Community Magazine June 2016

32 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE R ebecca Harary’s life to date has been incredibly varied and illustrious. It’s hard to believe that one woman could do everything that she has done – served so soundly in so many roles for the sake of her family and our community – and yet, she has. Rebecca is driven by passion in all things, and she is a model of efficiency, productivity, and problem solving. For this, she credits the example set by her working parents, who, as they built a large family while living in Plantation, Florida, leaned on Rebecca a lot. “I feel like I’ve been a mother my whole life,” Rebecca says, recalling what it was like being the oldest of eight siblings. “I took my responsibility as the oldest in the family very seriously.” Growing up, Rebecca’s father, Bob Salame, owned a string of carpet stores and her mother worked as well. Though at the time she was only a high school graduate, Joyce Salame figured out how to earn for her family when the situation demanded it. “Whenever there was a bottleneck of money, she would figure out what to do,” Rebecca says. Specifically, her mother went to H&R Block and took classes to become a certified income tax specialist. During her first year there, she managed the store. Before long, she was managing all the H&R Block stores on the East Coast of Florida! Eventually, this fearless, determined and resourceful woman would go on to earn two Masters’ Degrees. Inspired by the success her mother achieved, Rebecca would start The Propel Network (featured on the cover of last month’s issue). Propel has helped scores of women become certified in a given field and land professional careers – a track Rebecca knows well, having been a talented entrepreneur herself. Rebecca completed two years of college before pausing her studies to marry her husband, Joseph, who was just beginning law school. Two years into marriage and already the mother of a baby girl, Rebecca started her own company named Basket Case, where she designed exquisite baskets for special occasions. In time, she also began designing storefront windows after graduating from FIT, earning her undergraduate degree. Her big break came when she was awarded the opportunity to head the design team at Macy’s, Herald Square, to design their store windows for a Levi’s Jeans promotion. It was an opportunity that would jumpstart her career in window designing. Over the course of two years, Rebecca went on to do store windows for Barneys, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, Chanel, and other highline department stores. In 1995, by now the mother of four children, Rebecca graduated Summa Cum Laude from FIT, with a degree in Display and Exhibit Design. Soon after, she delved into the different but related field of event planning. “The first person to give me a job was Steli,” says Rebecca fondly of the well-known beauty salon proprietor. “She asked me to do her daughter’s wedding in the Marriott Financial Center.” Rebecca did not yet have experience, but wisely hired a team of students from her major at F.I.T. to work with her. The wedding was such a success, that Rebecca began getting more requests – enough to launch her own event planning firm on Ave. U in Brooklyn. Named Rebecca Designs and staffed with over 30 employees, the store eventually expanded into a 6,000 square-foot warehouse on McDonald Avenue. From there, Rebecca continued designing window displays and planned private, corporate and nonprofit events. “Event planning taught KELLY JEMAL MASSRY REFORM. REBUILD. RENEW. Rebecca Harary has spent her life giving back to the community by founding several nonprofit organizations. She shares her life story with us and goes into detail about her political platform and hope for our future. NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY WOMAN HOPEFUL REBECCA HARARY IN PROFILE