So here we are. Hello 2025. Is anyone else excited? I am!
Turning the page on a new year is always refreshing, but this one promises to be better than the last (she writes, hopefully).
There are small “don’t blink or you might miss it” moments, as a business leader, and they can go by unnoticed, if you don’t slow down to appreciate them.
I remember so many from those early days of Tampa Bay Business and Wealth, I’ve spoken about them often, here, so I won’t bore you with them again. But they warm my heart and fill me with joy and pride. Because today, I write this note from the vantage point of our newly finished, brand new, class A office space. We have, quite literally, been movin’ on up.
It’s a metamorphosis of sorts, and certainly a milestone. We often dreamed of this moment and were always certain we’d get here, but to see it come to life is a feeling that can’t quite be articulated. We’ve chosen, what we believed to be, the best commercial real estate, in the past. We’ve designed office spaces that were enviable and innovative. But they were always for someone else’s company, this time it’s for our own.
We had amazing partners throughout this journey including Spartan Contracting, who did our build-out, CI Group, who helped us pick the perfect furnishings and populated our new space with a vibe that you have to experience to understand. Jerri Menaul, with My Favorite Art Place, who designed and installed our new grow wall, you have to see it to appreciate it. It is truly a work of art. Kristina York, with Create+Co, who helped us concept the space, the colors, and the finishes. I wish I had this team working on my home with me now, they’re truly unmatched. But I’m also profoundly grateful that we finished that process for the office before I had to start it for my home.
And, yes, this TBBW journey did, in fact, begin with three people sitting at my kitchen counter, in May of 2018, with nothing but an idea and computers. Ironically, it was a brand-new kitchen counter back then, thanks to Hurricane Irma, and will be replaced again, just six short years later, thanks to “Thing 1” and “Thing 2.”
As the years stretch on, we’ve been blessed to have the ability to tell remarkable stories, we’ve established large-scale events – some being referred to as “The Grammy’s of Tampa,” we’ve won multiple awards and almost doubled our team of three.
In between those triumphs, we’ve also had a few losses and several personal, human hurdles, all of which bring us to this day, in this space, doing what we love – with love.
All of those memories, together, are our story, and I will hold tightly to each and every one of them. Without struggle, opposition, enemies, naysayers, loss or defeat, there can be no real wins or growth. Plus, I love proving them wrong. It’s actually my favorite: to step forward and say, “Watch us.”
TBBW doesn’t do boring. We also don’t “do” drama, at least not by choice. We don’t “do” gossip. And we don’t “do” others dirty.
Our New Year’s Resolution remains steadfast. To effect change in our community. To be a positive force in economic development for this region. To tell the stories of business decision-leaders that would otherwise go untold. To make our content accessible to everyone, in order to accomplish the aforementioned. To make a difference in this world – to leave it a better place than when we found it.
On that bright note, we bring to you a story with depth, and so much heart, in that of Erika Sims, chief executive officer of Sims HD and co-owner of Sims Crane, a company that goes back for three generations and was, at one time, the largest of its kind in the country.
In one of the most candid and honest interviews I’ve sat through in a long time, Erika held nothing back, resulting in a refreshing, real, story. One you won’t want to miss.
Erika is the perfect cover candidate in which to kick off this New Year. She’s the epitome of what we strive for. She’s real, she’s authentic, she’s kind and welcoming. She’s smart and she’s one of those “girls who rule the world.” She believes in family and fairness, competition and cooperation. She believes in all the best things we should all strive to be.
Here’s to a Thriving 2025! Let’s make the best of it Tampa Bay.