About Our Owner
From Our Owner
Estate of Affairs is a family business founded by James B. Souza III. Given the 30+ years of sales and service experience and regard for knowledge and professionalism, EOA is confident that your expectations will not only be met but surpassed.
Humble Beginning
Growing up, my grandmother was an avid dealer/collector. As with most children, we do not realize the wealth of knowledge and responsibility being taught by the people that came before us.
Along with my grandmother, we frequented the community and traveled the country searching for hidden treasures at venues such as: estate sales, garage sales, antique shops, etc. I learned to buy, sell, negotiate, and research. Looking back, I did not realize this would be the foundation of the enormous knowledge and expertise I have acquired throughout the years.
As I grew older, my grandmother and I continued what we coined as "antiquing". This was of great importance to the next phase of my life. As the years progressed, I found myself involved in a successful family business with my late father, James B. Souza Jr. Through the family business, I continued to grow my skills of sales and service, as they were paramount to the company's success. I was taught and given the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to exceed the expectations of customers in the building industry. I eventually took these skills and incorporated them into my own highly lucrative sales and service companies that served the general public.
A New Perspective in Life
During this era of positive growth, I lost my grandmother. However, not everything passed with her as I continued to use what she graciously taught me through the years. Together with my father, I continued collecting and selling antiques. After my grandmother’s passing, I began to re-evaluate life as I knew it. During this period the economy was looking grim. The decision was made to liquidate our business and assets prior to experiencing a financial downfall.
People often ask, “How did you know the economy was going to decline so rapidly? How did you know it was time to liquidate?” My response has been, “I just got lucky.” However, the reality is a keen sense of economics and sincerely relying and trusting my instincts. The same traits I graciously learned growing up and throughout my life.
This change gave me an opportunity to work for a Fortune 500 company. In this role I was responsible to hire, train, develop, and hold a workforce accountable to exceed corporate expectations. Our team took care of tens of thousands of customers per year. Through teamwork, collaboration, and sales focus we created and implemented creative programs to drive sales to ensure compliance with corporate projections. Our location alone contributes $20-25 million to our parent company. This is of great responsibility when over 100 families rely on your collaborations and decisions to ensure their livelihood.
As the hours turned to days and the days to months, my father and I continued buying and selling antiques, furniture, household items, vehicles, etc. until what I call the beginning of the end. My dad fell sick and was diagnosed with the big “C” (cancer). It was an uphill battle that relentlessly took place over three years until fate intervened. Since his untimely passing I have continued to define who I am and what I believe in. This is an evolving process through continual growth, learning, sacrifice, and appreciation of the little time we have on this earth with our family and friends.
I cannot say enough positive things about Estate of Affairs. Liquidating my parents' belongings was overwhelming and a roller coaster of emotions. James and his crew handled the reorganization, cleaning, itemization and final sales of large and small items - important and insignificant. I was consulted and involved in the process which was extremely important since I was coming out of the area. The whole process, which started as overwhelming and unmanageable; became very systematic and achievable thanks to James and his crew at Estate of Affairs. Highly recommend this company and their professionalism.
Marita Della Rosa (Facebook Review)
A New Direction to Help Others
The passing of my father is the hardest thing I have ever dealt with. The second hardest, what to do next? There is the family to consider, arrangements, planning, cost, and so on. So indeed, I sincerely understand what it is like to walk into a mountain of overwhelming circumstances. When my dad passed, I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. Fortunately, for me, I was able to rely on my family and friends for substantial support. However, when the need to deal with his belongings arose, I quickly became discouraged with the lack of support outside of family.
Purpose
Estate of Affairs was established after a lot of thought, consideration and research to intervene for our clients to help relieve some of the burden and confusion when fate takes its course. At Estate of Affairs, we understand that sometimes people need a shoulder to lean on. Even with increased responsibility, we pride ourselves on providing superior customer service through Compassion, Dedication, Integrity, and Accountability. We are dedicated to delivering efficient and responsive representation that remains on target when our clients need us the most. We understand every sale is a unique experience that deserves our utmost attention. Working together, we will find a resolution that is fair and equitable without compromise to our clients’ core interests.
