OCEDC Business Manager Named Top Business Leader To Watch
04/02/2022
Treasure Coast business movers and shakers contributing to regional growth
Vision for the future is an important component for any business owner, manager or aspiring entrepreneur. Whether it is a nonprofit, for-profit, government, small or big business, the organization will always require a vision for growth, expansion or innovation. The mechanism that allows the organization to execute this vision is leadership. From motivating and inspiring the team and community to creating and organizing the tasks and work plan — leadership plays a critical role.
So, what is good leadership?
The most common definition is the ability to inspire confidence and support among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals. An important element regarding leadership is that it can be practiced to some extent even by those who do not hold or are not assigned a formal leadership position.
The Treasure Coast region has begun to experience dynamic growth and changes to the economic landscape. These marketplace changes will require leadership at all levels and from all industry sectors. Understanding the important role leadership will continue to play in the region, Treasure Coast Business has created its first issue dedicated to leaders to watch as our communities and marketplace continue to grow.
The region has a strong foundation of innovative and influential leaders. If all those worthy of appearing in this article were included, this issue would resemble a dictionary not a magazine. This article is simply to provide a sampling of the hundreds of influential leaders who work and lead every day along the Treasure Coast.
With the assistance of regional business organizations, a list was created with the following eligibility requirements:
• Individuals must have been in business for five or more years
• Businesses and their owners must reside in the region
• No elected officials.
The individuals profiled in this segment serve as examples of the different pathways to fostering a positive effect on the development of our community, its residents and especially our youth.
Kaylee King
business manager for Okeechobee County Economic Development Corp
Kaylee King is a business manager who is constantly learning and growing. King, who lives and works in her hometown of Okeechobee, is passionate about her role as a business manager with the Okeechobee County Economic Development Corporation because it allows her to use her marketing and relational expertise to grow the county’s tax base. This helps provide job opportunities for this rural community.
She uses her great frame of reference in marketing, which has helped her to recruit and retain around 30 different projects during her time at the corporation. A graduate of Indian River State College and the University of Central Florida, she pivoted from her original love for health care administration and discovered her true passion for marketing while working at her family’s local health care practice as a customer relations coordinator.
She has consulted for various local businesses, business owners, organizations and events in Okeechobee to help elevate their online presence and create results.
Whom on the Treasure Coast do you most admire and why?
Hands down, Dr. Jennifer Laskey, owner and dentist of Family Dentistry of Okeechobee. She has been my mentor and role model since I was a young child. The values I learned from working in health care have changed my life forever. The way she has always treated her patient family, she is constantly approaching situations with integrity. I have watched her balance being a woman business owner, a mother, a practitioner and a wife. She is very inspiring. This type of leadership just makes the business experience so much better!
What core values do you implement into your organization every day and why are they important?
The core values that come most naturally to my personal and professional life are service and creativity. I am a very creative person, and I have found this approach can translate very well into your work environment. We see all around us how businesses are having to adapt and pivot into the new changes that the pandemic has afforded. Companies and organizations that are creative are growing. The value of service is so near to my heart. Whether we are serving our community, our board of directors, our patients, or our customers, people are the key part of the equation for me. I was raised in an industry with a very high level of customer service, and so this principle has always brought the most fulfillment to my projects. It’s all about people, and that is what fuels my fire.
If you could choose one song to play every time you walked into a room for the rest of your life, what song would you choose and why?
I was working on a big photo shoot with a team of about 15 women. It was summer in Florida, in a cow pasture that had amazing scenery. All were glammed out in their gowns. The bugs were biting and excitement was dying down. I pulled out my portable speaker and turned on Beyonce’s Before I Let Go and suddenly the atmosphere changed. They turned on their queen mode attitude so fast and starting having fun dancing. I love that music can set the mood so quickly, even though the environment was the same. It is such a fun song, up-beat, girl power, a go-getter mantra with a little fun for dancing. The photos turned out stunning and you could tell they had fun doing it. So this song and this memory, makes the song my go to.