’s second act. Prior to his move here, he spent 18 years building a successful practice in Pittsburgh. So, what’s his secret to more than three decades atop the dental field?
“I stand on the shoulders of giants,” he said. “None of us can do what we’re doing in this office alone. There’s a lot of mutual appreciation because we only accomplish these things together.”
When he says it, he’s speaking of his entire staff. But one staff member in particular has provided a shoulder for 19 years in his practice, and in his life since the fourth grade. That would be his wife Melissa, who has stood by his side for 25 years in sickness and in health, during office hours and beyond.
“My title is technically bookkeeper, but over the years that has morphed and changed,” she said. Melissa had previously worked in banking, and when her husband found his practice with an urgent need of someone with her business savvy, she didn’t hesitate. “Tim was great about setting the tone right away. With me not knowing dentistry, but knowing banking, he was a very patient teacher and a great leader.”
Nineteen years in, she has become one of Tim’s most valuable team members and a great sounding board. While some couples might draw a strict line in the sand on business hours, the Grosses see dentistry as more than just a business. “We’ll talk about work sometimes right up until we go to sleep at night and sometimes when we wake up,” Tim said. “Dentistry is just a huge part of our life.”
And Melissa has played a key role in the growth of Dr. Gross’ practice as he has enjoyed his second act here in the Lowcountry. Whether it’s routine cleanings, cosmetic or comprehensive dental care, or even braces or Invisalign, Dr. Gross is able to give each patient his utmost attention due to two factors. The first is a focus on keeping patient loads light to allow his expertise to truly shine through with each visit. The second is a woman who won his heart, supported his dream, and paved the way for his success.
“Nobody puts their heart into it like Melissa,” Tim said. “It’s really just worked.”
Charles and Ingrid Nivens, Bluffton Aesthetics, 3 Plantation Park Drive, Bluffton, SC 29910, (843) 505-0584, blufftonaesthetics.com
Charles and Ingrid Nivens have always made the perfect pair and have been the perfect complement to one another in everything they set out to build – Family (1997), Charles J. Nivens, MD Spine Medicine (2000), and now since 2017, sharing space with Charles’ medical clinic, Ingrid Nivens’ Med Spa, Bluffton Aesthetics.
Bluffton Aesthetics naturally evolved after years of Ingrid playing a key role in her husband’s practice where feedback from that clientele unearthed the need for “professional, yet economical, aesthetic skincare.” Ingrid specifies, “There are so many options beyond injectables and surgery that many people are not aware of. We love educating our patients about noninvasive options that give you that refreshed look with little to no down time. Caring for our complexion is similar to tending to a well-planned garden. At home, gardens require hydration, fertilization and constant upkeep, but we really don’t have the tools to give the same care to our skin” – tools for anti-aging services like injectables, microneedling, photorejuvenation, laser treatments and medical grade skin care products.
What makes this partnership thrive as the duo behind an increasingly influential medical presence in Bluffton? Charles credits the complement of their shared medical backgrounds with the yin and yang of his dogmatic, regimented approach versus her fun-loving creativity. Ingrid summarizes, “I’m the calm; he’s the storm.” Together, they’re moving mountains.
Dennis Jaworski and Chuck Hall, Palmettoes, The Shops at Sea Pines Center, 71 Lighthouse Rd # 414, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928, (843) 363-6800
How long have you known each other, and how did you meet initially? Dennis Jaworski: We met in the 1998. Chuck was a customer of mine at Acorn (formerly a men’s and women’s store in Sea Pines Center), and he became a friend.
At what point did you decide to work together and why? DJ: Once I learned of Chuck’s background as a buyer for Neiman Marcus, I thought there might be an opportunity there. I asked if he would assist me in the buying for Acorn. He decided to come on, and that was the beginning of a long friendship and work partnership.
What strengths do you each bring to the business? DJ: My background was in menswear and Chuck’s was in womenswear, so we were able to meld those two specialties together to create a winning team. In 2005, we decided to break away and start our own business, and Palmettoes was born. I can’t believe it’s been almost 20 years.
What happens when you both strongly disagree on something? How do you work through that? DJ: This most often happens when we are on buying trips. If we don’t both agree on a line or an issue, we pass on it. We’ve found that things just work better if everyone is on the same page.
How have your individual roles evolved since you started working together? DJ: My role has changed in that it now involves a lot more office time. Chuck has become the lead on the floor, making sure our customers feel welcome and well taken care of.
What advice do you have to people going into business together? First of all, be sure you have compatible personalities so you understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I tend to be really good at merchandising (dressing the floor in an attractive way to bring customers in). Chuck is charming and fun to be around, and that is really an asset to the store.
Tell us one thing about the other that makes you really enjoy working together. DJ: Becoming known as “the boys” in the community—as the faces of Palmettoes. CH: We work great as a team and strive to make people happy in our store.
Maggie Washo and Jevon Daly, CH2/CB2 Magazine = www.ch2cb2magazine.com
How long have you known each other, and how did you meet initially? Jevon Daly: We met initially as part of a music interview, I believe. Was that 2008? Ew. That year stunk in a lot of ways. I spent most of it curled up in the position (not the fetal position). Maggie Washo: I met Jevon early in my Lowrey Group marketing days—I think maybe at the Boathouse. I remember a child playing the banjo was part of his band at the time. (He wasn’t the child, for the record). I want to say I had to take a photo of Lowcountry Boil for our newsletter, which is a bit ironic because Jevon just asked me to photograph the most recent incarnation of LCB last month.
At what point did you decide to work together and why? JD: I wear people down. Remember the kid that wanted to fit in, so he started doing other kids’ book reports? That was me, only the beautifully written book report usually got a D-. In 2020, Maggie and I started working together after I warned her of what happens when you fall behind in the social media world. Now look what I did, Mom. MW: The creative sparks always kind of flew when we were in the same room together. I like the weird way Jevon’s brain works. It’s important to have those off-the-wall thoughts that explode into something remarkable once refined. It was February or March of 2020, and he reached out on Instagram (probably to tell me what I posted was dumb). One conversation led to another, and suddenly I was sitting in the CH2 office doing a live stream. He was supposed to be interviewing me, but I’m pretty sure he just talked about himself the whole time.
What strengths do you each bring to the business? JD: Business? I bring the monkey business and Maggie basically “gives me the business,” although recently I have noticed less friction while we are on the job. And yes, we fly by the seat of our pants. MW: Jevon is good at staying current with pop culture and being abreast of what people are talking about. That probably comes from actually engaging with every single person he meets—everywhere. He’s very curious and genuinely interested in people. You learn a lot that way. He’s also good at bringing levity to any stressful situation. My strengths are too many to list on this tiny page.
What happens when you both strongly disagree on something? How do you work through that? JD: Strongly disagreeing is something we do daily. The more I learn about great groups of people who have worked together over the years (like bands, I suppose, or marriages), I have found something. These people strongly disagreed, famously, and we never knew till the memoir came out. MW: Ooof! Those first few years were rough. Agree to disagree maybe? And try to understand where the other person is coming from based on past experience … and childhood trauma. Also seeing a therapist together once a day helps. We recommend Sheila (Tucker) Critchley. See her column on page 84.
How have your individual roles evolved since you started working together? JD: Our individual roles have kinda flipped and flopped over the last almost four years. Sometimes I’m doing the “reeling in” on ideas. I know. Hard to believe that sometimes I think Maggie Washo has an edgy idea. I now know her ideas are great, and very different from mine. Or exactly the same. MW: This business is constantly evolving as are the roles. Now that there’s a level of trust there, I find myself deferring some of the creative control. There was a time when I thought the only good ideas were mine.
What advice do you have to people going into business together? JD: If you are going in business together, be careful what you say to one another when the baby is awake at 4 a.m. the night before your big meeting. Words hurt people’s feelings these days, but more importantly, kill great moments on the reg, worldwide. There is usually a rainbow over the next hill, ya grouch. MW: You can’t do everything by yourself, although I have definitely tried and almost killed myself doing it. Find someone you like and respect and, like Jevon said, someone who doesn’t always agree with you. I remember my mentor Pierce Lowrey used to tell me, “If you and I agreed on everything, there would be no reason for you to be here.”
Tell us one thing about the other that makes you really enjoy working together. JD: Food. That is one thing that makes working with Maggie better. MW: Jevon makes me laugh 88% of the day. The other 12% …
Is Jevon as cool as he seems? JD: Jevon can be cool. Jevon can be a fool. The guy is human. Humans are sometimes not cool and need to be hugged or forgiven. Mainly forgiven. MW: Of course. Wait. Is that a real question? Did anyone else get that question?
