Jeff Crumbine thought he had his career all figured out. And working with his mother in his hometown of Greenwich was never part of the plan.

“I worked in financial sales in the city for eight years,” says Jeff who went on to enroll at Fordham University to study for his master’s in business administration. His goal? A career in client or capital acquisitions. “I graduated in 2008. It was kind of a disaster,” Jeff continues. “Lehmann and Bear Sterns had fallen apart. The major banks were firing not hiring.”

Two months into a futile job search, Jeff’s mother, Maureen Crumbine, a long-time Greenwich real estate agent with Greenwich Fine Properties, telephoned him. “She suggested I get my real estate license,” he remembers. Jeff slotted into the business with the ease of someone who started turning the lights on and off at open houses when he was six years old. And his sales experience and MBA gave him all the skill sets that he needed for his new career. Does he miss the excitement of the fast pace of Manhattan?

“I’m a suburban kid. I’d had enough of the city,” Jeff says. Going from a box (his apartment) in a box (the bus) to sit in a box (his office cubicle) no longer held any appeal for him. “I love the freedom of being outside, meeting people and seeing incredible homes,” he adds.

Being in the suburbs also means Jeff has more time to volunteer. “When I moved out of the city I made a bucket list of things I wanted to do,” he says, and high on that list was being a firefighter. These days you might spot Jeff on the Station 4 fire engine out of Glenville, or riding with the Brooksville Engine & Hose. But you might also catch him in Stamford where he volunteers as an emergency medical technician.

Jeff is gearing up for another big change in his life this year. He’s getting married to his longtime girlfriend, Elise DiVincenzo, in June. “She taught me to drive standard transmission,” he says with a smile.

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