Fisher Island fits our lifestyle as working parents who have to travel frequently. When we’re home and when we’re away, we know our kids are safe. With my background in the Marine Corps, plus Karolina coming from a loving family in the mountains of the Czech Republic—our value systems combine in a beautiful way.
My favorite part of the island is the wildlife: We have an aviary and manatees, peacocks and iguanas everywhere, and a lot of families here have dogs. It’s an incredible environment where we get a lot of downtime, with plenty of cooking at home—or if we want to go out, there are several restaurants on the island to choose from. Many young families have begun settling on the island. We have an amazing market of organic foods.
Built on entrepreneurs, Fisher Island has some amazing people. Yeah, billionaires are here, but the majority of them have done something extraordinary in the business world and are self-made. Every day I’m talking to somebody different about their background, their experience and how they created an incredible company to make the world better.
Karolina and I built a guest house where we invite friends and family to stay—a lot of leaders and influencers who visit us and are blown away by this place because of the privacy. It’s very secure; there’s no paparazzi. You can play golf, tennis, go to the gym, get a massage—but the one thing we noticed the island needed was a medical clinic.
Before we even got significantly into wellness and longevity, as owners, we said, “What if there’s an emergency? We’ve got kids; there are babies and elderly people here.” A lot of accidents were happening. We’ve had a couple of near-death situations, and because I know what to do from being in combat, I was fortunately able to help. We have a great relationship with the University of Miami and the doctors there; we were able to expedite a few situations that could have ended badly. One of the things I learned on the battlefield is that when you’re in that situation, it’s all about expediency.
Partnering with Dr. Barth Green and the University of Miami Hospital System, we decided to open a nonprofit clinic that would act as a health safety net for the island. The clinic has been open for almost a year, has an amazing staff, and a 24/7 concierge for our members. While the clinic is private, in an emergency situation anyone on the island can go there for help.
I’m trying to assemble all the best people in wellness and longevity, and my goal is to build out the other half of the clinic as a wellness lab, with various types of technology testing nutrition, blood, allergies and as many of the fundamentals as we can test. I also want to invite wellness specialists from all over the world to come and share their information. Right now I’m working on scheduling Alan and Sarah Finger to do a workshop on the anatomy of intention and the seven main chakras. As a Marine, you’re supposed to be tough, to fight your way through things, “do or die.” I understand that well, but it does not make you happy. It might make you successful. You might win championships, you might be the best in class or the best in business, but it’s not what’s going to make you happy.
We’ve now been buying apartments, gutting and redesigning them with Karolina’s style influences. There’s a vision we have for a program that will enhance and support the wellness clinic, so that we can invite anyone who wants to come and experience the clinic and its workshops. This is the beginning of the conversation; we’re creating a magical program with the best services.
Bottom line is, we are trying to help people. We love all the people who work here. They serve us, and we serve them. That’s the way it is in the Marine Corps. We are all in this together.