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Snapshot: Erik Ferjentsik

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Occupation: I’m a consultant for medical practices. The proper title is transition consultant. I help doctors buy, sell, start, and grow medical practices.

Family: I’ve been married to Dr Kelly McGlynn for three years, this June. She took over the practice of Dr Moore’s, about two and a half years ago. I was born in Lake Forest, Ill., and moved to Fairfield when I was very young. My mother and father are Hungarian. My dad was a dentist, and he passed away. My mother lives in Stratford now, and my sister, Alana, lives in Brooklyn. She’s a fashion stylist — she dresses rock stars for a living.

Pets: We have a Vizsla, a Hungarian hunting dog. Her name is Lulla, after a town in Hungary. And we have a ladybug infestation, if that counts…

How long have you lived here? We were living in Newtown, renting, but recently bought a house in Monroe. It’s kind of central to family and work for us.

What do you like to do in your free time? I like to rock climb, both indoors and outdoors. I’ve been climbing for almost 20 years now, and I used to climb competitively. I play basketball, volleyball, and I like mountain biking, golfing, playing tennis — really, anything outdoors. I like to play with our dog, and I’m addicted to the Candy Crush game right now. I’m getting into building things and am building a breakfast nook. If that goes well, I want to build a climbing wall in our barn. I like to watch movies at home, and I used to read more, but I read and write a lot for business now. Football is about the only sport I don’t play, but I do watch it, and I’m obsessed with Fantasy Football. I like cooking and organizing get-togethers with our friends.

Do you have a favorite sports team? The Jets, unfortunately. I’ve been a fan a long time, and it’s because of my father and a friend’s father, who were Jets’ fans.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? My favorite travel destination is Thailand, because the Thai people are always smiling, happy, and friendly; it has the most beautiful and exotic beaches, diverse climates, high quality limestone rock climbing, and it’ very affordable once you get there — excluding airfare! I used to live in Thailand and Vietnam. I started an adventure tourism company, Slo Pony Adventures, in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. It was the first American/Vietnamese joint venture company to be licensed in the travel industry in Vietnam. I also published a rock climbing guidebook for Vietnam, as well.

What is the best thing about Newtown? I love the rural nature of it. It’s small business friendly and that builds a community. I love that Newtown has hills, and all the little parks with gorgeous lookouts. Being able to see there’s a world out there, I really like that.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. He wrote the book Let My People Go Surfing. He’s inspirational to me. He’s a prolific rock climber and he made these anchor systems that protect you as you climb. Patagonia is a model of a company that puts a twist on the typical American company. He started a thing called the “Earth tax,” and I think three percent of all revenues or profits are put into a fund to support environmental causes. He took a lot of risks and it was successful. He’s a role model for people like myself, who want to do more than have a successful business, but have an impact on the world, too.

What was your favorite toy, growing up? I loved He Man and Skeletor figures, and playing with them. But I still have Fozzie the bear. Every time I would get hurt, I’d put a little bandage on Fozzie, where I got hurt.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? Oh, yeah. Chocolate. I have these chocolate chip cookies I special order from Chicago. They only sell them by the case. There’s about 200 calories in one cookie, but I’ll eat 10 or 12 at a sitting when they come. It’s really bad.

Erik Ferjentsik is this week's Snapshot profile.
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