Occupation: I own a marketing company right here in Sandy Hook, SandorMax.com. My partner, Zoltan, and I named the company after our grandfathers. We do marketing and strategy for companies nationwide and locally, especially designing and building websites to help companies grow their businesses. Zoltan is the creative director and I’m the marketing strategist. The best thing is when the client is happy.

Family: My life and business partner is Zoltan Csillag. We’re proud of being DINKs (Double Income No Kids.) When we first came up to Newtown from New York City, we felt out of the loop without kids, but our employees have become our little family unit.

Pets: We have a cat named Colette. She is amazing. She fell off my terrace, eight stories, in New York, and survived. She’s about 15 years old now. We also have an outdoor cat, a feral cat we take care of. She was fixed for us by the Animal Center. We call her Mama, she had so many litters before we realized there was a solution to that!

How long have you lived in Newtown? We have lived here eight years now, moving up from the City. We weren’t looking to move, but we opened The New York Times one morning and saw this tiny blurb about a house in Newtown. We didn’t even know where Newtown was. We came up and fell in love with the house and the town. It was fate that brought us here.

What do you like to do in your free time? I like simple things — gardening, entertaining, and decorating. We have a home that is 222 years old this year, so it takes a lot of effort to keep it up and beautify it. I’m learning more each year about gardening. We have some friends here in town who are helping us. I like to cook, and I collect antique cookbooks.

Do you have a favorite cookbook? I love Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, and her series; and The Silver Palate Cookbook.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? I would say Italy, although lately I’m more of an armchair traveler. We’ve been to Italy a couple of times and we love it, especially Tuscany. Our dream is to have a home there one day, maybe retire there.

What is the best thing about Newtown? High on our list is the annual book sale, Halloween on Main Street, and the Labor Day Parade. I’m nuts about the parade. I love the town and the people.

Do you have a hero? Probably my grandparents, who came here from Europe and had nothing, and made a good living. They instilled good values, and they really influenced me.

Do you have a personal philosophy? To enjoy the little things in life. I have really been able to do that since we moved here from New York. The other is that my mother taught us to not be jealous of other people, and to be thankful for what we have, and to help others. That has carried over for me, and I do charity work now.

What is the most important lesson you ever learned? Not to be afraid. When I was in the corporate world, I had a great job, but I was miserable. Zoltan helped me realize that I could do whatever I wanted to do. I quit, and started my own business. I think young people should know that if they have a passion, they can make it into their life’s work.