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manifests. I grew up w ith a sense of giving back to the community in ver y significant ways. I have always had that example of people around me who were giving back . It's just a part of my psyche. It's where my true north is set and I tr y to do the same w ith my children. I always grew up with the idea to pay back the advantages I was given. It's so important in life. I think parents today aren't instilling those things as much as maybe ours were. It's critical as we kind of shepherd these children. I see them as souls who chose us for whatever reason to fulfill their purpose in this walk through life. So we have to give them that same exposure that advantaged us so greatly. One of the reasons I wanted to feature you is because I am politically inclined. I've become very motivated to give a voice to women running for office. I have Left to right: Tomalin with her family: husband Terry and children Nia and Kai. Tomalin and Mayor Kriseman on the Mayor's Small Business Tour in downtown St. Pete. I grew up with a sense of giving back to the community in very significant ways…it's where my true north is set and I try to do the same with my children." no interest in running myself because I feel I can be much more powerful giving women a platform and a microphone. What kinds of rewards do you get from being in a position to fight the fight? I've been ver y fortunate in my career to have great ex posure and opportunit y as relates to women in senior positions. One of the things that drew me to Bay front was that Sue Brody was the long-time president of that health system. At the time she was one of the few women to rise to that rank in the nation. I was ver y young in my career and had the benefit of grow ing up in health care under her example and tutelage. It was an anomalous situation for sure because as a woman, she didn't have to be conv inced of the merits of the balance that comes w ith diversit y of thought and hav ing people representative of the communit y you ser ve around the table. At Bay front we fought ver y hard to have that balance and diversit y as it relates to all our demographics, and I think we were a ver y strong health system as a result. She was ver y w illing to let me tr y any thing , do any thing , learn any thing…so that was wonderf ul. It created a confidence that said you can do any thing. e only limit is the limit to which you subscribe yourself. ere is no limit being assigned you, even if people have some false parameter by which they believe you should remain. It was a great way to learn to be an executive—the empowerment that comes from being in an arena where you are ex pected to do awesome things. I just can't say enough to that. A nd now, I am work ing here as deput y mayor, second in command w ith a ver y progressive, v isionar y mayor who is awesome on another level. is is the cit y I was born and raised in. My children are the si x th generation of my family to call St. Pete home. My mom's father's father's mother's mother was here and would not have been able to imagine that one of her granddaughters could be in this role—maybe one of her grandsons, but not a granddaughter. A nd to be the first A frican-A merican woman to ever carr y this role. e significance of this is not lost on me for one second. A nd I k now that here in the South, in Florida, an entr y point for many immigrants, there are so many women who are in the stage of their family ancestr y where my 56 | GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com

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