Steve Gaynes, president of public relations firm Steve Gaynes Communications in Fairfield, said his enthusiasm for quilting is the byproduct of his enthusiasm for his marriage to his wife Mari-ann. With two quilters in the house, the Gaynes may have the most comfortable house in Fairfield.
“The whole bottom level of the house is like a quilt store,” said Gaynes.
Gaynes grew up in Chicago with parents Chester and Naomi who were and remain hard-working people.Â
“My dad, who is 88 and is going strong in business, and my mom, who is 86 and continues to be active in community activities, including doing a lot of her own PR, are like the energizer bunnies,” said Gaynes. “Their energy is boundless and they have continued to encourage everything I do. I”™m expecting to live and work for a very long time.”
Gaynes, who describes himself as a hands-on person, felt that if he was going to have all these quilting supplies in his house he better learn how to use them.
“Men by and large have always been the tailors,” said Gaynes. “Quilting becomes a very natural adjustment. You discover some things about yourself. Math has always been a difficult subject for me. Quilting requires some knowledge of geometrics. My wife has it, but it took me much longer.”
Gaynes said it”™s immensely satisfying having a tangible product when a quilt is done.
“You get a feeling of, ”˜I did this,”™” said Gaynes.
For the Gaynes”™ 40th wedding anniversary, they traveled to an Appleton, Wis., bed and breakfast that included classes in quilting.
“The other beauty of quilting is it doesn”™t have to be perfect,” said Gaynes. “You look at the overall product. You”™ve got all these different pieces and a client has all these things they want to talk about. You have to figure out how to put all those pieces together. It”™s about patching together the stories that people need to tell and do it cohesively. You try not to clash; you”™ve got to make the colors work.”
Gaynes said quilting has become a form of therapy for stress.
“If I”™m intensely focusing on something else and I need a break, I can go quilt and I can relax and I can think about what I”™m working on,” said Gaynes.
The bonus is tangible: “There”™s an excitement level showing it off to people, like show and tell in school.”
Gaynes said that having some uniqueness has aided his work, which he says is all about people skills.
“I”™ve found that if it start to talk to clients about the fact that I quilt people are really amazed,” said Gaynes. “It adds depth to myself, this even though it may seem a little sensitive it”™s a part of me that I think I s important and makes me more of the kind of people person that I am. Both men and women want to hear about how something that was made, they find it interesting.”
Qulting has not only aided Gaynes”™ work but it”™s strengthened his marriage.
“My wife and I do more and more things together,” said Gaynes. There”™s a culture I and my wife can both relate to. Wife is a voice of reason and inspiration, I wouldn”™t be as successful as I am without her support.”
Gaynes attended Northern Illinois University earning a degree in English and History, and right out of college began teaching language arts in a suburb of Chicago.
After teaching for five years, Gaynes”™ gears shifted.
“I had always been interested in public relations,” said Gaynes. “One of my student”™s fathers was the vice president for Motorola at the time. The kid really recruited me. I was always fascinated in what his father was doing and the next thing I knew I got a call from his father.”
Gaynes stayed with Motorola for five years working on the international and national levels and over the next few years would move six times working for a variety of companies.
Gaynes finally came to Connecticut to work for Pitney Bowes, with his wife and two daughters, Stacey and Jeri, demanding roots.
Gaynes went into the agency side of public relations in 1983. In 2001, he established his own p.r. agency, Steve Gaynes Communications.
“It”™s worked out well,” said Gaynes. “The greatest thing about public relations is that when you place something there”™s a real rush. The bottom-line is that it”™s still about: ”˜Is there a story there?”™”
Gaynes, who said he”™s always been a writer, for the past 20 years has been writing a weekly column for the Fairfield Citizen. He established a writing group of nine members called the Phoenix Writers Group, who meet every third Sunday.
