{"id":15243,"date":"2020-01-17T19:02:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T19:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiyahmau.com\/?p=15243"},"modified":"2020-02-08T16:41:48","modified_gmt":"2020-02-08T21:41:48","slug":"scenes-from-an-interview-with-andrew-ford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiyahmau.com\/scenes-from-an-interview-with-andrew-ford\/","title":{"rendered":"Scenes From an Interview with Andrew Ford"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Written in Sarasota Scene Magazine<\/em> He\u2019s authentic. A one-of-a-kind man with a rich and diverse history in Sarasota who loves what he does. And what he does is tell people what something is worth, from treasured family heirlooms to paintings picked up at an estate sale. If Andrew Ford were a painting, he would be priceless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has a passion for appraising, selling, trading and auctioning fine art and antiques. He does so with a genuine smile, a firm handshake, and an easygoing demeanor that creates long, trusting relationships. He does it the old-fashioned way \u2013 over time \u2013 one at a time \u2013 with each and every customer that enters the door at Sarasota Trading Company in Historic Burns Square, Sarasota Estate Auction and Ford Art and Antiques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrew proudly wears the heritage of his Ford family name as a father, husband and businessman every day of his life. Originally from New England, Ford, a certified appraiser and collector, has carved out a wonderful life in our town. He\u2019s gotten to know many people and what is valuable to them. A seascape painting of the Gulf. A Chinese plaque. A sterling silver set handed down from your grandmother. But no matter what treasures come in and out of his door, what he treasures the most are his clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I prepared for my interview, I wondered what my Jimmy Cagney autograph was worth. Well, wonder no more. I knew that Andrew Ford could give me the right answer. So I smiled. Okay, so it wasn\u2019t a Mona Lisa smile, but it was smile nevertheless as we sat down and looked at some scenes from an interview of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New Bedford, Massachusetts, which is the whaling capital of the world. At one point, it had the highest per capita income of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I lived on the water. I grew up on a compound where we had our antique shop and a few houses, so I was always in the business. I was the eldest boy in the family. As soon as I could lift anything, my dad had me on the payroll from day one. My first job when I got my license was to deliver some merchandise to New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 1970s , my dad bought multiple houses in the village on Siesta Key. It was a different time then on Siesta Key, a little quieter. In the late 70s, we sold some of these homes and moved near Point of Rocks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was a good student and my father stressed the importance of education. One of my relatives was the superintendent of schools. I was always told \u201cwithout an education life is going to be tough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever since I was four or five years old, I always had collections of objects. My father started me with a jack knife collection. I was into pocket knives growing up. Buying and selling. Every time I would go to a shop, I\u2019d find a pocket knife and the owner would feel sorry for me because I was so young, and I\u2019d get a good deal on a knife. During my freshman year of college, I sold that pocket knife collection for a strong sum of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went to a couple of private schools in Florida. For college, I attended Northeastern, a business school in Boston where I studied International Business. I was fairly fluent in Spanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all have dreams of sports, theater and movies and things like that. But it was always drilled into me from day one to be a merchant one way or another. Buying and selling early on was a lot of fun and always gave me a lot of joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, I\u2019m living the dream. Even when I was younger in college and we had a sports team, I referred to myself as Andrew Ford and Company because I knew someday I\u2019d be working for myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I try not to use that word. You\u2019re really setting a bar to a level for failure when you claim that you know it all and that there is nothing else to learn. In this business, I\u2019m learning every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Gus Mollasis – July 31, 2018<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWHERE WERE YOU WERE BORN?<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
PAINT A PICTURE OF YOUR CHILDHOOD GROWING UP.<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR WAY TO SARASOTA?<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
WERE YOU A GOOD STUDENT?<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT EVEN TODAY YOU STILL ENJOY LEARNING.<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
WHERE AND WHAT DID YOU STUDY?<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
AND THAT\u2019S WHAT YOU\u2019RE DOING TODAY.<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
YOU\u2019RE ALWAYS LEARNING. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN EXPERT IN YOUR PROFESSION?<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n