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YourObserver.com
EAST COUNTY OBSERVER
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2013
Tammie Sandoval, 29, Sarasota
Christian Cotter, 29, Sarasota
Director of Management Recruitment Director — Trust & Estate Services, BMO Private Bank and Development, First Watch Tammie Sandoval Restaurants Inc.
Atlanta native Christian Cotter only moved to Sarasota in early 2012, but he doesn’t miss the cosmopolitan life of a big city. “I absolutely love it here,” says Cotter. “I always wanted to live on the beach.” Cotter also always wanted to work at a growing company that puts a premium on ethics and integrity. He believes he found that at University Park-based First Watch, a breakfast-brunch-lunch chain with more than 100 locations in 15 states. Cotter’s wife, Leah, is from Sarasota, and the couple decided to move here from Atlanta in 2011. Cotter, who then worked
for an IT staffing firm, looked for jobs locally in several industries. He ultimately met with First Watch President and CEO Ken Pendery, and Cotter liked what he heard, and saw. Cotter is now responsible for finding managers for First Watch locations throughout the entire chain.
In his words .........
COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Opening a new restaurant. It is incredible to see our people train and develop new staff and grow the First Watch brand. Each time it is a unique experience. It never gets old.
THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Always make decisions based on a longterm view because the situation you are in today is directly attributable to your actions or choices from months or even years ago.
has quickly become immersed in the Sarasota community. She moved to the area from Orlando in April 2012, through a promotion at BMO Private Bank. In a little more than a year she has participated in the Arts & Cultural Alliance Arts Leadership Program; joined the Junior League; and become a member of the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council. Sandoval was also named to the board of directors at the Sarasota Orchestra earlier this year. This is all in addition to a demanding day job at
BMO, which specializes in trust and estate administrations services for high net worth individuals and families. “I want to make sure I take a little bit out of the community and put a lot back in,” Sandoval says.
In her words .........
BIRTHPLACE: Port Chester, N.Y.
THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: When offering constructive criticism it is best to follow-up the critique with a solution or better practice. I have found that anyone can criticize a person or process, leading to a poor work environment. It is
best to follow up your critique with a solution on how the issue/behavior can be better. ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: Sarasota Orchestra (board member). I grew up playing the clarinet and performing in my schools’ concert and marching bands.
Melissa Link, 35, Sarasota
Owner, Brand Eleven Eleven A trip to New York City in college a decade ago was an epiphany for Melissa Link. Then a student at the Savannah College of Art & Design, Link thought she was going to enter a career in computer animation. But when she met with people doing it and heard about the 12-hour, and sometimes 16hour days, she changed her mind. Now Link owns a branding and marketing firm, Sarasota-based Brand Eleven Eleven. The name, says Link, is based on the synchronicity of 11:11. The workload is still heavy, but Link is happy with her choice. Her animation background, she adds, only bolsters her business when she works with clients, which range from nonprofits to small businesses.
Link says the juggle of running a business day to day is both her biggest challenge and what drives her to keep going. That juggle is only made more complicated by the fact that Link is a single mom with two young, active children. “I love the design and strategy side,” she says, “but I have to make time to do accounting and bill collecting.”
In her words ......... BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: I meet new people just about anywhere, whether it’s a typical networking activity or even the grocery store.
COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: There are so many. I would say most recently the cool-
est experience was having one of our clients, Easter Seals of SWFL, tell us about how a billboard we designed for them inspired a dad who was struggling to call. It is amazing when the work we do really makes a difference in someone’s life.
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