The Floridaville Podcast

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Nicholas Romanello serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for Health First. Health First is Central Florida's only fully integrated delivery network and employs over 9,000 associates. In addition, Health First operates four hospitals: Health First's Cape Canaveral Hospital, Holmes Regional Medical Center, Palm Bay Hospital, and Viera Hospital.  He currently serves on the Florida Board of Medicine and previously served as the General Counsel to the Florida Department of Health.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Mary Kucek is the CEO and founder of OvaryIt, a telehealth platform focused on providing access to affordable and high-quality contraceptive options. Mary's personal experience inspired her to create a company to help other women.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know  Ben Odom is the Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at NASCAR.  Learn how his career ended up in the fast lane!  

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Shevaun Harris is the Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families.  Prior to joining DCF, Secretary Harris served as Acting Secretary at the Agency for Health Care Administration, where she was responsible for administering the Florida Medicaid program and regulating over 40,000 licensed health care facilities in the state. 

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know On this episode we get to know attorney, entrepreneur, and business advisor Melanie Griffin.  Melanie is Of Counsel at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, an Am Law 200 firm that is the largest law firm in Tampa Bay, and Shumaker Advisors Florida as Senior Advisor, Business-to-Business Relationships. She is also the founder of Spread Your Sunshine which provides keynote speaking and trainings, business consulting, and inspirational stationery and gifts.

Guest: Pegine Echevarria, Keynote Speaker, CEO of Team Pegine, Inc., Author of Called to Lead Pegine is a motivational leadership business expert who helps women working in corporations and organizations to unlock their power to influence, impact, and inspire others. Hosts: Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.teampegine.com/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guest: Dr. Dawn Emerick CEO of the Institute for Trauma-Informed Leadership and Change Management Founder of Dawn Emerick Consulting; Host of Leadership Uncensored Podcast Dr. Emerick leads dynamic organizations through change while navigating through disclosed or undisclosed trauma experienced by staff. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.dawnemerickconsulting.com/services https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com  

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know On this episode we get to know Lawmaker Paul Renner.  He serves District 24 in the Florida House of Representatives.  Rep. Renner is set to be Speaker of the House beginning in the year 2022.

Guest:  Brenden Kumarasamy, founder of MasterTalk and public speaking expert Brenden is an experienced speaker and facilitator with a popular YouTube channel.  On this episode he provides some tips for better public speaking. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.mastertalk.ca/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guest: Rory Diamond, CEO of K9s for Warriors Under Rory Diamond's leadership, K9s For Warriors has grown to be the nation's largest provider of Service Dogs for disabled American veterans and the largest Service Dog agency in the world using primarily rescue dogs. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.k9sforwarriors.org/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guest:  Pepper Uchino, Florida Shore & Beach Preservation The Florida Shore & Beach Preservation Association was organized in 1957 at a meeting of 37 local government and university leaders concerned about the growing problem of beach erosion that had virtually destroyed important resort beaches such as Miami Beach. They recognized that erosion was a statewide problem that couldn't be handled by individual cities and counties alone. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://scentevidencek9.com/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guest: Miyo Strong, Elizabeth Smart Foundation Miyo Strong is the Smart Defense Program Director at the Elizabeth Smart Foundation in Utah. She is working to help people learn self defense and spot situations with sexual abuse potential. With Elizabeth Smart at the helm of the organization, they are trying to bring hope and end the victimization and exploitation of sexual assault through prevention, recovery, and advocacy. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.elizabethsmartfoundation.org/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

The Floridaville Express Guest: Carlos Cruz, Politics to Profit Carlos is the founder of Politics to Profit which is a professional training & coaching company that launched the “Political Self-Help” Genre. The first Book in the Business of Politics Series titled "Staff: Watching a Policy Makers back as well as your Own" launched October of 2020. Hosts: Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.amazon.com/Business-Politics-Watching-Policy-Makers-ebook/dp/B08P7VSYX7 https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guest: Melanie Griffin, Founder of Spread Your Sunshine Melanie is an attorney, speaker, entrepreneur and host of the podcast and social media show Spread Your Sunshine.  She founded Spread Your Sunshine to promote the importance of mentorship.  Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://spreadyoursunshine.com/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guest: Anna Johnson Reidel, Villas at Killearn Lakes Anna Johnson Riedel has over 35 years working for WCTV, a CBS affiliate, in Tallahassee, Florida as an anchor and in Public Relations.  She is also known for her leadership role in the community with non-profit organizations. She has retired from the broadcasting business but is currently a partner and the spokesperson for the new assisted living concept called the Villas at Killearn Lakes. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.villasatkillearnlakes.com https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guest:  Kim Grippa, Founder of Shine NOW Kim Grippa founded the nonprofit Shine NOW to address the issues women face in the workplace. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

Guests: Mike Prusinski, BusyKid Get your kids to do their chores! Mike Prusinski is the co-Founder/President of this financial literacy tech tool for your kids---BusyKid - Chores & Allowance Simplified. Hosts: Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://busykid.com https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com  

Guests: Jennifer Powell & Lisa Davis, Professional Photographer & Makeup Artist Professional photographer Jennifer Powell and professional makeup artist Lisa Davis discuss how they help transform clients and the creative ways they are growing their business. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://www.jenniferpowellphotography.com/ https://www.imagebylisa.com/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com  

Guest: Paul Coley, Founder & CEO of Scent Evidence K9 Paul founded Scent Evidence K9 in 2012 to help communities and law enforcement agencies improve their methods of locating missing persons by developing innovative and effective systems of scent discriminate K9 training and scent collection technology. Hosts:  Joy Tootle, Esq., Rosanna Catalano, Esq., and Jeanne Curtin, Esq. https://scentevidencek9.com/ https://rocketshipconsultants.com https://TheFloridaville.com

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Christine Phipps is the CEO of one of the fastest growing companies in the country, Phipps Reporting.  Learn how she grew her business with hard work and persistence.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Zachariah P. Zachariah MD is the current Chair of the Florida Board of Medicine.  He is a cardiologist who has spent his life serving his community.  He serves as a member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Nova Southeastern University, a member of the Council of 100, and numerous government and private sector boards.  

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Matt Rearden is an executive, attorney, speaker, husband and father. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Four Star Homes, Central Florida's largest manufactured home broker, where he focuses his efforts on strategic growth, marketing and business operations.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Matt Rearden is an executive, attorney, speaker, husband and father. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Four Star Homes, Central Florida's largest manufactured home broker, where he focuses his efforts on strategic growth, marketing and business operations. 

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Senator Loranne Ausley, a state legislator is newly elected in Florida District 3.  She has spent her career advocating on behalf of the people of North Florida.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Barney Bishop is a longtime advocate in Tallahassee with a history of entrepreneurship.  He is the past President of Associated Industries of Florida and has served on numerous boards and committees including the Florida A & M University Board of Trustees, City of Tallahassee Airport Advisory Committee, and the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. 

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Alysia Ross is the Director of Insights and Planning at Coke Florida,  the third largest privately held, and the sixth-largest independent, bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States.  

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Ana Maria Rodriguez is a Senator in the Florida Senate where she serves as Chair of the Finance & Tax Committee.  She represents the parts of Miami and all of the Florida Keys.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Joe Longo is the Executive Chef at the Frenchman's Reserve, a private and exclusive club in Palm Beach Gardens. His love of cooking started around his family's kitchen table growing up.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Alma Kadragic, Ph.D., is a media expert.  She runs a global media company, Alcat Communications and works with Nperspectives CFO & Strategic Services.  She worked as a Bureau Chief for ABC News in Warsaw and was a university professor in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Nuno Fernandes is bringing innovation to higher education.  He is the Chief Executive Officer of Ilumno, a company helping to expand affordable and high-quality education across Latin America and the globe.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Robert Furniss Roe who is bringing innovation to craft liquors.  He is the Chief Operating Officer of Samson & Surrey, which holds a portfolio of independent premium craft spirits. He is no stranger to the world of alcohol beverages.  For years, he headed up Bacardi North America.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Dori Foster-Morales is not only the President of The Florida Bar, but she is a board-certified attorney in marital and family law with a successful law firm in Miami.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Kristie Harris is the Associate Vice President of Financial Affairs at the University of Central Florida.  She tells us what she has had to do as a leader to rebuild the relationships within her organization and outside the university campus. She shares with us some fond memories from her childhood and how her career began at the kitchen table with her dad.  She also tells us what is on the horizon for higher education.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Kollet Hardeman is a self-taught artist who is known for celebrity drawings and dramatic renderings of fish and animals.  But, she is probably best known for her murals.  In Tallahassee alone, there are about 70 pieces of wall-art scattered throughout the city. Kollet's strong personality is reflected in her bold art. 

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Heather Geronemus is a public relations expert for Ultimate Software, a technology firm in South Florida that has ranked on Fortune Magazine's Top 100 Companies to Work For list for nine consecutive years.  She is also very involved with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).  She will serve as the Chair of the National Board of Directors for MADD this year and will once again Chair the Walk like MADD and MADD Dash Ft. Lauderdale fundraiser that she started. 

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Jared Graybeal is an entrepreneur from the First Coast of Florida.  Jared owns and operates a meal prep company and a business consulting and marketing agency.  He also has a successful podcast and is considered a leader in fitness.  We learn how he balances his physical health with his professional responsibilities.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Juana Watkins worked her way to the top of Florida's largest trade association, the Florida Realtors.  She is the granddaughter of a sharecropper, a public-service minded attorney, and mother to two incredible children, one of whom has autism.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Mike McCann has never backed down from a challenge.  The endurance and focus he learned on the football field as a player growing up has translated to his successful furniture business in Jacksonville.  Today his furniture company is not only selling great home furnishings but helping the First Coast community of Florida.

The Floridaville Get to Know the People Behind the Florida Names You Know Michael Patterson is the CEO of U.S. Cannabis Pharmaceutical Research and Development.  His global cannabis company consults and partners within all aspects of the industry including R&D, international trade, licensing, and cultivation.  From his beginnings in the field of occupational therapy and nursing home administration to his life now as an international speaker and expert on marijuana, hemp, and CBD, Michael Patterson is proof that you never know where you are going to end up.

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know Juliana Tafur is a documentary director, content consultant for Discovery Networks, and founder of Orkidea Films. She's also managing partner for Story Powerhouse, an incubator for the development of programs with societal impact, including LIST(e)N, a documentary feature just released. Juliana is passionate about using film to ignite change about some of the most pressing issues of our time. She tells us what it is like to run a production company and shares with us her family's journey to the United States. 

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know Accomplished Author and University of Florida Law Professor Stacey Steinberg has spent most of her professional life working on children's issues.  As the supervisor of the Gator TeamChild Juvenile Law Clinic, she represents abused and neglected children in court alongside her students.  Her research focuses on "sharenting", striking the right balance between a parent's right to engage in online communities and respecting a child's privacy and safety.  Her work has been featured in the New York Times, JAMA Pediatrics, the Huffington Post, and most frequently at On Parenting from The Washington Post.  Her new book, Growing Up Shared,  outlines what parents should and should not feel comfortable sharing online, while providing suggestions and ideas for a wide range of approaches. 

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know State Representative Emily Slosberg is a member of the Florida Legislature representing the state's 91st House district in Palm Beach County, which includes the cities of Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, and Delray Beach.  She was born a twin and grew up in a loving family.  When she was 14 years old, she was in a horrific car accident that took the lives of her twin sister and friends.  To honor her sister and friends, she focuses her work on motorist safety.  The road from tragedy is not an easy road but Rep. Slosberg reminds us all to be patient with ourselves and supportive of others going through it.      

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know State Representative Chip LaMarca is a member of the Florida Legislature representing the state's 93rd House district in Broward County, which includes the cities of Lighthouse Point, Pompano Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.  He was born in Massachusetts but grew up on the beaches of South Florida.  He walked away from a career in symphonic percussion to pursue a career in information systems and consulting.  

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know State Representative Spencer Roach is a member of the Florida Legislature representing the state's 79th House district, which includes part of Lee County.   He is a native of Louisiana and a veteran of the United States Coast Guard, where he served as a judge advocate general.  He is a foster parent, scuba diver, and world traveler.

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know Dr. Alex Aller is a cancer researcher.  For Dr. Aller, his work is personal because cancer has taken the lives of his loved ones.  He is a self-proclaimed optimist that thinks cancer can be a manageable disease in the future through our improved understanding of the immune system.  Listen to how this former yacht charter captain is now working on the cutting edge of science.

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know Dr. Susan Fiorito is at the Dean of the newly created Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at Florida State University.  This is the first such college focusing on entrepreneurship at a public university.  Dean Fiorito has worked in education for almost her entire career.  She is now a unversity leader. On this episode we talk to her about her many roles in academia, her former retail business, and how she got her start in a high school classroom in South Florida.  

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know Secretary Simone Marstiller is at the head of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.  Secretary Marstiller has been serving the citizens of Florida for almost her entire career and has worked for multiple governors. On this episode we talk to her about her many roles in government from Govenor Bush's attorney to Judge on the First District Court of Appeal.  

The Floridaville: Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know Representative Robert "Alex" Andrade is a member of the Florida legislature.  He represents the state's 2nd House district, which includes parts of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.  He is an attorney, loves rap music, and has a charity that provides bicycles to kids in need. 

The Floridaville Podcast Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know. Each episode of The Floridaville will tell the life story of business leaders, political insiders, government officials, and other Floridians making our state shine.

The Floridaville Podcast Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know. In this episode of The Floridaville, we meet the General Counsel to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Steven Hall.  He was born and raised on his family's farm in the panhandle.  Now General Counsel Hall and his team are at the forefront of the hemp program in Florida, an industry anticipated to bring in billions of dollars to the Sunshine State.