As social media emerged in the early 2000s, many top corporate executives and business leaders wrote it off as a passing trend. Frustrated by crisis management professionals’ hesitancy to embrace digital communications, Melissa Agnes saw an opportunity to serve a developing industry. Nearly 15 years later. Agnes is a leading voice on all things crisis management and communications. She joins SalterMitchell PR Founder and CEO April Salter to share her story and discuss today’s communications challenges.

When Kamaiu Johnson was spotted swinging a tree branch at golf balls that rolled astray near his grandmother’s house, onlookers could see that the teen was a natural talent. Although the odds were stacked against him, the middle school dropout from a single-parent home had his life changed when City of Tallahassee Golf Course Manager Jan Auger bought him a bucket of golf balls and set him up at the driving range.

With the support of the community, Kamaiu worked tirelessly for a decade to earn a spot on the PGA tour. Now, he is one of the few black golfers at the professional level and he’s committed to giving back and making golf look “more like America.”

In this inspiring conversation with SalterMitchell PR Founder and CEO April Salter, Johnson shares stories from the fairway and explains why his journey in golf is so unique.

From his familial roots in law enforcement to his experience leading regional emergency management teams, Kevin Guthrie embodies the idea of a humble civil servant. So much so, in fact, that when he was selected to lead the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), it took days to track down the man who was simply referred to as “the local guy.”

Several years into leading the Division, Guthrie has settled into his role formulating the state’s response to natural and manmade disasters. From the Surfside condo collapse to the COVID-19 pandemic, Guthrie and FDEM lean on evolving technologies and the partnership of local, regional and state emergency response teams to coordinate responses in real time.

In this insightful conversation with SalterMitchell PR Founder and CEO April Salter, Guthrie shares how his experiences in law enforcement and local government led him to become the state’s top emergency response official.

Yolanda Cash Jackson may be Florida Trend’s latest Floridian of the Year, but the self-described “girl from Liberty City” has been making her mark as a lobbyist for over two decades.

In her compelling conversation with SalterMitchell PR President and Partner Heidi Otway, Jackson shares her story of growing up in South Florida and pivoting to a lobbying career in her late-twenties. They also discuss Jackson’s notable achievements, such as spearheading the effort to install a sculpture of Mary McLeod Bethune — founder of Bethune-Cookman University — in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol and securing record funding for Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Harris Rosen has made a name for himself as Florida’s largest independent hotelier. A self-made millionaire, Rosen is president and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts. But, he would have never pursued a career in hospitality had it not been for a chance encounter with Marilyn Monroe as a child.

Not just a hotelier, Rosen is a visionary businessman whose ventures include an in-house healthcare company and extensive philanthropic work, ranging from early childhood education and cancer research initiatives, to his storied ‘adoption’ of the Tangelo Park neighborhood in Orlando.

Growing up in Tampa in the era of Title IX, Mayor Jane Castor stood out from the crowd – literally. She sprouted to over six-feet tall by the second grade.

The first in her family to attend college, a full athletic scholarship allowed her to pursue a criminal justice degree at the University of Tampa. Meanwhile, a federal spending freeze rerouted her ambitions from the Secret Service to the Tampa Police Department, where she became the first openly gay woman to serve as chief.

After more than 30 years of serving and protecting, she turned her attention to leading the city and was elected the 59th Mayor of Tampa. Today, she continues to serve the nation’s third-fastest growing city on issues ranging from affordable housing and public transportation, to economic and community development.

Florida Lottery Secretary John Davis joins SalterMitchell PR President Heidi Otway to discuss his journey from top-ranked high school recruit and star safety for the Florida State Seminoles to his current position leading the Florida Lottery.

Tune in to their conversation to hear Secretary Davis share stories of leadership from both on and off the field.

Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn was elected to lead the City of Tampa out of the Great Recession. His vision has helped transform the city into a place where people want to live, work, play and invest. Buckhorn joins SalterMitchell PR CEO and Founder April Salter to discuss the roots of his political DNA, his storied career in Tampa, and why he believes mayors can make the biggest impact on a city.

Miami-Dade College President Madeline Pumariega has had a courtside seat to the growth of the country’s largest public college. Listen to her conversation with SalterMitchell PR President Heidi Otway about the importance of basketball in her life, her journey to become a statewide leader in education, her former role as Chancellor of the Florida College System, and the vision she has for the future of Miami-Dade College.