• Alternate Text

  • Loading

  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Public Notices
  • 40 Under 40 Nomination
  • Mobile App
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • News
  • Strategies
  • Entrepreneurs
  • M&A
  • Leadership
  • Regions
    • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    • Manatee-Sarasota
    • Charlotte-Lee-Collier
    • Florida
  • Industries
    • Business Support
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Residential Real Estate
    • Development
    • Finance
    • Food-Beverage
    • Health Care
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail
    • Sports–Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Travel-Tourism
  • Insights
  • More
    • Advice
    • Transactions
    • 40 Under 40
    • Big Book of Business
    • Subscribe
    • Opinion
    • Executive Diversions
    • Change-Makers
    • Reprints
  • News
  • Strategies
  • Entrepreneurs
  • M&A
  • Leadership
  • Regions
    • Regions
    • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    • Manatee-Sarasota
    • Charlotte-Lee-Collier
    • Florida
  • Industries
    • Industries
    • Business Support
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Residential Real Estate
    • Development
    • Finance
    • Food-Beverage
    • Health Care
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail
    • Sports–Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Travel-Tourism
  • Insights
  • More
    • More
    • Advice
    • Transactions
    • 40 Under 40
    • Big Book of Business
    • Subscribe
    • Opinion
    • Executive Diversions
    • Change-Makers
    • Reprints
  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Public Notices
  • 40 Under 40 Nomination
  • Mobile App
  • Subscribe
  • Login

Executive Diversions

    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • January 10, 2024
Nonprofit mental health CFO finds escape playing ice hockey

Competition, constant improvement and camaraderie drive Ronne Apicella’s passion for a sport played on something decidedly un-Florida: a sheet of ice.

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Jim Stinson
  • January 10, 2024
Bank president accomplishes life goal: Learning to fly planes

Brandon Box gets away from it all by heading into the clouds.

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • January 9, 2024
CEO steps out of her comfort zone in teaching aerobics

Heather Plampin, the president and CEO of vacation rental company The Cottages on the Key, gets her non-work kicks out of teaching an intense group fitness class.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
    By
  • Brian Hartz
  • January 9, 2024
Ad agency CEO says running makes her a better, more confident leader

Advertising executive Christine Turner started running in college to relieve stress. Now she’s conquering racecourses across the country, including mountainous trail runs.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    By
  • Jim Stinson
  • January 8, 2024
Commercial real estate exec doubles as 7-time perfect game bowler

Tampa Bay real estate VP Melissa Riccardi gets away from it all by rolling strikes.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    By
  • Brian Hartz
  • January 8, 2024
Condo developer keeps the beat playing drums in a rock band

For St. Petersburg real estate developer Fred Hemmer, age is just a number as he pursues his rock ’n’ roll fantasies behind a drum kit.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • October 30, 2023
Wanted: Your coolest hobbies, pastimes and diversions

Be a part of the Business Observer's DIversions issue.

  • Florida
  • By Brian Hartz
  • January 12, 2023
Naples attorney embraces nation's fastest-growing sport

Largely self-taught, Jim Nici has won a slew of medals at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships.

  • Executive Diversions
  • By Louis Llovio
  • January 12, 2023
Medicine man by day, rockstar by night

Dr. Patrick Hwu runs the Moffitt Cancer Center as he continues to practice medicine and study immunotherapy treatments. Oh, and he plays a mean keyboard in a rock and roll band, too.

  • Executive Diversions
    By
  • Brian Hartz
  • January 11, 2023
Social media marketing whiz moonlights as professional indoor soccer player

Chris Frederick had unfinished business in the sport he loves — soccer. So he rededicated himself to it, albeit in a different form.

  • Executive Diversions
  • By Mark Gordon
  • January 11, 2023
Surgeon’s passion is to jump out of planes — with a parachute, of course

Dr. Jennifer Bocker has performed somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 jumps.

  • Executive Diversions
  • By Brian Hartz
  • January 11, 2023
Entrepreneur uses brief sports career as basis for fashion business

Paola Bedin, a designer of athletic apparel, continues to pursue her greatest passion: high-performance cycling.

  • Executive Diversions
    By
  • Amanda Postma
  • January 10, 2023
Trust company executive finds opportunity during pandemic

Instead of sitting around waiting for places to open in 2020, Kelly Caldwell became a pilot.

  • Executive Diversions
    By
  • Amanda Postma
  • January 10, 2023
Bank executive brings lobster tails to the table

Gerri Moll discovered lobstering 30 years ago. Since then, she hasn't missed a mini-season.

  • Executive Diversions
    By
  • Amanda Postma
  • January 10, 2023
Financial consultant partner taps into lesser-known Florida resource

Timothy Cartwright has visited 31 springs in the state. He doesn't plan on stopping any time soon.

  • Executive Diversions
« 1 2 3 4 5 6 »
The best of Business Observer, delivered directly to your inbox

Get the latest business and commecial real estate news from Tampa Bay to Naples.

Sign Up

Latest News

1
  • December 4, 2025
450-unit Nokomis apartment complex opens near Legacy Trail
2
  • December 4, 2025
Developer proposes Tampa's tallest building: 70 stories at $650 million
3
  • December 4, 2025
Airline adds flight from Fort Myers to upstate New York
4
  • December 4, 2025
50-year-old Tampa education-tech firm receives $350M investment
5
  • December 3, 2025
'Distressed' Tampa office building sells for $40M in short sale

Contact

  • 1970 Main St.
  • Third Floor
  • Sarasota, FL 34236
  • Phone: 941-362-4848

Extra, Extra!

  • Newsletters
  • App
  • Podcast
  • Big Book of Business

more

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Distribution Points
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Accessibility Options

sister sites

  • Your Observer
  • Jax Daily Record
  • Orange Observer
  • Accessibility Options
  • Copyright © 2025 Observer Media Group Inc., All Rights Reserved
×
3 Articles Remaining!
Not a Subscriber?

Click here to Subscribe

Already a Subscriber?

Click here to Login

Sign Up for Daily Brief

Start your day with the top Gulf Coast business news you need to succeed.

Sign Up for CRE Central

Stay updated with a weekly roundup of big deals, market shifts and the people shaping commercial real estate from Tampa Bay to Naples.

Smart People Subscribe.

Turn headlines into game plans. The playbook’s right here.
Subscribe to the Business Observer today.

Subscribe Now