Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Andrea Folino with me. How are you?
Andrea Folino: I’m good. How are you?
Toni: I am great. Andrea, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Andrea: Okay. I am Andrea Folino. I am originally from this area. I graduated from Kutztown University with a degree in Business, concentration in Marketing. When I graduated, I started working with my then fiancé, now husband’s homebuilding company, Folino Homes. I did the marketing for his business. I got my real estate license and started selling homes for him.
About two years after I graduated with my Bachelor’s, I went back to school to the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and got an Interior Design certificate. I then opened an interior decorating company. I was doing some interior design work for a while.
I do some freelance writing for Berks County Living. Also, most recently we just opened a brand new restaurant and winery and event venue in Kutztown called Folino Estate.
I’m also a mother to the cutest little 2-year-old ever, so I keep busy!
Toni: The cutest 2-year-old ever! You are one busy lady.
Andrea: Yes.
Toni: Let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Andrea: I actually was inspired to look it up in the dictionary because I wanted to know exactly how Webster defined it. It’s the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something; especially to do something creative.
That’s my first instinct when I hear “inspiration.” I think of something from a creative aspect, but it really just as much pertains to life and how people live it, and how they handle things that are thrown at them in life. There’s so many times where I’m like, “I’m having such a bad day,” but I think there’s so many other people out there who would rather have the problems that I have than the ones that they have. Inspiration is that to me – how people can handle anything that’s thrown at them and come out on top.
Also, from a creative aspect, inspiration is everywhere you want it to be. A great interior design, street style, travel, an amazing meal – anything that a person puts passion into is inspiring.
Toni: Do you know when you’re inspired?
Andrea: I think if you keep your eyes open everywhere you go … I’m always inspired, yes.
Toni: So you know when it’s happening.
Andrea: Yes.
Toni: Is it a cerebral feeling, or is it a gut feeling for you?
Andrea: Probably gut. A gut feeling for sure, yes.
Toni: So when that happens and you know that you’re inspired, how do you put all of that into practice here in Berks County?
Andrea: I’ve put it into practice I think in some of the interior designs that I’ve done throughout Berks County. I’ve met some great clients and done some great work with them. Most recently, my winery and my restaurant that we opened. I really have a lot of fun coming up with great dishes with our chef, testing some new wines with our winemaker, merchandising our gift shop, shopping for our gift shop, and planning a lot of the fun events that we have there.
I also hope it’s inspiring to others that all this can be done in addition to motherhood. It’s not the load that brings you down, it’s the way you carry it. It’s a struggle to balance it all. Mom guilt can be a very strong feeling. It’s hard when you stay home with them; then you sort of feel like all the stuff that you should be catching up on work, and then when you’re at work, you’re thinking, “Oh my gosh, what’s he doing?” It’s very difficult, but I read a quote one time that stuck with me. It said, “If you’re completely exhausted and don’t know how you’re going to keep giving this much of yourself day after day, you’re probably a good parent.” I try to be kind to myself and forgiving.
Toni: Do you think there’s a common theme in everything that you’re doing, whether it’s in your creative piece or the winery or your real estate, or motherhood? Is there a common theme for you that keeps you fueled?
Andrea: I think it’s just … I don’t know if I would say a common theme. You just kind of do what you have to do every single day and you take it one day at a time and do everything you do with the best of your abilities.
Toni: And in the middle of all that, stay inspired, right?
Andrea: Yes, exactly.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Andrea: I would have to say my parents are a huge inspiration to me. They went through a very difficult thing in their lives and all of our lives, and they just sacrificed everything for their children. They have just always stuck together and demonstrated the true meaning of family and what family is, and how to always be there for one another.
Also, I would have to say my husband, Marco. He’s just the biggest go-getter I have ever met. Whenever I have an idea or he has an idea in what we’re doing, there’s never a wrong answer. There’s never a, “No, I don’t think that will work.” He’s just always right behind me telling me, “Yes, we can do this.” He’s a huge inspiration to me.
Toni: That’s fantastic. So what would you like your legacy to be, Andrea?
Andrea: I hope I leave a legacy of showing others that I lived the best version of myself, and that you can, too. That I was successful in business by always respecting others … and that people have drank some good wine by Folino Estate!
Toni: I think that they have. I know that I have! Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Andrea: Thank you very much.
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Andrea Folino with me. How are you?
Andrea Folino: I’m good. How are you?
Toni: I am great. Andrea, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Andrea: Okay. I am Andrea Folino. I am originally from this area. I graduated from Kutztown University with a degree in Business, concentration in Marketing. When I graduated, I started working with my then fiancé, now husband’s homebuilding company, Folino Homes. I did the marketing for his business. I got my real estate license and started selling homes for him.
About two years after I graduated with my Bachelor’s, I went back to school to the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and got an Interior Design certificate. I then opened an interior decorating company. I was doing some interior design work for a while.
I do some freelance writing for Berks County Living. Also, most recently we just opened a brand new restaurant and winery and event venue in Kutztown called Folino Estate.
I’m also a mother to the cutest little 2-year-old ever, so I keep busy!
Toni: The cutest 2-year-old ever! You are one busy lady.
Andrea: Yes.
Toni: Let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Andrea: I actually was inspired to look it up in the dictionary because I wanted to know exactly how Webster defined it. It’s the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something; especially to do something creative.
That’s my first instinct when I hear “inspiration.” I think of something from a creative aspect, but it really just as much pertains to life and how people live it, and how they handle things that are thrown at them in life. There’s so many times where I’m like, “I’m having such a bad day,” but I think there’s so many other people out there who would rather have the problems that I have than the ones that they have. Inspiration is that to me – how people can handle anything that’s thrown at them and come out on top.
Also, from a creative aspect, inspiration is everywhere you want it to be. A great interior design, street style, travel, an amazing meal – anything that a person puts passion into is inspiring.
Toni: Do you know when you’re inspired?
Andrea: I think if you keep your eyes open everywhere you go … I’m always inspired, yes.
Toni: So you know when it’s happening.
Andrea: Yes.
Toni: Is it a cerebral feeling, or is it a gut feeling for you?
Andrea: Probably gut. A gut feeling for sure, yes.
Toni: So when that happens and you know that you’re inspired, how do you put all of that into practice here in Berks County?
Andrea: I’ve put it into practice I think in some of the interior designs that I’ve done throughout Berks County. I’ve met some great clients and done some great work with them. Most recently, my winery and my restaurant that we opened. I really have a lot of fun coming up with great dishes with our chef, testing some new wines with our winemaker, merchandising our gift shop, shopping for our gift shop, and planning a lot of the fun events that we have there.
I also hope it’s inspiring to others that all this can be done in addition to motherhood. It’s not the load that brings you down, it’s the way you carry it. It’s a struggle to balance it all. Mom guilt can be a very strong feeling. It’s hard when you stay home with them; then you sort of feel like all the stuff that you should be catching up on work, and then when you’re at work, you’re thinking, “Oh my gosh, what’s he doing?” It’s very difficult, but I read a quote one time that stuck with me. It said, “If you’re completely exhausted and don’t know how you’re going to keep giving this much of yourself day after day, you’re probably a good parent.” I try to be kind to myself and forgiving.
Toni: Do you think there’s a common theme in everything that you’re doing, whether it’s in your creative piece or the winery or your real estate, or motherhood? Is there a common theme for you that keeps you fueled?
Andrea: I think it’s just … I don’t know if I would say a common theme. You just kind of do what you have to do every single day and you take it one day at a time and do everything you do with the best of your abilities.
Toni: And in the middle of all that, stay inspired, right?
Andrea: Yes, exactly.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Andrea: I would have to say my parents are a huge inspiration to me. They went through a very difficult thing in their lives and all of our lives, and they just sacrificed everything for their children. They have just always stuck together and demonstrated the true meaning of family and what family is, and how to always be there for one another.
Also, I would have to say my husband, Marco. He’s just the biggest go-getter I have ever met. Whenever I have an idea or he has an idea in what we’re doing, there’s never a wrong answer. There’s never a, “No, I don’t think that will work.” He’s just always right behind me telling me, “Yes, we can do this.” He’s a huge inspiration to me.
Toni: That’s fantastic. So what would you like your legacy to be, Andrea?
Andrea: I hope I leave a legacy of showing others that I lived the best version of myself, and that you can, too. That I was successful in business by always respecting others … and that people have drank some good wine by Folino Estate!
Toni: I think that they have. I know that I have! Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Andrea: Thank you very much.
