Today we’d like to introduce you to Pinar Peker.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
My family was trying to get me into a middle school in Izmir, Turkey, but there was no availability for a new student. The athletic director approached my family and said, “If she plays volleyball, I can get her in the school, but she will play for the club as well.” Of course, my parents accepted, and I started playing volleyball at 11. After 2 years of practice, I realized I was somewhat talented, but I didn’t want to go to the practices every day; it was intense. In the second year of my volleyball career, I got an offer to play in a professional sports club called Galatasaray. My father went to the meeting, and the next day, I was sent to Istanbul to play for Galatasaray. That was the beginning of my professional volleyball career at 13. I played for 14 years professionally in 5 different clubs, high school high school, college teams, and the Turkish National Team, holding many championships, cups, and medals, and traveling around the world thanks to volleyball. I married my significant other when I was still a player at 23 years old. But I ended my volleyball career after I was pregnant with my daughter. Then, we started a new life in Miami, Florida, with my husband as a restaurant investor. We bought a franchise Italian Pizza restaurant in 2008 without knowing the recession was about to happen in the USA. We had to spend a lot of money and 16 months to complete renovations to open the restaurant. It was a very challenging experience for both of us, moving into a different country with a different system at a very unpleasant time, not knowing what it is like to own a restaurant and how hard it is to run the business. We had to work long hours and long weeks every day for a long time. But we were hard workers, hustlers. So, we never quit working; instead, we were looking at many ways to become more successful in those difficult times when a lot of businesses were going out of business or declaring bankruptcy. After several years of hard work, we managed to sell the restaurant. We continued our business adventure in Istanbul. I started a company doing international business development projects; I’ve managed many successful projects between countries, including real estate development projects, healthcare, and import-export projects.
I still have a great network worldwide, and I love connecting people and companies where I see synergy and capacity for growth. I have always believed that success automatically comes when there is trust. My husband, my daughter, and I decided to move to Charleston, South Carolina, for our daughter’s education. We are absolutely in love with the beauty of the city of Charleston. I’ve got my real estate license in South Carolina and am working with Rachel Urso; she is a top 1 realtor and a very successful, hardworking woman. I’m learning the market and getting into the business right away. It takes a lot of effort and self-discipline to keep the momentum flowing during peak periods and hard times. The biggest reward is looking back and realizing how far you have come. Time goes by fast, and it’s a matter of daily decision-making to choose your next move.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It could have been smoother, many challenges along the way. A volleyball career requires complete dedication, discipline, and commitment. To play professionally for 14 years was hard. Then, doing my first business in Florida as a restaurant owner was a whole new chapter where I hated being in the kitchen instead of a volleyball court 🙂 Even though I can make the best pizza now, I still choose not to do it again, but I still enjoy a good pizza now and then.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and can you share any important lessons or epiphanies with us?
People need people. We became very independent after COVID, stopped working together, and stopped sharing time and space.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: pinarsellscharleston
