Self-Made: Phil Yost

By NICK STEELE | Portraits by STEVEN LE, THEE PHOTO NINJA

Phil Yost, the owner of Compass Land & Title, is a guy who’s lived a life. And, by that I mean he’s lived it to the fullest and continues to push himself each day in terms of his business, his sense of adventure and his appetite for extraordinary experiences.

His story is unique not for his accomplishments on a grand scale, but for the fact that his successes are deeply wedded to his adopted city of St. Pete, and to hear him tell it, could only have happened here.

Aside from his over 20 years of business success, during which time he has accumulated numerous industry awards, he and his wife Valerie have distinguished themselves as patrons of the community. Their efforts have been especially arts-focused, including initiatives for the Museum of Fine Arts, The James Museum, the Dali Museum, Florida CraftArt, The Florida

Orchestra, Tampa Bay Theatre Festival and Arts Conservatory for Teens, but they have also supported such organizations as Lowry Park Zoo, Pediatric Cancer Foundation, the St. Pete Free Clinic and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce’s Good ‘Burger Awards.

What comes with such involvement is a certain expectation that requires the glamorous couple to “make the scene” at various social and charity events.

At this, Yost is a natural talent, often seen fashionably holding court at the city’s most elite events.

Fittingly, our interview is something of a journey story, taking place across several weeks and various locations, from his stylish offices high above Central Avenue and a series of chic eateries—where staff members delight at his presence—to the rugged tip of Pass-A-Grille beach, where a jagged outcropping of huge pieces of concrete pavement still serve as a reminder of the not too distant hurricanes that battered the shoreline.

This is where the other side of Yost comes into focus. Clad in camo board shorts, a tank top, sandals and his “Compass AF hat,” he unloads a paddle board from the back of his lifted truck—his other ride is a Porsche. He squints at the late day sun, smiles broadly and immediately strikes up a friendly chat with another beachgoer, clad in a vintage Kiss T-shirt. Music is a soft spot for the former punk kid who started an alternative music magazine when he was just 15 years old. His passion is on display as they reminisce about the good old days. He brings that same enthusiasm to the conversation a week later, as he chats with a friendly waitress at Left Bank Bistro about vintage wines and jazz.

Indeed, he is a man of many passions who seems to always be in search of both new experiences and connections. And one thing is abundantly clear from spending time with Yost. People delight at his presence and the feeling seems entirely mutual.

“I can’t help it,” he explains. “It may sound corny, but I feel like when you're genuinely interested, want to know about what's going on and talk to the people you cross paths with, that the energy comes back to you.”

Travel is another passion that illustrates his desire for such experiences. While he has traveled through Europe, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Africa, it is his most recent tour of Peru that he is eager to discuss.

“It's the best place we've ever been,” he enthuses. “Every single person that I met was like a warm embrace.”

He doesn’t talk specifically about his favorite attraction, meal or moment of the trip, but instead about the kindness of the people he met and how they made him feel. It reminds me of a particularly sage quote from the late author, poet and activist Maya Angelou, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel," she famously said.

While that time-worn piece of life advice may seem like a generality, it captures the essence of Yost perfectly. And though he often speaks of being “embraced” by others, what he is describing is being seen and feeling connected, even to nature itself.

“That simplistic beauty of being outdoors every day and being physically challenged is so healthy,” he shares. “And you’re visiting these ancient sites. One day our guide took us to this sacred space and gave each one of us three cacao leaves. And he said, ‘I want you to walk these grounds and think about what you want out of life. Then bury the leaves and ask for that thing.’”

Yost says that he craves these types of layered experiences.

“I'm in my element when I'm traveling,” he offers. “It is just a complete reboot that allows me to come back enthused.”

That enthusiasm is on full display back at the beach, as he makes his way across the sugar sand, kicks off his sandals and runs toward the surf. “I just gotta get in the water!” he booms enthusiastically. “How can you be here and not?!”

As he paddles out, several onlookers gather around me curious about the man on the board whose movements are being chronicled by a photographer. A woman who has stopped hunting shells, cocks her head and asks, “Is that…that actor?”

She seems unsure if I am just trying to move her on when I reply, “No, he’s actually a businessman.”

“Really,” she counters. “What kind of business is that then?”

“I guess you could say the business of life,” I reply, feeling pleased with myself.

She watches as he turns to start his journey back in, shakes her head and wanders off.

Back on dry land, Yost walks me through his traditional upbringing, the child of a military father and church deacon mother who were wartime pen pals (as was the tradition at the time) and married after a long-distance courtship. He says that most of his irreverent spirit was born out of his traditional upbringing.

“Growing up in the suburbs everything is sort of generic, homogeneous, boring, right?” he asserts. “I remember seeing these people on the evening news one night who had mohawks and safety pins through their faces who were part of the alternative music scene of the '80s. I remember thinking, That looks cool. Man, I'm going to do that. It was just the excitement of it. I got a leather jacket with spikes on it and I was in a punk band. My mom would cry when she'd see me.”

Yost says it was the explosive energy and the people he met from the scene that he identified with.

“The music was so powerful,” he recalls. ”It was a mixture of bravado, adventure and intellectualism.”

Those who know Yost know those descriptors are true of the man he is today. The funky, artsy scene he encountered when visiting St. Pete to attend music shows at Jannus Live in tandem with the natural beauty and growing footprint of the city made it irresistible to him.

“I always gravitated towards St. Pete,” he admits. “There's something so special about it. I graduated from Florida State and was obsessed with coming back here.”

He would find early business success in other places, including founding Vertical Ventures in Tampa. But by the early 2000s, he established himself as a force to be reckoned with in The Burg, forging formative friendships, business alliances and founding Compass. His background in both real estate and hospitality allowed him to build some key learnings into the title business.

“I really like the problem-solving nature of it,” he says. “And at the end of the day, we're celebrating people's largest purchase in their life. I just fell in love with the whole process and so here I am, 20-plus years later.”

During that time, he has earned the admiration of his business and community colleagues, who are quick to offer heartfelt praise.

“If you know Phil Yost you know that he is always championing St. Petersburg and the people who call it home,” explains Scott C. Gault, market president for The Bank of

Tampa. “His energy, creativity and unwavering loyalty make him a connector like no other. You can always count on Phil to show up and have your back.”

And there has been an especially significant partner throughout his journey that Yost says has always had his back.

“My wife has been my biggest cheerleader,” he shares. “I'm very fortunate for that and I owe her 1 million percent. She's been on my arm, been through all of it with me. Whenever you can find that kind of solid partnership, whether it be in love or business, it's such a grounding thing. A lot of people don't have that. My wife and I dreamed of being a part of this community and now we are.”

When I inquire if he could share the wish he made when he buried those leaves in Peru, he immediately replies, “I just asked to be happy.”

“If you wake up every day and the minute your peepers pop open, be welcoming to what may come. It's just so basic. Wake up and have a great attitude, a smile on your face and endeavor to do your best,” he offers. “It's such a good attitude to have. It's an engine. It also goes back to what I think makes St. Pete special. I came here and gave it my all and now I think, Man. I feel so fortunate! Whatever you bring, there's an opportunity for you to thrive here. If you can be positive and authentic, I believe you will grow with the city of St. Pete. It was the perfect incubator. My dreams came true in this town.”