Page 29 - Demo

BeaufortLifestyle.com | April 2025 29 %u201cIt really bonded our friendship,%u201d Sondra says, nodding. %u201cWe were young, growing, working hard, rolling with the punches.%u201d %u201cI was running 25 departments at one time,%u201d John adds. %u201cIt was a significant challenge in my career. It was nice to have a friend to rely on and talk to.%u201d The colleagues discovered they shared a passion for customer service. As Sondra explains, patients are already unhappy because they are in the hospital, so she and John understood the importance of making the experience as positive as possible. %u201cWe taught customer service classes to new hires for years,%u201d she says. %u201cPart of that was teaching service recovery %u2014 when things go wrong, how to get them back on track.%u201d Seven years ago, John announced he was ready to retire after 40 years in healthcare. Sondra asked him what he planned to do with his newfound free time. The answer? He was going to fulfill his dream of becoming a published author. %u201cAll those years, I never knew he was a writer,%u201d Sondra marvels. %u201cI%u2019ve been writing since the second grade,%u201d John says with a grin. %u201cMy father was an avid reader, and I credit him with my being a writer. Early on, I loved Dr. Suess and wanted to him!%u201d Then he introduced me to Edgar Allan Poe, and I wanted to be him! %u201cAs soon as I retired, my brain exploded,%u201d he continues. %u201cAll the medical stuff just blew away, and I could not write fast enough. My mind never stops. I have so many new ideas, I%u2019ll never be able to do them all in my lifetime.%u201d Between 2022 and 2024, John won six Georgia Independent Author Awards for his poetry, short stories, science fiction, and work in the horror/thriller genre. He has published 15 books to date, with a sixteenth coming soon, and he has done all of this himself. %u201cYears ago, self-publishing meant vanity publishing,%u201d John says. %u201cNow, you can be very successful as an independent author if you know what to do.%u201d %u201cHe%u2019s a gardener too,%u201d Sondra says. %u201cHe raised bonsai trees for a long time.%u201d %u201cIt was kind of insane,%u201d John remarks, shaking his head. %u201cI had more than 100 at the height of my madness. It was too much, so I got rid of them. I still enjoy gardening, though, writing and gardening.%u201d While John was launching his publishing career from his Augusta home, Sondra continued her work in healthcare. She left Augusta in 2018 and moved to Hilton Head Island, where she took the position of chief strategy officer for Hilton Head Regional Healthcare. %u201cI thought, this is where I%u2019ll work until I retire,%u201d she remembers. %u201cBut HCA Healthcare, the parent company, asked me to move to Asheville to work in strategy and planning. So I did.%u201d That was April 2020. Sondra went through the Covid pandemic in western North Carolina, serving as Mission Health%u2019s division vice president for strategy and planning for more than four years. But the tide was already turning. %u201cWe bought a house here in Beaufort in 2021, and came down for weekends and holidays,%u201d she says. %u201cWe knew it would be our forever home.%u201d In April 2024, Sondra retired after 36 years in the healthcare field. That retirement would prove to be short-lived. %u201cBefore I stopped working, I%u2019d been thinking, what can I do now?%u201d she reflects. %u201cI was still relatively young. I thought about volunteering, other businesses. Then I saw this mercantile was for sale. I had shopped here when the previous owner ran it, and I loved it. So, lightning struck.%u201d Sondra bought the store. She retired, moved to Beaufort on April 8, and opened Marshview Mercantile at 2631 Boundary Street on April 15. %u201cIt was the shortest retirement ever,%u201d she says. %u201cIt was pretty crazy.%u201d When asked about his reaction to Sondra%u2019s new venture, John%u2019s eyes twinkle. %u201cI said, when are you going to stock my books?%u201d he jokes. %u201cActually, my wife told me about it. She said, you%u2019re not going to believe this!%u201d Running a mercantile was a natural fit for Sondra. Over the years, she reveled in organizing parties and women%u2019s events, particularly during her time in Asheville, and couldn%u2019t wait to channel her interests and her passion for building community into this new John with his wife, JeanneSondra with her husband, John Lancaster, and their dog, Lucy Mae