Presenting

FROM LEFT: Kelly at the 2016 Tampa Bay Business Journal's Business Woman of the Year Awards with fellow finalists Patty Hamilton and Jody Avery. Kelly and her staff at the Taste of South Tampa. RIGHT: Kelly with her husband, Jim. with siblings but I do have a stepsister and a whole lot of cousins who are ver y close, and family friends who are just like family. What do you think about the path forward? I know you have an interest in running for public office. As I said, one of my favorite things about work ing for the chamber has been the opportunity to participate as an advocate on behalf of the citizens and businesses here, so someday I would like to graduate from being an advocate to being a decision maker. I don't k now that it's in the immediate future, but I think it's one of those things that at some point I' ll see a need or have that calling for, so it's definitely something I have an interest in. I am researching and learning more about it right now as I k ind of find my way on specific issues and figure out what it is I want to stand for and where I can do the most. How many of your business owners are women? Within the chamber I would say it's a good split 50/50 from a membership perspective. I don't k now in terms of business ow nership, but one of the things I'm really proud of is that we make sure we have a good representation of men and women on our board. We had our first female board chair woman in 1974, so I like to think we are a bit more of a progressive organization in that aspect. Tampa in general has always been a bit more progressive—in government and in the university sector. Did you see that growing up, and do you have any great mentors who were female? Sandy Freedman was the mayor when I was grow ing up in Tampa, so it was great to see that t y pe of role model from a political standpoint. But number one and foremost was my mom. She was an entrepreneur, an av id volunteer and a g reat leader. I a lways joke that it's not that I can't be a team player, just that I a lways want to be the leader, and I thin k I learned that at home. My mom was a Girl Scout troop co-leader, helped out w ith the PTA , planned the carniva l at Christ the K ing. I g rew up watching my mom lead, so I thin k that's why I'm so passionate about it now. A nd then in the hospitality industr y I was ver y fortunate to work with a lot of great women. It tends to be an industr y where having females in management is a lile more prevalent. I had some great role models since I was coming up in that industr y. A nd then my predecessor at the chamber, Judy Gay, was a great mentor of mine even before she became my employer. I've been ver y fortunate in that aspect, that I've had amazing women surrounding me throughout my life and in different phases of my life. What do you see on the horizon for Tampa? Ta mpa is right on the cusp. We are a l ready g reat, but there are a lways th ings we can do better. Obv iously, a g reat transpor tation system wou ld be a huge added i mprovement for us, so as we're bring ing in new ta lent and cu ltivating new industries here in our cit y, we can continue to be competitive. I a lso th in k we rea l ly have to pay attention to these nex t generations of people who are com ing up, as baby boomers are retiring and the m i l lenn ia ls are coming into their ow n. ere's such a stereot y pe regarding millennials, but I have young women work ing for me who are amazing , and as one of their mentors, I hope they are learning from me as much as I'm learning from them ever y day. ey have so much drive, they are going to go so far. What can be done to help women entrepreneurs? I was surprised that 50% of your membership is female. We are a female-friendly city, which is helpful. Our elected officials are very supportive and there's a lot of great programming here. 34 | GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com

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