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Photo by Jeff Saxman
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Photo by Chris Smith
Andrew Baxter, 55, sculpture and monument conserver, $70,000 Come spring, Andrew Baxter can be found atop a lift truck refurbishing the George Washington equestrian monument on Capitol Square. The fine art conservator has been keeping George, Robert and Stonewall looking young for more than 20 years through his professional statuary conservation business Bronze et al. "It's sometimes nerve-wracking," Baxter says of the work that includes treating all of the statues and monuments on Capitol Square as well as the state-owned statues on Monument Avenue. The North Chesterfield resident recently had his big Hollywood break when one of his restored lighting fixtures appeared in the background of the Lincoln inauguration scene. Lisa Reynolds, 49, Virginia State Lottery prize zone manager, $60,000 Lisa Reynolds might not carry a wand or wear a tiara, but the Henrico County resident would give Lady Luck a run for her money. During her 20-year career at the Virginia State Lottery, Reynolds has personally given away more than $90 million in prizes. When lottery winners come in to claim their prizes, she helps them fill out the claim forms and hands them the check. After money is exchanged, Reynolds will often dance or hula hoop with the winners. "At the lottery, we like to have fun," she says with a laugh.
Job & Salary Stories
Monica Ramirez , 19, spider breeder; owner, ArachnidsRVA.com and Beasts and Bugs,$20,000 Five years ago, Monica Ramirez fled at the sight of a tarantula. Today, she owns 3,000 to 4,000 and spreads the word about just how friendly most tarantulas really are.Ramirez sells the critters through ArachnidsRVA.com and is about to open Beasts and Bugs in Lakeside. She's been bitten about two dozen times, but tarantula venom is nearly harmless to people. "I got my first tarantula four years ago," she says, calling her collection the next logical step."They're really just big, hairy water balloons." John Hay, 60, floodwall supervisor, $63,000 For more than 20 years, John Hay has overseen the floodwall that protects our city from becoming a modern-day Atlantis. The city employee maintains the more than 40 storm and drain lines along the wall, ensuring that they'll be able to be closed in the case of a flood, but every day isn't a leisurely stroll along the James. "In June 1994, we were testing the floodwall gate and there was a terrible accident that involved a runaway boxcar," Hay says. That boxcar killed one city employee, critically injured two others and sent Hay to the hospital with a torn spleen. Kim Jordan, 34, mortuary beautician, $100 per client The sudden death of a cousin when she was 12 years old piqued Kim Jordan's interest in the funeral industry, but it wasn't until after graduating from college and teaching for a few years that she decided to pursue her true calling. "I absolutely love it," the South Side resident says of her job dressing, and doing hair and makeup on the bodies of the deceased at a funeral home in Ashland. Jordan, who is pregnant with her first child, likes to listen to Jill Scott while she works. "Usually I'm like, ‘Well, Ms. Jones, this is your last makeover. We're going to make you look good.' " Beverly Man, head lice remover; owner, the Nit Fairies, $20,000 to $40,000 (estimated) Some people search for a calling; for others, the calling finds them. In the case of Beverly Man, that calling crept up on her — and her five kids — so many times she couldn't ignore it. "Dealing with lice with my own children … there was no help for me," Man says. "I thought to myself, ‘Gosh, why isn't there a business for this because I'd hire somebody in a minute.'" Enter the Nit Fairies: Man and her part-time employee answer distress calls from panicked parents. Each caller gets a discrete $100-per-hour house call. Ed Bath, 56, woodworker and laser engraver, projects range from $25 for a tap handle to $1,000 for a table Hurricane Hanna was far from the worst storm to make landfall in Virginia in 2008, at least so far as Ed Bath is concerned. That year LandAmerica sank in its own perfect storm, taking Bath's six-figure job with it. Bath, a woodworking hobbyist, looked around at the debris from both storms and decided the handsome old-growth trees Hanna took down looked like a golden opportunity. "This is basically a hobby gone wild," says Bath, who recycles trees, mills them and then cures them in his own kiln. They become objects that all are 100-percent green. His laser-engraved plaques have become a favorite of national and state environmental organizations. Paul Cassimus, 28, food cart owner, King of Pops franchise, $30,000 (estimate d) Malcolm Andress, 40, food cart owner, Soul Ice, $25,000 to $50,000 Paul Cassimus and Malcolm Andress peddle their frozen snacks at Richmond's various popular food truck courts. "I was a teacher in Henrico County," says Cassimus, who left last year to start his hand-made popsicle business, King of Pops. "It's not terribly lucrative or glamorous yet. But this year I'll be able to get some sort of livable wage." Andress is a bit further along with Soul Ice, the business he started four years ago as a way to teach his daughters entrepreneurial spirit. He already owned a carpet cleaning company, but has since turned that over to his mother. Cassimus and Andress are competitors, and initially gazed icily at one another. Now, the two have found fruit-flavored bliss as co-founders of RVA Street Foodies, a new co-op organization that aims to minimize conflict and maximize profit for all food carts and trucks in town. Mary vanHarn, 41, tooth crown tattoo artist, $45,000 For dental ceramist Mary vanHarn your teeth are tiny blank canvasses waiting for her artistic touch. "I've helped a lot of people improve their smiles," she says of the custom paintings she applies to crowns and bridges for $15 to $30. The owner of James River Crown and Bridge uses a colored glaze to paint butterflies, footballs, flowers and more on the dental work that she makes in her Henrico dental laboratory. "I have to fire the crowns at 900 degrees," vanHarn says. As for real teeth, she says she hasn't quite figured out the technicalities.
