Chris Cate: Welcome to the Fluent 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. I'm your host, Chris Cate. In this episode, created by Salter Mitchell PR, I talk to Florida State Senator Denise Grimsley. In our conversation, we talk about growing up in rural Florida, working in healthcare, and about taking over her family's business. We also discuss how running a business prepared her to be a state legislator, and what it's been like to serve her community. I also ask her about her current campaign for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. You can hear it all right now.

Senator Grimsley, thanks so much for being on the show. You're a fifth generation Floridian with roots in rural Florida. Can you share a little bit about what it was like for you growing up and how your hometown influenced you?

Denise Grimsley: I grew up in Hardee County. It's a small county, about 28000 in population. I specifically grew up in the suburbs of Zolfo Springs, which ... actually, where I grew up is where I am now, the very same piece of property. We have about 350 acres of citrus, 100 acres of cattle. We have a small cow/calf operation. Growing up there, at the end of a dirt road, I couldn't think of a better place. My grandfather taught me how to drive a car out there. No neighbors to speak of, lot of one-on-one time with the animals and the land.

‍Chris Cate: I know your parents and grandparents had a family business while you were growing up. But, taking that over wasn't initially part of your plan. You were volunteering at a hospital in high school, is that right? 

Denise Grimsley: I was a candy striper when I was 15 in a little hospital, Hardee Memorial, and then ultimately decided I wanted to be a registered nurse. Went to school at Polk Community College, Polk State College now. Graduated from nursing, went back to that same hospital and worked from the end of the '70s until 1993. 

Chris Cate: That is a long time to spend in healthcare before you ultimately do end up taking over the family business. Can you kind of walk through that process of the events that led you to make that change?

Denise Grimsley: I worked 17 years as a nurse. When I left Hardee Memorial at 1993, I worked at Polk Community Hospital for awhile, Bartow Community Hospital. Then, I went to work for Adventist Health Systems. I was an operating room nurse manager for Florida Hospital in Highlands County. 

In 1996, my dad got sick. He was out of work for about 18 months. I have no brothers or sisters. I left my job as a nurse to run his business. I did that for 10 years. We were a petroleum distributor. The name of our company was Grimsley Oil Company. Had 10 convenient stores. I was kind of forced then to sink or swim. I decided to go back to school. I first went back to Warner Southern College, now Warner University. Got a degree in organizational management. I did that on every Thursday night and one Saturday a month for ... I don't know ... about 18 months, I guess. Then I went on to University of Miami for 95 Saturdays to get an MBA. I needed those tools to equip me to run that company. We had 75 employees that were depending on us. 

Chris Cate: Tell me a little bit more about ... What was that learning curve like of working at a hospital, but then, now, you're kinda the CEO running a business? 

Denise Grimsley: Pretty steep. Like I said, it was sink or swim. I got involved in our association, which was the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association. Started coming to Tallahassee dealing with the legislature, dealing with regulatory agencies, and quite frankly, I wasn't very happy with what I found. I didn't find either to be responsive to the business owner in Florida. 

Chris Cate: I read that your experience running a business is kind of what made you want to run for office. Was there one incident, or anything in particular that made you think that you gotta kinda step up on do something to cut regulations and help businesses like yours?

Denise Grimsley: There were several things. Actually, in the legislative process, it was how I got treated by representatives. When I would go in and talk to them about our issue, I had a couple of them that, the one gentleman, I remember very distinctly, the whole time I'm talking to him about our issue, he has his back to me working on his computer. I sat there. I thought, "You know, I deserve more respect than this as a taxpayer." I mean, I drove five and a half hours to Tallahassee to talk to him. I really expected to be treated like I wanted to be treated. 

Then there was another legislator that I talked to that ... I walked in with our executive director of our association. She just seemed like she either didn't get what I was talking about, or didn't understand business, maybe, or just didn't care. I wasn't quite sure, but I walked out of there that day. I told the gentleman that was with me, I said, "You know what? I think if she can get elected, I think I could do this job. And, I think I could do it better." 

That combined with dealing with regulatory agencies ... I always talk about this one specific story that was kind of a defining moment for me. It had to do with one of our stores in Arcadia Florida. I walked in, on a Friday afternoon, just like I did every Friday afternoon before I'd go home to check with the stores, to make sure everybody's up and running. They have everything they need for the weekend. It was a cold weekend in January. It was going to freeze. 

In the convenience store business, you make the majority of your money, the highest margin item is your coffee and your fountain drinks. But, in the state of Florida, in order to sell either one of those, you have to have hot water. So, as I walked into the store, the manager told me that our hot water heater was out. The gentleman was there that worked for us, that did all of our maintenance. He had the hot water heater, the new one. He was putting it in. He was almost done. He was about 30 minutes from being completed with his job. In walked the inspector from the Department of Agriculture. 

Now, he didn't come in to inspect. He was just stopping in. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have not told him what we were doing, but I did. He said, "Well, I'd like to help you out, but I need to be back at my office by 5:00, in the next county over. I'm gonna red tag your equipment and shut you down for the weekend." 

I said, "You can't do that, 'cause I need to sell coffee this weekend."

He said, "I don't have any choice. I have to do that." And he left. 

I got on the phone and called Tallahassee, which is, by now, 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, to try to find the highest ranking person I could find in State Government, which aren't that many people at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. But, I did find a gentleman. I will say, he was the most rude, arrogant person that I've ever talked to. 

He was like, "Ma'am, I don't really care what you tell me. You're not gonna sell any coffee this weekend." 

So, I hung up the phone. I thought, "You know, I don't know what I'm gonna do about this, but I'm gonna do something." So, that 10 year window of time that I operated our business was really very impactful on me and made me realize how State Government impacted every business owner, every farmer. How it impacts our day to day life.

Chris Cate: How hard was it for you to put a campaign together and kind of build a coalition of supporters?

Denise Grimsley: In 2004, we had an opportunity to sell our company, and we did. It was an open seat in the legislative process. Now, I had no idea if I could win. In that 10 year window of time, I had gotten involved in politics a little bit. I had become the County Chairman for our Republican Executive Committee in Hardee County. I was kind of tasked into making that County Republican. It was 25% Republican, 75% Democrat. But, in that period of time, I worked with a lot of candidates. Tried to help them and campaign for them. So, I had learned a little bit about running campaigns. But, you know, when you step out and do it yourself, it's a whole different animal. I had no idea if I could win. 

But, we did. I was representing four counties, which was Collier, Hendry, Glades, and Highlands. It was, in hindsight, I think it was hard at the time, but now it doesn't seem like it was. I was the first female to ever win that legislative seat. I wasn't quite sure that the district was ready for a female. But, Representative Sprat, who I replaced, helped me, as State Representative, Bert Harris, who was the Representative before that. They both helped me, and helped me with some initial context within the district. Our team came together and we worked it, and we won.

Chris Cate: Is running for Ag Commissioner the next logical step to help businesses like the ones that inspired you to run for office in the first place? 

Denise Grimsley: I think the Ag Commissioner's your chief consumer advocate for the State of Florida. When you talk about the Agriculture Commissioner, a lot of people forget that it is the Agriculture Commissioner and Consumer Services. It's that Consumer Service piece that touches every single Floridian. A lot of times, people don't realize that, but it does. It has so many different departments and divisions, from the No Call List to the Concealed Weapons Permit, to Ag Water Policy. There's an Energy Office. It oversees amusement park rides. It goes on and on of everything that it does. 

Chris Cate: The Ag Commissioner's race doesn't always get the headlines that other statewide races do, like the Governor's race, and the upcoming Senate race. What do you hope to do to try to break through that noise and get your message across?

Denise Grimsley: I think you do it by traveling the state, by educating the public, and doing just what I do in the Senate District, now. I have eight counties, which ranges from Polk County, Hardee, De Soto, Charlotte, Lee, I have Glades, Okeechobee, and Highlands. And I have three offices because it's such a large district. But, it doesn't reach everyone. 

What we do is go in and do something called mobile office hours, where I go out and see the people in the district. They don't have to drive an hour to come to me if they've got an issue with Department of Transportation, or Department of Revenue. By using that same philosophy, by going out into all 67 counties, as many times as possible, so far I've been to 66 counties. I still have Monroe to go. Talking with individuals and just educating them. I think it's incumbent upon me, if elected, to do the same thing as your Agriculture Commissioner, to be at the rotaries. To be at the Kiwanis Clubs, to remind people that, "Let me know what's going on with your ... are you still getting those phone calls? What's happening? Are you a pest control operator and you're having issues?" Just to educate people.

A lot of times it's not really educating them, because they know it. But sometimes we're not ... Government is not the first thing they think of. Because, when I owned a business, I didn't think about calling my State Representative. I had an issue one time with Department of Transportation. I just happened to run into him. Then he told me, "I could help you." I just never thought about it. 

Chris Cate: Has running a statewide election changed your perspective on anything? Whereas you may have really known your district really well, when you were serving a smaller area, now it's statewide. There's a lot of different elements in play.

Denise Grimsley: We have a very unique state with multiple different cultures. But what I struggle with the most is, as opposed to a Senate race, in a Senate race, or a House race, you go back into those same counties and you're able to build relationships with people. It's hard to build those relationships when you have 67 counties, which is my ultimate goal. But, it is very difficult. 

Chris Cate: I know you helped found Maggie's List, which works to increase the number of conservative women elected to office. If you're elected as the Ag Commissioner, it would make you the first woman to hold that position, kind of like what you mentioned earlier. Was that something that you thought about when you considered running for office for Ag Commissioner?

Denise Grimsley: About being the first female Agricultural Commissioner?

Chris Cate: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Denise Grimsley: No, but I think it's a neat thing. But you're right. There was one female that served in an interim period as an appointment. But no one has ran and won.

Chris Cate: I'm not super familiar with the Ag industry, but it seems like it might be a male dominated industry. Is that ... what has it been like kind of interacting within that industry as a woman of being a leader in that industry?

Denise Grimsley: It is male dominated, although, I will also say, in the Petroleum business, it was also male dominated. I'm very comfortable in that environment. I don't foresee a problem. I think you also see, in looking at our school system, in our FFA kids, you're seeing a lot more women get involved in agriculture than you did say 20 years ago.

Chris Cate: It seems like most of the headlines coming out of the legislature recently have been related to scandals instead of passing legislation, unfortunately. Have you seen a change in how legislators, staff members and lobbyists are interacting here? Do you still see a lot of change that needs to occur? 

Denise Grimsley: I think as members of the Legislature, we're held to a higher standard. I think, when we don't fulfill that expectation, that, of course, there are consequences. I think we have to be very careful about our behavior and what message that sends to our young people in the state of Florida. I haven't personally have not seen a lot of difference in behavior in my office. But, I do think it's important. It's an important topic to keep in front of the public and to keep in top of our mind.

Chris Cate: Something else that made headlines last year happened in your district with Hurricane Irma. Can you tell me what it was like trying to help your constituents during such a chaotic time like? 

Denise Grimsley: It was quite busy. I was very thankful that my cell phone service worked. The first day it was a little spotty, but after that it got ... I'm running a hospital. I'm a hospital administrator. So, I was there. I slept there for six days. But, in addition to do everything I needed to do within the hospital, and make sure that we had water and everything that we needed, I was also on the phone with the constituents, dealing with power issues, and water supply, things like that.

Agriculture was hit very hard in our district. We're predominantly in the citrus business. Overall, we probably have 75 to 80% of our fruit on the ground. Dealing with the local farmers, making sure they had everything they needed and ... One of the big questions that I got a lot was ice. "How do we get ice into our rural electrics to keep everything cold for our linemen?" 

Chris Cate: How has that area recovered? Does that kind of season ruin, you're kind of having to ride through it now? 

Denise Grimsley: For me, personally, we have citrus. We collectively probably have about 70% on the ground. Our [inaudible 00:14:08], our early varieties were hurt the hardest. That's what was mostly on the ground, our Valencias, which we haven't picked yet, seem to be in pretty good shape, but we won't really know what long lasting effects will have on those trees until next year. We have so many trees for the first time in my lifetime that I saw standing in water that I'd never seen, because our area got about 16 inches of rain just over 24 hours. I've never seen anything like that. We won't know that outcome until next year. 

Chris Cate: What are your priorities for, as being an Ag Commissioner and helping these farmers?

Denise Grimsley: I think, overall, one of the biggest things, as I said earlier, the Agriculture Commissioner is the chief consumer advocate for the state of Florida. Whether you're a farmer, a rancher, or you're not either one of them, you care about that office. I believe that the consumer expects three things from that department. That is to be called by your name, to be treated with respect. They want the process to be easy for them, so in the dealings with the Department, if it's cumbersome, or time consuming, that's not what government should be. If it is that way for some reason, the consumer wants one of those 3800 employees to hold their hand and help them get through that process. I believe as a leader in that department, that is the culture that you should foster. 

Chris Cate: One of the things I know the Ag Commissioner oversees is also that Do Not Call List, which I saw you propose some legislation, because, for some reason, in the last year, it seems to be getting out of control with my cell phone. Are there any secrets you've learned in developing that legislation?

‍Denise Grimsley: Well, I did learn not to brag, because when I first got in this race, that's the number one complaint I would hear. I would always say, "I never get those calls." And then, all of a sudden, now, I get five or six a day. So, that's what I get for bragging about that. 

But, the legislation I filed essentially allows the carrier to block the calls, because they know. They know where those calls are coming from. Most of them are coming from out of the country. But they haven't felt like they really had the authority to block those numbers themselves. What the legislation does is give that ability. Now, that's in the state law. There's also a federal rule that was just passed that does the same thing. So, between the two, we should take care of those calls. 

Chris Cate: Outside of politics, like you said, you're actually running hospitals now as an administrator. Do I understand correctly? It's actually one of the hospitals where you actually worked at in high school, is that right?

Denise Grimsley: It is. I went back in 2013 to be the administrator of that facility where I was initially a candy striper, and I worked first as a nurse. It's pretty neat. It's kind of coming full circle. Then, I was able to build a new hospital that we just opened December 21st. We just moved out of that existing facility into a new one. It's pretty exciting for what we've been able to accomplish in Hardee County.

Chris Cate: Oh, wow. I close every interview with four questions that I ask everyone. The first being is, who is a Florida leader that you admire? It can be someone from the past, or of the present.

Denise Grimsley: The one that I admire the most would never get headlines. There will never be a statute after him, and that's my dad, who has served as my ... one of my best friends and my mentor, who's taught me a lot about ... Taught me about faith. He taught me about hard work. As I think back over my childhood, watching him and my mom sit at the kitchen table and try to figure out how to make ends meet when they're starting their business, which they started in 1967, but ... he's taught me so much. And still, I still go to him for advice. I didn't get into this race without talking to him first. 

Chris Cate: What was it like, as you saw them develop that family business? Did it begin with your grandfather at first? How did that work? When people think of the Grimsley Oil Company, it's not a traditional oil company like a big oil. This is a series of convenience stores, right?

Denise Grimsley: Right. We were a petroleum distributor servicing agriculture and commercial accounts, so selling bulk fuel. I have two grandfathers. The one grandfather is the third generation in the citrus groves. That came from my mom's side of the family. Then my grandfather on my dad's side had a gas station. He was a car salesman for Jeep and Rambler. Rambler's not even around anymore. 

This is what I remember my dad teaching me. This was back in the early '60s, before integration happened in the school system. I remember him telling me, I don't know. I must have been four or ... I just remember him telling my mom the story. I must have been four or five, about this young ... or not a young, an older African American gentleman who came up on a Saturday afternoon, at like 4:00 in the afternoon in an old beat up pickup truck. Everybody that sold cars with my dad said, "I'm not waiting on him. He doesn't have any money. We're going home."

So, my dad stayed and helped him. He bought a brand new Jeep. He pulled out of ... pulled cash out of his pocket and paid for it. My dad would always say, "Don't ever judge a book by their cover. Don't assume something about someone until you take the time to spend and talk to him." I always remembered that. 

The other thing he told me about starting their business, was, he would watch the gas man come up to bring gas every week to the gas station. He would watch my grandfather pay him with cash. So, he decided, "I want to be the gas man, 'cause he gets paid in cash." 

So, next door to the gas station was a bulk plant. I believe that they put together $2000.00 of their money to buy that bulk plant. It was him and my mom. She sacrificed a lot. I used to think, when I was a child, "Everybody else's mother stays home and they get to go home after school." Not me. I went to the bulk plant and hung out there, because my mom was helping him. She was running the office. My dad was delivering fuel. Her dad, my grandfather, was helping deliver fuel, too. 

I just watched them get started. I know how hard it is when people decide they wanna do a startup business. I know how hard it is when we look at our younger people now, who wanna get back into agriculture and how hard it is to get started. 

Chris Cate: The next question in this last four is, what person, place, or thing, or even issue in Florida do you think deserves more attention that what it's getting right now in the news?

Denise Grimsley: I think ... I'm gonna talk a little bit more along the lines of agriculture. It's probably food safety and food availability. When you look at something like citrus canker, or citrus greening, it didn't just start here. It came from somewhere else. We were probably a lot more lax than we should have been, having these pest and diseases come into the country. It continues to happen. I think we've done a good job beefing up our port security, but I think that we have to be diligent in going forward, whether that's fruits and vegetables coming in, whether that's tourists coming back in. We have to be diligent with that.

The other piece of that goes along with something in the department that we passed in the legislative process a couple of years ago, that I really wanna see expanded. That is called the Farm to School Program, that takes fresh fruits and vegetables into the school district. It's done three things, really. It's opened up a new market for the farmers to sell their product to. It's also had a better buying price for school districts. But the third thing no one ever talks about is what I believe we'll see in the next 10 years. That's the impact on childhood obesity. And also, the impact on our next generation of workforce.

My daughter is a fourth grade school teacher. She has story after story, after story of kids who come to school who don't get fed at home. Those kids will either be dependent on the system, or not. They can't learn if their minds are not alert. And they're not going to be alert if they're not fed fruits and vegetables. 

Now, when I went to school, I got a good meal at home, in the morning, at night. So, it really didn't matter what I ate at lunch. But, this is a whole different generation that we're seeing out there now. I think that program will be instrumental in both the workforce and also healthcare.

Chris Cate: Have you been able to work with Commissioner Putnam at all to kind of dig deeper into these issues and kinda see how you can continue some of the programs, and even make your own improvements?

Denise Grimsley: Yeah. I was Chairman of the Agricultural Committee in the House, and now, again, Chairman of it in the Senate. That, for years, I've worked with him on a lot of issues. 

Chris Cate: The next question of these final four, which I know I'm mixing up. They're not exactly the final four at this point. But where is a favorite Florida place for you to visit?

Denise Grimsley: That's easy. That's Disney World. That's the happiest place on earth. I'd go every weekend if I could.

‍Chris Cate: Is that somewhere you went a lot as a kid, too?

Denise Grimsley: Not so much. I remember going there as grad night, when I was a senior. I remember my parents taking me one time, because we would sometimes have petroleum conventions there. But, I really didn't get all that excited about it till I had grandkids. That's an amazing place to take the kids.

Chris Cate: Well good. Last question. Do you have a favorite Florida sports team?

Denise Grimsley: Of course. That would be the University of Miami, my alma mater. 

Chris Cate: All right.

Denise Grimsley: Five time national championship winners, and Mark Richt is our new coach. I think we're gonna see number six in the near future.

Chris Cate: Great. Thank you so much for being on the show. 

Denise Grimsley: Thank you. 

Chris Cate: Thanks for listening to the Fluent in Floridian Podcast. If you aren't subscribed to the Podcast yet, I hope you'll look us up and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app, like Apple Podcast, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. If you leave a review, that would be great, too. 

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