- November 6, 2025
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Jake Halusic was just getting settled into a banking career when he decided to approach prominent Tampa tech entrepreneur Tony DiBenedetto about becoming an investor. Not in the bank, but Halusic, a recent University of Tampa graduate, was mulling a software startup idea.
Halusic never got around to showing DiBenedetto his business plan that day. But DiBenedetto liked Halusic’s drive and spirit, and offered him a sales job at the company he had founded, Tribridge. The pair developed a friendship, with DiBenedetto also becoming a key mentor for Halusic.
The lessons Halusic, who went on to launch his own software company, Trofeo, learned from DiBenedetto range from philosophical to practical and include to be where your feet are; be a giver; and when you get the answer you want, get out of the room.
That kind of mentor-mentee relationship forms the backbone of the Business Observer’s annual 40 Under 40 issue of young business leaders across the region. The idea? From grandparents and spouses to friends and colleagues — and sometimes bosses — when someone has success in life and business, it rarely happens alone.
The core part of the 40 Under 40 issue, which we’ve published every year since 2003, is, of course, the winners. The 2025 class of winners, from Lakeland to Naples, are a diverse, diligent and driven group. (Some 35% of the winners chose the word driven as one of three words they would use to describe themselves.) They range in age from 22 to 39, and span real estate, tourism, health care, technology, banking, insurance and other industries. About half have started their own businesses or nonprofits.
One question comes up often for this issue: What do we look for in choosing the 40 Under 40 winners? Some parts are obvious: accomplishments, success and results matter. But we also look for the people who take risks, start and grow companies. People who overcome and go through obstacles and hardships. People willing to make gusty decisions with high stakes. And the people, who, when you are now in town, are go-to leaders you have to meet.
April Miller, a vice president and treasury services manager at St. Petersburg-based BayFirst National Bank embodies many of those attributes. She started her banking career as a teller and worked her way up to now a senior-level role at the $1.34 billion asset bank. Along the way she has overcome several life obstacles, something she attributes mostly to her mentor, her mother Robin Turner.
Miller says her mom “always encouraged me to be great. My entire life, she would say: 'You can use the fact that your dad wasn't around to seek pity or sympathy, or you can use the fact that you're smart, driven and kind to succeed.' I chose the latter."
