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Arvind Mani / Founder & President
MODE Mind & Body

 

Kolleen Edwards Chesley / Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast

Kolleen Edwards Chesley has 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and spent the majority of her career as a financial advisor. In that role, Kolleen was responsible for finding her own clients and quickly learned the value of networking, networking, and even more networking. It was in 2004 and during her sales career that she, along with two other professional business women met for lunch with the purpose of helping to motivate each other after Hurricane Ivan had blown through our area and changed not only the physical landscape of the area, but also impacted the business landscape as well. Out of that lunch was born what is now a thriving not-for-profit organization for business women.   Kolleen currently serves full-time as the Founding Director of what was originally called Women’s Business Lunch and is now known as Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast. The organization advocates a culture of confidence building, lifelong learning, collaboration, empowering others and a spirit of charitable giving. The mission of Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast is to promote, advance and improve women in business and the organization accomplishes these in a number of different ways. –             Monthly networking meetings in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze. These are open to all women and free to attend. We run a structured meeting with open networking, an educational segment, a sponsor presentation, an opportunity to hear about the businesses of all attendees, and a whole lot of fun. We frequently hear from attendees that these meeting are chock full of value and a great way to build new relationships to help support their businesses. –             Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast Magazine. We are in our third year of production of the magazine and our goal is for this to be a quarterly publication. Each edition features interviewees of local successful leaders in business who share their honest thoughts on leadership, success, obstacles, and inspiration as it relates to women in business. We also include other articles on leadership, networking, and other skill development. It is geared for anyone in business or looking for business motivation and tips. –             Annual Pursue Your Passion Women’s conference. To help celebrate National Business Women’s Week, we hold a full day conference during the third week of October along with several other events leading up to the conference. We feature a national keynote speaker, several local successful leaders in business, along with Speed Networking, an Experience Hall, structured and unstructured networking exercises and plenty of laughter, relationship building and excitement. Our attendees are not only motivated by the conference but they leave with tangible tips they can take back and implement in their businesses to lead them to success. –             Power Up Challenge is a 12 week educational series where we hold classes once a week for an hour and a half focused around four main areas of business: Networking, Marketing, Business Efficiency, and Sales Skills. Open to men and women and all classmates (whether they attend in person or not) receive the full audio recording of each class along with class notes, expanded notes, and extra resources. Classes are affordable and attendees are elated with the amount and quality of the information that is shared. –             Women in Leadership radio podcast show – sponsored by Pensacola Business Radio X. We hold shows twice a month and bring in mostly women but some men for in-depth interviews. Interviewees share their advice on topics such as mentoring, keys to success, time management tools, personal mantras and favorite inspirations, and what men can do to help support women in business. Membership in Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast is also available. Contact kolleen@powerfulwomengulfcoast.com for more information or visit our website at powerfulwomengulfcoast.com or Facebook at Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast.

 

Jon Shell / Upward Intuition

In the spring of 2015, Upward Intuition was created with the purpose of facilitating positive change in Pensacola. The three-word phrase that we center our work upon is simple: Thoughts Create Reality.

Taking the time to assess the needs of our community, led us to the realization that there is a great need for a bridge between the young innovative people with great ideas, and the local leaders who have the ability to help effect change. Today’s youth are important; they are our future, and should be part of a vibrant and growing Pensacola. We strive to lead by example in an effort to inspire and empower them to live with a sense of purpose, and to show the value of giving back the community. Through youth-driven programs we provide opportunities for young people to make good decisions. They are encouraged to be innovators by identifying problems and crafting solutions, and we support their goals by offering them ways to become involved in projects with lasting significance.

Upward Intuition is committed to creating positive change in Pensacola and we greatly value the support of those who share our vision. With openness to new ideas, effective partnerships, and collaborations with community stakeholders, we are confident in our city’s future as we act today to make a difference.

After nearly two years of hard work, The Blake Doyle Community Park is ready to move forward! Upward Intuition will be responsible for design and construction and recently, in October 2016, the City of Pensacola formally agreed to assume responsibility for operations and maintenance once the park is completed.

With that critical approval by the City secured, we at Upward Intuition are now able to begin Phase I of the skatepark project: Fundraising for soft costs (design/development, engineering, surveying, geotechnical, and architectural). Our fundraising goal for Phase I is $100,000.

The core of the project will be an iconic, destination skatepark that will serve, among others, the ‘Forgotten Youth’ of our community, the non-traditional athletes. (i.e. skateboarders, BMXers, rollerbladers). This top-notch public facility will even be suitable for professional skateboarding events. However, with additional areas in the park focused on such elements as general health, early learning, art and music, there will be activities and amenities for people of all ages and interests, from children to seniors.

 

Meghan McCarthy / Baptist Health

Meghan McCarthy has a vision to turn Pensacola Blue. “We are almost the least healthy county in Florida,” she said. “At what point are we going to get angry.”

A Blue Zone is a place where people live a measurably longer, more healthy life. Cities that have gone Blue have experienced dramatic health changes as a result.

Meghan’s plan involves starts with a shared vision of what a healthier Pensacola looks and feels like, and having Blue “pockets” throughout our community. We are working with Meghan and Baptist Hospital to make the skatepark one of these pockets.

What makes the Blue Zones so healthy? There are many factors.  They are called the Power 9:

1. Move Naturally- Don’t think marathons, think gardening and walking.
2. Have a Purpose- It is the reason you wake up every day.
3. Down Shift – This requires the ability to manage our stress.
4. 80% Rule – Eat until you are 80% full.
5. Plant Slant – Make plants the center of your diet.
6. Wine at 5 – One serving of alcohol daily with food and friends.
7. Belong – Being part of a faith-based community.
8. Loved Ones First – Invest in family with time and love.
9. Right Tribe – Have social circles that support healthy behaviors.

What they all center on is that our environment is very powerful. If the healthy choice is the easiest choice, we are accidently healthier.

Some people think that the major factor of how long you live is your genes, but research has shown that genes only account for 20%. The other 80% is lifestyle.

To learn more about Blue Zones visit www.bluezones.com