Chris Cate: Welcome to the Fluent in Floridian podcast, featuring the sunshine state's brightest leaders talking about the issues most important to the people of Florida, and its millions of weekly visitors. In this episode, created by SalterMitchell PR, our executive producer, Heidi Otway, the president of SalterMitchell PR, talks to hotelier, Harris Rosen.

In their conversation, they discussed how a childhood encounter with Marilyn Monroe led Rosen to the hospitality industry and his journey from buying his first hotel nearly 50 years ago to the network of successful businesses that he runs today. They also discuss his extensive philanthropic work, which ranges from early childhood education and cancer research to breaking the cycle of poverty in central Florida communities. Enjoy the show.

Heidi Otway: So, Mr. Rosen, thank you so much for being a guest on this Fluent in Floridian podcast. I am beyond thrilled to have you as a guest today.

Harris Rosen: Well, thank you so much.

Heidi Otway: So I want to start at the beginning and go back to your childhood. I mean, I think the way we're raised and what we experienced in childhood kind of shapes who we become as adults. So talk to me about your childhood and how you made your way to Florida.

Harris Rosen: You have a couple of hours?

Heidi Otway: I need to get the condensed version.

Harris Rosen: Well, I was born and raised in New York City's Lower East Side between the East River, Little Italy, the Bowery and Chinatown. Not exactly a gated community. My mom's family came from Austria Hungary. My dad's family came from, what is today, Ukraine.

Heidi Otway: Oh my.

Harris Rosen: And so many, many, many individuals from Eastern Europe, many individuals from Ireland and many from Italy lived on the Lower East Side. So it was really a very interesting neighborhood. The one thing that we did have was great food.

Heidi Otway: Oh, yeah, I can imagine.

Harris Rosen: I mean, Little Italy and Chinatown, and then Jewish delicatessen all over the place. So the one thing we had was a wonderful variety of food. Other than that, it was a nice neighborhood. We kept busy playing in the street, stick ball, punch ball, ring-a-levio, Johnny on the pony. And so those of us who lived there and played there didn't think anything about the neighborhood. We just had a wonderful time.

I went to elementary school outside of the neighborhood. My parents wanted me to go to a better school than existed in the neighborhood. I then went to high school. The high school I went to was the High School of Music and Art in the Bronx. It was a bit of a schlep from the Lower East Side to 135th Street in the Bronx.

But my dad worked at the Waldorf-Astoria. He was a signed painter. And here's a funny story that one day dad came to me, he said, "Harris, would you like to earn some money?" And I said, "Of course, dad." And he said, "Well, I've been asked to do place cards for fancy banquets.

But what I've discovered is that there's a lot of work, and I need your help." I said, "Of course, dad. You'll pay me?" He said, "Of course." And I said, "How much will you pay me?" He said, "Well, I'll give you a penny for every card you do." I said, "Dad, wait a second. You want me to give up stick ball and punch ball and ring-a-levio and Johnny and the pony and kick the can for three or four or five cents?"

He said, "No, no, no, no. It's not four or five cards. It's two or three or 400 cards. I said, "Dad, that sounds wonderful. How do we get the cards to the appropriate ballroom?" We take it there in boxes. So we would take the cards to the appropriate ballroom, and I'm telling you this story because this is an important part of my life.

One day we step into the elevator and there's a very tall, distinguished gentleman there with a very, very, very beautiful blonde lady. And I whispered to dad. I said, "Dad, can you introduce me to the lady?" Now, I was about 10 years old, 10, 11. And he said, "Of course." But first he introduced me to the gentleman. He said, "Harris, I'd like you to meet Joseph Kennedy, ambassador to Great Britain."

And I said, "No, dad, the lady." He said, "Okay, Harris, I'd like you to meet Marilyn Monroe."

Heidi Otway: Oh my God.

Harris Rosen: I know this is going to sound a little bit strange because this is many, many, many years ago, but when I close my eyes, I can still feel Marilyn's hug.

Heidi Otway: Oh my goodness, what a story.

Harris Rosen: And so why is this an important part of my life? So I went to High School of Music and Art, and dad and I were convinced that fine arts was what I should specialize in. I applied to all of the fine arts colleges, Pratt Cooper Union, et cetera. And I kept thinking, what if I don't have the talent that I need to have to be successful?

I don't have my dad's talent. I'm a good artist, but I'm concerned. And I expressed that to my dad. He said, "Well, what else might you want to do?" And I thought about Marilyn and the hotel business and meeting attractive ladies in the elevator. And I said, "What about the hotel business?" He said, "Really?" I said, "Yes, dad." He said, "Well, let's see if there's a college that teaches hotel management."

And we did an investigation and we discovered that Cornell University had a college of hospitality management. I applied, was accepted. Amazing. And so I went to Ithaca, Cornell for four years. Vietnam was heating up a little bit, so I just wanted to go to ROTC, and so I wouldn't be drafted. I would enter the Army as a second Lieutenant upon graduation, and that's what I did.

So upon graduation, I got my diploma and my lieutenant bars. And so I was headed to Fort Rucker in Alabama to go through training with three of my buddies. Unfortunately, about two or three weeks before we were scheduled to go, we were told that they were only going to take three, not four individuals.

And I instead went to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I headed to Korea and Germany and my friends headed to Vietnam, and that was it. I left the Army after three years and a couple of months and started my career at the Waldorf-Astoria, where dad worked.

And was on the Hilton Management Program and was sent to various Hilton properties throughout America. Got really wonderful, wonderful, wonderful training.

Worked for Disney for about two and a half years, was waiting for a pay raise, and I was hoping it would come soon. And I was called in by my boss's boss for a meeting, and I said, "My God, this is when I'm would've received a nice pay increase." Sat down with, oh my God, Bob Allen, his name just came to me and he said, "Harris, you've, you've done a nice job, but," I'm thinking, what's the but for?

Heidi Otway: Right, I'm thinking, too, what does but mean?

Harris Rosen: But he said, "We don't think you'll ever become a successful employee or successful senior employee at Disney." I didn't understand that. And I said, "I feel so badly. I thought I was going to get a raise." He said, "No, we just don't think that this is where you belong."

Heidi Otway: Aww.

Harris Rosen: So of course I was just devastated and I said, "I'm tired of moving from job to job. What I need to do is have my own." You may remember that many years ago in the early 1970s, there was an oil embargo. Orlando was in terrible shape. The hotels were bankrupt. No one could buy gas, and so no one was coming to Orlando.

I thought it would be a perfect time for me to buy a hotel very inexpensively and somehow survive until things got better. So I started driving around and discovered a beautiful little motel, which was right off Interstate four and right off International Drive, a perfect location. It was small, about 250 rooms.

And I drove there and walked into the lobby and asked if I could speak with the general manager. I was told, well, the general manager is no longer with us, but the owner is here. I said, "Gee, that's wonderful. Can I speak with him?" And she said, "Of course." Jim Morgan was his name. Boy, my memory is terrible and yet all of a sudden I'm remembering names.

Heidi Otway: Everything is there.

Harris Rosen: He shared with me his story that he knew nothing about the hotel business. He purchased the hotel as an investment, but with occupancies sometimes under 10%. He was losing revenue like crazy.

And he said, "Just let me have your phone number." And I gave him my phone number. About a week later, he called and he said, "We have a meeting scheduled with the lender. Hopefully things will work out." Well, when the lender looked at my resume, Cornell University, three and a half years as an officer in the Army, all of the experience I had with Hilton Hotels, managing my own property a very young age. He said, "Harris, we would love for you to own this property."

He said, "How much money do you have in the bank?" Well, in the military was able to save some money. And so I had about $20000 in the bank. And I said-

Heidi Otway: That's a lot back then.

Harris Rosen: Yes. I said, "I've got $20000." He said, "Okay, we have a deal. You give me the $20000 and all you have to do is assume the mortgage and you'll be the owner of the property." I didn't know what assuming a mortgage meant, but I shook his hand. In a very short period of time I was able to move into the hotel.

The room that I maintained as my apartment is a room that is now my office. I've been here for 48 years. Anyway, so I had an idea. I knew that people weren't able to purchase gas, but buses were because gas stations loved buses during good times and during bad times, they would provide them with opportunities that ordinary people didn't have.

So I hitchhiked to New York City because I knew that's where some of the largest motor coach companies were. And I met with the top people of three important motor coach companies. And I gave each of them a blank little business card, and I said, "You write on that card a room rate that you would like me to offer you, and I'll honor it for three years."

They said, "Anything?" You write a rate down. So the three companies I went to all wrote a rate down, and I said, "When I get back to Orlando, I'll send you a formal document." And they said, "Fine." 

Harris Rosen: The buses started to pour in so much so that our occupancy went from about nine or 10% to about 70, 80 and 90%. My hotel was so busy, my little motel was so busy that lenders were attracted to our little property and would come in and ask to speak with me and ask if I had an interest in purchasing another hotel. And I said, "No, I can't afford that."

So a group came and spoke with me and said, look, we've heard that you're doing so beautifully. Tell us how we can get you involved in a hotel. I said, "I'd be happy to manage it. What I would like is not to take any management fee, but for you to apply it against what you would sell the property for. And at the end of five years, if indeed I have paid off a significant amount of the debt, then I will buy it."

At the end of five years, I had no debt whatsoever. And so at the end of five years, I owned two hotels. And that was the beginning. That was the beginning. And here we are today with seven hotels, a little over 6500 rooms and no debt. And about 15, 20 years ago, I paid off all of our debt in all of our hotels, and I was able to survive Covid because our little company was debt free.

Heidi Otway: I watched this really amazing video that you did where you talk about just the discipline that you've adopted for your life, and I want to hear more about that and how the discipline that you've created for your life to swim every day, no matter what, and other things that you've done, how that's contributed to you as an individual and as an entrepreneur and successful businessman.

Harris Rosen: Well, I think the military helped. I won't say that I was terribly disciplined growing up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I will say that going through basic training at Fort Bragg, the home of the 82nd Airborne and serving overseas helped me learn that discipline was really incredibly important.

And then also having, I was an officer and having individuals who under my command demonstrated to me that it was really important also to teach discipline and to make sure that everyone understood how important it was. And so the military was very, very important to me.

Heidi Otway: So tell me about fatherhood for you, running your companies and growing your business.

Harris Rosen: I fell in love with a young lady, and I proposed to her and she said, "Yes." And she then asked me, "Where are we going to live?" And I said, "Oh, right in my little apartment." She said, "Where you work?" I said, "Yeah." And she said, "Of course not."

I said, "Well, that's my life." She said, "No, I'm not interested in that. We will live someplace else." I said, "Okay." And so we rented a little two bedroom apartment, and I moved there with Trish and got married and had three kids in three years.

It wasn't easy when Trisha and I are no longer married, but I think she might have a different opinion about me as a dad. But I thought, of course, I worked very, very hard. I also spent a lot of time with the kids. And during the summer we would take wonderful trips, and during the winter we would spend a week or a little bit more skiing.

And so I thought the kids had a wonderful life. Sadly and tragically, three or four years ago, I lost my son Adam to cancer, and it brought Shayna and Josh and Jack and me and Trish closer. But I don't know if my kids would say that I was a good dad and still a good dad, but I hope they would.

Heidi Otway: Good. Let's talk about your philanthropy. I've seen some dynamic photographs of you sitting in a classroom with little kids and the joy on your face, literally, I mean, it just made my heart swell. So tell me about your philanthropy and the work that you're doing in the Orlando area, especially when it comes to early childhood education. Let's talk about that.

Harris Rosen: So sitting at my desk here in the office, about 30 years ago, I heard a voice. It said, "Harris, you've been blessed beyond anything you could have imagined. Look at how successful you are. And now I think it's time for you to offer a helping hand to those in need."

So I called a couple of my friends, Bill Spoon and Sarah Segel. Bill, the principal of a high school and Sarah, an early childhood expert.

Within a very short period of time, we created what is now referred to as the Tangelo Park Program. It was not only college scholarships, but it was preschool paid completely. And then it was working with the youngsters and working with their parents and making sure that they graduated from high school.

When they graduated from high school, if they were accepted to college, if they're accepted to community college or a trade school, I would pay for everything. And so I said, "Now I have to find a neighborhood." So I called a friend of mine at Orange County, Mabel Butler, and she said, "Harris, I'll be right over." I said, "For what?" I want to take you to a neighborhood.

And she came over and drove me to Tangelo Park. It was scary because deputies were all over the place and we were escorted onto the development. And while there, Mabel introduced me to Bob Allen, who was the principal of the Tangelo Park Elementary school.

I shared with him my idea, free preschool, and then work with the youngsters and their parents to make sure they graduate from high school and then they're accepted to college or trade school or community college, I pay everything. He said, "Wow, and you'll do it here for Tangelo Park?" I said, "Yes.”

He said, "Would you mind meeting with the neighbors?" I said, "I'd be happy to." And so he set up an appointment with me to meet with the neighborhood association, and I shared with them my plans, but I didn't get the response that I was hoping for.

Heidi Otway: I was going to ask, what was the response? Were they like, are you out of your mind?

Harris Rosen: So I gathered that they thought that I would start with preschool, and then if they had a youngster ready for college, he or she would not be able to receive anything because it was the little kindergartners that would have to grow up. And I said, "Let me make something very clear. If you have a child graduating from high school and he or she is accepted to college, I will ..." and the place went crazy.

Heidi Otway: Oh my goodness.

Harris Rosen: We sent hundreds and hundreds of kids to college. The program has been amazingly successful. Crime in the neighborhood, which was a problem, down 80%. I met with the sheriff a few years ago at an event, and he came over. He said, "Harris," I said, "Yes, sir?" He said, "I just want to let you know that we now refer to Tangelo Park as a quiet oasis. There's less crime there than there is in some of the most affluent gated communities."

Well, it was about six years ago that we decided to adopt another neighborhood. And so we have adopted the Paramore neighborhood, and we have the same program there. And then recently friends in the hospitality industry came to me and they said, "We want to start a program." So they adopted Eatonville.

And then another group in Fort Wayne, Indiana came and visited and they fell in love with what we're doing. And they said they would like to adopt an underserved community in Fort Wayne, Indiana. My dream though, and it won't happen in my lifetime, is that every underserved community in America will one day have a Tangelo Park Program, free preschool, free college.

And when that happens, we won't recognize America. Every youngster living in America in an underserved community or affluent community will have an opportunity to go to college. What, vocational school? And that's so important. So that's where we are. And we're so incredibly delighted at the success that Tangelo and Parramore have had. We, of course, have done other things. We built the Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

Heidi Otway: I heard it's like number one in the country and number two in the world.

Harris Rosen: Heidi, where are you getting all of this great information? It is. The Rosen College of Hospitality Management is now ranked number one in America and the top hospitality college and number two in the world.

Chris Cate: The Fluent in Floridian podcast is brought to you by SalterMitchell PR, a communications consultancy focused on helping good causes win. We provide strategic insight and guidance to organizations seeking to make an impact in the nation's third most populous state. Learn more at snprflorida.com. Now back to Salter Mitchell PR president, Heidi Otway's interview with hotelier, Harris Rosen.

Heidi Otway: So what prompted you to start the Rosen College of Hospitality? Was it so that you could train up the next generation of hoteliers and people working in this, one of the top industries in Florida, which totally makes sense? Tell me more about that.

Harris Rosen: No, it wasn't that at all. I received a phone call from Dr. Bazam, who was at that point, the dean of the Hospitality College at the University of Central Florida. But he called me one day. He said, "Harris, I'm leaving." I said, "Why Abe?" He said, "We don't have our own classrooms. We're treated very poorly. This school is not going to be what I dreamt it would be. It's terrible. The kids aren't getting the kind of education I would like."

I said, "Abe, you can't leave. You're too important. Let's have lunch together and let's talk about it." We did. And I said, "Abe, would you stay if I promised to build you a college?" He said, "You're kidding." I said, "No, I'm not kidding." He said, 'You'll do that?" I said, "Yes." You'll help us design it and my guys will put it together and build it.

He said, "Okay, that's a deal." I shook his hand, and within a relatively short period of time, because I had acquired 255 acres and on that acreage, I had some additional space available. And so we did Shingle Creek Resort, which is a huge resort.

Heidi Otway: It's beautiful. I stayed there before. I love it. One of my favorites.

Harris Rosen: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. And then we decided to put our little Rosen College there, and that has grown and grown and grown, and now we have close to 4000 students there. And as you mentioned, we're now ranked number one in America and number two in the world.

Heidi Otway: Mr. Rosen, we've talked a lot about the growth of your hotels, your philanthropy, and all of your other business dealings, but there's one that's really special to you and that's RosenCare, which I find quite remarkable. Can you tell our listeners about RosenCare and how it came about?

Harris Rosen: Well, so we started at a little company about 48 years ago and about maybe 31, 32 years ago we were growing, adding more hotels, more rooms, had a lot of associates, and I was beginning to feel a little bit uneasy about our healthcare costs.

We didn't seem to have any control over them at all. So I thought what I would do is focus laser-like on our healthcare costs to see if I was able to reduce them by doing something that I thought was rather simple, keeping our associates healthy.

So I sat down with some of our folks and we created a program to work with our associates and encourage them to exercise, encourage them to stop smoking, not to do any drugs that were inappropriate, to eat properly and working diligently, we thought that only good things would happen. And indeed, at the end of that year, we believed our healthcare costs had substantially declined.

So I was very eager to hear from our health insurance people to find out how significant the decline was. It took a while to get the right person, but finally I did. And I indicated what the reason I was calling. I said, "We work diligently to get our folks healthy, and we are convinced that our costs have declined a bit."

He said, "Well, let me check." I waited with baited-breath. He said, "No, your costs are up about 30%." I said, "What? That's crazy."

Heidi Otway: It is. What happened?

Harris Rosen: He said, "Well, it wasn't you necessarily, it was the group you're in." I said, "What group? I don't have any group." He said, "No, we put everyone in with a group." I said, "I don't want to be with a group. Don't do that anymore."

He said, "You don't have a choice." I said, "Well, then I'm going to leave." He said, "Goodbye." Oh my God. And now here I was with no health insurance for all of my associates.

Heidi Otway: Oh my goodness. 

Harris Rosen: Called my top guys and gals together, and I said, "I messed up so badly." They said, "No, you didn't mess up. Maybe we bumped into something that's really interesting." So at that moment, we had an accounting building and we had outgrown it, and we were thinking seriously of converting it into a little daycare for our associates.

We could accommodate probably around 20, 25 children. And something occurred to me. I said, "No, we can do something better with that space". And they said, "What?" Let's have our own little medical clinic. Let's have our own doctor. Let's take care of our associates.

They said, "To God, that's a great idea." So I said, "Let's look for a wonderful physician." We found one, a lady physician. She had a nurse practitioner and an admin, and we set up the little facility as our little medical center, and we were so proud.

Now, my guy said, "What are you going to do about all of the other stuff?" I said, "What other stuff?" You need insurance? I said, "I do?" Yes, you need insurance. I said, "Well, I don't want to find an insurance company. Let's keep everything in house." Well, then we have to create our own insurance company.

I said, "Let's do it." So we created our own insurance company called RosenSure. They said, "Well, you've got insurance, you've got your medical center. What about all of the specialists? What about the hospitals?" I said, "What about it?" Well, you have to talk to people about it, Rosen. I said, "Okay, let's talk."

So we started making the rounds of specialists, and we negotiated with them and got the best specialists at the best rate. And what about hospital? Well do the same thing. So we spoke with some of the local hospitals here in town. We did the same thing. We created a wonderful environment for our associates, and we were offered special rates if we would use them exclusively. And that became what is now known today as RosenCare.

Heidi Otway: That's amazing.

Harris Rosen: We have our own insurance company. We work with hospitals diligently. We have specialists who we work with, and our cost per individual, they refer to it as cost per covered life, over the last 31, 32 years is a fraction of what the cost per covered life is nationwide.

So we have saved over $500 million in the 30 years since we started our own healthcare program, which we refer to as RosenCare. So now what's happening? People are hearing about RosenCare, hearing about the savings, hearing about how happy our associates are. Look, if you work for Rosen and you have a prescription, 90 to 95% of those prescriptions are free.

Heidi Otway: Wow.

Harris Rosen: You go to Walmart and pick them up and they're free. You show your little Rosen card. If you work for Rosen and you're in the hospital, the most you will pay is $750. Twice after that, you don't pay anything. Here's a wonderful example. About five years ago, I got word that one of our associates was having a baby prematurely.

Of course, you went to the hospital. Mom and baby were in the hospital for a while. The bill was $1,041,000. Mom and dad paid $750. That's what RosenCare is all about.

Heidi Otway: Wow.

Harris Rosen: Our associates have got probably one of the finest healthcare plans in the United States of America. And it has meant, amongst many other things that our turnover is probably the lowest in the hospitality industry anywhere, because people know that God forbid if they become ill, they will be treated like no other company in America will treat them.

And that has been a huge advantage for us. People stay with us 15, 20, 25, 30 years because they love the company. They love our healthcare program, and we're so proud of that. So it's not complicated, and we've created the template so others can replicate it.

And our hope and our prayer is that one day, the United States of America, all public service, all public companies, all private companies will have a RosenCare program.

We computed based on our own savings, if that happened and is about 250 million people, the United States of America would save in healthcare costs very, very close to two and a half, to $3 trillion.

Heidi Otway: Oh my goodness.

Harris Rosen: The problem is that people are a little bit reticent about hopping on board something they don't know much about. We did it 32 years ago. They can do it now knowing that we have all of this experience and can show them the data so they can feel comfortable.

Heidi Otway: Has anyone come to you though about wanting to know more? I mean, this is remarkable.

Harris Rosen: Yes. We're getting calls and visits all the time now. And so we are expanding our RosenSure insurance company. We recently have undertaken a large entity in the public sector, and in two years, listen to this, in two years, we have saved them $40 million.

Heidi Otway: Wow.

Harris Rosen: So we're ready, ready to help anyone that wants help, that's RosenCare.

Heidi Otway: Remarkable, remarkable. Mr. Rosen, you're a very visionary person. What's your next step? What's next for you? You're young. What's next?

Harris Rosen: Staying alive for another five or six years, I guess. No, I'm 83 years old now, and so I'm still working. In fact, I don't think I've had a day off in two years because during Covid, I wanted to be easily accessible, and now things are getting better, but I'm kind of used to coming in on Saturdays and Sundays, and so I continue to work like a fool, but I'm enjoying it.

I am a swimmer. I do between a mile and a mile and a quarter, five days a week. And on weekends I do long walks and I'm trying to keep as healthy as I can. But yes, age is creeping up on me slowly but surely.

Heidi Otway: I'd like to ask you four questions before we end this conversation, and I'm going to get started with the first one. What's a Florida person, place, or thing that deserves more attention than it currently gets?

Harris Rosen: What deserves more attention than it's getting is the Tangelo Park, Paramore program, because it would have such an incredibly beneficial effect on all of those folks that may believe that college is out of reach.

But this is something that a very, very wealthy individual would be able to do, and the benefits would be so enormous to provide young people living in underserved communities, opportunities that at this moment, they don't have.

Heidi Otway: Well, I hope someone who's very wealthy listening to this will take heed to that and give you a call. That would be-

Harris Rosen: Me too, Heidi. Me too.

Heidi Otway: Where is your favorite Florida place to visit?

Harris Rosen: Oh, about I guess maybe 15 years ago, maybe more, maybe 20 years ago, I was at Cocoa Beach and doing my long swims there, and I fell in love with it and bought a little condo. And we've had the condo ever since then. And the kids, when they were small, had such a wonderful time at the Beach, boogie boarding and surf board and crabbing and oh, it was just so wonderful.

And we still have the condo, and I don't go there very often now, but the family does. And Cocoa Beach is my favorite place.

Heidi Otway: Oh, I love to hear that. Who is a Florida leader from the past or present who inspires you?

Harris Rosen: I don't know. I don't pay a lot of attention, and I'm not actively involved in politics. I guess, governor Graham was a good governor and I respect him, but I don't enjoy politics and I don't understand politics. I've always believed in just trying to do the right thing.

Heidi Otway: That's right. That's right. So are you a sports guy and do you have a favorite Florida sports team?

Harris Rosen: Well, when I was growing up, of course, the Brooklyn Dodgers. I would beg my mom and dad to let me watch it on television and listen to it on radio. But I'm so busy with so many other things. I do enjoy watching sports. I enjoy watching swimming and track and field, but I don't really have a professional team.

Heidi Otway: Well, Mr. Rosen, it has been a delight to speak with you. I feel honored to have had this conversation with you, and I want to thank you for being a guest on our Fluent in Floridian podcast. Thank you so much.

Harris Rosen: Heidi, God bless you, and thank you so much.

Heidi Otway: Thank you.

Chris Cate: Thanks for listening to the Fluent in Floridian podcast. This show is executive produced by April Salter with additional support provided by Heidi Otway and the team at SalterMitchell PR. If you need help telling your Florida story, SalterMitchell PR has you covered by offering issues management, crisis communications, social media, advocacy, and media relations assistance.

You can learn more about SalterMitchell PR smprflorida.com. You can also learn more about the Fluent in Floridian podcast and listen to every episode of the show at fluentandfloridian.com, or by searching for the show using their favorite podcast app. Have a great day.