The name's Esmee, Esmee Dorf....

I currently live in beautiful Western North Carolina. I moved here from Montreal almost exactly a year ago. I live on a great piece of land surrounded by my wonderful family, cousins and aunts and uncles, and of course my Dad and step-mom.

It's hard for me say where I was raised, considering, until I was about 12, I hadn't lived anywhere for more than 2 years. I've lived in New York (where my dad's from), California, North Carolina, Mexico and Canada (where my mom's from), not in that order. I used to be fluent in both French and Spanish, but now my only other language is French.

"Was your father in the military?" you ask. Nope. My dad's an entrepreneur, he basically moved us around to his next BIG idea. Although I lost a lot of friendships throughout the years because of all of the moving, I'm happy to say I am now reunited with many of my childhood friends because of this great thing called Facebook! YAY Facebook!

Although moving a lot as a kid helped define who I am today, the most important influence on my life was ballet. I did not start dancing very young, I was maybe 11, but I took it very seriously. It was such a part of my life, that through osmosis, it became a part of my Dad's life. Being an entrepreneur he saw the potential for great business and started NutcrackerBalletsGift.com, and 16 years later it's still going strong!


Until I was 18, ballet dancing was the only thing I ever wanted to do, so much so that I moved away from my parents in North Carolina when I was 16 to take part in the professional program at L'Ecole de danse de Quebec in Montreal.

It was an amazing time for me, learning and living the French culture, and just basically growing up! Unfortunately a series of chronic injuries squashed my dream of ever dancing professionally, but it did lead me into my first business, massage therapy.

Having spent so many hours on physical therapy tables and massage tables, I learned a lot about the human body and how it worked. I decided to use the unfortunate turn of events into a very satisfying career as a massage therapist. Although I no longer practice, I occasionally use my "magic fingers" on those that I love!

So at the ripe old age of 24, I decided to try my hand at more "conventional" schooling and decided to go to Concordia University in sociology. I had just come back from an amazing 3 month trip to South East Asia, and thought that studying society was the best fit for me.

Let's just say it was a good fit. But let's be honest here, I couldn't see myself doing anything that had to do with working for someone else, in an office, and without all that scary adrenaline that being an entrepreneur has to offer. I am a Dorf by all means!

So in March of '08, a great opportunity showed up for me to leave cold Montreal and learn some new skills here in WNC. I picked up and moved, quit my job of over 7 years, left all of my friends (again) in a little over 2 weeks!

Since then I've traveled the country and met amazing people through my new company, WorldVentures, helping me to become the person I want to be. I've also had the opportunity to work as an after school pre-school teacher (I had no experience, but decided, what the hey!) at an amazing community school called Odyssey. That in and of itself has been one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever had! You can learn a lot from 3 and 4 year olds!

That pretty much brings us full circle, and now, I am lucky enough to be able to be in charge of what comes next!

It's hard for me not to choose my parents immediately when I think of who inspires me. My best friends are my inspiration as well!