Jen Rust, 34

When area business leaders and officials talk about brain drain, they usually mean people who leave Sarasota and Bradenton for the big cities, from Atlanta to Boston to Chicago.

Jen Rust drained in the reverse. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Rust grew up in one of those big cities, Atlanta. She got into real estate when she was 17, and even with a stop at college, Kennesaw State University, outside Atlanta, Rust built a strong real estate career in and around Atlanta in the 2000s. It was a booming time in real estate, and Rust’s career was thriving.