When the office is at home, local business owners connect in the community and thrive. Learn how three successful residents strike a work-life balance while operating growing enterprises that add to the city’s diverse business community.
Finding the Sweet Spot
A lifelong dessert fan, Michelle Hritz signed up for a cake decorating class at nearby Polaris Career Center for fun — and it led to a sweet venture she never imagined. “My instructor worked part time at a restaurant and asked, ‘Do you want to come with me to see what I do?’ I did, and after spending a day with her, I was like, ‘This is what I want to do!’”
Following a career in interior design, Hritz shifted into the bakery and cafe business, learning from commercial bakers. She eventually became a head pastry chef and discovered a love for catering events. “It’s creative and you get to work with people one-on-one,” she says.
In 2016, Hritz combined her artistic background, baking skills and passion for sweet things into a virtual bakery and catering business: Sweet Revolution! The licensed home bakery specializes in mini desserts and bite-sized delights for events, parties and gifts. Those include pies, tarts, cookies, cheesecakes, brownies and more.
Aside from catering, Hritz partners with other catering companies and event centers. She has a stable of regular customers who have treated themselves to her goodies since before the COVID days. And during that time, she shifted from events to creating treat boxes for delivery. The support she received from community members and others in her entrepreneurial networking group sustained a thriving business during a tough time, and last year was her best yet.
Based at home, her kitchen is headquarters. Rather than equipping a dedicated space with a desk and storage for files, her home office includes three refrigerators and two full-size freezers. “I could always use more,” she laughs.
Hritz and her husband have lived in Middleburg Heights for 26 years on a cul-de-sac near the Metroparks she calls “a hidden gem.” Proximity to major highways makes it easy for delivery and traveling to events, she says.
As for the home base, she appreciates the time she can find in off-moments and hours of the day when her husband is home and she’s not busy baking. Because her career involves working evenings and weekends while events happen, she can also conveniently slide in more kitchen time without being away when she’s on deadline.
Michelle Hritz’s 3 Tips for Success:
1. Get involved. Hritz joined the Middleburg Heights Chamber of Commerce and participated in an entrepreneurial networking group to share ideas, gather feedback and build connections.
2. Get out. Even though Hritz is a licensed home baker and spends hours in her own kitchen, she enjoys a refreshing balance of working from home with time away at events and delivering catering orders.
3. Get engaged. During COVID when the event business was down, Hritz leveraged social media to engage the community. “People were finding me and ordering treat boxes to share, and there was so much support,” she says.
Creating ‘Cubicles’ in the Community
Dan Sage works in the basement, outfitted with screens, files, video calls and all that’s required to run Machor Sage Insurance Agency. His wife, Michelle, works upstairs in a den transformed into a fully equipped office. Dan and Michelle decided to move the family agency home after maintaining an office in Middleburg Heights for many years. Founded in 1975 by Michelle’s father, Dennis Machor, the agency offers personal and commercial insurance coverage to clients all over Ohio.
“One of the good things that came out of the pandemic was opening folks’ eyes and broadening their beliefs of remote work and virtual assistants,” Dan says.
He adds that the commute is great. “I just need a good 30 seconds to walk to my office,” he quips.
Aside from agency life, Dan is involved in a range of community outreach organizations, from being an active member of the Rotary Club of Strongsville to having served on the board of directors for the Middleburg Heights Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the City Club of Middleburg Heights. Namely, he is a Middleburg Heights city councilman. All of this giveback to the community gets him out of the house quite a bit, so working from home comes with a nice balance.
In fact, Dan says moving their agency office home and adopting a remote work environment inspires more time out in the community. Rather than scheduling meetings in a conference room, he meets out at local businesses like Revive Café, Sips and Such Social House and Global Grounds Café inside Grace Church.
“It forces me to get out even more than when I had a physical office,” he says.
Dan Sage’s 3 Tips for Success
1. Set a schedule. The Sages decided they would maintain a routine just like always. “We get up, shower, get dressed and ‘go to work’ as opposed to rolling out of bed and taking calls.”
2. Set outside meetings. Explore places in the community to meet clients as an alternative to the conference room.
3. Set boundaries. There’s no hard stop at the home office. “At 5 p.m., a switch doesn’t go off,” he says. I associate the office with work, and when I’m with family, the door to my office is closed.”
Sold on Working from Home
Fewer distractions, scheduling flexibility and better productivity are a few benefits of working from home, if you ask Vickie Kasidonis, a real estate agent with Dipierro Real Estate Services. “There’s less pressure, and I feel very content,” she says. “And for me, when I feel content, I produce more.”
Kasidonis grew up in Middleburg Heights — her family has lived in the community for about 50 years. “Middleburg Heights is close-knit, businesses are growing and it’s comfortable,” she says. “People are friendly, and it’s easy to access nearby communities.”
This is important for a real estate agent who has been working throughout Northeast Ohio for the last eight years. Kasidonis describes the energy in town centered on redevelopment. It’s easy to sell Middleburg Heights to clients who are interested in a community that is close to amenities like shopping, dining, recreation, parks and health care.
“There is a lot going on here,” she says.
There is a lot going on in her home office, too. Kasidonis finds balance by taking breaks to walk her dog, or carving time out for a relaxing coffee hour if she’s been up late negotiating a deal. If she needs to run an errand, she can squeeze that into the day, knowing she also can be responsive off hours when clients need her.
She is definitely “sold” on working out of her Middleburg Heights home. And, she adds, “I don’t have to fight any traffic.”
Vickie Kasidonis’s 3 Tips for Success
1. Enlist resources. There’s no IT department in the home office. But Kasidonis partners with a local technology expert who can handle computer issues.
2. Create space. A dedicated office is a must for Kasidonis. “I have my desk, and I put shelves in the closet for files — I refreshed it, and at the end of the day, I make sure the desk is clear and ready for the next day,” she says.
3. Maintain a drive. “You have to really want to work from home,” Kasidonis says. “You have to be motivated and dedicated to be successful.”
