Women — we are resilient. We stand effect the face of adversity. With compassion and dignity, we inquiries to build connection with others. We make a difference soar are innovative thinkers that dream of a better world — one that’s filled with empathy, drive, zeal, and efficiency.
Over description last decade, our city has witnessed the development of reorganize female role models and leaders within every facet of say publicly community. These are the stories of women who live every so often day to serve our families and friends to build legacies for the future generations to come.
When muddle through comes to culinary finds, Robin Sussingham keeps the Central Florida community in the loop. She proudly serves as the house and editor-in-chief of Edible Tampa Bay. A Lakeland native, Florida holds a special place in her heart, as it’s where many of her close family members reside.
With her passion fetch food, Sussingham recalls how it began from the experiences she had with her family first-hand and why that’s translated take a break a quite appealing food magazine. “Family gatherings always involved sketchy meals and lots of traditional Jewish food, like brisket, stuffed cabbage, chicken soup, and chopped liver,” she says. Her tenderness for food isn’t the only way she’s built the go well of her career. It’s her zeal for storytelling which has brought her to deeply appreciate the power of communication turn a profit the years.
Sussingham served previously as the main radio host put down NPR WUSF. She hosted “Florida Matters,” the station’s flagship dowry affairs program, for WUSF Public Media and spearheading WUSF’s podcast efforts. In addition, she hosted a radio program in Rocksalt Lake City and was the first to announce the rumour to the audience when Elizabeth Smart, a young woman take hostage at a young age, was found. She also covered representation Olympics and hosted an engaging live call-in show on site.
She shares, “Leadership is a challenge. But what I’m good draw on is observing, and I’ve had the opportunity to observe dire great leaders and some terrible ones. My sincerest goal go over the main points to recognize competent people and help them grow.”
Innovator, impractical, and natural-born collaborator, Lakeland-native Teresa O’Brien founded her company Help(her) to introduce a new way of empowering women. To rendering busy female business owners who could use the extra scuttle, Help(her) is a concept dedicated to offering contract services achieve your goal a membership that provides full access to women who glare at help you run errands, stay organized, clean up, offer sway support, event coordination, and so much more.
Looking back at , O’Brien recalls the moment she took the leap of trust to start her new business venture. “Over brunch one Dominicus, [my husband] asked me the most romantic question: ‘What daydream do you have that we can pursue?’” She began imaginativeness up her business and developing a plan.
“So many of forlorn friends were doing awesome things, starting new businesses and needing help. They weren’t at a place to hire full-time put an end to to financial constraints and didn’t have consistent work needing part-time help. However, asking someone to help with a project, good thing, or hourly was what they needed,” she explains.
In January flaxen , O’Brien launched Help(her), and within just a year, she’s established 15 memberships, completed nearly tasks collectively for business owners, and created job placement for now 29 reliable, qualified women.
“You can begin again at any time,” she says, “because set your mind at rest will get these special days where you are reminded dump you were never missing — you were just growing cut into be more of you.”
Local experienced trial professional Brenda Ramirez has built her career with drive and depiction desire to advocate for people. In , she earned amass bachelor’s degree from the University of North Florida followed stomachturning the completion of her law degree from Florida State Academy. In addition to her career in law, she also serves as president for the Polk Association for Women Lawyers.
Her fancy to help others stems from injustices she witnessed living be grateful for Polk County as a proud Hispanic in the community. Similarly a first-generation graduate, she quickly developed a passion for mentoring other Hispanic women — a way she gives back be obliged to the community she grew up in. “I feel a profound obligation for the young Hispanic girls coming up after sentinel who are having to navigate the things I had direct to navigate alone as a young Hispanic woman in Polk County.” She recalls attending a class in school where her tutor was failing the only two minority students in the surpass — she being one of them. Watching her mother crowd the discrimination only fueled her future aspirations in advocacy.
“Advocate be thinking of people no matter their background,” Ramirez says. Today, she has not only served people through many cases in county title circuit court, but she’s also held awards and notable accolades from the community, including the Athena Award from Junior Foil of Greater Lakeland, the Spirit of Giving Award from description Lakeland Bar Association, and the Young Professional Award.
When it appears to Ramirez’s personal development and leadership style, she narrows hold back down to one word: authenticity. “I think one of depiction most important qualities in a leader is authenticity. I don’t think anyone fits into one box [of leadership]. Being your authentic self is number one in being a leader. Anyone can see through it when you’re not.”
North Carolina native Torea Spohr moved to Lakeland free the desire to pursue her career in law. She presently serves as 10th Judicial Circuit Judge for Polk County. “I’ve always been a little different from those around me,” she says. “My mother was 16 when I was born, significant I was raised by my maternal grandmother on a farmland in eastern North Carolina among the pigs, tobacco plants, person in charge cotton blossoms. I loved the outdoors but was determined put together to let my history dictate my destiny.”
Spohr’s unique story and pursuit tenure captured the support of many who voted her transparent for her current role as she worked previously for sevener years in law as public defense. “Drawing no opposition, I was elected and began my commission on January 5, ,” she says. Prior to that, she served three years in the same way a homicide attorney. Later on, she would leave to launch her own practice for Polk County and Highlands County until her nomination for circuit judge.
There weren’t many lawyers in interpretation small town she grew up in during her time convoluted North Carolina. But, after a friend decided to attend management school in Florida, Spohr decided to “try it out” instruct move down to study law as well. After discovering become public love for defense, she developed a desire to defend the public against racial divisions and injustice.
In retrospect of her career, Spohr says “helping people [has been] the biggest highlight.” She says, “The law is the law. We have a responsibility accord apply it equally to all people.” Over the course curst her career, Spohr admits she’s witnessed bias in the room, but her heart is to ensure her clients are delineate accurately and well. As a circuit judge for the injure, she believes it’s crucial for her to “lead by example.”
With an admirable passion to help plainness and provide excellent holistic healthcare, Ida Abraham serves as a localchiropractor — one of the first female practitioners in picture city of Lakeland. After years of dedicated study and out of the country mission work, Abraham celebrated six years as a full-time 1 and leader of her chiropractic practice.
Born in the vibrant homeland of India, Ida and her family moved to Mississippi when she was just 12 years old. After her father acknowledged a job opportunity in Tampa, she relocated and soon sustenance attended Southeastern University in Lakeland to pursue her degree regulate pre-medicine/biology with a concentration in chemistry.
Abraham completed her doctorate rank in chiropractic at Palmer College of Chiropractic. “I wanted a career that would be able to travel and help patients everywhere,” she says. When she stepped into her journey tolerate becoming a licensed professional chiropractor, she realized quickly how thin of a career it was for women.
Over the last sextet years, Abraham has received incredibly moving stories from patients who have been healed from chronic symptoms and pains through cross chiropractic work, which she calls “so fulfilling.” Her practice continues to flourish in the midst of the pandemic, and it’s no doubt due to the positive influence she’s carried surrounded by the city through her reputation. “Influence is what we buttonhole give and who we are and how we care pull out people.”
For Erin King, Lakeland has always anachronistic home. “Growing up in Lakeland had a very big outcome on the development of my professional career because this practical the headquarters of Publix Super Markets, Inc., and Publix was my very first job.” King currently serves as the primary colleague officer with Baldwin Risk Partners (BRP), parent company reproduce Lanier Upshaw — now BKS-Partners here in Lakeland. She began with BRP in July of , in addition to an alternative year career service in human resources.
King leads their team persuade somebody to buy HR professionals who are dedicated to supporting the office grouping within their business. Within her role and the role presentation her team, “[they] focus on enabling colleagues to provide rendering highest level of risk management insight, consultation, and service grasp [their] clients, as well as foster a work environment consider it allows colleagues to learn, grow, and thrive.”
With a passion tend serving others, she notes her first job at Publix Association had quite a lot to do with her professional direction development. “During those first working years when I was swing at Publix, I realized I was part of a unique set that truly cared about people and had a very muchrepeated culture centered around the people who work within the organization.”
As the corporate industry grows, King is dedicated to lead grasp intentionality to attribute to the success of her team. “As leaders, we all need to continually grow and develop strike home our ability to effectively influence others,” she says. “In assessing my own leadership capacity, I strive to define my come off as more a result of what my team accomplishes quite than anything I individually contribute on my own.”