When my father would come from work, he never talked about numbers, even though he owned his own accounting firm. He talked about people; he talked about relationships. That’s what we do at Lifestyle Media Group and SFBW, too. Our motto—and Managing Director Kim Sarni’s favorite phrase—is “Connections Done Right.” We live this motto every day.
So given that this November issue drops during the season of thanks, it’s more than appropriate that I offer words of sincere appreciation to everyone in our extended SFBW family.
Relationships are about showing up for each other, and there are business leaders who show up for this magazine and this team, time and time again, especially our event partners Minuteman Press, Best Rentals, Alore, Media Labs, Perfect Look Photos, Balloons Galore & More and Riverside Hotel. (We’d also like to thank the folks at the beautifully designed Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale, where we photographed Tom Jalics from Fifth Third Bank for the November issue’s Agenda section.)
Events—both our CEO Connects and our Signature Awards—are the lifeblood of our brand program, and we couldn’t do them without the expertise, talents and enthusiasm of these vendors, hospitality venues and creative services experts.
Our community shows up for us in all kinds of ways, some of which are freshly gratifying to me. We experienced an unprecedented response to our recent digital article, “South Florida Business Leaders React to Hamas Attack on Israel.” Even after the initial iteration of the article went live with powerful quotes from Philippe Houdard, Seth Wise, Kathleen Cannon and Steven Klein, business leaders such as Dr. Ann Monis, Asi Cymbal, Guy Kurlandski and Bill Feinberg wrote in, wanting to add their voices to the ever-growing piece, reminding us that relationships are built on shared values.
When I posted the article on personal LinkedIn, within in a few days it had already garnered more than 3,000 impressions, and anecdotally, we’ve received an outpouring of support for providing an emotional outlet to our audience. (If you haven’t already done so, please Link-in to SFBW, and feel free to connect to my personal LinkedIn page under Dr. Drew Limsky.)
Gratitude is infectious. It’s a theme that runs through our cover story, “New Player on the Field,” which profiles Amerant Bank CEO and chairman Jerry Plush, who attributes his career success to those who mentored him and “open[ed] the door” for him so he could develop new skills and explore new roles.
In appreciation—and Happy Thanksgiving!
Drew Limsky
Editor in Chief, South Florida Business & Wealth
