Press Release: Local Couple Embarks on a Trip to Climb Mount Everest

August 2011 Narragansett, RI—Steve Lawrence, of Lawrence Builders Inc., and Melissa Hillas, of Gypset Productions, are embarking on an expedition to Mount Everest in the Fall. Always the adventurers, the local couple is eager to add a Mount Everest climb to their world traveling repertoire.

Steve and Melissa share strong values and ideals regarding leading low-impact lives. They believe in reusing and recycling as well as in the over-arching idea of creating a life that can be sustained with minimal resource usage and waste. With such strong convictions about the environment, it is inevitable that Steve Lawrence and Melissa Hillas would incorporate such ideas into their business practices.

Steve Lawrence is the founder and president of Lawrence Builders Inc., a high-performance green building company. Lawrence Builders Inc. is committed to creating beautiful, sustainable, eco-friendly homes. As a green building company, Lawrence Builders Inc. offers certified green homes that earn national designation through a rigorous review of the home's energy efficiency, site planning, use of healthy materials, durability, sustainability, and many other green practices.

Melissa Hillas is hard at work as the president and founder of Gypset Productions. She is currently busy creating an international docu-series focusing on sustainability and how it pertains to the environment and food practices throughout the world.

In addition, Melissa and Steve are in the process of starting a local company here in Narragansett called Lawrence Cottage Keep. This company will be tapping into a unique niche in the service industry by eliminating the headache for summer residents, of opening and closing their summer property. Lawrence Cottage Keep will focus on opening summer homes—cleaning and stocking them for families, in addition to providing a winterizing service at the end of the season.

Their friend, Gary P. Scott, a world-renowned mountaineer, will lead Melissa and Steve on this Everest Expedition. Scott is the founder of Right Path Adventures—an international hiking and walking-tour company. Gary Scott is an experienced climber, who has taken over 100 international adventure trips, including two attempts at summiting Mt. Everest without oxygen, as well as holding the world record for fastest solo ascent of Denali in Alaska. He is a highly sought after motivational speaker and author of Summit Strategies: Secrets to Mastering the Everest in Your Life.

Their trip is significant in a number of ways, both personally and professionally. Melissa was very sick a number of years ago with a rare brain disease. A brain biopsy was performed, which resulted in almost complete paralysis of the right side of her body. Although, ten years later, Melissa has come back to almost 100% capacity, it is still a daily effort for her to stay physically fit and strong. The Everest climb will be a true testament to Melissa's perseverance and recovery, and a lifetime achievement for the couple.

Steve and Melissa's trip to Mount Everest is a chance to expand professionally and continue to explore the ideas surrounding sustainability and true eco-living. During their travels around the world—whether it is through the plains of South Africa, or to the coast of Italy—Steve and Melissa take time to understand and investigate the ways in which the native people of the region live off the land and sustain their lives. They are dedicated to preserving the environment and make every possible effort to minimize their impact on it.

The Mount Everest trip, which begins November 1st in Nepal, is an extension of this life practice—as it is the ultimate display of sustainable, low-impact living. The idea of taking only photographs, and leaving only footprints, is a philosophy that can translate from the climbing trails to our everyday lives.

Contact:
Maegan Ryan
Director of Corporate Communications
Lawrence Builders, Inc.
Narragansett, RI 02882
401.792.3669
maegan@lawrencebuildersinc.com
www.lawrencebuildersinc.com

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