Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/115080
Assorted throw rugs provide pops of color on the concrete gray floor. Their striped, checkered and paisley patterns define walkways among the randomly, yet somehow strategically, positioned metal and wooden storage shelves filled with onetime and once-againwill-be treasures. Welcome to Cari Cucksey���s warehouse of dreams. ���Cash and Cari��� Cucksey, who received her degree from CMU in 2001, is an estate sale expert and host of HGTV���s reality show ���Cash and Cari.��� Her warehouse is headquarters for Cucksey���s Westland, Mich.-based RePurpose Estate Services and her HGTV show that launches its third season in March. ���It is crazy, but it���s a fun crazy,��� the freespirited Cucksey says as she reflects on maintaining a successful business with her husband, Vincenzo Iafano, and starring in a TV program. ���It���s so rewarding, and when you love what you do, it isn���t work.��� ���Cash and Cari��� camera crews follow Cucksey as she pours through her clients��� basements, attics and garages searching for antiques, collectibles, decorations and other rare items to sell and refurbish. After evaluating the items, she holds a sale to bring in as much money as she can for her clients. It isn���t uncommon for Cucksey to purchase many unsold estate items ��� and sometimes entire estates ��� and sell them through her warehouse. ���I���ve been around this my whole life, and I wouldn���t be in this business if I didn���t collect things,��� she says, adding that she sold her first antiques when she was 12 years old. Grandpa���s gratitude turns trash into treasures The philosophy that one person���s trash is another person���s treasure guides Cucksey as she helps others refashion, reclaim, reinvent and repurpose everything. She credits her grandfather Morris Cucksey for instilling in her this frame of mind. He often brought home items ��� such as furniture, appliances and bicycles ��� and proudly proclaimed he found them on the side of the road. Cucksey says her grandfather was confident that with some hard work and creativity he���d someday make use of each piece. She shares his vision. 16 centralight spring ���13 ���My grandpa was the one who taught me about gratitude,��� Cucksey says. ���Everything has a purpose. At first maybe I don���t know what its purpose is, but I will find it.��� Cucksey describes herself as an entrepreneur. Before attending CMU, she was a fitness fanatic operating a personal training business and traveling throughout southeastern Michigan to provide in-home sessions. This interest led Cucksey to pursue her degree in health fitness in preventive and rehabilitative programs at CMU. Even as a student living in Sweeney Hall, her entrepreneurial spirit drove her to diversify her education. Cucksey also enrolled in art- and business-related courses. ���I had an incredible experience at CMU and established great relationships with so many people,��� she says. ���I���ve always done my own thing and always am looking into things that bring me happiness.��� Cucksey began selling items on eBay shortly after leaving CMU as a full-time student. She soon followed this passion and established her estate services business. This eventually caught the eyes of HGTV executives searching for a female to host a show similar to the network���s hit show ���American Pickers.��� ���I got a phone call from the production company. They used a Flip cam shot of me walking through the warehouse, and ever since then it���s been a crazy whirlwind of activities,��� Cucksey says. She says the exposure has presented other opportunities to share her expertise. This includes working on a show with Oprah Winfrey to facilitate a 100-family garage sale as well as developing a repurposing-related book that will be released this September. Cucksey is seeing that with the increased exposure comes more fans, more followers and more interest in repurposing. ���A person recently posted on my Facebook, ���Thank you for sharing what you know with us,������ Cucksey says. ���Hopefully I can continue doing this in a larger and larger way.��� And it all starts with a priceless piece of someone���s past that finds its way from someplace hidden ��� like a shoebox buried in a basement ��� and into the hands of a person curious and creative enough to discover its use for today. ���