This is how Jessica tells the story.....
I got an online application from my business’s website, New Horizon Tutoring from a certain Frederick Schebesta in 2001 (? Was that the date?). He wanted to apply for a position with us as a tutor. His academic credentials were good, but he also described how he ran his own web design business in his “other skills” category. I had a fairly basic website at the time and was looking for an upgrade, so this part of his application twigged my interest beyond just another tutor.
I emailed him and asked him more about his web design skills, and after a few back and forth emails we organised for him and his business partner to come and meet me to discuss what they could do for New Horizon Tutoring.
Fred Schebesta and Carl Petrou from The Business Agency arrived at West Pennant Hills, where I was living and running my business, in their suits that were too big for them, and very important looking ties. They talked about their business and then asked me about what I wanted. They were both very young and very eager about their business. Their salesmanship worked well, and they redeveloped the New Horizon Tutoring website including a very sophisticated database that helped us to link students with tutors.
And no, Fred didn’t become a tutor!
When I was starting my second business, Youth 2 Youth in July 2001 I got Fred and his new business Freestyle Media to do the first website. Fred, Carl and their other business partner Adam Pryor came along to our very first event for Young Entrepreneurs which launched the new business.
At some stage in there I introduced Fred to my dad as I knew they would really get on. They had similar loves for business and marketing and were obsessive about anything they got into. I was totally right and they really hit it off! So much so, when Freestyle Media with Fred & Frank Restuccia at the helm, were looking for a new “home” they moved into the Boomerang office which was my parents business.
For a long time Fred was there. He was either doing the website for my businesses or at my parent’s office when I would visit, or online to chat with over MSN or to be called on when we needed a speaker or mentor for one of our youth programs. I was always amazed by his energy and jealous of his confidence when it came to business as a young person. Nothing seemed too scary or impossible by him. But, this also meant that at times he seemed strange and unpredictable.
I saw this in action when I invited him out to my family’s farm UAMBY out near Mudgee. Myself and my friend Kerry and Fred all piled into my car and headed out. As always, we had a great time at the farm filled with moving of sheep, cleaning out paddocks and also clearing out the Heaven Trees in the historic cemetery. All pretty normal. But then one afternoon we all noticed that Fred was missing. Eventually we found him. He had walked about 1.5km on foot out to the Heaven trees and was personally clearing them out by hand one by one. Pushing his body and mind to the limit. And then when back at the house he fell into bed and slept for hours! This of course made him a legend at the farm and part of the family.
Our paths came closer when in 2004 a young Lizzie Schebesta started dance at Barker College. I had been the dance teacher at Barker since 1999 and recognised her last name instantly when she joined in 2004. It was an awesome 3 years with her on our Barker Dance team.
Over the years Fred and I would share stories about our love lives and what we were looking for but couldn’t seem to find. But I never met any of his girlfriends. He even once sent me a newspaper piece he did when they set him up on a blind date. It turned out the girl he dated for this piece was the sister of a girl I went to school with!
It was when he was telling me about this date he had been on that I noticed that I didn’t really like hearing about it much at all, I was uncomfortable. And when he was asking why he couldn’t find someone nice that he got on with well, I started thinking “Well you have never asked me.”
I had always admired Fred, and loved talking “shop” with him. He would always amaze me with his stories of bold business moves like taking on sales people without even knowing if he had any wages to pay them in the first place! Craziness. In late 2005 I interviewed him for a book we were putting together on Young Entrepreneurs, an interview that went for 8 hours and included dinner.
At the end of 2005 it was becoming more clear that I wanted to have a “second look” at Fred and see “what was there”. So I emailed him to set up an “end of year” catch up to discuss “what I would like to do with the business website”. We organised a lunch time and I thought “yes”, this will be great.
When I arrived he welcomed me and then said “I thought it would be good for the guys who are going to work on your site to come with us.” I said “yea of course”, but was thinking “nooooo, this was supposed to be just the two of us. Ah well!” So we went to lunch and talked business the whole time. But it was pretty clear to me that I really liked him, even the way he consumed his big meat pie that day!! I was just about to leave for a 5 week trip to South America with a close friend Alicia Lamaro at the time, so I held back from doing or saying anything.
When I returned from my trip in the new year of 2006 I was pretty focussed on seeing what was in this attraction that I felt to Fred, after so many years. I thought to myself what would be a good way of making that happen. I decided that a trip out to the farm would be a good choice. I would be on comfortable ground, we were isolated and he wouldn’t suspect anything when I asked him along. I caught Fred on MSN and took the opportunity to ask. It went something like this:
Jessica: “So how was your Xmas break?”
Fred: “Good”
Jessica: “How is work shaping up this year?”
Fred: “V good. Firing Up”
Jessica: “I was wondering if you would like to head out to the farm for the Easter long weekend? I am going out.”
Fred: “Yea, I haven’t been for a while.”
Jessica: “Cool. Yea I know you haven’t been out for a while.”
Fred: “Can I bring my girlfriend along?”
............................I take a long pause as I sit back in my chair and think to myself “noooooooooooooo!”
Jessica: “Ah yea, of course you can. Everyone is welcome at the farm.”
Fred: “Great.”
And that was pretty much it. There went my plan to get Fred by himself and for me to make my moves. He had a girlfriend (Amanda) and I was about to spend 4 days with them over Easter at my family farm. Oh yea!
Just before Easter we also got news that Amanda was facing a fight against cervical cancer. So I then featured her and her courageous story in Frank Magazine that I ran, www.frankmag.com.au and Fred auctioned his FreestyleMedia team off in ebay to raise money for the Cancer Council. Um, guess who won the ebay auction to spend all of that time with the FreestyleMedia team and Fred??? Yes, you guessed it, me and The Frank Team crew who needed a new website!
Easter came. I picked up Fred and his girlfriend Amanda and luckily I had Xavier, my 4 year old nephew, with me as my “date”! We spent 4 hours in the car together, 4 days at the farm together clearing Bathurst burr all day, we all were in the same room together, and then 4 hours home together. Ah yes it was a joyous and fun time for me.
After that Easter weekend I pretty much gave up on the idea of being with Fred. He and Amanda seemed to get on well, and I didn’t want to get in the way of that. No Fred for me.
I had my 30th birthday coming up in July of 2006 and I was determined for it to be awesome, fun and filled with all of my favourite people. The theme was vintage, I had friends coming from all states, as well as a friend from Mexico staying at the time and had old-school video games set up and ready to play. Everyone began to arrive and the food and drinks started flowing. Fred had arrived quite early as he had just played tennis, and needed to shower at our place. I hadn’t even noticed that Amanda wasn’t with him, even though she was invited (because remember we were best of friends now!), as I was busy getting ready and catching up with my peeps. A friend of mine came up to me and asked “so where’s Amanda?” A few of my close friends knew all about “the story” as I had been keeping them updated through all of the sordid details! I told my friend, “I’m not sure.” She went to investigate.
Within a few moments she was back to me. We were standing out on the deck of the house. She came up to me and said,
Friend: “Guess what?”
Me: “What?”
Friend: “Fred & Amanda broke up................today”
Me: “WHAT?”
Friend: “Yep!”
Friend & Me (screaming and jumping up and down): “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”
Everyone around us looked at us strangely and I quickly had to cover with an “I fired her today” comment! My friend then asked “So can I tell him you like him?” I was like “yea sure.” By this stage I was already feeling pretty happy with that 30th birthday champagne!
As the evening progressed I got more and more happy with 30th birthday champagne, and so my liquid confidence had increased. I spotted Fred sitting at the Poker table with a free seat beside him. I sidled up and sat down beside him. Asked about the game, and then just started watching. Soon our hands met under the table.
I can still feel that moment our hands touched. And I know this sounds so clichéd and terribly girly! But for me there was a huge feeling of energy that went through my body and it was that moment that I knew, this was it. My heart had been sparked and taken, this was the man I would spend the rest of my life with. That was August 2006 and the rest as they say is history!
Our first date was in the hospital as he had to go in for some emergency surgery soon after my birthday. So romantic!
I moved into Bondi with him in November of 2006.
And on my 31st birthday on 27th July 2007 on the morning we were preparing to leave for a 3 week holiday in Europe together, he proposed and I said yes! Who could refuse this amazing and totally romantic proposal. It still sends goosebumps through me.
That is my love story of how my heart found Fred Schebesta.
And now you all are part of our next journey together. You have been a part of the individual chapters of our lives, and now you will be there as we write the next chapters of our lives together.
