George Raptis: Do What Makes You Happy
April 27, 2020
What do you do for a living, and how has your work been affected the past six weeks?
I own a construction company specializing in façade restoration and new affordable housing development in NYC. We had to close our office and set up remotely. Many of our projects are deemed essential due to unsafe facades or due to building necessary affordable housing across the city. Trying to run a business from home all while helping with home schooling has definitely been challenging.
What’s your day-to-day like? What’s been the most challenging part of the adjustment? What’s an unexpected silver lining?
Typical day is working from my home office, going to the jobsites for meeting, helping with school and ends with a tough workout to get my mind off everything. Silver lining is spending a lot of time with the family.
What’s something you’ve adopted--a regular habit, or an occasional reward--to keep your spirits or mental health strong?
My wife and I make sure we finish our day by 5 or 6 and make sure to sit and have a family dinner with our son and focus on him as a family whether it’s watching a show or building a puzzle.
Have you been able to keep training? What are you doing to maintain fitness?
Training has become a large part of my everyday life so not being able to go to the gym would be a huge issue. I ended up ordering a lot of equipment – rower, squat rack, weights, wall balls, sled, etc., and built a lifting platform to continue my training. I am actually able to train more now than ever while enjoying the company of my wife as well.
What would be your message to the other members of The D10 NYC community?
Stay strong and do what makes you happy. We are humans and we will prevail!