- November 21, 2024
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Kayhan “Ky” Ekinci liked to call his company a small business percolator.
Ekinci, the co-founder of Office Divvy in Palm Coast, died unexpectedly on March 12 at age 53.
Ekinci and his wife Lisa have provided a boost to scores of businesses and business people since they opened Office Divvy with partner Sim Taing 15 years ago.
Ekinci helped companies scale and grow through education, using data in new ways and building custom platforms.
“Ky was such a great guy. He was solution oriented and very smart,” said Craig Straky, who started Luxury Team of Florida Real Estate Group and grew the firm from two agents to 40 before selling the business to Coldwell Banker.
“In 2009, when I started Luxury Team of Florida Real Estate Group, Divvy was my call center solution for seven offices,” Straky said.
Straky said Ekinci helped devise a lead routing system for Luxury Team that ensured phone calls were always answered by an agent and never went to voicemail.
“Our after-hours number would ring eight agents simultaneously and whoever answered got the lead,” Straky said.
He taught me to always think about the person who comes after you, whether that’s keeping good documentation on a project that some one else will pick up or something as simple cleaning up your table at a coffee shop. — KEDRON ABBOTT
Attorney Raven Sword of Livingston and Sword P.A. in Palm Coast said Office Divvy has been answering her law firm’s phones for nearly 13 years.
“When my partner and I got together, I think we tried to do it the old-fashioned way with voicemail and a receptionist, but it wasn’t productive,” she said. “We’re able to be more efficient to make sure our phones are answered, our clients speak with people who are pleasant, and they can make an appointment. That frees up office work in-house.”
Ekinci mentored young people through Office Divvy’s internship program.
Kedron Abbott began as an intern at Office Divvy when he was a sophomore at Flagler Palm Coast High School nine years ago.
“I was in a class that worked with the Observer, writing articles,” he said. “When I heard about the internship opportunity for Office Divvy, I thought this was a perfect thing to write about.”
But as he learned more, he decided the internship was perfect for him. Abbott is now a software engineer at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Abbott said Ekinci was always interested in people and always listened.
"A lot of people ask about you as sort of the polite thing to do, but to actually hear and be interested in what you have to say is something different," Abbott said.
Abbott said after college he returned to Office Divvy to work on projects.
“It’s been awesome to work with (Ekinci),” Abbott said. One thing I don’t think I’ll ever let go of, he taught me to always think about the person who comes after you, whether that’s keeping good documentation on a project that someone else will pick up or something as simple as cleaning up your table at a coffee shop.”
Abbott said he learned what co-office space was through Office Divvy.
“The skills I learned there helped me get (to where I am now),” he said.
People who knew Ekinci said one of his passions was technology and helping businesses scale by embracing new ways of doing things.
He brought thousands of business people together for Office Divvy’s annual Entrepreneur Night until it was halted by Covid. He was also well-known as the former co-owner of the Humidor Cigar Bar and Lounge in European Village.
Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Ekinci earned his master’s degree at Cambridge College in Boston. He and Lisa married in 2004 before moving to Palm Coast.
“I am shocked and saddened,” Straky said. “Words I would use to describe Ky are optimistic, friendly, collaborative, kind and intelligent. Ky and Lisa are of the best people that I know.”
