When you’ve been building for as long as Salomé Reizis has, it is no longer a surprise when you start to refine techniques and perfect projects. Salomé grew up watching her grandmother upgrade the properties she invested in and, inspired by her, decided that she would do the same.
“I was always playing, I built little houses and put leaves for carpets, and made stick dolls and things like that,” recalls the Reizis square owner, “I had lots of imagination from very young, so when I got this opportunity to ‘play’, I went all in.”
Taking on fixer-upper projects and working them around her functions is what Salomé does, often refurbishing and repurposing others’ scraps and adding them to her treasure trove in Torbet Street. “Yes, I love anything scrappy that I can fix and stand back and see ‘this is what I’ve accomplished or made or created’,” she says, “So, yes, I always see potential in other people’s scrap.”
Since Salomé’s original interview with Get It in 2021, the energetic businesswoman says she has learned to communicate better. “I really have learned a lot about people, to communicate and to even be more creative and to think out of the box because times are really tough,” she explained.
Salomé wants young women stepping into any business to remember that it will be a testing endeavour and will be difficult to start. “Blood, sweat and tears,” is what she says it takes to make it, “this is a really tough game”. Her advice to anyone taking on a project is to remain passionate and committed to their goal. “If you lack passion, don’t start it,” she says, “even if things are hard to start-up, if you’ve got passion and you put hours in, you will definitely succeed.”
Salomé also believes that people tend to be too hard on themselves, and encourages everyone to acknowledge and appreciate each step, no matter how small, in the right direction.
When she is not working, helping tenants, or taking on another project, she prefers to be outside, meeting new people and experiencing real living. “Sometimes take a very nice long bubble bath,” Salomé says, “I love spending time with my dogs and my cats, and on a Saturday I’ll spend time with my mother”. Her weekly visits and daily talks with her mother form an integral part of her week, meaning Salomé will drop everything she is busy with to spend some time with her.
When your life is as full as Salomé’s, breaks are hard to come by, but the phenomenal businesswoman is hoping to slow down in the years to come. “Sometime in the future, I want to slow a little bit down and take maybe a little bit more holidays because this year was crazy,” she says.
Salomé Reizis started building from a young age, and has built up her beloved Reizis Square to what it is today. She will continue to do so, with tremendous skill and a hands-on approach, for as long as she can.
Text: WARREN HAWKINS Photography: GYPSEENIA LION
