080114 xfiles by TBBJ

LOKEYMOTORCO.COM

Little Rd.

LOKEY-INFINITI.COM

East Lake Rd.

y Trinit

Tamp a

Blvd.

Rd.

Gulf to Bay

Blvd.

AUGUST 1, 2014

Table of Contents

Ted Abrams, Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. ............................................ 4 Colleen Chappell, ChappellRoberts..................................................5 Ronald Christaldi, Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP........................ 6 Alva Cross, Cross HR Law.................................................................7 Julius Davis, VoltAir Consulting Engineers....................................... 8 Tom Dorety, Suncoast Schools Fed. Credit Union............................ 9 Troy Dunn, Dunn&Co. ...................................................................10 Tom Frederick, Zymphony Technology Solutions............................11 Mario Garcia, Garcia Interactive..................................................... 12 Joy Gendusa, PostcardMania.......................................................... 13 Bill Goede, Bank of America, Tampa Bay market........................... 14 John Hagen, Pasco Economic Development.................................... 15 Tom Haines, Epicurean Hotel......................................................... 16 Cedar Hames, Paradise Advertising ............................................... 17 Jamie Harden, Creative Sign Designs.............................................. 18 John Harding, Florida Hospital Tampa........................................... 19 Charles Henri “Hank” Hine, Dali Museum.....................................20 Danny Jackson, Cherry Bekaert...................................................... 21 Kunal Jain, PracticeForces/TIE Tampa............................................22 Sheila Johnson, Salamander Hotels and Resorts............................23 Greg Kehoe, Greenberg Traurig......................................................24 Pete Kirtland, ASPire Financial Services LLC..................................25 Jack Kolosky, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.....................................26 Carmine Lacognata, AXA Advisors................................................. 27 Patricia Lawman, Morphogenesis Inc. ............................................28 Mariano Legaz, Verizon Wireless.....................................................29

Wendy Libby, Stetson University................................................... 30 Lynda McDermott , EquiPro International Ltd................................ 31 Dewey Mitchell, Berkshire Hathaway Florida................................32 Patty Nooney, CBRE........................................................................33 Dr. Michael O’Neal, Cooperative Med.............................................34 Wit Ostrenko, MOSI........................................................................35 Paresh Patel, HCI Group Inc............................................................36 Mike Quackenbush, PricewaterhouseCoopers................................37 Tim Ramsberger, Firestone Grand Prix...........................................38 Cathy Rezak, Paradigm Learning...................................................39 Chantal Ruilova Hevia, Ybor Museum Society............................... 40 Donald Salama, New York Life Direct............................................. 41 Gary Sasso, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt............................................42 Michael Saunders, Michael Saunders & Co. ...................................43 Steve Schuetz, Valuation Research Corp.........................................44 Rafael Sciullo, Suncoast Hospice....................................................45 Ann Sells Miller, Advanced Healthcare Partners........................... 46 Rhonda Shear, Shear Enterprises....................................................47 Linda Simmons, R.R. Simmons Construction Corp. .......................48 Susie Steiner, ExecuTran Services Inc............................................ 49 Chris Steinocher, St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce............... 50 Marie Tomassi, Trenam Kemker..................................................... 51 Jane Toombs, CEO Council of Tampa Bay ......................................52 Julian Waits Sr., ThreatTrack Security............................................53 Lisa Wannemacher, Wannemacher Jensen Architects....................54

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

William G. Tapp Senior Managing Director CBIZ and Mayer Hoffman McCann (MHM) are proud to participate once again as a sponsor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Executive Profile program.

Through this weekly recognition, the Tampa Bay Business Journal highlights individuals who have made varied and unique contributions to their organizations and to the community. The backgrounds of those profiled are as different as the entities that they represent and reflect the diverse fabric that makes the Tampa Bay business community so great. Regardless of the news or headlines, readers are always anxious to learn more about the key business leaders in our community, as well as their particular backgrounds and interests. With our own unique backgrounds and interests, CBIZ and MHM team members have been an integral part of the Tampa Bay business community for over twenty years. By combining the resources of a national practice with an unrelenting commitment to personal service we offer a unique value proposition to our clients…one that provides the best of both worlds: a national reach and a local perspective. We are proud of our relationships with our privately owned, publicly traded, government and not for profit clients in the attest, tax, litigation support and business consulting arenas. We are equally proud and excited about our recent merger with the former Lewis, Birch and Ricardo practice which allows us to provide and even greater array of resources and services to our clients. We are very pleased to join once again with the Tampa Bay Business Journal and our co-sponsors in recognizing those leaders of our community through the weekly Executive Profile program.

Mark Austin Director of Sales Lokey Motor Company is proud to sponsor the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s weekly Executive Profile series. The executives profiled every week in the TBBJ graciously allow us a glimpse into their personal journeys. They share their trials and tribulations and how they triumphed over them to achieve success. Every executive profiled is a true testament to the definition of success and all of us at Lokey Motor Company would like to commend each of you. Since 1952, Lokey Motor Company has been a family-owned and operated dealership. In addition to serving the community for 61 years, our founder, Earl B. Lokey, was awarded the First Mercedes-Benz Franchise in the State of Florida in 1966. Lokey Motor Company has developed and expanded significantly since 1952. Today, customers can choose from our large inventory of vehicles, such as: New Mercedes-Benz, New Infiniti, New Smart and Certified Pre-Owned and Pre-Owned Vehicles. At Lokey Motor Company, we employ the principles of our mission statement, “To Operate with Honesty and Integrity in Everything We Do,” by serving the community, relating to our customers with compassion and respect and providing a superior automotive experience. In doing so, we find that we will be provided with all the success that we require. All of us at Lokey Motor Company would again like to congratulate the Executives who have been profiled in the TBBJ and wish you all continued success in all your future endeavors.

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

TED ABRAMS

CEO asks candidates to explain tough situations Why Ted is a big deal: Since taking over leadership at the company in 2001, Ted Abrams has grown Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. substantially, and developed key relationships with companies like Disney and Publix Super Markets. The growing Tampa company has local, national, international and online distribution and a mission to offer an “unsurpassed coffee experience with quality in flavor and service” in all its customer relationships, including office coffee distributors, restaurants and grocers. When did you first contact with the original Joffrey’s owners? In the spring 2001. The company was started by two gentlemen who had a passion for coffee. We were the first coffee roaster in Florida and had our own coffee shop, a store in Hyde Park that was shut down at the end of ’99. The corporate alliance with Disney you signed in 2012 is the culmination of years of relationship building, correct? We’re the official specialty coffee of Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Vacation Club. We’ve been a part of Disney since 1994. This deal allows us to be fully branded on property here as well as in California and Vacation Club properties. We’re capitalizing on our ability for our brand to grow. People still refer to us as the company with the store in Hyde Park. This deal will help the brand significantly with other customers that view being a partner with Disney as a differentiator.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Ted Abrams, president and CEO of Joffrey’s Coffee in Tampa How does a deal like that get done? You are lobbying the company, you are working with insiders, and naturally we were up against other competition like that company out in Seattle. It had a lot of proponents but we had loyalists on the inside, some very high up folks at Disney who have appreciated what Joffrey’s has done over the years in terms of our partnership and working with chefs and the ability to create and give them unique offerings for their guests. That’s what Disney is all about, the unique guest experience. The number of Joffrey’s kiosks grew from one to 18 today and 20 by the end of November. What is one question you always ask a potential employee? I ask them what was their most difficult situation they found themselves in

MEET BILL

R CLOSER

LOOK

RRTitle and company: President and CEO, Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. in Tampa RRCoffee varieties at Joffrey’s: 124 RRTeas: 54 loose leaf; 19 iced RROther partners: PDQ, Aramark Corp., Costco, Crystal Cruise Lines RRSpecialty: Mergers and acquisitions, turnarounds RRWhere the Disney relationship began: One kiosk at Typhoon Lagoon in 1994

and how did they work through it? That stuck with me. It’s a way for them to explain and articulate what the problem was and then to explain how did they resolve it. How they answer provides insight into how they think independently.

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*Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. is an independent CPA firm providing audit, review and attest services, and works closely with CBIZ, a business consulting, tax and financial services provider. © Copyright 2014. CBIZ, Inc. and Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. NYSE Listed: CBZ. All rights reserved.

AUGUST 1, 2014

COLLEEN CHAPPELL

Entrepreneurs choose Tampa Bay Why Colleen is a big deal: At ChappellRoberts, the 10th largest advertising/marketing agency in Tampa Bay, Colleen leads a staff that she calls “a trusted advisor” to clients such as Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., Mosaic, Verizon and Florida Hospital. She’s also on the executive boards of Tampa Bay Partnership and Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. What’s special about the Tampa Bay business community? One of the greatest assets about the Tampa Bay community is so many people want businesses to succeed. It’s an environment that’s so collaborative and welcoming but also supportive. I think that that’s very rare for communities. What’s ahead for the community for the next 10 years? Tampa Bay is a rising star. The next 10 years I believe, and I think a lot of other business leaders believe, will be the decade where Tampa Bay turns from good to great. Our agency is really excited to be part of Medifuture. That whole project is about looking at health care transformation and disruptive health care. What that means is looking 10 years into the future and building it today. To be a part of that and to be part of other legacy projects, that’s incredibly powerful for people in this community. How can we measure success? Look at the companies moving here. Look at the names of the companies, the

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Colleen Chappell R CLOSER

LOOK

RRTitle: President and CEO, ChappellRoberts RREducation: B.A. in mass communications, University of South Florida RRFirst job: Worked the counter at McDonald’s RRDowntime: “I love being outdoors and being active.” RRMantra: “Leap and the net will follow.”

Amazons of the world. Look around at the entrepreneurs that are starting

MEET BOB

their companies. They could start them anywhere. They’re choosing Tampa Bay. Another important measurement is the talent pool that we are generating. We have over 80 higher education institutions in this market, of all different types of educational services - four-year, two-year, technical schools. Look at the students that are graduating, the caliber of the talent and some of those measurements that are harder to identify, but are more important, such as their tenacity, their drive, their will, their excitement. Those are the things that make a real difference in a community.

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Classic Car Enthusiast

ROBERT J. BATZ

MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

727.572.1400

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TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

RONALD CHRISTALDI

History buff earned a master’s while studying law Why Ron is a big deal: He’s chairelect of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce for 2014 and chairman for 2015 and has been active in local economic development efforts. He recently scored a major victory for St. Petersburg’s ALPS South, when a federal judge awarded $15.5 million in damages in a patent infringement case. At Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP he co-chairs the health care practice group. We’ve talked about the pros and cons of so-called shared services as a sector to grow local jobs. What do you think? I think the key for us is diversity. If 2009 and the down years have taught the business community across the nation anything, it’s that having too many eggs in one basket is not necessarily a good thing. We are well-positioned in that regard. Our biotech industry is strong. I have a client that is a medical device manufacturer based in St. Petersburg that employs 90 people and manufactures all its products in Florida and sells those products worldwide, and then brings all the resources back here where it hires lawyers, accountants and PR firms. The more companies like those we can bring here the better off we are. While getting your law degree, you got a master’s degree at the same time in international affairs. Are you nuts? I liked law school but it felt like more of a trade than a liberal arts education so I got a master’s degree as a side degree in the same three years. It was my hobby. International affairs are multidisciplinary and included history, philosophy, religion, Marxism, Russian history and American history – the stuff you learn in high school, put on a shelf and becomes passé. But as a lawyer,

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Ron Christaldi learning the political history of the country has become a passion of mine. It’s fascinating to place yourself in the situations of our predecessors. With Philadelphia in your roots, what’s your cheesesteak preference? There are days when I wake up and a cheesesteak or a soft pretzel is on the tip of my tongue. Which one is best is a polarizing issue. Geno’s is the best. I order it with onions and cheese. In Philly parlance, you order it “One cheesesteak ‘wit.’”

R CLOSER

LOOK

RRTitle: Senior partner, Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP RRChamber leadership goal: To reintroduce the importance from an economic perspective of arts and cultural assets RRBorn/grew up: South Philadelphia; Southern New Jersey RRUndergraduate: New College of Sarasota RRPassion: His kids. “I spend as much time as I possibly can. I’m a big kid at heart. We go skiing and to Busch Gardens, the Aquarium and MOSI.”

AUGUST 1, 2014

ALVA CROSS

Entrepreneur says smaller is better for clients R CLOSER

LOOK

ALVA L. CROSS, OWNER, CROSS HR LAW RRClient base/niche: Personnel issues for small and medium size businesses, working to keep them out of court by focusing on coaching, training and compliance. RRHer Tampa Bay tour highlight: Columbia Restaurant RRWhat she orders: Black bean soup, the 1905 Salad and sangria RRBest part about owning her own firm: Flexibility to be with her kids RRUndergraduate: University of Tampa RRInternship: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission RRHot button: Bad grammar RRCooks: She’s mastered fluffy pancakes (secret: half cake flour, half regular flour, butter and applesauce). KATHLEEN CABBLE

Alva Cross, owner of Cross HR Law, with Irelynn, 4, and Devin, 11. Why Alva’s a big deal: Alva Cross represents an emerging class of legal entrepreneurs. She opened Cross HR Law firm after nearly a decade working at top regional and national law firms exclusively representing employers. She is a 2004 graduate of Stetson University College of Law, cum laude, where she received several honors. She is in demand. Over the last several years, Florida has consistently ranked in the top three in the nation for wage and hour lawsuits. How will you grow your firm? We

already have plans to grow into other areas of Florida. There has been a little talk about moving into other states but nothing huge right now. In Florida, there are so many small businesses and I will never be a 300-lawyer firm just because I don’t think clients get the service they need all the time. Employers have a lot to learn. How do you deal with the ones that make big HR mistakes? If my client has done something wrong, I’m going to tell them and they need to make it right. I am not going to litigate for the sake of

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litigating. If they discriminated against an employee – this happens frequently with leave issues, military personnel or family and medical leave – I tell them. Your early interest was in criminology, yes? I had zero idea at all that I wanted to be a lawyer. Someone with whom I went to elementary school found an old fifth grade yearbook and it said what we wanted to be when we grew up. I said I wanted to be a prosecutor and work with the criminal element. I do have an interest in the criminal mind and for a while I wanted to be a profiler.

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

JULIUS DAVIS

Davis still learning, even from an exec’s chair Why Julius is a big deal: VoltAir Consulting Engineers grew during the down economy. The firm has worked on recent local high profile projects such as the conversion of the downtown Tampa federal courthouse to the boutique Le Meridien Hotel, Ulele Restaurant and Waterworks Park, and the Encore, the 40-plus acre mixed-used Tampa redevelopment. You are in the midst of USF’s executive MBA program. You are already a CEO. What are you learning about leadership? The leadership role is a learning process. Mentors help a lot. I look up to my clients that have been in this position many more years than me. Through the USF executive MBA program I’m learning different skills that will improve my leadership abilities for my business as well as in the community. How competitive is this market? It’s very competitive, especially now with the economy the way it has been, you had everybody trying to compete even more on certain projects to maintain their business. There are a lot of larger firms that are now competing in the industries that smaller firms were competing in. So, getting involved in the community and then also being on top of the latest trends is critical, as is thinking of innovative ways of delivering service to clients that will allow them to come back to us and increase our repeat business. That would help us stay on the leading edge of the competition. I’m always interested in challenges of minority-owned businesses. Do you still run into bias? There is a little of that when it comes to minority participation. In some areas, there is a little bias that we face which actually works to our benefit. We look at it as something where we are out to prove to try to correct any type of negative

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Julius Davis R CLOSER

LOOK

RRTitle: President & CEO, VoltAir Consulting Engineers  RRYears with the company: Seven RRYears in Tampa Bay: Tampa native. Grew up in Jackson Heights and attended Chamberlain High School  RRNature of business: Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and communication engineering design firm  RREducation: B.S., electrical engineering, University of South Florida; now enrolled in USF’s Executive MBA program RRFirst real job: Day laborer at age 16 for his dad’s masonry construction business RRCareer in another universe: Biomedical engineering RRFirst movie: “Superman”

bias or feelings they have towards minority participation. We really don’t focus on that. That really helps a lot. We provide service beyond the expectations of what our clients are looking for from engineering firms. Once our new clients see the type

of service we provide, they come back to us and look for us to provide service that doesn’t require minority participation. How do engineers like you have fun? We have a very fun environment in our office. That’s important to me and for the office environment. Everybody spends most of their time in their lifetime at the office. It’s an eight- to 12-hour-a-day type of industry. We’re very relaxed. We have an energetic and fun atmosphere that keeps the energy flowing in the office. It’s very productive. Why biomedical engineering as an alternate path? Throughout my high school years, I always wanted to be an electrical engineer. I was also interested in medicine as well. Later on, through my college years, I was introduced to robotics. There was always this wonder if there was a dual program to do technical engineering and medicine. I found out later that biomedical engineering was an option but it was later on in college, so I stuck to the electrical engineering.

AUGUST 1, 2014

TOM DORETY

Earning members’ trust is key for Dorety R CLOSER

Why Tom is a big deal: As leader of Suncoast, Tom oversees the largest retail financial institution headquartered in the Tampa Bay area, with 550,000 members, $5.5 billion in assets and 1,000 employees in 53 offices on the west coast of Florida. He’s passionate about the industry, and has served as chairman of the Credit Union National Association, the national trade association for credit unions, which are not-for-profit and member owned. Trust is central to credit unions’ business success, he said. What’s your advice for businesses looking to earn the trust of their customers? The way we do it is simply by being open and transparent, by being a member-focused organization. We tell our members exactly what’s going on. There are no hidden agendas with what we do. We create a bond with our members … When you do that consistently over a period of time, then you gain the trust of those you do business with and that’s what we focus on. How do you communicate your vision to your staff? Every quarter, I give them an update of what’s going on with the credit union. I do it through our Intranet and every employee sees it on the same day. I then have four or five breakfasts every month with employees. They can come and ask me anything they want to ask and I’m able to communicate with them in that regard. But the most effective

LOOK

RRTitle and company: President and CEO, Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union RRYears with the company: 25 RRYears in current job: 17 RREducation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, bachelor’s in political science RRWhat’s your alternative career? A golf course architect RRAn inspirational read? “Horton Hatches the Egg” by Dr. Seuss, because it’s about life lessons that translate to business

downturns in the economy … We’re moving forward, we’re growing again, we are adding branches, we are adding employees, but we’re doing it carefully.

ALEXIS MUELLNER

Tom Dorety communication is through our management staff, starting with our senior team … It’s their responsibility to communicate to employees and even more important that they get communication from employees. Because the best ideas come from front line employees … They’re the ones who tell us what’s important to members and they’re the ones who tell us when we’re screwing up sometimes. What have you learned from the school of hard knocks? We’re learning lessons for how to better prepare for

MEET DOUG

Who are your heroes in the business world? I have two. The first is my father, who was a businessman in a small town in North Carolina and he got heavily engaged in the community. He invested and he put back into the community and he taught me that was the key to success going forward including in your business life. The other is the CEO of my credit union in North Carolina [Jim Blaine, State Employees Credit Union], where I learned to be passionate about credit unions. He believes everything is focused on the members. It’s 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. Where are you? I’m either on the golf course or in the swimming pool with my 7-year-old son.

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Managing Director/ Shareholder

DOUGLAS R. BIRCH TAX MANAGING DIRECTOR

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TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

TROY DUNN

World class work will elevate local advertising R CLOSER

LOOK

RRTitle: President, Dunn&Co. RRBorn: Chicago RRPath to Tampa: University of South Florida RRFirst job out of school: ABC-TV in St. Petersburg (then Channel 10) as a videographer RRDunn&Co. established: 2003 RRAgency specialty: Dunn&Co doesn’t necessarily focus on any specific industry, but has significant experience in the hospitality, sports, health care and destination sectors. RRTwo favorite films: “Three Days of the Condor,” starring Robert Redford, and “Inception,” starring Leonardo Dicaprio RRWhy be here? “[Tampa Bay] has the right mix of culture and lifestyle.”

Why Troy is a big deal: For more than a decade now, Troy Dunn has built his advertising and branding agency Dunn&Co. into a globally known boutique shop renown for its excellent creative work and high-profile clients including the Tampa Bay Lightning, Monin Gourmet Flavorings, Valpak and First Watch Restaurants. The agency ranked No. 11 on the TBBJ’s latest List of local advertising agencies with 30 full-time staff.

NOLA LALEYE

Billy McCreary, left, and Troy Dunn on a studio shoot. channel. Every channel is important for the brand. They don’t have budget though to utilize for every single channel so it’s important to recognize who is the audience and what audience is going to react in a way that’s beneficial for us in the certain channel we speak to them on.

How is Tampa Bay’s advertising community maturing? As an advertising market, Tampa is still in its evolution and I hope Dunn&Co. is contributing to the greater fabric of the advertising industry here in Tampa. We encourage all the agencies we compete with, but are also are colleagues with, to do the absolute best work they can because it’s only going to help this market grow in such a way that the talent around the country wants to come to Tampa.

What digital channels do you work with? We’re exploring, of course, Facebook and Twitter and Snapchat and Vine. We want to recognize that they are all out there but every client is different. We’re launching a Puerto Rican moonshine in the United States in coming months. That is the kind of product that lends itself very well to using digital media broadly. But we’re also going to be launching financial services communications for a new client and the digital space isn’t going to be quite as effective for them.

What are clients demanding in the digital space? Digital is just one

You have a young daughter. What are you learning about her exposure

to TV? It’s difficult to know when too much TV is enough TV? I am more acutely aware of the subversive messaging in television of which I am helping craft on behalf of my clients – but I am more aware of it now then I ever was before. That’s because I am watching the television programming that my daughter is watching and I see all of these kids’ commercials in between all the Nickelodeon shows and I am thinking, wow, do I want her watching that? Any advice on hiring? On the creative side, my process deals with how good is your work? How good have you demonstrated that you know the craft and what is your thinking like? Also, is who you are going to fit into our culture? If it doesn’t, it’s not going to be good for us or for you. Always be yourself and be enthusiastic. Everyone likes an enthusiastic person. There’s no point in being nervous. Just go in and be yourself.

AUGUST 1, 2014

TOM FREDERICK

From kid entrepreneur to tech career Why Tom is a big deal: Tom Frederick has more than two decades of executive business leadership and sales expertise. A child entrepreneur, he experienced success at Harris 3M and was a regional vice president at Danka. In 1996, with a partner, he co-founded Zeno Office Solutions. It began with 18 employees, but grew to 360 with more than $65 million in revenue. Xerox acquired Zeno. His new company is Zymphony Technology Solutions. With technology always changing, how do you stay current? We have a staff of people who are always on the cutting edge, constantly going to conferences and educating themselves on what the future holds. As soon as they learn that, the future just changed. There is no way you can possibly predict what is going to happen. Look at what happened with the founder of Snapchat. He’s 23 years old with two dozen employees and he turned down $3 billion from Facebook for his company. What’s dominating the focus now at Zymphony? A big challenge the health care industry is facing immediately is the end-of-life of the Microsoft XP operating system. As of April 8, Microsoft will no longer provide updates, security patches or support for XP. For health care organizations that are still using Microsoft XP in their practice, they are in violation of HIPAA, which could result in huge fines. We are working with health care companies to develop an infrastructure refresh and upgrade strategy to ensure

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Tom said his weekends are consumed by his son Roman’s busy schedule. R CLOSER

they are in compliance. You made a giant deal selling Zeno to Xerox. What has been the impact of that personally? I have a company I used to call a sister company in Texas and it is going to allow me to focus a lot of my time and effort there and it will certainly keep me in the business. From a personal level, the deal gave me the ability to secure a future for my family and to stay in the game and try to do it all over again in Texas.

MEET LAURA

LOOK

RRTitle: Co-founder, Zymphony Technology Solutions RRGrew up: Cocoa Beach RREducation: University of Florida RRPlays him in the movie: Vin Diesel RRHiring mojo: “I size up people quickly and have a good gut feel.” RRTravel wish list: South America RRA time he used copier technology for fun: “I copied my son’s hands and made them huge.”

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Community Advisor

LAURA KRUEGER BROCK MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

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TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

MARIO R. GARCIA

No better age to tell stories R CLOSER

Why Mario is a big deal: Spend no more than a minute with Mario R. García and life is affirmed. Brilliant, down to earth and incredibly engaging, he has collaborated with nearly 600 publications around the globe over 40 years. Last year, our company, American City Business Journals, engaged García to help our digital news organization not only with design evolution, but an entire reinvention of our approach to telling stories across multiple digital platforms. In September he was named the Hearst Digital Media Professional-in-Residence for 2013–14 at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York. In 1977, at Syracuse University’s School of Graphic Arts, you replaced Edmund Arnold, widely known as the “father” of modern American newspaper design. It was not easy. For two years, I would do speeches and my name was not given. It would just be “the man who replaced Ed Arnold.” Talk about resiliency. I said, eventually, some day, I’ll be known for me and you just bite the bullet. Tell us about coming to the United States from Cuba during “Operation Pedro Pan.” There were 250,000 of us during a two-year window between 1961 and 1963, with daily flights full of kids with no parents. I had a mother give me her two kids, ages six and nine, to deliver to an aunt in Miami. I was 14. One became a cardiologist. I believe that was the best thing Castro did for the United States as we were all children. At that time, you were a sponge, so I was immediately immersed in junior high school and quickly got eight hours a day of English. There was no bilingual education. At what point did you know you weren’t going back to Cuba? When we left, I knew this was not just me going to see my aunt and uncle in Miami

LOOK

RRUnlikely source of creative inspiration: “A napkin sometimes inspires me” RRHis father: A great saxophone player RRFavorite dessert: Anything with coconut RRYet to achieve: “I think in the back of my mind, if Mark Twain was right and everything comes full circle, I would go back to acting.” RRNever visited, but wants to: Bali RREarliest memory: “Sitting at the piano at my grandmother’s house and starting to play.”

ALEXIS MUELLNER

Mario Garcia’s life experience has made him fiercely patriotic. but I expected to return. I remember by the 29th day in Miami, I cried. I was an only child and an actor in soap operas and suddenly I was a bus boy in a restaurant in Coconut Grove at Suzanne’s, which was around until the late ’60s. I had a white apron in the back of the restaurant looking at the Miami moon and I cried my eyes out. I knew I needed to mingle with Americans and learn English and fast. I went to Miami High and got a part time job. I kept tips in a jar. I mowed lawns for American ladies who loved to talk. By September, my English got up to speed. I got an internship at the Miami News and Knight-Ridder. My professor at [then] Miami Dade Junior College knew columnist Howard Kleinberg. He was her student. He was a design guy but not a designer and he had me crime reporting with top notch reporters in Little Haiti. We also did a “how to park at the Orange Bowl” on a double page sketch and we illustrated where to park. I learned functional design from him. I

RRKey honors: 2011 recipient of the University of Missouri School of Journalism‘s Medal of Honor for Distinguished Service in Journalism; Society of Newspaper Design’s first Lifetime Achievement Award RRThe essence of his work with the Business Journals: A process for adapting to a digital first philosophy in the presentation of content RRTwitter handle: @DRMarioRGarcia RRSubscribers to his “Marioblog”: 16,000+ RRFamily biz: His son, Mario Garcia Jr., runs the successful Garcia Interactive.

was bilingual, so I would cover the Miss Universe contest, and I could do a little French. I covered stories. That’s why, for me, everything begins with the story because at the heart, I am a journalist. I never studied one day of design in my life. You have worked with a lot of editors who just aren’t open to the wave of digital change in our industry – people who don’t believe it is news until they see it in print on paper. Change isn’t easy. It doesn’t come naturally. They are afraid to leap. We all have “teddy bears” we cling to. Once you let it go, it’s transformational. If you are a storyteller, these are the best times to tell a story.

AUGUST 1, 2014

JOY GENDUSA

The ‘heavy lifting’ of a 200-person company R CLOSER

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RRPosition: Founder and CEO, PostcardMania RRGrew up: Oceanside, Long Island RRHigh school: Dropped out, New York City High School of Art and Design as a senior. “I was just a rebel,” she said. RRPath here: To be near the Church of Scientology RRPercentage of PostcardMania staff that practice Scientology: Roughly 25 percent RRDowntime pursuits: Eating and dieting. “My husband and I love to eat. We go to Chicago, New York and San Francisco and try all the newest restaurants. It’s a fun, ridiculous hobby. It’s why we Crossfit.” RR2013 sales: $22 million

Why Joy is a big deal: PostcardMania started in 1998 with a computer, a phone and no capital. She has created a marketing enterprise that employs 200. The company’s value proposition is to help small businesses grow with effective marketing materials based on results of more than 60,000 campaigns. How’s business? We track everything. We can see now that we are maybe not closing as many companies as we did in the past, even though revenue is higher. That’s because we are able to incorporate other products and services. Small businesses want an integrated marketing approach and

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Joy Gendusa, founder and CEO of Postcard Mania, working out at CrossFit in Clearwater. there are very few places you can get all of that: pay per click management, direct mail, website development – at prices small businesses can afford. The president of your company resigned last July after 12 years? How big of a change was that? I promoted my COO to president but until I turned over all the divisions of the company to her, I had to jump back in after many years and manage people and do meetings that I haven’t had to do. It has

been amazing. I have had an incredible experience doing it. How do you keep up with technology? I am not going to invest in technology until the majority of small business owners demand it. It’s all about sales. We just purchased our first digital press. We didn’t need to do it. We could farm it out for a long time because it wasn’t prevalent in the mind of a small business owner and the price was too high compared to offset.

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

BILL GOEDE

Tellers are the window into the bank Why Bill is a big deal: Bill is the senior executive locally for Bank of America, the largest bank in the Tampa Bay area. He provides business, civic and philanthropic leadership. Bill says he is “really not a big deal;” what he considers big is the 25,000 volunteer hours bank employees gave back to Tampa Bay last year. He identifies strongly with the rank-and-file in part because he started as a part-time teller at predecessor National Bank of North Carolina in Longboat Key. What do you say to tellers who want your job? I tell them the teller’s position is the hardest job in the bank, but for 90 percent of the customers, that’s their first contact with Bank of America and it’s the person they see most often. What I tell them is learn how to interact with people, because you are the window into the bank in many cases. That interaction with customers is incredibly important. Learn how to talk about the bank with those customers. That’s incredibly valuable. Did you want to be a banker when you were growing up? I actually was going to be an engineer, but I enjoyed being out talking to people and the financial side. I switched majors, but I had no idea I’d end up in banking. What’s your approach when you encounter unhappy customers? It’s usually a situation that’s been elevated up to me. I’ll start off with I’m sorry that you had a problem and then

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Bill Goede try to figure out what happened. It’s usually something pretty simple but by the time it’s gotten to me, they may have talked to a few people, so I let them know I’ll take care of the situation. People want to know that their concern has been heard and that you understand why they may be upset or frustrated and what are you going to do to fix it. Oftentimes, if you fix the problem to their satisfaction, they usually become very loyal. If you weren’t in banking, what would you be doing? I always had a dream of being a history teacher. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Gettysburg and Antietam. You read about, you see movies, but actually going in person, it’s pretty amazing. The Civil War and early American

MEET PAUL

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RRTitle and company: Tampa Bay market president, Bank of America RRNature of business: Banking RRYears with the company: 25 RREducation: University of Florida, marketing RRHometown: Sarasota/Bradenton RRLife lesson learned: Even a little preparation in advance can go a long way. RRGuilty pleasure: Two years ago I bought a F-150, not the typical banker vehicle, but I love driving it around.

history would be the piece I’ve always found fascinating. I think it would be great to be a history teacher and convey that passion on to the youth today.

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The Professor

PAUL C. DUNHAM

TAX MANAGING DIRECTOR

727.572.1400

www.cbiz.com/cbizmhm-tampabay

AUGUST 1, 2014

JOHN HAGEN

Promoting Pasco for innovation, small biz R CLOSER

Why John is a big deal: Hagen, a seasoned economic development professional, runs a county investment promotion organization that has $1.1 million projected revenue for FY 2013 and six employees. Affable and innovative, Hagen’s approach to economic development is targeting entrepreneurs as opposed to industries. He has also made his own organization nimble, tech and social media savvy. How have you built your team at PEDC? I inherited a really good staff. We’ve been able to add a few more people. I’m really terrible about hiring people. I’ve hired some people and said, wow, why did I do that? So I have learned to have other people help me and assist, and as a result I have gotten much better people and people who aren’t like me or other people on the staff. We try to group interview everyone and we pull people in who bring something that’s totally different. I’m a great believer in diversity. That’s working for us now. We have very different people trying to work together and it’s very dynamic. What is the most impressive thing you have seen one of your employees do in the past year? Launch a new website and win a state marketing award for it. How do you motivate or inspire people? Random acts of praise Where are you applying innovation to your organization? We have started an incubator as a logical outcome of what

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RRTitle and company: President/CEO, Pasco Economic Development Council RREducation: Bachelors, University of Michigan; Masters, University of Chicago; Masters of Public Administration, Western Michigan University RR“Go to” social media site and why: YouTube: “You can learn how to do anything in less than 10 minutes.” RRWho plays you in the movie? Johnny Depp (young Elvis); Jack Nicholson (old Elvis) RRWhat’s your guilty pleasure? Boiled peanuts (Cajun-style) ALEXIS MUELLNER

John Hagen we are doing with small business and entrepreneurship. Where we are trying to target entrepreneurs, the thinking is, “you find the great ideas” and we’ll help you. The business incubator is a logical extension of this. We have started an incubator in Dade City. We’re out looking for clients right now. The location, because it’s in a small community, has its challenges but we have a super space. We have a small office space but we have the ability to grow that out to several hundred thousand square feet if that were ever possible. We’re working on it. We have plans to do one in West Pasco. We went to the New Port Richey city council and one of our recommendations was “let’s get going on this incubator.” So I think you’ll see that come forward.

MEET DAVE

RRFavorite music genre and one artist you love: Rock ‘n’ roll, John Mellencamp RRHot button: People with strong opinions who don’t know what they’re talking about.

What was the biggest change in your life? My father’s untimely death at age 59 What’s a fun fact about you people might be surprised to learn? I once made a pair of pants for myself. What failure in your life did you learn from the most? There have been so many, it’s hard to pick just one. Starting a 180-acre office and industrial park with $38,000 taught me a lot. Although it never actually “failed,” it would have – several times – if someone hadn’t always come along and bailed us out.

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Transaction Advisor

DAVE ENICK

MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

727.572.1400

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TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

TOM HAINES

Epicurean GM ‘recruited himself’ for opportunity Why Tom is a big deal: Haines is the man for a big moment in Tampa Bay hospitality history. As GM of the Epicurean Hotel, Haines will be charged with making every operational aspect of the property a grand success. He has more than three decades in the industry and has a laser focus on cutting edge service design. This hotel will utilize technology to change the user experience. Tell us more. In this hotel there will not be a front desk agent. There will not be a bellman. There will not be a concierge. You’ll never stand in line. You’ll be met at your car door by the Epicurean Host using a mobile tablet and will be able to check you in wherever you are comfortable. It might be in the lobby. It might be at the pool and it might be at your guest room, using technology to enhance service and to change the whole hotel experience. For me, the hotel experience of dealing with three or four people before you ever get to your room and not having the opportunity to get to know anybody. I never understood that from a hotel standpoint. What do you draw upon most here from your Loews Orlando experience? At Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, our job was to transport people and make them believe they just arrived at a seaside village in Italy. That comes through in a sincerity and style of service. It’s important for it not to feel made up or corny. We have this same opportunity with this culinary experience. I think one of my challenges is this could be the really cool boutique hotel associated with the world famous Bern’s Steak House or this can become a traveling foodie’s destination and a place where people are coming from all over the country to have that culinary experience, participate in the Culinary Theater and be directly across from

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Tom Haines Bern’s, the accommodations for the senses that are really going to make this an experiential property. What is your perspective on being a part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection? The association and collaboration with Marriott through the Autograph Collection is powerful. We get to use their horsepower through the reservations system, sales processes and purchasing programs. Past that, it’s up to us as a hotel to define who we are and define our brand. The whole point of the Autograph Collection is to be exactly like nothing else. Marriott was careful to explain that we are on our own when it comes to deciding who we are. You literally grew up in a kitchen. You went from dishwasher to being a waiter at 16, and tended bar at 18. What did that do for you going into college? I had a huge amount of practical experience before attending CIA. I knew that the kitchen was a great place to get skills and understand the business but I was always drawn to the front of the house and being with guests and people. When you hire, how quickly do you

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RRTitle: General Manager, Epicurean Hotel, Tampa RRHow he got the job: He recruited himself. Saw a blurb and sought it. RRMost recently: Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Orlando, executive assistant manager RRBiggest takeaway from Loews: Storytelling RREducation: Culinary Institute of America, AOS degree in culinary arts and related services RRA dish he’d prepare at home: Patio-grown fresh basil infused in an olive oil and smashed garlic sauce, tossed with yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, shallots with fresh shrimp over penne pasta. RRFirst real job: His dad was a chef/ owner, and at age 12, he cleaned restrooms.

know if it’s a fit? Five minutes. I don’t focus on experience or their training. I focus on their attitude and personality. If I have enjoyed the conversation and they have engaged me, then I know they can engage our guests. From there, my favorite thing to do is discover undeveloped talent.

AUGUST 1, 2014

CEDAR HAMES

Working in Paradise means excelling at digital R CLOSER

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RRTitle: President, Paradise Advertising, Digital and Entertainment RRParadise’s value proposition: Compelling content for clients across all mediums and platforms. It provides “insightful strategies and innovative work” that changes consumer behavior and gets results. RROn his firm, founded in 2002: “A new kind of transmedia storytelling company for the digital age.” RRCivic involvement: Pinellas Art Council, Tampa Bay Advertising Federation RRFor fun: Kayaking RREarly newspaper job: Copy boy at St. Petersburg Times RREducation: Bachelor’s degree, Florida State University

Why Cedar is a big deal: Paradise Advertising, Digital and Entertainment has the nimble quality of a boutique firm but every year wins copious awards in competition with national agencies. With a career that began in newspapers, Hames is known as a local advertising visionary. Now, Paradise is working with national game designers to produce responsive websites for clients the agency calls “groundbreaking.” You have been able to chart new territory when it comes to digital content. Can you explain the process? You can take traditional approaches and add in digital components and website development and video content which is

NOLA LALEYE

Cedar Hames at Paradise

the way the world is going and that’s just a huge part of it. Use creativity to make up for the lack of budget.

powerful marketing tool – creative in every aspect – but a success not just on the creative side of it.

Can you tell me about your culture at Paradise? We have this group of people that can’t wait to get to work. In fact, I have to run them out of the office in the evening because they want to linger and continue to work, and I do believe you need balance. It’s very satisfying to them and me to see them take an idea from scratch and grow it to a truly

How do you label your scope of services? You have to be a full-service marketing firm. You have to provide the digital and the traditional media and be able to do print ads and television commercials and long-format videos and public relations and the whole spectrum. You have to be able to provide that or you will be left in the dust.

MEET BRUCE

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The “Greens in Regulation” Guy

BRUCE H. MURPHY

LEAD MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

727.572.1400

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TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

JAMIE HARDEN

Creative Sign CEO adds clients, staff Why Jamie is a big deal: Harden has helped grow and diversify the 26-year-old Creative Sign Designs, a custom business sign manufacturer and sign installation company. It employs 90, up 20 to 25 people this year. He’s active in the community, including the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year awards committee, the finance committee at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts and the Visit Tampa Bay board. A banker by trade, he spent 15 years at Bank of America, which moved him around a lot. In CSD, his partner is Tampa entrepreneur and auto industry leader Larry Morgan, who was originally a client. What can a sign company tell us about the economy? The original company was 100 percent tied to residential real estate, meaning new home starts and development of land. It damn near went bankrupt. Now that market is coming back and you start to see it when developers are buying street signs. Lot sales have picked up and homebuilders are starting to do more. Why did you leave the banking world? I wanted to do this. My goal was to run a really strong business as opposed to working for someone. I felt like I could help people. There is a great atmosphere in this company. We are very open and transparent and to me, that’s a very important thing to have. It’s been a huge adjustment from a white-collar workforce. Those on our team work so hard in fabrication and installation and it’s very rewarding to hire folks like that. We are probably helping these families. I feel really good about adding employees – adding to our team and doing our part to get things moving again. We have a heck of a team. I enjoy doing things in the community. It is ingrained in you in the banking community and I am way

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Jamie Harden, Creative Sign Designs overcommitted. If I can help in some of these organizations, that’s great. The bigger thing is to build a great community. How did you get started in your current career? I went to college but wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in and took calculus and decided I wasn’t going to be an engineer. So I started looking at colleges of business and thought about hotels and restaurants. My dad gave me great advice. I needed a job so he asked me to try out working in a hotel to get a different perspective. I then got a summer job at a bank and enjoyed it. I changed my major to finance. The great thing about banking is it teaches you to read financial statements and understand businesses. Being a business major, that was the

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RRTitle and company: Creative Sign Designs, president and CEO RRYears with the company: Eight RR2012 revenue: $11 million RR2013 revenue: $13.5 million to $14 million RREducation: Florida State University RRA musical artist he loves: The Who RRWho plays you him in the movie? Clint Eastwood RRFirst movie: “Goldfinger” RRHot button: “I don’t have a lot of patience and I don’t like procrastination or indecision.”

best training I could get. I could relate to these businesses [clients] so well because I talked to so many companies and industries.

AUGUST 1, 2014

JOHN HARDING

Communicating vision, one person at a time Why John is a big deal: Florida Hospital is one of the country’s largest not-for-profit health care providers with 22 campuses serving communities throughout Florida. The Tampa Bay network includes seven locations. How are you differentiating yourselves from the competition? It’s going to be uniquely about who we are, the service levels we provide, the quality that we provide, the types of services we’re able to operate. We’re a large health care system; we’re the largest Protestant health care system in the country. We have 22 hospitals in Florida that run up and down the I-4 corridor so we will leverage all of those relationships, both academic and relationships with other providers in the community as we continue to work on that journey of quality, efficiencies, and customer service and satisfaction. How do you lead? I like to paint a vision of what the organization can become and inspire my team to catch the vision of what we can achieve together – only then, can real change start to happen. While general communication of vision can be done in a team setting, I like to create inspiration one person at a time. Given your experiences in Iran, what’s your take on current events there? We are a republic and a democratic society. Various views that we have here in America are tolerated. Various views over there under a theocracy are not tolerated. It really saddens me because back in the ’60s under the

KATHLEEN CABBLE

John Harding, Florida Hospital Shah, the country was actually moving forward and becoming somewhat more westernized and a little more affluent. Today, they have taken a lot of steps backward. We in America are going to have to understand their thought process is very different than ours. We’ve got to find a way to engage them, particularly on the nuclear issues that could have a global impact. Are doctors becoming more “emotionally intelligent”? Physicians work very hard, very long hours. We try to meet the emotional needs of our physicians because they are the caregivers and no one is looking out for them. On emotional intelligence, I think our older physicians struggle with that more – ‘I am the doctor, this is the way it is.’ I think you are seeing more of the younger doctors are a little more in tune with more personalized

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RRTitle: President and CEO, Florida Hospital Tampa RRYears with Adventist Health System: 25.5 RREducation: MBA in management and finance, Avila University, Kansas City, Mo. RRBest business idea? Converting Florida Hospital Wauchula into a critical access hospital in 1998 RRSurprise skill: “I can still speak some Farsi after all these years.” RRUnusual hobby: Restoring 8-track players and tapes

medicine in how they deal with the patient, trying to meet many of the needs, not just the physical but also the emotional side. It’s probably going to take a generation to get there.

Mercedes-Benz is celebrating 125 years of innovation and excellence.

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

CHARLES HENRI “HANK” HINE

Leading the Dalí affirms anything is possible Why Hank is a big deal: County research shows The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg drives more than $100 million of business into the Tampa Bay area every year. It has one of the world’s largest collections of the renowned surrealist visionary artist, including seven of his masterworks. Hine has led the museum for nearly 12 years, and helped guide the institution into its new home on the waterfront. It has a strong connection to the business community, in part because Dalí himself was connected to the commercial world. Its program “The Edge” offers corporate training based on creative problem solving, management research on innovation and the concept of applied art. Your dad had a clinical lab. What did he teach you about business and career? He taught me that you don’t have to be just this or just that. This museum is a little like the medical lab he had. I think he had 80 employees, just like the Dalí, and it ate up everyone who is involved with its life in the way it becomes a passion. I remember all the familial energy of this lab, painting the walls on an Easter Sunday. I was conscripted to work there and then I started thinking I knew a few things. I knew we had 80 people and we did a certain number in sales, and I thought I had a lot of business savvy. He said I was wrong and that we made a profit and 80 people can feed their families. How is the experience at the museum evolving? The art has always been at the center and the stories the docents tell

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Hank Hine about Dalí are central to the experience but in fact people like to shop and like to have some good Spanish food and go to a garden and hang a wish on a wish tree and walk through the labyrinth and all these things are connected and it’s not just a place to show one artist’s work. How are you measuring success? We have some very fundamental metrics. For us, the number of visitors that come is our ultimate index. But we’re also keenly monitoring how people feel about the experience so we are intersecting with them at various places in their experience. We instituted ‘text the director’ where I have a cell number that they can text their thoughts and concerns, and that has been really helpful. Do you have a creative side? I do a little

MEET STEVE

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RRTitle: Executive director of The Salvador Dalí Museum RREducation: Stanford University; Ph.D: Brown University RRCost to go to Stanford in 1968: $640 per quarter RRHometown: Berkeley Hills, Calif., where there were “great Fourth of July parades, lawn chair brigades and a mayor with a top hat” RRFirst real job: The Young Man of Montclair clothing store

writing and make videos that are short, ironic and fun. Writers don’t really have a way of scoring their writing and music is this durational medium. So I use words on a screen. Dalí is such a great affirmation that you can do everything.

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More than a Numbers Guy

STEVEN W. GROVE

TAX MANAGING DIRECTOR

727.572.1400

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AUGUST 1, 2014

DANNY JACKSON

Coaching means finding quality people to lead

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Danny Jackson, center, coaching Lutz Little League. Why Danny is a big deal: He is the local leader of Cherry Bekaert’s Tampa Bay practice, which ranks No. 9 on the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s List of accounting firms ranked by local professionals. A varsity football athlete in college at Wake Forrest, Jackson is active in numerous community activities and boards, including the Association for Corporate Growth, CEO Council of Tampa Bay, Lutz Little League and Leadership Tampa Bay. Usually, people leave big firms and start their own and finish their careers. You took a different track? I left Grant Thornton and we opened up our own firm, which for most people would be the pinnacle. We offered traditional audit services and consulting projects and we grew rapidly. Over the period of two to three years, we had great growth and it was a blast.

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RRTitle: Managing principal, Cherry Bekaert LLP, Tampa RRWay back machine: Management and leadership roles at Grant Thornton, Nortel, Wallace Computer Services RRStartup experience: Barley McNamara Wild Martin Jackson was founded in September 2008 and grew from startup to more than $1 million in revenue RRGrew up: Greenville, S.C. RRFavorite baseball teams: Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays

So why return to a firm like Cherry? The problem, we realized very quickly, was resources. We had more than 80 accounts. For me, the more I could sell and service those clients

Infiniti is celebrating 125 years of innovation and excellence.

and not have to say no was a good thing. So we had offers from people to acquire us. We realized fairly quickly that my partner loved what he was doing and the clients were there and he could serve them. For me, I wanted more resources and Cherry Bekaert was a great fit and offered that ownership model and for me being the leader, that I had a substantial amount of resources I could bring in to our clients. What have you learned about being a leader in your new role? Retaining quality people and giving them opportunities so they want to come back, and potentially telling their friends that this is a great place to be. They are your clients as much as the external client. The external client is still the king and the client service model there has to be perfect.

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

KUNAL JAIN

Turning creativity into action Why Kunal is a big deal: Kunal Jain built a successful medical billing and revenue cycle management company, PracticeForces. Also, he has been a catalyst in establishing a local chapter of TiE in Tampa Bay, which seeks to develop a startup support community by identifying, investing in and mentoring new businesses. There is a lot of upheaval for physicians these days. What does that mean for PracticeForces? The biggest opportunity I see is where there has been growth of a physicians group from five physicians to 20 physicians and they are struggling to keep their revenue cycle management intact. We have expertise in the business side of practice management and in the service side as well. Our business model is focused now on how we can enhance or increase revenue for medical groups, medical practices and solo physicians. We’re working with them to see how we can keep increasing their profits and margins and find opportunity within their existing model such as alternative streams of revenue. Many sole physicians are going to work with bigger groups or hospitals. But it isn’t necessarily because their revenue is down, correct? From last year, some of the practices we have seen, the revenue has increased from managed care for some of the codes. It’s the unknown fear within the physician’s community that’s at issue. They don’t see what will happen six months down the line. Because of that fear, they are deciding to go work with a bigger group. You like to read about creativity. That’s not something I would have guessed. Why? I like to read business books around creativity, that’s my passion. Creativity is about saying, don’t just dream, take action. Do something. It’s not like you just think creativity and

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Kunal Jain creativity is done. For me, if you think, you do it. Sometimes, people who work with me say hey, you are always in a rush. I know I am always in a rush but sometimes you come up with great ideas and if you don’t implement them, they have no value. If you read some book, at least pick a few things and take action. Execute it in your lifestyle and business. For TiE events, I always want to make sure that when they come to our events, they pick up a few good tips to implement. Who is the most influential person in your life? My dad has been the most influential person in my life. He always worked hard in his life and gave to the community through his social efforts. He was never paid well or made enough money but he was still popular amongst the community for his selfless work.

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RRTitle and company: CEO, PracticeForces; President, TiE Tampa RRIf he wasn’t doing that: He’d be a politician in India. RRYears in Tampa Bay: 11 RRHometown: Jaipur, India RRFirst real job? Selling Sony TVs in remote villages in India RRBiggest life change: Understanding American culture and adopting some of the best professional and ethical practices in business and personally RRMessage to the world: Innovate, share and scale up

Who are your business heroes? I recently heard Bharat Desai and Manoj Bhargava. They are very inspiring figures. Bharat Desai lives in Florida but created Syntel, one of the largest outsourcing companies in the world.

AUGUST 1, 2014

SHEILA JOHNSON

Teaching up & comers how to play the game of life Why Sheila is a big deal. She did not get formal business training but has become one of the most successful businesswomen/entrepreneurs in the nation. The co-founder of the BET Network in 1979 (sold to Viacom for $3 billion in 2002), she is executing a plan to create an unparalleled resort company under the Salamander Hotels and Resorts brand, is an owner in the NBA, WNBA and NHL, and serves on boards and philanthropic organizations on causes from the arts to the underprivileged. She is active in aviation services and financing films. Last August, she and her company transformed a 340-acre, horse-country estate in Middleburg,Va., into the Salamander Resort & Spa. What top of the line advice for businesswomen do you have to share in a broader context? I think it’s very important that women be extra careful in business. They need to go into it with their eyes wide open, and they have to understand that society and even men in business do not take us seriously. You have to make sure that you’re going to be the best that you can be and make sure that you bring people into your environment that really share your vision, and want to really be there to help you. What has been most satisfying, and where have there been challenges? I think as a businesswoman, I don’t plan things. I let things happen and if I feel as though they are right, then I make a move. When I came and saw this property down here in the Tampa Bay

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RRWho: CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, vice chairman of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, president and managing partner of the WNBA Washington Mystics RREarliest musical memory: Playing “The boy in perpetual motion” on her violin on the stage in the 8th grade and getting a standing ovation RRRecent violin performance: “StarSpangled Banner” at a Washington Mystics (WNBA) home game RRSomething she does with her kids: Watches her daughter’s equestrian competition, standing up every time she takes a horse over a jump RRGuilty pleasure: Dark chocolate JANET HITCHEN

RRUnconfirmed net worth: $400 million+

Sheila Johnson area, something moved me when I came through the gates of Innisbrook. More than anything there’s warmth about the facility and its employees. I have never seen a more dedicated group of employees that really and truly love this place. I knew that we could make this work. And I think former owners never could feel that. They didn’t have the instinct to say ‘this place is a winner.’ It’s impressive and has clearly led to other growth. It’s working out because many eyeballs and businesspeople out there saw the turnaround success of Innisbrook, which then put us on the map as far as other developers and other resort owners or saying ‘well if she can do that, why don’t we introduce her to

MEET BETTY

RROn her DVR: “House of Cards”

another property and another property.’ Sure enough we were able to create the grand golf resorts of Florida. We have Reunion Wyndham Grand Golf Resort in Orlando, then we have Hammock Beach resort near St. Augustine, and we’re doing the same thing there. We have really been able to reposition those two properties into a success. Our golf rounds are up. You see across the country golf rounds are really down. We’ve been able to literally think out of the box. Our members are able to play all three of our properties, and what people need to understand and realize, even though these are private clubs, we’re open to the public.

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Managing Director/ Shareholder

BETTY ISLER

TAX MANAGING DIRECTOR

727.446.3058

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GREG KEHOE

Trial resume includes war criminals and genocide

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Greg Kehoe with items collected from around the world, including a drum from the Welsh Guard and his boots and helmet while serving in the Middle East. Why Greg is a big deal: With 30 years of trial experience, his law career has been focused on financial institutions, corporate fraud and racketeering. He spent 20 years as a federal prosecutor and his “significant representations” include some of history’s most notorious war criminals. He’s a globally renowned litigator with expertise in Africa, Asia and Europe. He led the team of lawyers and investigators that advised the Iraqi Special Tribunal, an ad hoc court formed to prosecute Saddam Hussein and members of his former regime. Given constant change, how do you prepare to work internationally? There are always surprises any time you move into another arena or area. You have to spend a significant amount of time in doing the most valuable thing we can bring to the equation and that is to listen to these people and try to

understand their perspective, be it the little villages in Kurdistan or people in small villages in Croatia or in East Africa or the Rift Valley [Province]. How have you managed to have such an astounding career? I’ve had the luxury of working a lot of different cases. I was working espionage cases in West Germany in the late ’80s and early ’90s. I did hostage crisis work for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It has just been a sequence of things. I don’t know how I plan that out. What are your earliest New York memories? Walking into Yankee Stadium and it being the greenest place I’ve ever seen. I remember it like it was yesterday. There’s also the second week in October 1960 when Bill Mazeroski hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth and beat the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series. It was a

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RRTitle: Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, Tampa RRFirst job: Paperboy for the Long Island Press; Brooklyn Eagle RRDowntime: Avid reader, works out, loves baseball. “When in doubt, you’d find me at Tropicana Field.” RRProsecution targets as assistant U.S. Attorney in the ’80s: Outlaws motorcycle gang and drug rings RRBosnia resume includes: A conviction of Bosnian Croat Gen. Tihomir Blaskic, charged with war crimes, including the massacre of Muslim women and children

traumatic event. Would you be interested in being U.S. Attorney? I’m happy with what I am doing now, but heaven knows where things will lead.

AUGUST 1, 2014

PETE KIRTLAND

Growing ASPire a ‘true entrepreneurial venture’ Why Pete is a big deal: ASPire Financial Services was designed on a tablecloth. Founded in 2002 as a 401(k)-application service provider, the firm uses open architecture software (designed to make adding, upgrading and swapping components simple) to provide clients with high value, flexible investment tools. ASPire has grown to more than 180 people in Tampa, an office in Denver, $14 billion in plan assets and more than 300,000 participants. Your “flat dollar fee model” has fueled a lot of growth. Can you simplify that? In the 401(k) or defined contributions space, it’s very common to charge participants based on their account balance. So if you have a $500,000 balance, you pay 10 times as much as someone with $50,000 even though you are getting the exact same service, both of you. So we said why not charge everybody the same fee because everybody is getting the same service? So that model has really resonated out in the industry with financial intermediaries. In 2003, we landed our first big client, it was about 350 401(k) plans. We had moved out of my son’s bedroom at that point and got into our first office, like 350 square feet. Then in 2007, we moved to the Cypress Center, about 5,300 square feet and then we knocked out a wall in 2009 and got into the 403(b) business, which is sort of like a 401(k) for teachers and higher education universities. Growing pains? Growth is a doubleedged sword. It’s a wonderful thing but it just about killed us that year. We

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Kirtland’s pets include Akita (Saki), Golden Retriever puppy (Charlie), an 8-pound Bichon Frise and a cat named Dizzy. were working from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. But it was wonderful because it was a launching pad. I compare it to the episode of “I Love Lucy” when she’s in the chocolate factory and the Hershey’s Kisses are coming at her at 100 milesper-hour and that’s what it feels like. As a Penn State University alum, was watching the controversy last year surrounding Joe Paterno and the football team a huge challenge? It was a very emotional time. It was tough to see him go through what he went through because to this day, I think he got railroaded. I think the truth will come out. I think ESPN was a villain in all this. I don’t think people took the time to get the facts. It was a rush to judgment and I think he was an easy target. People will find that Joe did all

MEET DAN

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RRTitle: President and CEO, co-founder at ASPire Financial Services LLC RRPlays him in the movie: Alex Trebek RRFavorite dessert: Peanut butter swirl ice cream at the Penn State Creamery in State College, Pa. RRFavorite movies: “Caddyshack,” “Animal House,” National Lampoon’s “Vacation” series RRLocal partners: Bank of Tampa, Hill Ward Henderson

that he could do, and if you think about it, you try and reconcile how could someone who did everything right for 65 years turn a blind eye to something that egregious and horrible. It just makes absolutely no sense.

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Dealmaker

DANIEL J. JOHNSON MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

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JACK KOLOSKY

Finding inspiration daily, soaring high

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Jack Kolosky, EVP/COO at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, inside his Cirrus SR 22 plane he pilots for business trips and pleasure. Why Jack is a big deal: As a key executive at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute for more than 14 years, Jack has played a major role in the operation and direction of the renowned facility. It ranks No. 2 statewide based on the number of analytic (newly diagnosed) cases. What’s most gratifying about your job? When I see the people who come to us for cancer, which for many people’s perspective that means a death sentence to them. They have heard the word that the doctor said ‘cancer’ and they blank out everything else. It’s not the end. That’s the part where I see inspiration every day. Moffitt has tremendous outcomes, partly because we have the expertise and we see the most difficult patients. We don’t have the cure for cancer, yet. The things

we’re able to do in a team-like fashion really improve people’s lives. Are funding challenges having an impact? Moffitt has been the state’s cancer institute since it was founded 27 years ago. We expect to continue to be that. We also look at other sources of revenue, like philanthropy, and are involved in a comprehensive campaign. Who have been your most important mentors? I’ve had a lot of mentors, including my dad. I remember going to his retirement party and you never quite appreciate what your dad did until people got up and started to testify about how he helped them or how he was just always there for them. That always struck me. He was there to work for them, not the other way around, and he did a great job at that. That is

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RRTitle and company: EVP/COO at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and hospital president RRGrew up: South side of Chicago RRFirst paid job: Caddy. “It was a cash gig.” RRSomething he’s dishonest with himself about: “No matter how much I work out, I know I need to eat better.” RRFavorite music genres: “It’s very eclectic. The last few summers we’ve gone to the Bonnaroo music festival and had a great time.” RRHot button: People who aren’t genuine RRWhere he is on a Saturday: Flying

sort of servant leadership. You are my boss, not “I am the boss.”

AUGUST 1, 2014

CARMINE LACOGNATA

On getting involved, influencing positive change Why Carmine is a big deal: Financial services are hotly competitive in Tampa Bay and the AXA Advisors office he runs in Tampa finished No. 1 in the country out of 45 regions or metro markets in gross revenues and two other key metrics including estate planning. AXA has about 150 advisors throughout central Florida, and here there are 65 to 70 advisors. He and his wife chaired the Cattle Baron’s ball, a benefit for the American Cancer Society. What has been the secret sauce of your success? I like to think I have a somewhat competitive edge over my peers around the country because it is a relationship business. We have won quite a few national recognitions within the AXA performance metrics as well as within the industry. I credit that to our advisors. The ones that really drive an organization are the folks out there every day on the front line. R CLOSER

DREW FRITZ

Carmine Lacognata

LOOK

RRExecutive vice president, AXA Advisors, Central Florida RROversees: Three metro markets in central Florida: Orlando, Tampa and Sarasota RRYears at AXA: 25 RRA meal he cooks well: Eggplant parmesan — “It’s all how you egg and bread the eggplant and layer the cheese.” RRPlace he wants to travel: Sicily RRHot button: Someone who doesn’t use the abilities they have

What differentiates your services? Our advisors help clients through good times and bad times. That’s what we do. When you talk about advice, it’s not just when things are going well. Businesses have tragedies. Families have tragedies and we’re really there to assist in that process. You have had a big community focus. Where did that come from? I’ve been very fortunate early on in my life to have many mentors. It became very evident to me as I started to have

MEET MIKE

some accomplishments professionally that it was important to be involved in the community. So I sought out people I could look toward for that guidance. I got very involved in my early 30s with the Girls and Boys Clubs initially. As your business life grows it brings you into other avenues and one of my biggest passions – having lost a parent to cancer – is my involvement with the American Cancer Society, specifically here in the Tampa area with the Cattle Baron’s ball.

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Mets Fan

MICHAEL D. KINDT

TAX MANAGING DIRECTOR

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PATRICIA LAWMAN

Cells a renewable resource cancer therapies

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Patricia Lawman Why Pat is a big deal: Morphogenesis is a cell therapy company that has developed three different technology platforms. The company has an immuno-therapeutic cancer vaccine called ImmuneFx , now in use with veterinary medicine in treating 23 different types of cancer and currently available to veterinary oncologists nationally. In a private placement, the company is working to raise $2 million to move its platforms to humans. As a young person, did you see this path? As a geeky tomboy, I was focused on climbing trees and playing football. I didn’t have a vision for the future. The defining moment in my life was when my husband, the co-founder of Morphogenesis, and I were at the Walt Disney Memorial Cancer Institute and were given an amazing opportunity to study whatev-

er we wanted, and this was an area then that nobody had really done anything with. It was the nurturing environment that was the defining factor. What’s your hot button? The inordinate amount of time we spend dealing with regulatory compliance issues that takes us away from our main focus. Many are skeptical of having scientists run companies. How do you deal? There are good reasons for that. You do have to find new muscles. In a small company, you do what has to be done, especially when you are working to conserve your shareholders’ funding and make the most of every dollar. Everyone on our team wears multiple hats. Do you read for fun? I used to read all the time but don’t have time to lately.

I’d rather sit by the river and vegetate. Cooking a meal is fun and an adventure. We are vegetarian. When we go out, we get Indian or Vietnamese, which are vegetarian-friendly. R CLOSER

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RRCEO, Morphogenesis Inc. RRGrew up: Chipley, Fla. RROn Florida: “There’s no other place to live.” RREmployees: Nine full-time, with resident interns RRAnticipated employees in a year: “We would be happy with a dozen.” RRPets: Siberian Forest cats RRWork/life balance: “I’m almost always working. When we do go home, it’s no work. Sitting, playing with kitties.”

AUGUST 1, 2014

MARIANO LEGAZ

Legaz digs running solo, but loves being a part of a team Why Mariano is a big deal: Legaz leads one of Verizon Wireless’s biggest and most populous regions, with more than 80 company-owned retail stores, numerous corporate offices, a customer-service call center in Tampa, more than 2,500 employees and network infrastructure located across Florida. How do you apply your Latin America experience as you develop marketing strategies? There are many educated people that have been here that have decided to prosper in this country. They tend to be more mainstream than people think. So even though there is a large immigrant and Latino community in Florida, for the most part, they are much more mainstream. You have to adapt your offerings to care for some of the intrinsic differences we may have. Florida’s markets are so diverse. How does the company manage that? The region is divided into 10 districts so we have a very good local focus and a feel for what the local market really needs. You have a hobby of running marathons? The one I remember the most took me the longest. I got dehydrated at mile 21 and I went and got some sleep for three hours and then went back and finished. It took me nine hours. You have a reputation of being able to really connect with people and

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Mariano Legaz, Florida manager, Verizon Wireless, volunteering with Verizon co-workers at Metropolitan Ministries, sorting toys at the Christmas tent. getting out there. Being in the field has at least two main advantages. One is to be aware of what’s really going on, what our people are going through and what our customers are experiencing. Second is to make sure our team has a way to express and get their voices heard. Sometimes, it’s easier for us to think, well, they can call or send emails but it’s not that same. So it’s my way of making sure I hear from the team. At the same time, I don’t see myself as any special person. I am just one more member of the team.

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RRTitle: Florida region president, Verizon Wireless RRBefore this job: Verizon’s senior vice president-supply chain, where he managed 1,700 employees and 500 contractors RRGrew up: Argentina RRYears with the company: 18 RRHobby: Running RRVerizon Wireless retail customers nationally: 98.9 million RRVerizon Wireless employees nationally: 73,000

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WENDY LIBBY

Focus for ‘one’ Stetson: Evolving campus strengths Why Wendy is a big deal: Wendy Libby has built an impressive career as a national leader in higher education, and has been president at Stetson University since 2009. Stetson, a $140 million business with 4,000 students, is a private, independent, liberal arts university. Its College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business Administration and School of Music are at the school’s DeLand campus, and the College of Law is in Gulfport/ St. Petersburg. The university also has two satellite centers: the Tampa Law Center and the Stetson University Center at Celebration. Known for her fiscal savvy and turnaround skills, Libby has fostered a transformation in academics and athletics at Stetson. It now has a women’s lacrosse team and reinstated a football program. You are working hard to integrate Stetson’s curriculum, take your law programs east and business programs west. Can you talk about that? If you look at some of the new leadership we’ve hired, they were brought in specifically because they have an interdisciplinary way of looking at things so they can teach in more than one place. But we also understand that the future is in helping students to think and solve complex problems. These may be society problems, business problems, music problems such as the development of new music technology, or political problems. As we think about our next five years, we think about how we put in place the course work, most of which will be

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RRTitle: President, Stetson University RRGrew up: Brooklyn RRPets: Two Labrador retrievers RRDowntime: “What downtime? If you want to do this job well, it’s a 24/7 job you wedge sleep into.” RREducation: Bachelor’s in biology; master’s in finance, Cornell University; doctorate in educational administration, University of Connecticut RRStetson undergraduate population now, and when she took over: 2,500; 2,100

COURTESY OF STETSON

Wendy Libby

RRGoals: Articulate distinctiveness, “find the best students for the university, lead with academic excellence, keep lifelong relationships with alumni, take care of assets, and make the university a great place to work.”

interdisciplinary, as well as the support services and internships and career opportunities that help our students tackle tough problems. Nobody really thinks anymore in the silo of individual academic departmental development. In order to solve problems, we have to think more broadly. It’s tremendous fun unlocking the potential for it.

and business programs and our teacher education programs – and those are not pure liberal arts.

Stetson is not a pure liberal arts university. Tell us what you mean by that? We are in the liberal arts tradition, which means we have a very strong general education program, strong arts and sciences. But we also teach, not just the law program you are familiar with here in the Tampa Bay area, but we also have one of the very best undergraduate professional music programs in the United States

Stetson started the first family business major in the country 15 years ago. What stands out for you about it? The thing that’s really unique about the program is the students are required to write a life plan, which means they have to talk with their parents or their grandparents and the people that are currently running their family business and figure out if this is really what they want to do.

MEET JACK

RRAmount of candidates she was chosen from: 75 RRFamily: Husband, Richard M. Libby; grown sons, Glenn and Gregg

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Tax Guy

JACK W. KIRKLAND

TAX LEAD MANAGING DIRECTOR

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AUGUST 1, 2014

LYNDA MCDERMOTT

Collaboration, networking can keep area thriving Why Lynda is a big deal: Lynda McDermott is an in-demand certified pubic speaker and author of bestselling business books focused on management consulting and executive leadership. She has global experience working in 35 nations. She founded the Healthcare Businesswoman’s Association-Florida and is chair of the Tampa Women President’s Organization. What are managers and clients asking you for help with most these days? In this era of doing more with less, there are many more what I call playercoaches. If you are a manager you also probably have a book of business or projects yourself. I am working with an associate publisher for a magazine and he’s a manager of people but also he has to go out on sales calls and the real struggle is he’s got to be accessible to his people who need his help and his coaching and yet he’s struggling to balance that player-coach role. When you attend all of your daughter’s championship swim meets, are you able to be present? We came down here for my daughter’s swimming. She’s an elite swimmer and she’s being recruited for college now. I have been proud to X-out on the calendar for every championship meet and I have made every single one. I don’t take client calls because I don’t know exactly when her events will be so it’s really roped off family downtime. With her going off to college next year, I’m glad we spent that time.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Lynda McDermott with her boat at the Westshore Yacht Club. What tips do you have about doing business in Tampa Bay? Compared to New York City, this is a ‘town’ and an easy place to network and become involved. Find organizations that matter to you, ask for referrals and you can easily become a leader. You were at MediFuture 2023 and BioFlorida and believe the events focused in disruptive innovation show potential, but there’s a lot of work to do, yes? I heard a speaker say if Tampa Bay is going to realize its potential, there are three things it needs. It needs the science, it needs the venture capital and it also needs successful entrepreneurs. I think we have the science. I don’t think we have the venture capital money and I don’t think we have the real successful

MEET TRACEY

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RRTitle and company: CEO, EquiPro International Ltd. RRWhat it does: Leadership and team development RRFavorite thing to eat? Britton Plaza Theater popcorn RRFirst real job? Supervisor in the controller’s department at Ohio Bell Telephone Co.

entrepreneurs yet. The real key is that I’m not sure we’re committed to real collaboration. There’s a lot of competition between the various entities here in Tampa Bay and I’m not sure they understand what real collaboration means. I do a lot of work on collaborations and alliances and I hope to be helpful in that endeavor.

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Service First

TRACEY MCDONALD MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

813.594.1400

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DEWEY MITCHELL

A scope that crosses three Bay area counties

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Dewey Mitchell at his boyhood home, James W. Mitchell Ranch in Trinity. His parents collected Western/Florida Cracker ranch memorabilia from the Civil War. Why Dewey is a big deal: Dewey Mitchell is a third generation Tampa Bay real estate professional. With deep familial roots in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, he maintains an active interest in the marketing of commercial, industrial and mixed-use properties. Tell us about the big merger. Berkshire Hathaway has been in the real estate business in several different forms for many years. They have a division called “Home Services” which already owns several of the larger real estate companies in the United States and they decided to launch a franchise network. They ended up purchasing Prudential’s franchise service. What’s the latest residential real estate intel? We see positive equity a bit more. The market was about 45 percent negative equity a few years ago. We’re

seeing that get healthier. Your family has such a deep local history. Tell us more. My grandfather moved into St. Petersburg in the mid’20s and of course in the late ’20s and early ’30s was when the Great Depression hit. He was a steam shovel operator out of Virginia and had a third grade education and he came to St. Pete and he made his mark with homes out near the beach. He bought homes that had been abandoned for taxes, or near the beach and moved them closer to the central core of St. Pete, put them on a lot and resold them. He was making about $500 a transaction and back then, that was a lot of money. Were you at the last Auburn game? Yes. We let them stay in the game and they had a chance to win at the end and they did, and you have to give them credit for it. It was stunning.

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RR Who: Dewey Mitchell, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Florida Properties Group and Prudential Commercial Florida RR Boards include: Pasco Economic Development Council, North Bay Hospital RR Education: University of Alabama, 1979; bachelor’s degree in commerce & business administration/marketing RR Coach at Alabama: Paul “Bear” Bryant RR Words to describe Bryant: Complex, magnetism, tough, fair. “Talked about life more than football.” RR Olympian: Earned seven gold, three silver and five bronze medals from various national judo championships. Was captain of the U.S. Olympic Judo team at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

AUGUST 1, 2014

PATTY NOONEY

Commercial real estate signs finally upbeat Why Patty is a big deal: She oversees professionals in CBRE’s Tampa Bay and Sarasota markets. CBRE is one of the world’s largest real estate companies. She also leads CBRE’s Investor Services Group for Florida, and oversees brokerage, project management and asset services to CBRE’s institutional clients in the state. You’ve held leadership positions for CBRE in Las Vegas and St. Louis, and spent years Houston beginning in 2001, and nearly two decades in St. Louis before that. What makes Tampa Bay different? Tampa is very much like a midwestern city in that has some great stability. But it is in Florida, and so you have that growth that goes with it. Growing up in St. Louis in the Midwest, even in the heyday, things slowly got better. You didn’t have the spike Florida had and then the downturn. Here in Tampa, we have that good mix. It’s a Florida city so it’s attractive to many investors. People want to be in Florida, they want to be in Tampa. Tampa has the great airport, the great access, the great universities and health care is coming into its own. We have the good infrastructure of everything to help keep it going. What’s your near-term economic outlook for the region? We’ve seen unemployment coming down, job creation here in Tampa is completely outpacing the rest of Florida which is all very good news for us and as we move into ’14 that is going to help

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Nooney travels around the world to compete in triathlons. absorb some of the existing space on office and maybe we’ll get into some new construction. You like history and recently traveled to Jordan and Israel. What was your takeaway? The understanding of the centuries. They have such a long history and can trace what happened over thousands of years as opposed to our country, which is hundreds of years. It helps to understand the situation better.

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RRTitle: Senior managing director, CBRE RRReal estate barometer: “Things are positive no matter what sector.” RRSquare feet managed in Florida by CBRE in 2012: 36 million RRCareer track going into college: Marine biology, veterinarian RRDowntime: Distance running, reading and studying history RRTravel wish list: China and Hong Kong

Mercedes-Benz is celebrating 125 years of innovation and excellence.

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

DR. MICHAEL O’NEAL

Patient relationships best when considered teamwork

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Dr. Michael O’Neal Why Michael is a big deal: In 2002, Dr. Michael O’Neal brought “concierge medicine” to Tampa Bay as a pioneer of a new concept. Now, his Cooperative Med practice includes more than 450 patients. O’Neal offers highly personalized medical attention in exchange for an annual membership fee. He takes on fewer patients so he can offer home visits, same-day appointments and 24/7 access.

The area is good for concierge medicine, but it’s not great. I was the one responsible for educating consumers on the concept. It took me a long time, several years to get people to understand concierge medicine, what its potential value was and what it might offer to an individual or family.

How is business evolving? Growth has been consistent over 10 years despite the economy and health care reform. The concierge medicine concept will evolve nationally in a larger scale. I think you will see more physicians migrate towards the practice model.

The Affordable Care Act has upside for you. Why? It is likely to drive consumers that otherwise may not have invested those extra dollars in their health care towards a concierge medical practice. The wealthy are always going to access concierge care, but now if a portion of the middle class reallocates some of its funds toward a concierge practice, it is actually very realistic and affordable.

Can Tampa Bay provide fertile growth?

What’s your hot button? Non-

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RRTitle: Founder, Cooperative Med RR2014 growth plan: Plans to open office in Beverly Hills, Calif., staffed through quarterly visits and telemedicine platform RRSpecialty: Professional athletes. “Athletes provide referrals within the locker room.” RRExperience: Consultant, major league baseball teams RRDowntime: Exercise, sports and performing arts RRLeft brain or right brain? “How about the middle?”

compliance. The best relationship between a physician and a patient is collaborative. We are both accountable for the outcomes and results.

AUGUST 1, 2014

WIT OSTRENKO

Connecting science and entrepreneurialism Why Wit is a big deal: Wit Ostrenko serves as the president at Museum of Science and Industry Inc. in Tampa and just celebrated 26 years in the position. MOSI is no small operation. It is the 6th largest science center in the nation. Originally a biologist, Ostrenko maintains an energetic entrepreneurial and disruptive spirit in his efforts to make his science center a source of inspiration, ideas and career building. How do you believe MOSI and the business community share the most synergies? I think what we are doing is opening the door for curious people, kids and adults to retrain and retool themselves. When you graduate from high school knowing how to read, write and do arithmetic, now what do I do? An employer will ask, what do you know how to do? And there is this silence. We want to give young people and adults the opportunity to become an expert at something so they can get jobs.

small ones? There’s probably another 4,000 unfulfilled jobs but we are trying to bridge that gap.

You also have developed a more formalized program. Can you tell us more? We are starting to do this MTI Program –the MOSI Technical Institute. We are working with corporations and young adults, college graduates with a BS or BA degree, to try and make those things meet. What is a corporation looking for? We want to see if we can’t work with people that can match them up. The Tampa Bay Technology Forum’s latest study is that there are 4,000 unfulfilled jobs in the big technology corporations in town. What about the

Over more than two decades, what are you learning about being a leader? I think it’s risk taking. It’s seeing things that can happen in the future. The whole aspect of working throughout the sciences as a young person, the more I knew about one aspect the better. As I got older, I worked on my PhD in coastal zone management so I learned to look into the legal, environmental and political aspects of developing in the environment and that is sort of the key to a science center. At a science center, leadership is about looking at opportunities.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Wit Ostrenko at MOSI

MEET KATHY

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RRTitle: President & CEO, MOSI RRPassions and interests: Science Center learning and science, sailing, reading, traveling, teaching, movies, nutrition, loons and creative thinking techniques RRPreferred movie genres: Adventure, thrillers, mysteries (with popcorn and wine) RRRecent reading: “Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think,” by Peter H. Diamandis RRFor fun: Runs triathlons, coaches people on vitamins and nutrition RRFirst real job: Delicatessen at the Grand Union; working at a country club parking cars taught him about the importance of customer service and giving back.

ACCOUNTING, TAX & CONSULTING • AUDIT & ATTEST* • BUSINESS VALUATION INTERNATIONAL TAX • LITIGATION SUPPORT & FORENSIC ACCOUNTING TRANSACTION ADVISORY

Litigation Managing Director

KATHY MILLS

MANAGING DIRECTOR

813.594.1400

www.cbiz.com/cbizmhm-tampabay

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PARESH PATEL

Insurance leader wants more Bay area HQs

ALEXIS MUELLNER

Paresh Patel on scene at an annual Indo-US Chamber of Commerce golf tourney. Why Paresh is a big deal: Paresh Patel co-founded Homeowners Choice in 2006. Since renamed HCI Group, it’s now one of the larger public companies in Tampa Bay, with operations in insurance, real estate and IT. He also was a founding member of NorthStar Bank and since 2011 has served as chairman of First Home Bancorp in Seminole. How did your upbringing influence the way you do business? The international flavor adds some color, but I’ve spent over half my life in Florida. I think that makes me a Floridian. So how do we make Florida and more importantly Tampa Bay a better place for the general population? We should try to contribute to that. Why is it important to be involved in

community activities? I will confess in my younger days, I wasn’t much involved in the community, trying to make a career. Recently, a lot of people have influenced me in the matter. We’ve set up the HCI Group Foundation, a not-for-profit. Its goal is to give back throughout Florida and especially in Tampa Bay to worthy causes to make this place a better place to live. What are the pros and cons of doing business here? One of the things that’s been bad for the area is the number of companies headquartered here that are successful have diminished, mostly because they’ve been bought up by big out-of-state companies. We would like to see area leadership encourage more successful companies to be owned and

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RRTitle: chairman, CEO, HCI Group Inc. RR Education: Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, electronic engineering, University of Cambridge RR First paid job: Associate engineer, Paradyne Networks in Largo, making circuit boards RR Preferred lunch spot: McAlister’s Deli for casual lunches, Seasons 52 for business lunches RR Vacation choice: Trans-Siberian Railroad, 14 days from Moscow to Beijing RR Favorite quote: “Be the change you want to see in the world,” Ghandi

managed out of here because that adds tremendous value to any city.

AUGUST 1, 2014

MIKE QUACKENBUSH

Space custom fit for PwC’s team culture Why Mike is a big deal: Mike Quackenbush has been leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Tampa office for four years. He oversees more than 2,000 staff in the practice split between administration, assurance and tax advisory services. Last year, the global accounting firm put down more Tampa Bay roots, as it merged its local workforce into a customdesigned 10-story office space in the MetWest International development in Westshore. The new office design was developed specifically for PwC based on feedback from its employees. As a global company, you also have to be a local corporate citizen. What is different about doing business here? In the Tampa Bay area, I think we have the best of both worlds in a sense that we have a lot of things to offer from a community standpoint that many of the big cities around the country have to offer in terms of quality of life for employees and having the things that are attractive from a smaller community standpoint. Things like the ability to access space, the ability to get a reasonably balanced workforce, the ability to have a quality cost of living for our employees that is reasonable relative to the larger markets and big cities you think about. Tell us about your new space and what it does for the firm? Having the latest and greatest technology and the ability to video conference across the country and around the world are the kind of things that you would think of in a new

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Mike Quackenbush space from a technology perspective. The space is organized in terms of facilitating out teaming aspects and we built a space that is really specifically designed with how we work in mind. Each of the floors were designed differently based on the teams on those floors and how they work so if you walked into different sections of the building, you’d find different layouts. Is your approach different than your dad’s approach to career development? The advice I had from different mentors in public accounting was that you should stay and make manager and evaluate options. That’s when to explore leaving. But one of my dad’s regrets was leaving too early. He became CFO of a company and did well – but from his standpoint, he left and had to work his way up slowly.

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RRTitle: Tampa managing partner and an assurance partner focused on the financial services asset management industry, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP RRYears with company: 20 RREducation: University of Florida; Warrington College Of Business, MS in accounting RRReading for fun: Mysteries (summer included the “Dragon Tattoo” trilogy) RRKids: Three - ages 14, 11, 5 RROff time: With his son, coaching youth league baseball RRFirst concert: U2 at Tampa Stadium, for Joshua Tree RRPersonality: Serious but laid back

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

TIM RAMSBERGER

Grand Prix commands elite status, global visitors Why Tim is a big deal: Street racing is no easy profit model. Now as the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg hits a 10-year milestone, he’s built a serious track record of success. He quarterbacks the huge event, leading planning, operations and on-site activities, as well as corporate sales, hospitality, branding and marketing. There’s a ton of demand for the leisure dollar in Tampa Bay. Your event has endured. Why? We’re a very saturated sports and event market for a product like open wheel professional racing. We’ve navigated pretty efficiently and effectively in terms of blending into the sports and entertainment landscape and we’ve done a good job of establishing what our brand is. It’s a fun brand that reflects well on our community, St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay that we are a fun and exciting place to live and work and conduct business. Honda’s departure as title sponsor was a surprise. How did you land Firestone so quickly? Firestone was with us throughout the entire 10 years so it was a natural evolution for them to talk to us about stepping up and taking over that title role. I think that it was also having the confidence in the value we bring, what ROI we have to serve to a potential sponsor. How do you balance the life and death aspects of the event? Our No. 1 concern is, not only the safety of all the drivers, but the safety of our crew members and our fans. It’s what makes this sport so special that it’s risky to see these drivers at such high speeds and so tight together. It’s the adrenaline, it’s the rush, it’s the heartbeat people want to feel. What makes our sport so great is the one thing that makes putting on the event most challenging.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Tim Ramsberger is a St. Petersburg native. R CLOSER

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RRPresident, Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg RREarly St. Petersburg memories: Visits to Webb’s City with his dad and twin brother for a haircut and a cone. RRFavorite racing movie: “LeMans” (1971) RRDowntime: Water activities; sailing, surfing, paddling RRMusic loves: Bruce Springsteen (foremost), Neil Young, U2 RRGrand Prix circuit length, turns: 1.8-miles; 14

AUGUST 1, 2014

CATHY REZAK

Using learning games to drive success Why Cathy is a big deal: Paradigm Learning utilizes games and interactive programs to help clients grow leadership, management skills and business acumen. A key product is Zodiak: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy. It’s a customized learning experience tailored to the nuances of each organization and its business strategies. The profitable company is slated to grow by 21 percent this year and employs 30 in St. Petersburg and 15 around the country, as well as numerous subcontractors. How did Paradigm evolve? We partnered originally with an advertising agency and used the creativity of that group and our own knowledge of what corporations needed their employees to learn to be successful and combined those elements so when learners go through our educational experiences, they have fun, work in small teams and facilitators are truly facilitators instead of teachers and it works. How does your content creation process work? We like to use stories. We like to use visuals so that people can really see. They are either gathered around a game board or what we call a discovery map. We design in small teams of three or four people so everyone has a piece of the experience. We design with facilitators as true facilitators rather than teachers. We know what the learning objectives are and we build the program to meet those objectives.

COURTESY PHOTO

Cathy Rezak

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How are your products evolving? More and more we are blending our learning. That means some of the learning is classroom-based, and some is online. We are doing a lot more with iPad apps to extend the learning into the workplace.

RRTitle: Chairman of the board, Paradigm Learning

How did teaching junior high inform a career in adult learning? To make sure we could get minds and bodies engaged in the learning experience, we needed to make it faster and more fun and that would likely mean higher retention. I knew I wanted to be able to offer learning to the corporate marketplace that was different and that worked in ways learners actually enjoyed learning.

RREarly career: Taught junior high school

MEET MIKE

RREstablished: 1994, founded with partner Raymond Green RRGrowth goals: 20 percent a year in the next three to five years. RRKey growth industry target: Health care

RRGrew up: Cincinnati RRDowntime pursuits: Golf, writing short stories and crafting blog posts (industry or gaming or strategic communications) RRFavorite games as a kid: Monopoly, Clue

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Problem Solver

MICHAEL E. LEWIS

LITIGATION MANAGING DIRECTOR

813.594.1400

www.cbiz.com/cbizmhm-tampabay

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CHANTAL RUILOVA HEVIA

Leading a big show-and-tell about Ybor City

NOLA LALEYE

Chantal Ruilova Hevia at the Ybor City Museum Why Chantal is a big deal: Ybor City is one of only two National Historic Landmark Districts in Florida. The Ybor Museum Society’s goal is to preserve, promote and celebrate Ybor City cultural heritage. In leading the society, Chantal, her board and volunteers support the museum and help market and promote Ybor, which she called “the birthplace of modern Tampa.” What’s the status of the baseball museum? We are in the midst of a capital campaign. As we were rehabbing the house, we realized there was more damage to it than we thought. The house was built in [the early 1900s]. It had its challenges from a structural perspective so we have had to raise more funds. We anticipated opening at the end of 2014 but we still have about $350,000 to raise to complete the museum. The whole project will cost $1 million. We’ve been fortunate to have the support of Hillsborough County, which

has wonderful historic preservation challenge grants. We’ve gotten one and we’re going to apply for another. We had the city of Tampa provide a substantial grant for facade work and so we have the resources here to help us develop projects like this. We’re a very small organization and we’re really just swallowing the elephant one bite at a time. What appeals most to you about your work in Ybor? Ybor is where cultural diversity began for our city, which is now very culturally diverse as well. It was the economic force that built Tampa. At one time about 500 million cigars were made in a year in Ybor City alone and it helped Tampa become the cigar capital of the world. That history and heritage, not just for Ybor city but for Tampa, is what we focus to show and tell people about. In 2011, you went back to school for a master’s in public administration. What were your goals? It becomes

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RRWho: Chantal Ruilova Hevia RRTitle: President and CEO, Ybor Museum Society RRCultural heritage: Italian (Santo Stefano Quisquina in Sicily) and Spanish (Galicia) RRReads for escapism: Dan Brown’s travelogues RRLoves to travel to: United Kingdom, Chile RRWants to travel to: Istanbul, Budapest RRGuilty pleasure: Dark chocolate RRYbor restaurant favorites (among many): La Terraza, Bernini of Ybor and the Columbia Restaurant

critical for nonprofits to think more like businesses. Financial, staffing and marketing and all the other things that relate to that. I think it’s the little things that count. Nonprofits that pay attention to the detail are the ones that succeed the most.

AUGUST 1, 2014

DONALD SALAMA

Racing, insurance risks relatable for Tampa exec Why Don is a big deal: As head of New York Life’s $1.4 billion directto-consumer operation in Tampa, Don oversees a staff of about 900 at a 190,000-square-foot campus in Westshore. Away from work, you’ll find him at the racetrack. He’s had two championships as a driver in Grand Am racing and was twice ranked among the world’s top 20 drivers by BMW Sport Trophy. Now, he’s a crew chief and strategist for Grand Touring and Grand Sport BMW M3 programs. Racing and insurance seem at odds in terms of risk. How do they blend? Both industries are exactly the same around risk management profile. In racing, the teams that win know how to manage risk. The insurance industry is exactly that in many ways. We have to compete against a national group. We have to price our products competitively, and we have to understand the profile of what can happen to a person who buys insurance from us. It’s all about great risk management that makes both perform well. What have you learned about the way Gen X and Gen Y buy products? They really want to test you, really trust who your firm is, what your product is, before they buy from you. That’s what the younger generation does as a norm. I think all of us are becoming that way. Start building a direct to consumer relationship that evolves into a trusted physical relationship with an agent that can sit down with you and really think about your needs someday.

PHELAN M. EBENHACK

Don Salama, left, talks with James Stevens on the pit cart during testing at the Daytona International Speedway. How do you make New York Life a great workplace that attracts talent? We want individuals to walk into our environment and see an entrepreneurial culture that is a fully integrated business. We started as a stand-alone business with 25 employees in 1994. Now we’re almost 900 individuals, so enormous growth and enormous opportunity for career progression. We promote that all the time when somebody walks into our shop to take a first line job on a call center. We’ll train them for months to understand the insurance industry or investment industry and then we’ll say over the next few years you could have a half dozen different jobs in our company. We do a little bit of everything and you get to own a piece

MEET CINDY

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RRTitle: Senior vice president, New York Life-Direct RRGrew up in: Milwaukee RREducation: B.S. in aerospace engineering, University of Wisconsin; MBA, Cornell University RRFirst real job: Managed small investment operations team at Bankers Trust (now Deutsche Bank) in New York City RRCharity or civic cause he is passionate about: Charity — Alzheimer’s; Civic cause — improving driving skills for young adults in America

of that action and we want you to be an entrepreneur with ideas to help us grow in many ways.

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Gastrogeek

CINDY A. MULL

MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

727.572.1400

www.cbiz.com/cbizmhm-tampabay

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GARY SASSO

Driving a climate of mutual respect and support

Gary Sasso, president and CEO of Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, says photography is a hobby. KATHLEEN CABBLE

Why Gary is a big deal: Sasso has served as president and CEO of Carlton Fields Jorden Burt since 2006. During his tenure, the law firm has grown in size by 45 percent, doubled its revenues, substantially increased profitability, and opened new offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Hartford, Conn., and Los Angeles. He represents business clients in fraud class actions and other complex litigation. Active in regional economic development efforts, in February he was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame. As a law clerk, Sasso worked for Justice Byron R. White on the United States Supreme Court. You recently completed a merger. Did you have a lot of suitors? Smaller groups that wanted to join up with us approached us. We also got approached by hundreds of individual lawyers and we get a call every now and again from

a very big firm. We’ve had discussions with firms larger than ours. They happen with some frequency. Over the last six years, I’ve probably looked at or talked to the leaders of 60 or 70 groups, of all sizes. We chose one firm and a number of other individuals in smaller groups. How are things going? It has been seamless, and there was a lot of work leading up to this. For close to a year, even when we weren’t sure we were going to be able to complete the deal, we were working toward that in the back room, so to speak. We had IT people and accounting people and systems people working on it when were going to go effective Jan.1, we had all our systems ready. We’re interested in the impact of fraud on regional economic development. Is there one? In the

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RRName: Gary L. Sasso RRTitle: President & CEO, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt RRLaw degree: J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School RRThe most authentic trial practice movie ever made: “My Cousin Vinny” RRVacation destination: Maine RRGrew up: Miami RRParents: Worked for the federal government RRDowntime: Biking, hiking, kayaking

business and the public circles and the communities where I engage with people about economic development, that never comes up. It’s not considered a hindrance. Sometimes there are old stereotypes that tend to dominate.

AUGUST 1, 2014

MICHAEL SAUNDERS

Business icon Saunders built a value system On forecasts: I don’t believe in crystal balls because you eat ground glass and that isn’t healthy. I try to spend as much time as I can with the customer and the consumer. I spend a lot of time not just in my own comfort zone. I’m in close touch with international brokers and friends with 30 national brokers. I serve on the international advisory board so I have to look at a larger world. Feeder markets are important to me. I’m in touch with those brokers I trust and respect. On being nimble: I think that in life one needs to be flexible and open-minded and a risk taker with calculated risks. I learned it very quickly. We created an asset management division — bank REO, Freddy and Fanny work. I didn’t even know who Freddy and Fanny were. On client interaction: I deal with people. I don’t deal with luxury clients any differently than I deal with someone who has bought a $100,000 property. We really don’t cherry pick. We want the experience to be memorable and to be exceptional, especially if that means me jumping in and talking to someone and trying to understand them better by putting myself in their shoes, whatever it takes to make it a better experience. On her Florida history: I was always interested in my father’s stories and life. He made everyone feel wonderful and important. I learned about the richest and poorest. There was an overabundance of love and a belief you could

COURTESY PHOTO

Michael Saunders believes Sarasota has a heart and soul and wealthy people who give, and get involved. R CLOSER

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RRName, title: Michael Saunders, founder & CEO, Michael Saunders & Co., Sarasota (founded in 1976 in a small St. Armands Circle office) RREmployees: 175 full time at HQ; 600 brokers and associates RRServices include: Property management, resort management, corporate relocation, mortgage and title, short sales, asset management. RRDowntime: Sun Valley, Idaho, where she goes to relax, fly fish, garden and cook. “I grew up with a rod in my hand,” she said. “Fish don’t live in ugly places.” RRBefore business: State of Florida Probation and Parole, Manatee County Juvenile Court, Manatee County Public Schools

do anything. Daddy said we’ll go and start a marina. It might not have been the most sensible thing at the moment – follow your passion you’ll be happy. On company culture/values: I believed selling was an honorable profession but I believed it was one where people

MEET BRUCE

didn’t trust our sales people and it was buyer beware. But if you began with a set of values and built around that, people could count on you for it. So it just evolved that every decision I would hold up against our set of values, which we then spent many years institutionalizing.

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The “Greens in Regulation” Guy

BRUCE H. MURPHY

LEAD MANAGING DIRECTOR/ SHAREHOLDER

727.572.1400

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STEVE SCHUETZ

Finding strength in business culture mix

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Steve Schuetz Why Steve is a big deal: Steve Schuetz has three decades of experience valuing businesses and their assets, and believes he’s walked through more than 2,000 facilities over that time. He has had his hand in a lot of local deals, most recently Golden Gate Capital’s multimillion-dollar acquisition (terms were not disclosed) in January of ArrMaz Custom Chemicals in Mulberry. Other recent clients include PODS and the Dental Care Alliance. VRC worked with Vology in its purchase of Bayshore Technologies. What is it about local deal making that’s Tampa Bay-centric? We have a large infusion of people from outside of this market so we have people who bring ideas from the northeast, the Midwest and those all meld together with locals. It creates a very vibrant business community. On the business side, that melding of cultures creates very interesting experiences that are brought to businesses here. That’s one of the reasons we do have a very entrepreneurial city. Over the last few years, we’ve built good market

awareness in terms of people knowing us among the major accounting firms who drive a lot of the needs for the work we provide.

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RRTitle and company: Managing director, Valuation Research Corp. RRYears with the company: Nine

What’s one of the strangest things you have ever valued? Over the course of my career, I’ve valued thousands of companies and one of the strangest was a time-share campsite. That’s where you buy a plot of land to pitch your tent or part of your trailer for one week a year.

RRNature of business: Business valuation consulting

What is your best recruiting resource when you need to hire? Placement professionals at local universities

RRFavorite music genre and one artist you love: ’80s rock/hair bands – Def Leppard

What’s happening with local M&A now? What we are seeing in a lot of the companies being acquired is that their financial staffs have a tendency to be fairly thin. Any time these companies are making acquisitions, there’s not a lot of depth in the financial area. That has reduced the number of acquisitions, and it certainly means they are taking longer than expected to complete.

RREducation: MBA University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; BBA University of Wisconsin, Whitewater RRWhat is your favorite thing to eat? Thanksgiving dinner RRWho plays you in the movie? The Rock

RRWhat’s a fun fact about you? I am the first male Schuetz in at least three generations who is not a cheesemaker.

Deal flow has been a bit off? It seems surprising with so much cash on the sidelines. It’s surprising but there’s so much uncertainty from tax law to the health care situation to the regulatory environment. People are sitting on it and have been unwilling to make acquisitions at this moment.

AUGUST 1, 2014

RAFAEL SCIULLO

Driven to transform, inspired by service R CLOSER

Why Rafael is a big deal: Rafael has 30 years experience as a national leader in hospice and palliative care. He joined Suncoast Hospice in February after 12 years as the president and CEO of Family Hospice and Palliative Care of Pittsburgh. It became one of the largest, most highly respected organizations of its kind in Pennsylvania under his guidance. Tell us about your experience as an innovator? I was recruited to be the new leader of a failing but long-standing hospice in Pittsburgh. The organization had no money in a very competitive market and its future appeared grim. I learned that the leading health system in the region wanted to build its physician component and was looking for ways to do that. By making a proposal that we would hire their physicians to be our medical directors in exchange for acquiring [the health system’s] hospice, the organization grew significantly with this and other partnerships to become the largest hospice organization (among a field of 150) in Pennsylvania. How do you lead? I ascribe to have the drive of a transformational leader and the heart of a servant leader. When you lead an organization that is devoted to enhancing the lives of those with advanced and terminal illnesses, others must see the passion and fire in you as the leader so that they will do their best work. As amazing as many nonprofits

LOOK

RRTitle: President & CEO, Suncoast Hospice RRNature of business: The mission of care at Suncoast Hospice focuses on persons with chronic or serious illnesses and extends to those acting as caregivers or working through grief and/or trauma. RRAnnual budget: $150 million RRIf he had a different career: Garden and landscape design RRBusiness heroes: Andrew Carnegie and Steve Jobs

accountable for that.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Sciullo, with his service and therapy dog, Ivan. are, they also deal with a stigma as being prone to fraud. What are your thoughts? It’s a betrayal of integrity. We have to be very honest and wise stewards of the gifts donors give and at Suncoast Hospice, we’re very fortunate to have the size of the corporation and company that we do – a number of 501(c)3’s that are part of our parent company but primarily the hospice – so we do raise significant dollars. But we make sure we use them for the kind of care that the region needs and we are

Death and dying is one of the most challenging issues we face. Being in your position, how do you deal with it personally? We’re involved in it, and there is very much a need and a conviction from my standpoint as leader of the organization to always stay connected to that. We have received a great honor. The honor is to walk with people in one of the final journeys of their lives and they have chosen us. We take that very seriously. So we approach that with not so much focus on ourselves but a focus on them and what they need. So there is a constant challenge to redirect any feelings we have and say, ‘how can we make this journey better for you?’ How do you spend your downtime? I enjoy the experience of working with the earth and helping things to grow but also designing the landscape with form and color.

Mercedes-Benz is celebrating 125 years of innovation and excellence.

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ANN SELLS MILLER

AHP seeks new and innovative health care niches

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Ann Sells Miller, a sailor herself, with sailboats at Davis Island Yacht Club. Why Ann is a big deal: Advanced Healthcare Partners bills itself as a disruptor. It focuses on owning, managing and helping fund businesses in health care management, consulting and end-to-end user software licensing. So far, it has businesses focused on sleep apnea, regenerative medicine and lung diseases. Ann brings experience in PR, sales and marketing management, textiles, fashion, hospitality, business trend analysis and planning to the twoyear-old firm. AHP is profitable. How does it grow? We look for innovative niches – the next big thing – where physicians or scientists need help from a corporate push so they can do what they do best, which is practice medicine. Then we can handle the business side to make it more efficient and bring it faster to market. We also partner with companies

like LCG Capital. We don’t do the actual investment but we bring the right partners to the table when that’s necessary. Usually when a company is coming to market, we want to introduce ourselves right when it is time to do the marketing, not necessarily when they are still in a research phase. You studied anthropology. How is that of use now? As the study of human behavior, it helps me read people. My expertise is in process improvement and problem solving. What has been the most challenging for AHP so far? It’s how to grow and find a new space within the fast pace of growth. Our employees loved to come to work but when we were all in a small space, suddenly, they were asking to work from home. You don’t always think about the logistics of creating

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RRTitle: Partner and chief operating officer, Advanced Healthcare Partners RRGrew up: Atlanta RRFormerly: Director of scheduling for Laser Spine Institute, associate director sales and marketing at Tampa Convention Center RRUndergrad: BA in anthropology, Tulane University RRFirst real job: Ralph Lauren corporate in New York RRFor work-life balance: Sailing RRTops on the sailing destination wish list: Greece

that fun environment that everyone wants to come to work and how to handle growing so fast. Looking back, that’s a great problem to have. Now we have a cool open space.

AUGUST 1, 2014

RHONDA SHEAR

Intimate apparel widens to loungewear, fragrances Why Rhonda is a big deal: At 19, after winning the Miss Louisiana pageant, she set out for Hollywood and began a career as an actor and comedian and appeared on a range of sitcoms and variety shows. She’s well known for her seven-year stint on USA Network’s “Up All Night.” She became a designer of intimate apparel, and her St. Petersburg company Shear Enterprises posted $75 million in revenue in 2011, lead by the top-selling Ahh bra. Since moving to Tampa Bay permanently in 2006, she continues to work closely with key client HSN, and is active on a range of local boards including Bill Edwards Foundation on the Arts, the All Children’s Hospital Foundation board and Making Strides (breast cancer). Her business lines are expanding to sleepwear and fragrances. Ernst & Young named you an Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012. You got a lot of attention. What happened after? I heard from a lot of bankers but it was really great. My husband and I are still sole proprietors and we still own Shear at this point and are moving forward in many areas. The award was great for us as it was a learning process for when and if we do need to infuse more capital into the business for other projects. What’s the latest barometer reading for Shear Enterprises? We are still moving along and growing in our intimate apparel business and also that’s expanding into loungewear and we

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Rhonda Shear are getting ready to work with Crystal Hefner. That’s the new Mrs. Hefner, as in Hugh Hefner. We are creating a loungewear. I know everyone thinks Playboy, bunny wear, but no, it’s going to be very cool. Sleepwear, pajamas and loungewear that are very much her age range, which is 26. We’re also looking to do a line of pajamas with Kato Kaelin of O.J. Simpson fame. There’s a lot of competition out there. How do you deal with it? There are a lot of brands. We don’t look left or right. We just keep our blinders on and just do our thing. I think when you are doing something different, people will notice. It’s always about quality and having the very best product and cutting edge technology for us. That’s in the intimate apparel world.

MEET LAURA

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RRTitle: Designer/owner, Shear Enterprises LLC RRHometown: New Orleans RRNumber of boutiques that stock her products: 200 RRCountries products sell in on QVC: 34 RRMovies she can see again and again: “Gone With the Wind,” “Some Like it Hot,” “Sunset Boulevard” RROne thing she can’t live a day without: Community Coffee Co., from New Orleans RRBest recruiting resource: Word of mouth RRHot button: Disrespect at any level, respect for people’s time RRFavorite vacation: Her home

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Quiet Determination

LAURA OLIVIERI

TAX MANAGING DIRECTOR

727.572.1400

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TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

LINDA SIMMONS

Finance roots help build project success Why Linda is a big deal: She has deep industry perspective on all facets of building, from design and construction to architecture and contracting, services her firm provides on almost all the projects it does. Now, there are more women at management ranks in general contractors, but you did some real pioneering, right? There’s a lot more than when I moved from banking to this industry in the late 1980s. In fact, in the early ’90s, I served as the first woman chair of the local Associated General Contractors’ board. What was probably more interesting is at the time I was one of three first female presidents in the country.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Simmons is an industry pioneer. How have you dealt with sexism? I don’t dwell on the negativity or the fight but focus on a track record. You grew up in an economically stressed family, yes? We weren’t wealthy by any stretch. We were in fact probably on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. So living at home was really more economics than anything else. I was very driven not so much by one specific thing I wanted to do or had a drive to do, but more the things I knew I did not want to do and what I wanted to achieve in my life in terms of economic stability. How has your company role evolved? When I joined our family company, it was at a time in the late ’80s when we were coming out of another

economic boom and coming into a bit of a decline. We had great project management skills and great talent in our business but we didn’t have a lot of business management skills. I was able to bring the business management expertise. That’s my primary role. I also have a self-assigned role to look at our projects through the eyes of our customer. I am always the internal challenge, check and balance to what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve and previewing it before our customer sees it. How do you find recharge time? For a number of years during my work career, I probably didn’t have a good work-life balance. A few years back, we decided that we had to get those things

MEET ANTHONY

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RRTitle: President, CEO of R.R. Simmons Construction Corp. in Tampa RRFounded: 1968 RREducation: 1975 honors graduate of University of South Florida; graduated from the ABA’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking, University of Delaware RRA movie she can see over and over: “Love Actually” — “It provides lighthearted escapism that always puts me in a good mood.”

in proper balance. We started escaping to our weekend place at the beach and after a while we decided we probably want to retire there.

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AUGUST 1, 2014

IN MEMORIAM: SUSIE STEINER

CEO provides a voice for startup community Why Susie is a big deal: As the cofounder of StartUp Weekend Tampa, Steiner has been a local champion in the startup scene. This past summer, the event grew to the St. Petersburg campus of University of South Florida and attracted the most attendees yet. In her day job, she’s the CEO of a Tampa freight brokerage. She is the youngest of a very large family. “I was a born leader, she said. “That leadership mentality has never left me and it has encouraged me to pursue businesses, take risk and to give back to the community.” How do you differentiate your freight brokerage company? We really try to be open and honest and upfront and very forthcoming. A lot of times, you’ll find companies that will try to sugar coat a lot of incidents and mistakes they make, and we just try to tell them like it is and they appreciate that. How would you describe the local business community? The Tampa Bay community has an abundance of resources for starting and growing a business; you simply need to do your research, learn from those organizations and don’t be afraid to ask for help. How would you describe the local startup community? I am seeing a lot of startups leave Tampa and it’s because they are going to other cities where they are more established. I think it’s a matter of time before mentors and coaches and VCs are more established here. There’s a lot of talk but nothing is really happening. That is scaring a lot of startups and cofounders away. In Tampa Bay, there’s a large tech community that is made up of developers, Web developers and architects and that is surprising to me because I’m used to seeing it all over Chicago, Boston and San Francisco — but there’s a huge community of tech here in Tampa and really great resources.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Susie Steiner What are your thoughts about bad actors who have made Florida a hotbed for fraud? With self-policing and trying to get the word out there, it is not happening from peers because they are afraid of the backlash or not being accepted because they are outing someone. I’m self-employed and I’m a business owner and I’m not running for any political seat so I’m happy to say what I know or what I have heard and I think more people should do that. In a parallel universe, what would you be doing? I most likely have gone back to school and joined the Peace Corps. I could absolutely spend my life volunteering with animals and those less fortunate. It sounds cliché, but the definition of success has changed for me over the years. Editor’s note: Susie Steiner passed away on July 11, 2014.

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RRTitle and company: CEO, ExecuTran Services Inc. RRNature of business: Freight brokerage. The company acts as an intermediary between businesses with shipping needs and the transport carriers that provide those services. RREducation: “College was not for me.” RRWhat she likes to read: Memoirs, biographies, business periodicals and books RRFavorite thing to eat: “I love to eat. But I really love to eat the Pollo Au Gratin minus the Pollo from Bella’s Italian Café.” She is a vegetarian. RRFavorite music genre and one artist she loves: ’80s! Michael Jackson

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

CHRIS STEINOCHER

How St. Petersburg fits into regionalism

DREW FRITZ

Chris Steinocher outside the Sundial, still under construction in downtown St. Petersburg. Why Chris is a big deal: The St. Petersburg Chamber is one of the 10 largest chambers in Tampa Bay, and Chris became leader of the organization at a low point in its history and orchestrated a turnaround of the organization and its culture. With more than 16 years at the Tampa Bay Partnership, he knows economic development. The St. Pete Chamber has been active in business advocacy, taking a stand on important political issues (the Pier, Greenlight Pinellas) as a way to evolve business-friendly policies.

Take this analogy. If Tampa Bay is a mall, what is St. Pete? I don’t think St. Pete is the anchor tenant. I don’t believe it’s the Dillard’s or the Macy’s but I do believe it’s the best specialty store in the mall. So say we’re the Apple store in the mall. So we have a responsibility for our brand to make sure people are driven to the mall because of this specialty store called St. Petersburg. The mall has a responsibility to market itself so we are seen as well. Does the specialty store need to do its own marketing and tout its own things that it does in the store? Absolutely.

Regionalism is always a hot topic. How does the Chamber fit? There’s so many reasons to understand regionalism.

What’s a key area of focus for you now? The transportation initiative is the big piece. Who wants to sit in

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RRTitle: President/CEO, St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce RRMoved: To Atlanta as a young person RRBinge watches: “House of Cards” on Netflix RRFamily viewing: “Survivor” RRBorn: Cleveland, Ohio

traffic? What’s the cost of congestion? We’re in the middle of this Greenlight Pinellas initiative where we are taking a big stance and saying ‘yes’ for Greenlight and why we’re doing that is we know the growth of our community is contingent on how we get people to their jobs.

AUGUST 1, 2014

MARIE TOMASSI

Firm is a place for women in law to grow Why Marie is a big deal: As managing shareholder and a member of Trenam Kemker’s executive board, she is deeply involved in leading the firm and executing its overall business strategy. She leads the firm’s appellate practice group and provides counsel and representation in civil litigation. The firm’s strategic plan aims to serve a range of regional businesses and entrepreneurs. Under her, the firm has expanded its community involvement by supporting local organizations including Southeastern Guide Dogs, United Way, Habitat for Humanity and local arts groups. Can you describe the firm’s business strategy? We’re focusing on teaming with our clients. I don’t think this is a change for us in that we’ve always wanted to be as supportive and helpful as we could with our clients. Maybe it’s the recognition that we need to be involved even more deeply with them and understand their businesses more substantially so we know their other needs and help them succeed. You grew up in St. Pete Beach. What are your earliest area memories? When I was little — 6, 8, 10 — downtown St. Pete was a great place to go. There was the Mass Bros. store and Webb City and lots to do. For a long time between then and now, it was not so good. Now downtown St. Pete is back. It’s beautiful and vibrant and full of businesses. There’s sensitivity to the displacement that is caused by the revitalization so I think there has to be some care about that and thought given to it.

NOLA LALEYE

Marie Tomassi, managing shareholder at Trenam Kemker As one of a few women leading law firms, how much do you think about gender issues? I think about the role of women and the law and the question about how to help achieve a better parity and the progress of women in the law. You still have graduating classes from law school being 50 to 60 percent women and yet shareholders at firms are dropping precipitously off of that in leadership roles. I want to make sure that we are doing what we can to make it better. I think lot of people think it’s taken care of. That we’ve solved the problem of women in the law, and I don’t think that is right. It’s a work in progress. I think we were

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RRTitle: Managing Shareholder RRFirm: Trenam Kemker RRUndergrad degree: University of South Florida RRLaw school: First in class, Stetson University College of Law RRDowntime: Loves to read mysteries and legal thrillers from authors like John Sandford and Michael Connelly

very early in adopting things like a modified schedule to accommodate people who needed alternative work arrangements.

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

JANE TOOMBS

Council leader engages builders and shakers Why Jane is a big deal: Toombs has held the executive director’s position at the CEO Council of Tampa Bay for the last 13 years. The CEO Council is comprised of 230 CEOs of Tampa Bay companies with 25 or more employees and $3 million in revenue or more, representing about 30,000 employees and $6 billion in revenue. “I have the privilege of affiliating with inspiring and responsible business builders in our community,” she said. What is the changing mix of members at the CEO Council telling us about the economy? We have 17 different industries within the Council itself. One of those is “other,” so you can imagine the variety. Some of the industries that were around 10 years ago when we started were very strong, staffing for example, have gone away in the last few years. But now we are seeing that industry in particular is coming back. There are some different types of financial industries and real estate that are coming back. What is your company’s biggest project on the horizon? Managing to a “cap” of 250 members, while balancing a board of 30 CEOs, with 37 events and 130 roundtables a year. As a Navy kid that moved around a lot, is change easy for you? We moved every two years until I was 18 years old. So yes, I became extremely adaptable to wherever I lived and whatever I did. It also gave me the opportunity to recreate myself every few years and as a child and a teenager, that was incredibly important. So now, when I look at a situation that doesn’t fit, I can change to fit in it. What failure in your life did you learn the most from or has benefited you the most? Right after college, an alcoholic boss fired me. The next day he didn’t remember it. I learned then that

KATHLEEN CABBLE

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RRTitle and company: Executive director, CEO Council of Tampa Bay RREducation: Bachelor’s in journalism/PR, University of Florida; graduate work in transpersonal psychology RRWhat Jane reads: Metaphysical, spiritual and motivational materials, followed by biographies, humor and fiction RRIn a parallel universe, Jane would: Run a retreat center RRHow she got started in the current gig? Guy King (M.E. Wilson Co.) suggested she organize his group of 64 CEOs at the time. RRFirst real job: Mister Donut, making donuts on weekends in high school (up at 4 a.m.) RRHot button: Lack of ownership and responsibility for a person’s own life and actions

honesty, values and corporate culture were important to an organization’s success and to my happiness. Many people who know you don’t know you’ve been a firewalker. One of the things in psychology that I learned pretty early was that there are things

in life that are imagined and so one of the metaphysical experiences I had was walking on fire, and I found that was an imaginary experience of being burned. I obviously was not burned, and so from there it meant there are a lot of other things we imagine that are fearful that don’t need to be.

AUGUST 1, 2014

JULIAN WAITS SR.

Waits eyes Washington, D.C. for growth Why Julian is a big deal: As president and CEO at ThreatTrack Security in Clearwater, he guides the company’s growth as it navigates the enterprise security market with complex threat analysis, awareness and defense services that combat Advanced Persistent Threats, targeted attacks and other sophisticated malware. He assumed the CEO role at ThreatTrack when the company emerged from GFI Software. He’s passionate about working with at-risk youth. Fitness focused, he cycles to work every day. Why is ThreatTrack in Tampa Bay? We found there is a great resource here. As a component of GFI, GFI has primarily grown through what’s called a roll up – inorganically – by acquiring other companies. There [was] a company in downtown Clearwater called Sunbelt [the predecessor to GFI]. Sunbelt [was] what ThreatTrack is today. We’ve also opened a new office in Washington D.C. As we go after more cyber-expertise, that’s the place to go. What are your hiring strategies? We’re looking for people who can help the company move from its current base into a larger base, which is large enterprises in the federal government. Who are some of your jazz heroes? One just passed away, George Duke, and I’m very sorry about that. Being a saxophonist, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and the list could go on forever.

KATHLEEN CABBLE

If you were to represent your upbringing with a song, what would it be? My father is a Baptist pastor so it would be “Amazing Grace.” For years, playing that song in church, especially a black Baptist church, I thought some guy in a cotton field in Mississippi created that. But I learned that the origin was from a former slaver who learned what he was doing was wrong and changed his life through the process of finding God. “Amazing Grace” would be the tone for me.

MEET ANDY

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RRTitle: President and CEO, ThreatTrack Security RRWhat he thought he’d be when he grew up: Jazz musician RRWhere he got his start: Computer software programming RREducation: Loyola University of New Orleans and Xavier University RRBorn and raised: New Orleans, La.

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TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EXECUTIVE FILES

LISA WANNEMACHER

Inspired by legacy of ‘quality of life’ projects

NOLA LALEYE

Lisa Wannemacher at the Lake Maggiore Fire Station Number 8. Why Lisa is a big deal: Lisa Wannemacher has made an impact on St. Petersburg. With partner Jason Jensen, her architectural firm has done more than 250 projects in St. Petersburg alone. She’s been active on numerous arts and architecture boards and the St. Petersburg Chamber. City projects include North Shore Pool, Gladden Park Recreation Center, Fossil Park Recreation Center and the Lake Maggiore Fire Station Number 8, C1 Bank headquarters, Progress Energy headquarters, Cassis American Brasserie, and the renovation and remodeling of the Historic Coliseum, Al Lang Stadium, the Manhattan Casino and the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Courts. She and the firm partnered with renowned Los Angeles architect Michael Maltzan on the Lens design envisioned for the St. Petersburg pier, which voters ultimately rejected. You and the firm spent more than two years on the pier process only to see voters reject the Lens. How do you deal with that? I have absolutely no regrets, even given the fact that we’re no farther along than we were two and a half or

three years ago. It was a growing process for the city that it needed to go through. Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask me about it. Are you going to be involved in the next incarnation? What do you think went wrong? I have days when I don’t want anything to do with any future pier project and I have days when I feel like the body of knowledge that me and my firm have about that process and the project is so great that it could really benefit whatever project moves forward. If and when the Rays leave Tropicana Field, what do you envision for that site? One of the benefits of the Rays original downtown stadium proposal was turning the existing Tropicana Field site over to developers for a mixed use, multi-use retail, office and residential project. That would help link downtown to the rest of the city both in the east west direction and even in the north south direction. It would become a regional magnet for the entire area. You have done so many projects in St. Petersburg. Which stand out most? In 1993, we replaced an existing

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RRTitle: Principal, Wannemacher Jensen Architects Inc. RRBorn and raised: Toledo, Ohio RREducation: Kent State University RRCitizenship: Dual (United States and France) RRClimbed: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa RRDowntime: Triathlons RRHusband: Philippe Berriot, owner Cassis American Brasserie RRWhere they met: Restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. RRWhat she consistently orders at Cassis: Warm lentil steak salad

community center with the Gladden Park Recreation Center and it was our first significant project with the city and it is still a project that the neighborhood loves, the users love, and the city loves. I walk back in that center every few years and am still in awe of the wonderful memories of designing that center. The quality of life projects we do are so endearing and they make such a difference in people’s lives. We’re imagining the future.

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