“I am an owner of an IT service company in Westchester County. Aside from growing a successful IT service company, I am passionate about balancing my work by fully appreciating the quality of life that New York and Connecticut offer.
“I bicycle, kayak and also dance four to five days a week. I used to compete in ballroom dancing in the past, then I started to dance West Coast Swing just before the Covid-19 pandemic. There are several dance studios in Connecticut that teach West Coast Swing, and they have excellent dance instructors. I danced throughout the pandemic and recently competed in my first West Coast Swing Jack & Jill newcomer competition in Hartford, winning first prize.
“People today are exposed to so much stress and hatred due to Covid-19, political frictions between the (Democratic and Republican) parties, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, uncertainty regarding the future of economy, etc. We all have to be thankful that we live in the New York/Connecticut areas, which offer so much quality of life that we can take advantage of.
“Dancing, in particular, is enormously helpful in relieving stress since you can listen to wonderful music and get physical exercise and promote friendship. I find the Jack & Jill concept under the West Coast Swing competition interesting as we are randomly paired with our dance partners. So it requires enormous cooperation between the two partners. West Coast Swing is different from other dances since you can dance to almost any type of music, including the pop music that young people enjoy. You can dance West Coast Swing regardless of age, sex, religion, income bracket, so it allows everyone to dance….
“While I competed in International Standard and International Latin dance competitions in the past, I am now more passionate about West Coast Swing, which helps balance my work life and personal life.”
For more, visit cmitsolutions.com.
(Editor’s note: In the 2004 movie “Shall We Dance?”, a lawyer (Richard Gere) finds his life reinvigorated by ballroom dancing. Paul Okura understands this. The president and CEO of CMIT Solutions of Southern Westchester in Eastchester, Okura has found relief from the world’s stresses with cycling, kayaking and ballroom dancing.
So who better to help reintroduce Profits and Passions, a returning feature of our sister publications, the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals, which we are presenting for the first time in WAG as well.
Okura has even discovered a new passion within his love of ballroom, but we’ll let him tell you all about it:)
