- March 27, 2024
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The South Tampa Young Leaders & Executives, the networking organization for the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce, plans to drop from nearly 400 members to only 12, according to current chair Ignacio Torano.
Torano, a serial entrepreneur who is director of sales for College Hunks Hauling Junk, explains the drop is part of a renewed vision for STYLE. “We wanted to make sure every member wants to be involved and actively participates,” he says.
The application process has been changed to ensure every member comes in with a role in the organization. For example, the owner of a graphic design firm was tapped to redesign STYLE's logo. Dr. Jaime Kulaga, co-chair of STYLE and co-owner of Tampa-based College Foxes Cleaning, explains that this helps the organization and allows the members to showcase their products. “I would rather have 12 members who are engaged in the organization than 400 who come and go,” Kulaga says.
Kulaga says the organization doesn't want to be like similar clubs in Tampa. For instance, an upcoming networking event includes young business leaders performing improvisation at Stageworks Theatre in Tampa. She says STYLE is planning another event for 2012 that would be prom-themed. “It would be a throwback,” she says.
Despite this mission to stand out from other organizations, STYLE will partner with them as well. According to Kulaga, this is another aspect of the vision she and Torano implemented. It plans to hold an event with Business Buddies and Emerge Tampa at which John C. Maxwell, a best-selling author on leadership, will speak. By partnering with other clubs, members are exposed to even more networking opportunities.
STYLE plans to expand its membership to 100 during the next year, and in the process bring a more cooperative feel to the networking industry in Tampa Bay.
Says Kulaga: “We want to help our members and other professional organizations to make Tampa better.”