SRQ Magazine | January 2023

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These days, it seems like everyone is pickling, and that does not mean they are making pickles. People of all ages are playing pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the country. What makes this game that has been called a combination of tennis, ping-pong and badminton so hot? Don’t get pickled–read on to find out what the hype is all about. Written

eat well 66

Ask a few local nutrition-focused professionals how you should be thinking about your food choices in 2023, and you’re bound to hear one refrain: keep it simple. Whole foods, a mix of quality meats and vegetables prepared simply and deliciously — all while being kind to your gut — will help you build healthy, sustainable habits. Written

by Barbie Heit | Photography by Wyatt Kostygan.

by Kevin Allen | Illustrations by Chris Leverett

43 ELITE AGENTS

JULIANNA BURNS /

BERKSHIRE

HATHAWAY FLORIDA BEYOND REALTY WARREN GROUP SARASOTA / COLDWELL BANKER REALTY JOE & WENDY KESSLAK / REMAX ALLIANCE GROUP LINDSEY LEECH STRICKLAND / DUNCAN REAL ESTATE

75 TOP DOCTORS

FEATURING HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2022 TOP DOCTOR HONOREES PROGRAM AS RECOGNIZED BY MEDICAL PEERS IN THE REGION.

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A fusion of American donuts and Japanese mochi, Mochinuts are the latest local craze in delicious sweet treats. The Sarasota World Affairs Council and Michael Alandu have come together to educate our community about neglected crises affecting some of the most vulnerable populations in the world. Award winning Latino Playwright Bernardo Cubría buckles down on a new project in collaboration with Sarasota’s Florida Studio Theatre (FST), Portland, OR, based Milagro Theatre, and the National New Play Network (NNPN).

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At The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theatre, the most cutting-edge artists gather to celebrate their craft. Johnette Isham and Karen Corbin take us through the history and the future of Realize Bradenton. cargo 35

Attain your New Year’s resolutions and fitness goals with the freshest gear from local boutiques. At the Head to Toe exhibition at the Ringling College Galleries, students are exploring new and exciting ways to develop sustainable fashion.

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Meshugana Deli has quickly become Sarasota’s hotspot for Jewish delicatessen-style eats. Peter Pappas, baker, pizzaiolo, and sweets specialist offers tastebud tantalizing flavors at Pete’s Sweet Treats that won’t weigh you down with unnecessary sugar or artificial ingredients.

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With a mission to educate, connect and contribute, our Good Hero Brian Mariash helps local organizations thrive.

Cover: Get caught up with the fastest growing sport in the country, pickleball. Previous page: The pickleball courts at Pompano Park, photography by Wyatt Kostygan. This page clockwise: Pastrami on rye at Meshugana Deli; attain New Year’s fitness goals with cool product from local boutiques; sustainability on display at the Head to Toe fashion show at Ringling College of Art and Design, photography by Wyatt Kostygan.

JANUARY

CEO / PRESIDENT / EDITOR IN CHIEF

LISL LIANG

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER WES ROBERTS

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS AND ENGAGEMENT Ashley Grant

ACCOUNTS + CLIENT SERVICE AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Robinson Valverde

SENIOR SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE Suzanne Munroe

SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE Rob Wardlaw

VP OF PHOTOGRAPHY + VIDEO Wyatt Kostygan

MANAGING EDITOR Barbie Heit

CLIENT MARKETING+ DIGITAL PROGRAMS MANAGER Gabriella Alfonso

DIGITAL MARKETING + EVENTS MANAGER Megan Mitchell

CONTRIBUTING ART DIRECTOR + SENIOR DESIGNER Virginia Jankovsky

MARKETING+EVENTS ASSOCIATE Grace Castilow

EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE Dylan Campbell Arianna Kolesar

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS + ARTISTS Kevin Allen, Chris Leverett, Jacob Ogles, Kate Wight

2023

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NUTS FOR MOCHINUTS

A fusion of American donuts and Japanese mochi, Mochinuts are the latest local craze in delicious sweet treats. Barbie Heit

MOCHI DONUTS ARE CAPTURING A LOT OF ATTENTION THESE DAYS. A fusion of American donuts and Japanese mochi, many consider these fluffy pastries with a satisfying chew to be the best of both the donut and mochi worlds. Mochinut Sarasota and Mochinut Bradenton, two of the latest in the unique Hawaiian style donut chain stores recently opened to the delight of local sweet-treat fans young and old. The shop features mochi donuts in unique shapes and colors, made of connected circles of 8 dough balls, interesting textures and light crispy coatings with a soft chewy inside. In addition to the donuts, Mochinut offers Korean rice flour hotdogs, bubble tea drinks and soft serve ice cream which when added to the donut, creates a combination called “delight”. Unlike American donuts, mochi donuts are made with rice flour. The rice flour makes mochi donuts stretchy and chewy. There is a sticky addictiveness to each bite, a textural element that is completely different from yeast or cake donuts, according to the franchise’s website. And if you don’t see your favorite flavor on the shelf, fear not. Each mochi donut is freshly made every 15-30 minutes so just hang out and enjoy the aroma of what is soon to come.

This page: Mochinut Sarasota, 8433 Lockwood Ridge Rd, Sarasota. Mochinut Bradenton, 4462 Cortez Rd W, Bradenton. https://www.mochinut.com/

A MONOLITH MYTH

buckles down on a

LOS-ANGELES BASED PLAYWRIGHT BERNARDO CUBRÍA is fresh off the heels of his most recent accomplishment, being awarded the 2021/2022 Smith Prize for Political Theatre by the National New Play Network, to further his newest project focusing on the nuanced “Latino Vote.” With that focus in mind, part of Cubría’s writing process for this new play involves a funded collaboration with Sarasota’s Florida Studio Theatre (FST) and Portland, OR’s Milagro Theatre where he will be in residence conducting interviews with local Hispanic and Latinx voters. His goal is to extend the perspective on his community’s experience with voting and unpack why the politically charged phrase “Latino Vote”, from 2016, is a misguided, monolithic myth, but also the name of his new play.

This page: Playwritght Bernardo Cubría in Residence at Florida Studio Theater.

Award winning Latino Playwright Bernardo Cubría

new project in collaboration with Sarasota’s Florida Studio Theatre. Arianna Kolesar

SRQ | PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF

BERNARDO CUBRIA: I am originally from Mexico City, but grew up in Houston, Texas. I lived in New York for 10 years of my life where I met my wife and have been in Los Angeles for the last seven years. I was an actor who became a playwright. Now I'm mostly a screenwriter which is how I make my living.

WHAT LED YOU TO FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE AS ONE OF THE TWO ORGANIZATIONS TO FACILITATE THIS PROJECT?

CUBRIÁ: A friend of mine, Rachel Moulton, who works at the Florida Studio Theatre, introduced me and my work to Catherine Randazzo who works at the theater. I knew they were looking for playwrights, specifically playwrights of color to commission to write plays about issues that affect the communities around the theater. She and I had a Zoom meeting and I told her that I've been thinking a lot about this so-called mythical “Latino Vote” that people are currently obsessed with. I gave her a very rough idea of something I wanted to write, and she was like, “We'll pay you to do that,” which is amazing and I'm very grateful for. To be frank, I was really, really excited that it was a theater that was in Florida since it’s a swing state, and that makes it a much more exciting place to put on this play.

THE TIMING OF YOUR NEW PROJECT IS A POINT OF INTEREST SINCE THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP AND EARLY VOTING HAS ALREADY BEGUN. CUBRIÁ: Sadly, I don't think I'll have this play done, or that we will have done the necessary research for it to be out in time for the midterms, but I sure hope that we put it on leading up to the next presidential election. In 2016 when Trump got elected, I obviously had very strong feelings about what had just happened, and I was going through my emotional process of all of that. But then I started getting all these text messages from friends of mine, most of whom were white Americans, and they were like, “Dude, how could 30% of Latinos or Hispanic people vote for Trump? Explain this to me.” I got offended by their question because I thought, “Why do they expect every single Latino or Hispanic person to be the exact same? Why do they think we're monoliths?” And that feels deeply misguided and hurtful as an understanding of

every single person from Tijuana to Buenos Aires that we should all be the exact same person. So honestly, I'm more interested in attacking that than any specific political issue, because I think that once we attack that [the Latino Vote] we can understand why so many people don't even feel like they want to participate in voting.

HAVING SEEN THE EFFECTS OF THE 2016 ELECTION ON THE HISPANIC AND LATINO COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE U.S., HOW HAS YOUR INSPIRATION EVOLVED?

CUBRIÁ: I hope this play is a necessary piece of art (says the playwright, right?) I think that right now the two political parties in this country are obsessed with trying to understand Latinos, and I think they are confused that we're not all the same, that we don't have the same views or values. What's funny to me is I sit around the dinner table during Christmas in Mexico, and there are conservatives and there are deeply progressive people—I have tíos who say deeply offensive things and tías who say really dope, open-minded things that I can't believe a 60-year-old Mexican woman is saying, right? So, we are not a monolith. We're humans. We're people with nuance.

HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE IN SARASOTA BEEN IN RESEARCHING FOR THE PROJECT? CUBRIÁ: The Florida Studio Theatre clearly has given money to a Mexican writer to write a play for this community. I made it very clear that I was excited by how genuinely and aggressively Florida Studio Theatre wants to reach their Latino audience that is around this theater. I can say that the theater has set me up with so many interviews with wonderful community members this week. I texted my wife last night, “God, I love Latino people,” because I've gotten to spend so much time with them this week. Every theater in America has failed underrepresented communities. The classical theater of Harlem, of course, has not failed because they are within a Black, Indigenous and People of Color community, and they have always known there is racism in America. The larger American theaters needs to do better. I think some institutions like Florida Studio Theatre are actively putting in money (which is the most important thing) and resources to do better. So I want to applaud those actions.

YOU'VE MENTIONED THAT THE NOTION THAT “EVERYONE WITHIN LATIN AMERICA THINKS THE SAME THING OR HAS THE SAME OPINIONS POLITICALLY,” IS MISGUIDED AT ITS CORE. WHAT ARE SOME WAYS YOU'RE UNPACKING THIS CONCEPT IN YOUR WORK. CUBRIÁ: The premise of the play (as of today, which may change), is that a professor of Latinx studies, a woman named Paola, is called to a secret meeting in a hotel conference room. She doesn't know where she is, but there is a political party present—we never say Republican or Democrat because to be frank, I'm interested in making fun of both parties for their lack of understanding of my community. The political party calls her into this conference room, and they ask her to explain how to reach the “Hispanic/Latino/ Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote”, which they keep saying throughout the play because they're confused about which word to use. That's the premise of the play. She is going to try to explain the nuances to them. And it's a comedy, it's a farce, and so hopefully it leads to funny jabs that punch at people in power.

WHAT ARE A FEW PIECES OF LITERATURE WRITTEN BY LATINO AUTHORS THAT HAVE INSPIRED YOU AS A WRITER? CUBRIÁ: One book that I just love is by this reporter named Paola Ramos called Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices (2020). She’s why I named the lead character in my play Paola. And to be honest, this book had a major effect on how I'm approaching this play because she just went all around this country and interviewed varying different Latinx, Latino people about their identity, their humanity and you just see how varying and nuanced it is. I cried so many times reading that book. It is a really, really beautiful piece of literature. In terms of plays, I just want people to produce more Latino plays and to read them. There are so many good Latinx playwrights: Fernanda Coppel, Mando Alvarado, Frankie Gonzalez, Guadalis Del Carmen, and Juan Villa are all great. Jasmine Rosario is an amazing Afro-Latina playwright in Houston, Texas. People should go support Latino plays. SRQ

A COLLECTIVE ENGAGEMENT

This page: Michael Alandu of CARE USA, 151 Ellis Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30303, 1-800-422-7385, care.org. Hosted by the Sarasota World Affairs Council, 5313 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, 941-487-4603, sarasotawac.org.

Michael Alandu on the neglected crises affecting some of the most vulnerable populations in the world. Barbie Heit

MICHAEL ALANDU, A NATIVE OF GHANA has spent the last twenty years living in the US and working for CARE, an international development and relief organization that has led the way to a better life for millions of vulnerable people living in remote locations around the world. When Lynn Parlington of The Sarasota World Affairs Council (SWAC) invited Alandu to share his story as part of their 2022-23 Lecture Series, he eagerly accepted. SWAC, based at New College of Florida, provides opportunities for discussions around world issues to educate and engage Americans on global issues. As part of his lecutre, Alandu highlighted the global development crises in sub-Saharan Africa to show how we can collectively make the world a better place, especially for kids in areas where there are few opportunities.

SRQ | WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE A VITAL PART OF CARE'S COMMUNITY-BASED EFFORTS. TELL US ABOUT SOME OF THE TYPES OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND DISCRIMINATION THAT YOU'RE SEEING IN THESE REMOTE AREAS. MICHAEL ALANDU: The biggest discrimination is coming from cultural norms that lead to early marriages, female genital mutilation, lack of educational access, lack of a voice in community development and lack of basic healthcare for women and girls. Also, because the basic infrastructure such as water and healthcare is not available, those who suffer most are usually girls and women. I would like to relate it to simple research evidence that has emerged: If you take girls and boys in primary school at grade one in any rural part of the world, you would find out that most of the girls are doing better than the boys. But over the years you realize that as they get to higher grades, the girls fall out. There was a curiosity about why this happens and the simplest explanation is that when they get home from school, the girls have to help with the chores, they have to go and get water 10 miles away, they have to go and look for the firewood to cook dinner. They have to do all this while the boys are studying. So it means then the girls fall out, not because they're not smart enough but because they don't get the time to invest in their schoolwork.

TELL US ABOUT THE EFFORT OF CAREUSA TO RAISE AWARENESS AND HELP THESE

VULNERABLE POPULATIONS. ALANDU: CARE has been working globally and we are in about 95 countries working on relief, humanitarian response and development. We work in these communities trying to empower people, create agency for them to be able to pull themselves up by providing the schools, basic healthcare and working with governments to ensure that the healthcare needs of communities are met. We also work around providing women with opportunities to empower themselves economically and to participate in the decisions in their community that impact their lives. We have been in several communities for several decades. We collect the evidence of what we do and that

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN.

evidence is what we use now to advocate at the level of national governments and internationally for the change that is required to be able to influence the communities where we work. For example, while currently all we hear in the news is about the conflict in Ukraine and a decade earlier, Afghanistan, both of which are very important, there is a global crisis at the moment–130 million people in Africa are at the risk of famine. The reason why that is a crisis is partly because of the war in Ukraine, because Ukraine was the bread basket of most of these countries. But it's not an emergency. So one of the biggest efforts for CARE is leading a global effort to raise awareness about the hunger crisis and a response because many people, including girls, are dying, unfortunately, just from famine. When we start talking about famine, it means that there's absolutely nothing to eat at all. The communities we work in, people's livestock are dying from the drought and the consequences of it.

I want to emphasize that neglected crises soon become epidemics and are linked to conflicts and other issues that threaten even the security of European and American society. When we invest in these communities, it's not about giving handouts. In my village, several years ago, somebody came to do education, somebody came to do health service. I got my vaccination as a child. We had a school, we had a clinic. So we could get that. There are many people like me who have emerged from my community. They got a good education and they are around the world. So the humanitarian response comes when there's a crisis, but really, the emphasis should be on prevention. What do we do to turn around communities, to provide opportunities? That's where advocacy is critical. My story is evidence of what is possible when we do international development and we do it well. It is not, contrary to what most people think, giving handouts to people who are just helpless.

HOW HAS COVID AFFECTED THESE VULNERABLE POPULATIONS?

ALANDU: Before moving here in January, I worked in Sierra Leone in West Africa. I was responsible for Sierra Leone and Liberia. At the time I was living there, less than 1% of the population had a vaccine.

Those were vaccines that had come from, I think, Russia and China. CARE is running a big advocacy on trying to get vaccines to people in these severely underdeveloped societies, as it is hardly available to most people around the world. There's research that has come out that shows that thousands of people died from Covid. There was no vaccine, there was no testing, and the combination of that. So to date, even while we are throwing away vaccines here because they're expiring, there's millions of people around the world who only hear that there's a vaccine, but have never had the opportunity to receive it.

ARE PREGNANT MOTHERS ABLE TO ACCESS MEDICATIONS OR PRENATAL CARE AT ALL? AND WHAT TYPE OF CARE DOES THE NEWBORN RECEIVE, IF ANY?

ALANDU: Please excuse the story I'm going to tell, but I want to tell it in a way that brings home the question you just asked me. I used to work in the DR Congo for six and a half years. It's one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but because of hunger, disease and war, the people in that country have no better life than just the basic subsistence. I used to go deep into communities. Travel by air, then go by road, and ride a motorcycle into the midst of nowhere. On one occasion, on arrival in the community, we were told about a woman who had just died and I was curious to know why the woman had died. This was a woman who was in labor and she was having difficulty that the local labor attendant couldn’t manage so they decided to move her to a clinic. There are no roads like we would think about here, so they decided to put her on a moped. Think about somebody trying to have a baby and having difficulty and then being put on a moped. All this man riding the moped could think of, "How fast can I go to get this woman some care?" But the faster he went, the more he made her bleed and she just dropped off the motorbike and died. Now, I tell this story and I'd always tell people that it is very difficult to tell the story, but it tells you how women live.

In some places of the world, women are reduced to their harshest conditions of life. They have the burden of providing the basics. They don't have any healthcare. They hardly

see the children get the shots that they need, basic nutrition is not available, and then they have the burden of farm work. They're excluded even from the decisions that affect them in those communities. Malaria is a common death of kids and infant mortality is very high because of malaria. So it's a long story, but the whole idea of medical service is beyond the reach of several people who are living around the world. That's one of the areas also that CARE does a lot of work trying to reach these communities, providing healthcare, etc.

ARE THESE COMMUNITIES RECEPTIVE TO

YOUR EFFORTS? ALANDU: People are very welcoming. When I go to the community, sometimes I tell them, it's like when you play a soccer match, you require 11 people on each side. Now, if you go to the match and leave some of your best players at home, you are never going to win. People appreciate it. People understand mathematically that if you have a woman and a man and both can bring an income together, it adds to more. People appreciate that women have a strong influence on who their children would become. Even in some of the societies, women are the matriarchs. So in Southern Ghana for example, you become a king because your mother is from the royal family, not because your father is from the royal family. You inherit the kingship through your mother. So there's a receptiveness, but it's a process. We call it the community engagement process. We discuss with the community, and they get to know us. For example, when I worked in the Congo, I went to areas that were part of the conflict, but nobody attacked me, because they knew that I was bringing something to the community that would benefit their families, their wives. Generally people see the change in their communities. Men see that and then as the women even begin to make money, the women are very intelligent, as you know. They begin to even help the man have a better life. He sees the change in the diet he has at home. He sees that his kids are going to school. He sees that his son has nicer shorts. These women don't take their money. What we realized is, when they make money, they don't use it to buy some jewelry or something in it. No, they use it for

family. They use it to promote their family and gradually it brings the men in. Now we have a program we call Men Engaged, so we bring these men into a forum where we let them see, "Look at how this is happening."

It takes time to change societies, to change norms, to change behaviors, to turn around education. If you have a woman who is 40 years old, and I as an aid worker, development worker, have to deal with that woman, she's coming with a baggage of 40 years. I cannot turn that around in a year. I can turn that around gradually, but the impact of my work is going to be most significant when she begins to pick up on it and transfers it to the next generation. We want to break that generational trap.

LET'S TALK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE. DOES THAT AFFECT THESE AREAS THAT YOU'RE IN? ALANDU: Unfortunately, climate change has such a significant impact on these communities because most of them rely on nature for agriculture. The rains come, you make your farm, you harvest. When the floods come, they destroy all the farms. When the rains don't come, that destroys everything. Climate, in fact, is one of the biggest crises that if left, might destroy a lot of what we currently know as organic production that happens in most parts of the world. It destroys communities and the worst part of it is that it also creates conflict. It creates war. Let me explain. If there's pasture in Sarasota, the cattle herder comes to Sarasota for his cattle to graze and then he moves them to, I don't know, another community. But because of the climate issues, people are now territorial. "You can't get into this space." The cattle might get into somebody's farm. Then it leads to conflict because the cattle herder is going to fight to make sure his cattle can graze and the community is going to fight back.

HOW DOES CARE GET THEIR FUNDING?

ALANDU: We get funding from donors around the U.S. and globally, from governments, from foundations, from individuals. That's how we raise funds to support the work we do in the 95 countries that we work around the world.The citizens in the U.S. have a significant voice in how their governments respond globally. SRQ

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RINGLING RENAISSANCE

cutting-edge artists gather at the ringling’s historic asolo theatre to celebrate their craft. Dylan Campbell

This page: Backed by his eclectic ensemble, Joseph Keckler’s singular talent lights the HAT aflame in his Sarasota premiere. Keckler’s sublime brand of performance ranges from operatic vocals to comedic musings to short films in which his bizarrely heroic quotidian plots become legendary and virtuosic in their recounting.

“WHEN YOU COME IN TO SEE A SHOW, it’s almost like you’ve seen a festival that’s been stretched out over the course of eight months. You walk away from it with this encyclopedia of really interesting things that you’ve experienced,” says Elizabeth Doud of The Ringling’s Art of Performance Program at the Historic Asolo Theatre. “Our season typically runs from October through April and features a diverse mix of 11 to 12 shows. While there are threads that connect them, they’re purposefully not all thematically connected–I don’t know if that would serve our generationally and culturally diverse community.”

Cultivating such an environment, for some, would be a tall ask. But for Doud, The Ringling’s ConnieKuhlman Curator of Performance, it’s just another day in the office. Since stepping into the role in 2019, she has become the driving force behind the biggest oxymoron in the Sarasota art scene. For in a region as densely saturated with theatrical programming as the Gulf Coast, the bowels of an 18th century Italian opera house would be the last place one would expect to find some of the most avant-garde, cutting-edge acts of the performing arts. Yet here they congregate, from Brazilian dance troupes to experimental theater companies to contemporary jazz musicians, to perform in the reconstructed remains of a 224-year-old relic. Operating in the shadow of the city’s most prestigious arts organization, the Historic Asolo Theatre—now dubbed the HAT—has become the little theater that could, a pivotal piece of the Sarasota arts ecosystem.

How? Programming—specifically through the Art of Performance series. “My methodology as a curator or programmer is always to first look at the local arts ecology and think about offering something that isn’t currently being offered, so that we are filling a niche that isn’t currently occupied because there’s so many other thriving arts organizations here that are doing excellent work,” says Doud. “For example, Asolo Repertory Theatre is right across the street. They do very high quality repertory theater and musical theater. We wouldn’t try and reproduce that because we already have a neighbor that’s doing that really well. The same can be said for the Opera and a lot of other organizations all doing excellent work with classical, orchestral music. Trying to replicate that probably isn’t the best move for us.”

The Historic Asolo Theatre’s ability to fill that niche was the result of a pivotal decision made by The Ringling in 2017, when the organization decided to end the run of the renowned annual Ringling International Arts Festival (RIAF), reframing its approach to the performing arts. Instead of hosting up

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to 11 various productions over three days in October, the organization opted to spread out its presentation of international, contemporary, and unique acts over an entire year—deepening its relationships with the artists and granting more time for audience members to experience each performance. “In the spirit of the Ringling International Arts Festival, which was such a breath of fresh air and brought in some very high quality, unique, artists on the vanguard, we’ve wanted

to continue to bring in artists that are a little more experimental and international in scope,” says Doud. “I think we’re one of the few presenters in the city that are bringing this many international artists. About 65% of this season is going to feature artists from outside of the United States.”

Restructuring the Art of Performance series over the calendar year also allowed The Ringling to provide further community engagement for its audience. Workshops, classes, and lectures with visiting artists have now become commonplace, built into the contracts of the visiting artists. “While RIAF was this spectacular, intense, multidisciplinary festival, it didn’t lend itself toward community engagement. In a festival environment, it’s actually really hard to carve out the time that you need to do a class or to organize student groups,” says Doud. “Now, when we have artists come to Sarasota, we ask them to come in a couple days early so they have time to do their technical setup in addition to providing some kind of interactive program with our community – whether it’s a workshop, a masterclass, an artist talk, or a visit to a local school. We negotiate that into the contract so that the artists get paid for their time, but we can offer it to the community for free. It’s one of my favorite things that we do.” SRQ Historic Asolo Theatre at The Ringling Museum, 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, 941360-7399, ringling.org/historic-asolo-theater.

culture city

One Look Back, Two Steps Forward

Johnette Isham and Karen Corbin take us through the history and the future of the nonprofit organization Realize Bradenton.

Interview by Dylan Campbell | Photography by Wyatt Kostygan

SRQ | JOHNETTE, COULD YOU TAKE US BACK ONTO THE ORIGIN STORY OF REALIZE BRADENTON AND HOW IT CAME TO BE? JOHNETTE ISHAM: The origin story is that after receiving grants from the Knight Foundation in December 2007, the Bradenton Cultural and Business Alliance hired a nationally recognized cultural planner to organize and coordinate the Realize Bradenton planning process. Additionally, the Manatee Chamber commissioned an economic impact study to gauge the financial impact of the arts and culture in Manatee County. The Realize Bradenton Cultural Master Plan process engaged over 1,500 people in 2008 and 2009, and produced a 10-year plan to leverage arts, culture, and heritage in order to build economic development, cultural tourism, and civic engagement. To implement a plan, you need a lead organization – that’s when the nonprofit Realize Bradenton was formed, back when I was hired to initiate the Master Plan back in September of 2009. We worked with 11 partners in business education, cultural and civic sectors, along with the city of Bradenton and the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority were collaborative partners to help implement the plan. I really believe that Bradenton has been ahead of the curve in understanding the positive impact of arts and culture on livability, quality of life, and economic development. I have to give a lot of credit to the city of Bradenton, they saw that art means business.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR EARLIEST MEMORIES FROM WHEN IT STARTED? ISHAM: We work with the belief that working together works. My earliest aspiration was that others in the community would share my optimism that Bradenton had a bright and vibrant future. An example is that my hope was that the community could get past the idea that nothing would ever happen on the Riverwalk. At that time, it was really referred to by the community and people and civic leaders as the Sand Pile. When I started talking about, “Let’s get this Riverwalk going,” people said, “Oh, it’ll never happen.” That Sand Pile had so many failed attempts over the years to make something happen. The community did get past that whole Sand Pile idea. KAREN CORBIN: I think that part of why Johnette was able to convince the community to share in that optimism was Realize Bradenton’s ability to keep its finger on the pulse of the city by being aware of what’s going on in the city all the time and by listening to people. Listening is a wonderful skill.

WHAT WAS DOWNTOWN BRADENTON LIKE BACK IN 2007 AND 2008 PRIOR TO ITS RENAISSANCE?

ISHAM: I’d been living in Sarasota, but shortly after I was hired I moved to downtown Bradenton. In September of 2009, I saw a community with a lot of potential but without a performing arts center. The Village of the Arts wasn’t really prospering. People had a very modest view of their

culture city

own community. There was this culture of “Oh, we’re just the stepchild to Sarasota, we don’t have the amount of restaurants and artists that they do.” But ever since we began, there’s been an attitude shift in the community. Bradenton became the little engine that could.

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE “STORMING BEFORE NORMING” MOMENTS FROM WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED? ISHAM: Well, what I’d say is that there were certainly a lot of challenges. The way I viewed challenges is that they open the windows of opportunity. That unexpected challenge was that dreaded sand pile, but what happened was that dreaded sand pile evolved into the beloved Riverwalk, which opened in 2012. A really key win and positive memory was that the City of Bradenton and the Downtown Development Authority really embraced what we were doing with citizen engagement.

WAS THERE A MOMENT THAT YOU REALIZED THAT THIS WAS GOING TO WORK? ISHAM: Well, I think in any community of thousands of people, there’s always people that come on early as supporters and those that stand back and wait and see, but I think that once they see their ideas and thoughts reflected in a physical plan, that’s when we begin to win them over. A memorable moment was the installation of the skate park in the Riverwalk. There was a real interest from the city so we partnered with Team Pain Skate Park Design and Construction to work with the skate community and actually engage individual skaters in the design of the park. Another instance was back in the fall of 2012, when we did 35 events for the grand opening month of the Riverwalk. To see residents and visitors alike really enjoying the Riverwalk and its many features was really gratifying. I’d say additionally we knew that our strategies were working because they’re verified by successfully securing $3.4 million in grants for special projects in the last decade. That’s when you know foundations and corporations really believe in what you’re doing, when they’ll bring forth the money, which helped supplement and complement the funding we were getting from the city.

KAREN SHARE WITH US HOW YOU FIRST CAME TO REALIZE BRADENTON?

CORBIN: I had only been in Florida for a little over a year, but I admired Bradenton. In 2019, a neighbor of mine worked for the Selby Foundation, and I was looking for a job and she said, “Give me your resume,” so I gave her my resume and she gave it to her CEO, Carol Butera. Carol is good friends with Johnette, and she knew Johnette was looking for a development director, so the rest is history. Johnette and I hit it off, I met her team, and loved them. They were just a group of people that were just good humans and I loved everybody, and the rest is history. Here I am, still at Realize Bradenton.

culture city

WHAT DID THAT ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT

DIRECTOR INITIALLY ENTAIL? CORBIN: It involved maintaining and growing community partnerships. At that point, Johnette had done an amazing job over a 10-year period building and cultivating those relationships, but she was only one person. We needed to diversify our funds, so when I came in Johnette introduced me to a lot of people and we all worked as a team to create those partnerships and bring people closer to us so that they would be true stakeholders in the work that we were doing. ISHAM: It’s all about the network of relationships. I would say that much like the rest of our team, Karen is fabulous at developing relationships, but she brought to Realize Bradenton new knowledge and skill in developing relationships with individuals and businesses.

WHAT HAS THIS TRANSITIONAL PROCESS LOOKED LIKE IN THE WAKE OF JOHNETTE STEPPING DOWN AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR? ISHAM: I stepped down a few weeks ago, but the transition has really been seamless since Karen and I have worked together at Realize Bradenton for a number of years. Both the board and staff supported her leadership—I was the one that recommended that Karen succeed me because I knew she could do the job. I also believe that when appropriate, it can be very positive to promote from within. CORBIN: I agree entirely with Johnette. Johnette is very organized. It took some time to bring me up to speed on all the projects that she was working on. Her style has always been very inclusive, and the transition certainly benefited from that. We both love Bradenton and want what is best for the stakeholders, so we work very well together and we’ll continue to do so for some time.

JOHNETTE, HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT IT WAS TIME FOR YOU TO STEP DOWN?

ISHAM: A key reason why I retired was that my beloved husband of 35 years died unexpectedly a few months ago. Those kinds of things shake you up, shake your life up, shake your perspective up. I figured it was just time for me to smell the roses, and additionally, spend more time with my son traveling, eating out, and just plain enjoying being with each other. I’d also say that after 13 years with Realize Bradenton, it was just time for new leadership and a new perspective at the helm. Retirement

has been bittersweet as I so love the work of Realize Bradenton and I will continue to be one of the biggest cheerleaders for Realize Bradenton and downtown Bradenton.

IN REFLECTING OVER THE YEARS, HOW WOULD EACH OF YOU DESCRIBE YOUR FAVORITE MILESTONES? CORBIN: The first thing I’d like to say is it’s incredible that Johnette and her team were able to achieve nearly every goal set in that original 10-year plan. But now, it’s time to engage and inform our new stakeholders, create a new framework plan, and to guide us into the future. A couple of my favorites include a program that we initiated during COVID called the Startup Circle. It’s an entrepreneur program for the newly established and inspiring entrepreneurs as well as small business owners who need to reinvent their business model. The program consists of eight two-hour sessions covering the basics of starting a business, including legal structures, licensing, financial literacy, branding, commerce, and so very much more. Participants completing the program will have connections to business resources or some startup funding. Also, they will complete a business plan, have a three-year cash flow projection, and the information and confidence to take their ideas to the next level. It’s one of the most wonderful programs that we do right now and is close to my heart. The other one that’s really close to my heart is our public market. The market has exploded this season in a good way. It’s every Saturday morning, starts in October, goes through May, from nine to two, and we coordinate all of it and have for many years, but now we have over 100 vendors, and that has almost doubled from pre-pandemic numbers. It’s incredible. ISHAM: Some of the things I’m most proud of that also excites me about the future of Realize Bradenton, in addition to what Karen said, is we have a children’s book series and we continue to publish books of local content for families, and we use local authors and local illustrators, and we’ve donated over 12,000 books free to families whose children attend Title 1 schools to support grade level reading but also to build knowledge of their community. Our first book was called Old Manatee A to Z, and that explains the rich history of the place where Bradenton was founded, first nation people, freedom seekers, Angola, early settlers, as well as environmental features.

One of the most amazing applications of the book is that we translated the book’s art into seven large educational panels that are installed in the New Riverwalk East in the family reading zone. Our second book is called Tales from the Table: Flavors, Families, and Friends. It showcases 10 diverse residents and their heritage meals, and it has recipes, their family stories, photos, and illustrations. It’s a range of Hispanic, African American, early people that have generational roots here. The third book we’re working on is on public art in Bradenton—it’s going to feature some of downtown’s 71 public artworks with artist interviews and sketches of art in progress. I’m also really proud of the Bradenton Blues Festival. We know that the Blues sound better in Bradenton, and the festival is now in its 10th year and we’re back on the Riverwalk.

JOHNETTE, COULD YOU SHARE ONE “ IF I COULD DO IT OVER AGAIN, I’D DO IT DIFFERENTLY,” MOMENT? ISHAM: I know this sounds hokey, but every day at Realize Bradenton, we learn something. Even when we have a mess up, we learn from it. Because what we do, I call it a postmortem, whether it’s an event or an activity, we don’t start with, “Where do we screw up?” We say, “What worked? How can we make it better?” There’s been a number of missteps, but we don’t necessarily see those missteps as problems, but rather as opportunities to grow and get better.

JOHNETTE, WHAT WERE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THAT YOU FACED? ISHAM: There was never enough time. I pretty much worked some weeks seven days a week because when you’re running a nonprofit that also does events and is highly community engaged, you’re always on.

KAREN, WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE SOME OF YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO BE AS YOU STEP INTO THE ROLE? CORBIN: Like Johnette, I’ve looked at challenges as opportunities, and that’s a true story. I’m excited about the new plan. Let’s talk to the city, and let’s talk to the CRA, and let’s talk to our board members, and let’s talk to all of our stakeholders, and see what they want for the future. Once we get that plan together, then it’s time to have some real creative fun—it will be exciting to see what kind of creative things we can come up with over the next year.

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COASTING ALONG Impala Quad Skate Mimosa, $100, Impala Protective Set, $56, Impala Skate Strap, $15, Spiritual Gangster Gratitude Dad Hat, $30, Free People Archer Leather Bag, $98, Billie Wow Tennis Bag, $145, T. Georgiano’s Boutique, 1409-B 1st St, Sarasota, (941) 870-3727.

Head toToe

“THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT IT IS THE STUDENTS’ SENSE OF CURIOSITY and their desire to know more,” says Tim Jaeger, Director and Chief Curator of Galleries and Exhibitions at Ringling College. “Seeing them fall in love with the craft and work with it is fabulous – it’s what we set out to do here.” Jaeger is talking about Head to Toe, the first of an inaugural fashion exhibition presented this November by the Ringling College Exhibitions and Galleries in conjunction with the school’s Business of Art and Design departments. Head to Toe, which highlights the designs of fashion influencer Marie Colbert, known in part for introducing “camouflage” to the industry, is the product of a student curatorial team selected from Jaeger’s class, “The Business of Art”. Jaeger’s objective was to create a real-world scenario in which students from a range of disciplines would have to work together to create an exhibition of professional caliber. “Ten students were selected to have a hands-on approach to how to produce an arts exhibition. It’s meant to both bridge generational gaps and to introduce a universal language that transcends and shifts the culture of fashion,” says Jaeger. “They’re learning deadlines and everything they need to do to get the job done. Making art is one of the most important things in this process, but i like to say “how do we make art work?” Understanding the business of art and the collaborative nature of this industry is just as valuable as standing in front of an easel.”

at head to toe exhibition at the Ringling College Galleries, students are exploring new and exciting ways to develop sustainable fashion. Written by Dylan Campbell | Photography by Wyatt Kostygan

Head to Toe is also a product of Jaeger simply keeping his ear to the ground. While the seven on-campus galleries host around 30-35 exhibitions a year, many of them featuring the art of visiting artists alongside that of the students and faculty, they function also as an outlet for the creative and artistic maturation of the student body. “On a college campus you walk around a lot and see everything from an interest in cosplay to the Ringling College drag club to Halloween outfits to desires for sustainable clothing. For the past five years, I’ve noticed an uptick in students’ interest in the fiber arts and so with observing that, you try to find the exhibition that will nourish the creativity of the student,” says Jaeger. This methodology is reflected throughout every facet of Head to Toe, most notably in the exhibition’s closing event – the Fresco Fashion Show. The Fresco show, which was conceptualized, managed, and carried out by a cross-disciplinary team of students, is a sustainable fashion show that presents a design collection made out of upcycled materials. The collection, which is inspired by the work of Marie Colbert, was created in an effort to raise awareness of the fashion industry’s negative environmental impact.

This page: The Fresco Fashion Show empowers Ringling College of Art and Design students to design sustainable fashion.

Fresco, named after the Italian wall paintings on wet plaster and symbolizes fresh, new beginnings, is the brainchild of Linda Liao, a Senior with a passion for sustainable fashion and a penchant for working with her classmates. “I started this project, because when I came to Ringling, I felt like there were not a lot of opportunities for students to express themselves through fashion. I wanted to do something that involved a lot of students and gave them the chance to explore fashion and sustainable fashion,” says Liao. Three years and two shows later, the Fresco fashion show is existing on its biggest stage yet – the Ringling College Galleries. To pull off the two-hour event, Liao had to lean on Jaeger as well as her network of fellow students, eager and enthusiastic to be involved with a new challenge. “I wanted to expand the show to more than just students interested in fashion and becoming models. I wanted to give them a platform to showcase their art. We have art students doing caricatures on the spot for the guests and others selling their artwork at the show,” says Liao. “I asked friends interested in music to make the song for the show, my friend who does videography created a short intro video, we all just found ways to do something creative and help each other.” SRQ

JULIANNA

JULIANNA BURNS

Berkshire Hathaway Florida Realty

7231 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

c: 941.800.SOLD (7653)

juliannaBurns@BHHSFloridaRealty.net

JULIANNABURNSSELLSSARASOTA.COM

BEYOND REALTY

2170 Main Street, #103 Sarasota, FL 34237 941.467.3448

BEYONDREALTYFL.COM @BEYONDREALTYFL

WARREN GROUP SARASOTA

Coldwell Banker Realty

8334 Market Street

Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

Pat Warren c: 941.350.7044

Julie Warren c: 941.350.7439

Patrick Warren c: 941.400.4436

JOE & WENDY KESSLAK

RE/MAX Alliance Group

5221 Ocean Blvd., Siesta Key

Joe Kesslak | c: 941.321.8585 jkesslak@kesslak.com Wendy Kesslak | c: 941.321.7484 wendy4siesta@gmail.com

GULFCOASTGRP.COM

LINDSAY LEECH STRICKLAND

Duncan Real Estate

310 Pine Avenue

Anna Maria, FL 34216

facebook.com/LindsayLeechFl TEAMDUNCAN.COM LINDSAYLEECHSTRICKLAND.COM

BEYOND REALTY

ABOUT THE FOUNDERS

Darren Dowling – Darren started his real estate career buying bulk investment properties for a company in England before expanding into buying and selling international property. Competitive by nature, Darren is a three-time British national champion and Florida state champion in cycling. He still races and trains aspiring cyclists as president of the Sarasota Cycling Club. With his goal-setting skills and goal-driven mentality Darren ensures his team and his clients achieve the highest success.

WENDY Dowling - A real estate veteran since the late 1980s, Wendy has been investing in property since the age of 18. Before moving to Florida, she worked with investors on sourcing, financing, and managing international properties. Her passion for helping others led her to a career as a broker associate, where she uses her decades of knowledge and experience to ensure optimal results for her clients. Her other love is listing homes, and, with professional certifications in e-design and staging, she has a proven track record of selling properties quickly and for top dollar.

MIA MCKEEHAN – A graduate of Rice University and business owner from a young age, Mia’s affinity for sales, management, and entrepreneurship, combined with her passion for people, made real estate a natural career choice for her. Some of Mia’s first transactions involved listing and selling investor properties, and she progressed to working within a top-producing luxury sales team before venturing out on her own. Her goal is to provide top-tier concierge service for her clients, and she has a sales track record to prove it with over 11 years of experience in the Sarasota estate market.

Beyond Realty’s real estate journey began in the late 1980s and developed internationally in places such as London, Dubai, and the Spanish Islands. We balance our insight and global flair with intimate care and harness the latest tech to streamline your transaction. We’re on a mission to ensure you reap the financial rewards of real estate and enjoy the Florida lifestyle the way it’s meant to be. And, we exhibit a hands-on, white-gloved approach so that you have an enjoyable, educational experience. Beyond Realty 2170 Main Street, #103 | Sarasota, FL 34237 | 941.467.3448 beyondrealtyfl.com | @beyondrealtyfl

Above, left to right: Lorena Barona, Tania May, Darren Dowling, Mia McKeehan, Sue Carroll, Mary Mouritsen, Eli Burress, Curt Arndt, Wendy Dowling and Deb Hanson.

Warren group sarasota

Warren Group Sarasota prioritizes quality of relationships over quantity of transactions. This ensures a personalized client experience that instills confidence and promised results. Warren Group Sarasota prides itself on more than 19 years of dedicated service to the Sarasota, Bradenton, and Lakewood Ranch Communities. Our sincere desire is for all our clients to love where they live.

Coldwell Banker Realty Warren Group Sarasota 8334 Market Street, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

Pat Warren c: 941.350.7044

Julie Warren c: 941.350.7439 Patrick Warren c: 941.400.4436

The Warren Group has built a reputation for the highest level of integrity and diligence for their clients over 18 years of dedication to their local Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch communities. PAT WARREN left a career as a CPA and entrepreneur after 10 years in Vail, Colorado and along with his wife JULIE WARREN and their three kids, relocated to Lakewood Ranch over 20 years ago. Julie, a seasoned sales professional from the pharmaceutical industry and a successful interior design consultant in Vail, brings next-level energy and professionalism to the team, plus unmatched marketing and staging expertise. Pat’s financial experience, market knowledge and negotiating acumen, combined with Julie’s marketing and design passion make for a powerful team, dedicated to their clients’ realization of their Real Estate goals as part of a family, the Warren Group family.

THE WARREN GROUP recently announced the addition of Patrick Warren to the team! Patrick graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Advertising and Marketing, bringing another level of marketing power to help sell your home quickly and efficiently. Patrick has a tremendous level of commitment to his clients and an unmatched work ethic, all targeted to help serve his clients’ real estate needs.

Patrick was born in Vail, Colorado and moved with his family to Lakewood Ranch when he was three years old. He’s always been a hard worker and committed to his education and athletics. Patrick competed in golf and lacrosse in high school, eventually landed a lacrosse scholarship at Rhodes College and ultimately received a Marketing degree from the University of Florida. He currently works on new client development and marketing as well as listing and selling homes in this amazing market. His talents with the experience and expertise of Pat and Julie combine for a powerful family team, all targeted to help you achieve your Real Estate goals! LET OUR FAMILY VALUES BRING YOU HOME!

JOE

WE LOVE IT HERE! We are Joe and Wendy Kesslak, a husband and wife realtor team, proud members of the RE/MAX Alliance Group Family. Like most people living in Sarasota, we vacationed here over 25 years ago and were immediately captivated by the beauty and allure of Sarasota and her barrier islands. We fell in love with Siesta Key and proceeded to to purchase our first piece of paradise allowing us to vacation here with our two daughters. Over the course of the past 25 years, we have bought, sold, and invested in numerous properties on Siesta Key. We have since moved from our home in Western Pennsylvania to make Siesta Key our permanent home. With our passion for Sarasota and all of it’s charms, we were inspired to help others with their buying, selling, and investing needs. Enthusiastic about real estate in Sarasota, we enjoy sharing our knowledge and experience to assist and educate aspiring investors, buyers and sellers with their own goals. We carry the values of hard work, integrity and outstanding customer service into every aspect of our business. When we’re not making our customers’ home buying dreams come true, you’ll find us out enjoying our city: boating, biking, walking, exploring the food scene, hanging with friends and family or simply beaching it! It’s easy to sell something you’re passionate about. A vibrant arts scene, beachy atmosphere, unique charm. We love Sarasota!

DUNCAN REAL ESTATE

Each real estate transaction is unique and so are the people that you work with - Lindsey will cater to your specific needs for a smooth and easy sale! She is a premier Florida Real Estate Agent!

Lindsey was born in North Carolina and moved to Florida at the age of 5 —almost a Florida cracker but with southern roots! She has been a resident of Manatee County since 1987. Lindsey joined Duncan Real Estate in 2015 as the Director of Business Development. She completed real estate school and received her real estate license in 2017. At that time, Lindsey became the sales assistant to the broker/owner of Duncan Real Estate. After a few years of training under the broker/owner to understand the real estate business and vacation rentals, Lindsey moved into full time real estate sales and has quickly become a top selling agent. Her experience with Duncan Real Estate and also growing up in Manatee County gives her an edge in selling real estate and knowing the area. Let Lindsey put her experience and personality to work for you!

Lindsey Leech Strickland lindseykleech@gmail.com cell - 941-737-3491 | office - 941-779-0304 310 Pine Ave | Anna Maria, FL 34216 facebook: facebook.com/LindseyLeechFL teamduncan.com lindseyleechstrickland.com

Julianna Burns

Passionate, trusted and professional. Julianna is a Florida Licensed Realtor® and Sarasota native. Julianna is a Pricing Strategy Advisor & Real Estate Consultant who focuses on helping her customers build generational wealth and find a higher quality of life.

passionATE, TRUSTED, AND PROFESSIONAL. Julianna is a Florida Licensed Realtor® and Sarasota native. She expertly guides her clients through the home selection and sales process while communicating all aspects of a transaction. She educates her clients on the building process and how to identify the potential in a prospective property. As a Pricing Strategy Advisor & Real Estate Consultant, Julianna focuses on helping her customers build generational wealth and find a higher quality of life. She specializes in waterfront property, investment, and relocation in the U.S. and abroad. Julianna is the 2022 President of the Women’s Council of Realtors Sarasota, named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021, and 2022 Realtor to watch under 40. She serves on the Mote Marine Lab & Aquarium President’s Advisory Council and is Mote’s Philanthropy Chair.

Julianna Burns c: 941-800-SOLD (7653) e: JuliannaBurns@BHHSFloridaRealty.net 7231 S. Tamiami Trail | Sarasota, Fl 34231 JuliannaBurnsSellsSarasota.com

Instagram: Juliannarburns Facebook: JuliannaBurnsRealtor

PICKLEBALL LANDS IN LAKEWOOD RANCH

Set to open in February 2023, The Pickleball Club in Lakewood Ranch promises to be a unique, high-tech, amenity-based experience for members.

PICKLEBALL, A SPORT THAT IS FUN, SOCIAL AND SOMEWHAT ADDICTIVE is also a fast-growing business with no signs of slowing down. Longtime commercial real estate and business entrepreneurs Brian and Valerie McCarthy along with business partner Matthew Gordon are seizing the opportunity to be part of the sport’s explosion by investing $180 million for 15 indoor private pickleball clubs in Florida, the first being The Pickleball Club right here in Lakewood Ranch. Originally from Michigan, Brian McCarthy, who will serve as CEO for the Club, has had a 30 year military career in the Navy, achieving the rank of Rear Admiral. With an MBA from Harvard and a career as a commercial real estate developer, he’s very familiar with turning large properties into valuable business. On the local non-profit side, he has been president of the Sarasota Military Officers Association and their foundation, the first vice president of the Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota, and he’s served as chair of the advisory council for United Way for Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Currently, he sits on the board of the Players Centre for Performing Arts.

Valerie McCarthy, President and COO (and Brian’s wife) has a masters degree in exercise physiology and has been in the health industry her entire life. A former executive director

for the YMCA, she will oversee the member experience at the club. Matt Gordon, a New York attorney with a passion for investment banking is the CFO. He has helped the McCarthy’s develop a strong business plan.

The founders are confident that it’s the right time to start this venture and that Lakewood Ranch is the best place for it. “The industry was at an inflection point. We could see it going up the curve and that’s where you want to be in any industry,” says Brian. “I’m not going to throw stones at any others but, if you look at racquetball, that’s on the downturn right now. Golf is struggling, even tennis is struggling. I think something that makes pickleball unique is that it’s fairly easy to learn how to play at a level that you can have fun with, and to master it, it takes time and effort, like any sport does. There is a real propensity to want to get instruction, to learn, take lessons, take clinics.”

In order to gauge local interest, the founders took a survey in Sarasota. They asked participants about the things they like about the sport locally and the things they don’t. “The first issue that came into play was weather,” says Brian. “Believe it or not, it gets humid and hot in the summer. It rains a lot. It’s windy, there are insects in the evening and daytime sun exposure is intense. There were a whole lot of compelling reasons to come inside.”

The Lakewood Ranch Pickleball Club will be a member-only, privately-owned, for-profit sports club with 12 indoor and two outdoor courts, a retail shop and café in a 33,000 square-foot facility. The owners are determined to make it an exceptional experience for the members. What does that mean?

“First off, we’ll use an app system to reserve a court,” says Brian. “Or, with our membership, you have free open play, so you can

This page: Custom built for pickleball, the special cushioned courts at The Pickleball Club promise an outstanding playing experience.

RENDERINGS COURTESY OF THE PICKLEBALL CLUB.

come whenever you want–you can sign up for open play and get on the court without waiting for hours. The other thing is that people generally, as they get better, want to play with their skill level. We can designate courts for certain skill levels. If you’re a 4.0, 4.5, 3.5 or 3.0, you can go and have open play with people of your skill level, or you can do drop-in, too.”

Using PlaySight technology, there will be cameras on every court recording all the play, all day long, every day. Members can watch their play, or send the video to instructors to critique it. There will be lessons and clinics and Pickleball Club University, where players can go from beginner all the way up to about a 4.0 player.

At the club’s high-end café Pickles, members can drop in for nitro coffee, blended drinks, sandwiches, salads, beer and wine. “Yes, we will have food and beverage, but it’s not about us selling hard liquor, it’s more about creating a social environment for everybody,” Brian says. “We will also have a pro shop called Dinks, where we will have about 70 demo paddles so you can come in and try out different paddles without having to buy one. You can talk to the pros and they’ll give you their advice on what’s good and then, a new paddle is shipped to you, right to your home the next day. All the apparel and equipment that you’re ever going to want or need is in the pro shop which eventually will evolve into e-Dinks so that you can buy the stuff online, too.”

Naturally, Brian plans to bring his philanthropic passion into his pickleball world. “I really like to connect and give back to the community,” he says. “So we set up the Play for Life Foundation, which is independent of our for-profit company, focusing on three categories: youth, veterans and first responders, to which the Foundation will donate a complete club-n-box, which includes nets, paddles, balls and

instruction. You can’t believe how much fun it is giving one of these boxes to local firefighters.They move the fire engine out, open up the doors, set up the court and they start playing pickleball in the firehouse. It is so cool to see.”

According to Brian, there are several factors responsible for the popularity of the sport. “Pickleball is a multigenerational sport, meaning parents can play with their kids and grandparents can play with their grandkids. I don’t know another sport other than checkers where you can do that.” He also credits the health aspect. “There’s a growing obesity

epidemic amongst the youth because they’re all sitting behind computers, their smartphones, their tablets and gaming consoles all day. This is actually a sport that will get the youth out and doing something. It’s great for strength, mobility, balance, everything. It really does help and it burns off the calories over time because you can play it for a long time. On our special cushioned courts, if you could play for an hour outside on asphalt, you can come inside and play for two to three hours. It’s so much easier on the joints and the knees. For senior players, that’s a big issue, their joints get sore. This

allows them to play longer.” With plans to open in February, there are a plethora of member events being planned, including a ribbon cutting ceremony. The company currently has 47 shareholders and has raised nearly $5 million in equity over the past year and a half and is currently accepting accredited investors. “We recently ran an ad saying if you build it, they will come,” says Brian. Based on the constant calls and inquiries from interested players, the founders are pretty sure they will come.

The Pickleball Club, 1300 Sarasota Center Blvd, Sarasota. 941-2714444, https://www.tpclwr.us/

PICKLEBALL FOR ALL

A sport once thought of as a senior game, pickleball is catching on with kids playing in Sarasota’s very first youth pickleball league.

PICKLEBALL, THE CRAZE THAT’S QUICKLY SWEEPING THE NATION, once had a reputation for being a senior game, predominantly played by those over 55. That is definitely not the case anymore. The sport has caught on in a big way with younger generations as evidenced by the popularity of the first youth pickleball league in Sarasota which launched early this fall at the Pompano trailhead courts. Co-founded by Gillett Cole, a teacher at NewGate Montessori School and Julie Stewart, a medical rehab therapist and certified pickleball instructor, the league is a nonprofit, no-cost venture that caters to local youth in middle and high school, getting them outside playing pickleball and keeping them active.

With donations of paddles, balls and nets from Play For Life this summer, and a partnership with Sarasota County Parks and Rec, the league took off immediately. “Once we started getting into it I quickly observed how attractive the sport was to students, particularly those who had never picked up a paddle or ball before in their lives because they were either intimidated by it or they didn’t think of themselves as athletic.” shares Cole. “I saw a light shine in them with pickleball and I’ve never

seen that with any other sport.”

Cole and Stewart are planning to have four eight week sessions per year taking place every Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. Kids can drop in anytime during the sessions–they don’t have to come in the beginning or stay until the end. This way, pickleball won’t interfere with other commitments, like football or soccer. While they are not instructing or giving lessons, the cofounders have made it clear that they are available and happy to answer questions and give guidance during the sessions. “Our ultimate vision would be for all schools to have their own teams and practice on their own time,” says Cole. “And

then on Tuesdays, they would all come together and we can have matches just like they have Friday night football games. It would be awesome if all teams could have matches in the same location because that would be really cool for building those bridges between schools.”

As a ‘thank you’ to the county for the use of six brand-new courts at Pompano, the students are providing community service hours to give back to the community. NewGate students, for example, will commit a certain number of hours throughout the school year to perform service duties, such as garbage pickup along the boulevards, beach cleanups, and more.

“Pickleball is one of those sports that anybody can play to some degree at some level. You can be playing within 20 minutes of learning, yet it takes a lifetime to master,” says Stewart. “We’re getting students from private schools, public schools, youth groups from churches and synagogues, home schools–we’re bridging those gaps with the youth, with their community. And the students are meeting people that are like-minded and are enjoying a sport together. We love the aspect of having the kids from all the different schools intermingle. An added bonus is that the kids don’t really realize that it’s exercise, they’re just out there having a really good time.”

At the moment, all advertising is by word of mouth and because there is no real funding available, the league is in need of volunteers. The response so far from the community has been fantastic, according to Cole. “We have all different kinds of volunteers that come out and they will hit with the kids and help us with them, help us referee the matches, whatever we need, really. It’s warming their hearts to be able to give back and it’s great mentoring for the kids as well.”

For more info on the Sarasota Youth Pickleball League, sarasotayouthpickleball.org

ADVICE FROM THE PRO

Scott Tingley is a born and raised Sarasotan, a veteran of the United States Air Force and a pickleball pro. An instructor, a teacher and a coach by nature, Tingley sat down with us to talk about the popularity of the sport and the best way to get into it.

WHY DO YOU THINK PICKLEBALL HAS BECOME SO POPULAR? SCOTT

TINGLEY: I think pickleball has taken off so well for a multitude of reasons, but I’ll give you three. The ease of the learning curve, the socialness of the game and the low cost to get into it. You can get a good pickleball paddle for $100, a pair of shoes for $80, $6 worth of balls and you’re ready to play.

IS THERE A TYPICAL AGE FOR THE CLIENTS YOU’RE WORKING WITH OR IS IT ALL ACROSS THE BOARD?

TINGLEY: It’s changed so drastically over the last seven years. I don’t think seven years

ago I taught anybody under age 55 to 60. As the sport has progressed and gotten younger, I’ve started teaching anywhere from seven years old, junior kids to I think 84 was the oldest person I taught. But I would say that the average age has gone from 60 to 45 really just in seven years.

HOW DOES SOMEONE LEARN THE BASICS ABOUT THE GAME IF THEY’VE NEVER PLAYED? TINGLEY: Nowadays there are a lot of tutorials online that will allow somebody enough information to go out and feel comfortable enough to play. The great part of the sport is that because it’s so social, if you walk up to a court by yourself and there are eight courts, within three minutes, somebody’s going to come over and ask you to play or if you want to learn how to play. That’s the greatest part of pickleball I think. As players, we all want everybody to do it because we’re all so addicted to it and we love it. But I would say that if you want to know the rules, you can go to the usapa.org website (usapickleball.org). That’s a great tool because it tells you where there are places to play in your zip code. It tells you people to contact. It tells you times that they play and it also tells you the rules and other details.

DO YOU FIND THAT MORE PEOPLE REQUEST PRIVATE LESSONS OR DO THEY PREFER TO BE IN A GROUP

OR A CLINIC SETTING? TINGLEY: As a pro, I’ve held clinics every single week and they’re just as popular as private lessons. That can change based upon the needs of the person or persons and their skill or ability level. I currently teach at the US Open Pickleball site in Naples, where we have a huge tournament every year. When I teach there I do more private lessons with higher level players and the clinics are run by lower skill level professionals and they teach or cater to the lower skill level people for the clinic. Higher level people either like private lessons or they like to do what’s called a ‘three and me’ where they get two of their partners or friends and I play as the fourth person and critique their play and help them to improve their shot selection and strategies.

WHERE ELSE DO YOU TEACH?

TINGLEY: I get subcontracted to do a lot of work around the country. I have a side company with a business partner called ATP Pickleball, and we teach at numerous locations around the country every year.

This page: The Sarasota Youth Pickleball League plays at the pickleball courts at Pompano Park every Tuesday after school.

FOR SOMEBODY WHO HAS NEVER PLAYED BEFORE BUT WANTS TO START, WHAT ARE YOUR WORDS OF ADVICE?

TINGLEY: I tell everybody, make a self assessment, because with the growth and popularity of pickleball, the growth and popularity of injuries has skyrocketed. And I associate a lot of that with people that retire, that have been working for 25, 30 years, sitting in an office or behind a computer. They get out on the court and the last time they were athletic was 30 years and 30 pounds ago. And that’s where a lot of the injuries really start to happen because it looks so easy to play. Whenever I work with somebody at the very beginning I always ask them, “Do you have any prior injuries? Have you had surgeries? Anything wrong with your heart? Are you diabetic?” I ask all those questions so that I can make an assessment and try to help people so they don’t get injured.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST WAY TO AVOID OR PREVENT INJURIES? IS IT STRETCHING

BEFOREHAND? TINGLEY: It’s a big part of it. Some unathletic people are going to remain unathletic, but it doesn’t mean they can’t play. So when I work with people, I teach them how to move so they don’t get injured. Kinesiology or the study of kinetics and how the body works can really help somebody from getting injured. But I just have one small phrase that I tell everybody, whether it’s a clinic or a private lesson: No ball is worth the fall. Trust your body. If you can’t get there, don’t worry about it. You’re going to see another ball at some point. Don’t hurt yourself just to chase a ball.

Left: Scott Tingley’s teaching techniques are designed to help players feel comfortable on the court.

WHAT IS A TYPICAL BEGINNER CLINIC OR LESSON

LIKE? TINGLEY: In a beginner clinic you would learn three things and it would be an hour to an hour and a half long. You would learn how to serve, you would learn how to return, and you would learn how to dink or hit the ball softly and make it bounce. Typically speaking, and if there were eight people in a clinic, the cost could be anywhere from 10 to $20 a person.

DO YOU THINK PICKLEBALL WILL SURPASS TENNIS IN POPULARITY?

TINGLEY:

I think that the growth of pickleball is at an average of almost 12% a year where tennis is arguably growing at 4% a year.

I don’t know that pickleball will ever be as popular as tennis in the

sense of being on mainstream TV. Even though it’s been on CBS Sports and it’s been on ESPN, pickleball doesn’t translate that well on TV because it looks so slow. However, I would say more people are playing pickleball over tennis, but I just don’t know if everybody will ever know that.

WILL PICKLEBALL

BE

AN OLYMPIC SPORT ONE DAY? TINGLEY: Pickleball is professionally played in 40 countries and it has to be in 45 countries to be considered for the Olympics. And we have an international committee that’s striving to get the last five countries involved in it. It will be a demonstration sport in the 2028 Olympics. And I would venture a guess that it will most definitely be an Olympic sport someday.

THE PICKLEBALL CLUB IS OPENING IN LAKEWOOD RANCH IN 2023. DO YOU THINK THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE AND MORE COURTS WILL BE BUILT IN THE COMING YEARS?? TINGLEY: It doesn’t matter. There are never enough courts.You can build more and they’ll come. It’s just like Field of Dreams. You build more pickleball courts and people will show up tomorrow and play. SRQ

For lessons or upcoming clinics with Scott Tingley, email pickleballacademy@gmail.com or by phone, 941-468-7867.

FunFacts FUN PICKLEBALL

Where did the name ‘pickleball’ come from?

There are various versions of the story but according to Brian McCarthy, co-owner of The Pickleball Club, it goes back to the mid 1960s on Bainbridge Island on the West Coast in Washington, where Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum decided to create some fun for their kids. They didn’t have property for a full tennis court, so they made it the size of a badminton court. They lowered the net and they carved out some paddles from plywood. There are a couple stories in how the name was invented, but the one McCarthy goes with is that the game was named for the Pritchard family dog, Pickles. “A lot of people snicker at the name,” he says, “But I think, well, we have the game of squash and that’s a vegetable. The English have cricket and that’s an insect. There’s nothing wrong with pickles!”

How has the paddle changed over the years?

Pickleball paddles were once made entirely of wood, but in recent years, lightweight materials like graphite and aluminum have been incorporated to lighten the weight. The typical pickleball paddle resembles a ping-pong paddle.

Why does a pickleball have holes? Unlike tennis or ping pong balls, pickleball balls have large holes. Plastic and hollow, they are most similar to wiffle balls. Because of the large holes, pickleball balls travel approximately 1/3 the speed of a tennis ball.

What is the kitchen on a pickleball court? The 7-foot non-volley zone directly in front of the pickleball court’s net is called the kitchen, also known as the non-volley zone. You cannot be in the kitchen zone or touching the kitchen line while volleying a ball.

What is a dink? The dink is a soft shot hit from around your own kitchen line that lands in your opponent’s non-volley zone (kitchen). A dink slows down the game and can force your opponent to move out of position.

Where can I play locally? According to the Sarasota Pickleball Organization, LLC, the following is a list of local courts. For up to date info, you can subscribe to the weekly newsletter that comes out every Sunday. sarasotapickleball.com/schedules-where-to-play.

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forage

MESHUGANA

Meshugana Deli–named after the yiddish word for crazy, as in “crazy delicious.” Dylan Campbell

BALL SOUP. Meshugana Deli isn’t your typical lunch spot. The New York style deli, which opened in November in Gulf Gate, has quickly become Sarasota’s hotspot for Jewish delicatessen-style eats. The secret to their newfound success? The people behind the counter.

Meshugana Deli–named after the yiddish word for crazy, as in “crazy delicious”—is the brainchild of husband and wife team, Adam and Liz Woldman, two New York City transplants who were looking to bring a taste of home to the Gulf Coast. Although Meshugana is the first deli they’ve opened together, providing scratchmade food to the people around them isn’t anything new. Adam is a lifelong chef who has worked in kitchens for over 40 years and Liz has carved out a career of her own in the professional catering industry. “Adam’s Jewish and I’m 100 percent Irish-Catholic,” says Liz Woldman with a laugh. “I’m the sensible one and he’s the creative genius. From a young age, he always wanted to be a chef. He spent his childhood cooking with his mother and grandmother, learning about the traditional Jewish recipes and food.”

Their path to opening Meshugana Deli started, unbeknownst to them, in 2018 when they moved to Sarasota and Adam became the executive chef at Temple

Sinai. Soon, word began to get out about his cooking. “He started to really build a following down here from the Friday night services. It’s a very secular community—if one person claims to have the best chef, then people fall in line like dominoes to eat the food,” says Liz. “People were literally joining the temple because of his food.”

That following only grew during the pandemic, when the Woldman’s were serving “Shabbat in a Box” meals out of their driveway. “There would be 100, 200 people all lining up to be served dinners,” says Liz. “We’d stand there in our masks handing out their orders in 90 degree heat.” However, the fever dream was short-lived. Reality set in as the Woldman’s went back to their normal lives. The pandemic had hit everyone hard, the Temple Sinai closed temporarily, and Adam went to work as an executive chef at an assisted living facility. But still, there was a spark. The fire had been lit, the idea rolling around in the Woldman’s heads for months. “He had been saying ‘this is what I want to do’ and I’d kept telling him no, but finally one day I conceded, and said ‘if not now, when?’ And that was it,” says Liz. “We found a shared commercial kitchen in Gulf Gate through a friend, signed a lease in August, and opened in late October. On day one I think he sold 100 sandwiches.” SRQ

This page: Knishes, Kugel and latkes, oh my! Meshugana Deli brings New York deli tastest to Sarasota. Meshugana Deli, 6609 Superior Ave., Sarasota, 917-410-3397.

PASTRAMI ON RYE. POTATO KNISHES. CHICKEN MATZOH

NOTHING ARTIFICIAL

This page: Pete Pappas and his girlfriend Delaney Riedler enjoying the frozen goodness of his homemade ice cream. Pete’s Sweet Treats, 6616 Superior Ave, Sarasota, 941-217-4859, petesweettreats.com

with the opening of Pete’s Sweet Treats, an ice-cream and Italian ice shop in Gulf Gate. Pappas originally went to a culinary arts school, so his passion incorporates both baking and ice cream making, “My company name doesn’t say, ‘ice cream,’ and I did that purposely. I love to bake. So, I said, ‘treats,’ because I knew, down the road, I wanted to make sweets other than ice cream. I’m slowly incorporating a lot of baked goods.” Pappas is still in an “experimental” phase, finding a balance between treats that go in the oven and those that go in the freezer. Baked goods are never wasted, any leftovers become toppings for his ice cream. Chocolate chip cookies become chocolate chip crumbles. Flaking lemon pound cake becomes the perfect addition to a tart ice cream scoop. Formerly a pizza-pro who sold Italian ice, or “slush”, alongside his pies, Pappas has branched out and now prides himself on ice cream flavors inspired by natural flavors. Artificial ingredients don’t begin at bubblegum flavoring and end at Red Dye 40, Pappas explained that even when it comes to making ice cream sandwiches with cookies, there are differences in the products he creates. “If you are not natural you’re going to put a stabilizer in the ice cream so that it doesn’t melt as fast,” he says. “When I put my ice cream in between cookies, you’d take a bite out of it and all the ice cream would squirt out.” Despite these hiccups, Pappas isn’t tapping out just yet “Down the road, I’m going to make cookies, pre-scoop them with the ice cream, package them up, and throw them in the freezer as an alternative. I’m going to do the same thing with brownies and whoopie pies and just go from there.” Through trial and error, Pappas has curated a selection of unique flavors that are bound to keep you coming back for more – or asking for a variety of samples (which Pappas is happy to provide): chocolate velvet; cookie butter; coffee oreo; lemon poppyseed; and some 21+ inclusions such as Bailey’s and kahlua almond fudge. And that’s the scoop! SRQ

BOSTON-BORN PETER PAPPAS HAS RETURNED TO HIS LOVE FOR SWEETS

Peter Pappas, baker, pizzaiolo, and sweets specialist offers taste-bud tantalizing flavors. Arianna Kolesar

Wellthree nutritionists share insights on building healthy habits in the new year.

Kevin Allen

ASK LOCAL PROFESSIONALS FOCUSED ON NUTRITION how we can be thinking about food choices in 2023, and you’re bound to hear one refrain: keep it simple. Whole foods, a mix of quality meats and vegetables prepared simply and deliciously — all while being kind to your gut — will help you build healthy, sustainable habits. In 2022, Statista’s Global Consumer Survey showed that 44 percent of Americans said they wanted to eat healthier and 41 percent raised their hand to say they wanted to lose weight. If the good news is that we want to improve our daily diets, the bad news is that some studies show only nine percent of resolutioners do consistently well in keeping them. Clearly, eating healthy takes more than a New Year’s pledge, so SRQ Magazine reached out to a few local experts to get their take on how to think about your eating habits heading into this new year.

Mikka Knapp HEALTHY HABITS START AT HOME

IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO INJECT HEALTHIER HABITS INTO YOUR DIET, Sarasota-based registered dietitiannutritionist and food expert Mikka Knapp has some advice: stay home. Knapp encourages her clients to avoid fad diets in lieu of making consistent, healthful choices—and that starts with preparing your own food. When that happens, you control the portion sizes, you control the ingredients, and you control the flavor.

“Since the pandemic, more people have been cooking at home, which is wonderful,” Knapp says. “We want to just keep encouraging that, especially in the new year because a lot of people have health goals. And cooking at home is going to make your life easier, and it’s going to make it easier to hit your goals.”

And those fad diets Knapp wants you to avoid? Kick ‘em to the curb in favor of moderation and consistency. Knapp admits it’s not the most marketable approach — especially when you visit the bookstore’s Diet, Health & Fitness section and see titles promoting keto, paleo, fasting, vegetarian, vegan and … well, you get the point.

“If we think of it as a diet, a diet has an end date,” Knapp says. “If we think of it as a lifestyle, that is something that doesn’t have an end date. We bake it into our routine just like brushing our teeth.”

“Habits,” she says, “have to be easily achievable and not take too much thought.” Knapp helps her clients find strategies that are easily repeatable — ones that help to make good choices the norm. That takes forethought in the form of meal planning and/ or prepping. She helps her clients find meals they can easily prepare in less than 30 minutes, to find grab-andgo snacks that help you resist the urge to hit the drivethru window when you’re running errands.

Knapp also says you should avoid cutting off foods. It goes back to moderation and the 80/20 rule. “Eighty percent of the time, we should try to eat healthy; we’re in control of what we eat,” Knapp says. “And then 20 percent of the time we can have a little bit of fun.”

Cutting loose (with reason) one out of every five meals makes the 80 percent of the time when you’re focused on making healthy choices more manageable, Knapp says. “That way, you don’t feel like you’re depriving yourself and you’re not craving the things that you’re denying yourself. The minute we say, ‘I’m not going to have something,’ we put it on a pedestal and that’s all we can think about.”

Bonni London FOCUS ON WHOLE FOODS

LONDON WELLNESS OWNER BONNI LONDON, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, is a self-described omnivore who declares, “Protein is king.” Like Knapp, London supports a balanced approach, and encourages her clients to avoid extremes. Populate your plate with whole foods, a “phytonutrient-dense diet with tons of vegetables, which have fiber and healthy fats.”

Start with your goals. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, train for a marathon or simply have more energy throughout the day, there are foods that will support you. It starts with reframing the way you think about what you eat. “Instead of making rules of, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t be eating this or I shouldn’t have that,’ a much, much better way to approach eating is to focus on the food that you need to support your goals.”

London assures her clients that meat is not the enemy. “I don’t think it honestly makes sense for the human population to be eating strictly vegetables,” she says. “I definitely think we’re meant to eat both.” She notes, however, that not all protein sources are the same. “What we are looking for is that it contains the nine essential amino acids, but they also have to be in the right ratio.” You can get those amino acids from a plant-based diet, but you’ll be consuming more food,” London says.

Speaking of plant-based foods, London is not a fan of the meat alternatives whose popularity continues to grow. She reiterates that it’s whole foods we should be eating. “All these fake meats,” London says, “we know they’re terrible, toxic, (made with) soybean and all this other stuff that’s just so over processed.”

London also encourages her clients to stop counting calories. Eating 1,000 calories of chips, for example, is going to leave a person hungry still because they aren’t nutrient-rich. “Our taste buds and our brains are not that clever,” she says, “but our bodies are very intuitive and they are gonna let you know, ‘I did not get enough amino acids.’ If you don’t get the amino acids that you need, you are going to continue to be hungry.” And that, she notes, is why protein is king.

London says her list of foods to avoid could “drive a person crazy.” Bottled salad dressings (because of the canola oil). Egg white omelets (because of the processed oil they’re cooked in). Alcohol should be limited, especially sugary drinks. Even chicken, which is a staple in several fad diets, should be curtailed, according to London, because of what they eat. “A simple way that I like to explain it to my clients is that if you want to be lean and healthy, then you want to eat animals that are also lean and healthy,” she says. The closest fad diet that matches London’s recommendations, she says, is the Mediterranean diet. “Focusing on high quality protein, a variety of vegetables, and then healthy fats like olives, avocados,” London says. Add in some nuts and seeds, and your body will thank you.

ONE AREA THAT EXPERTS SAY IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER in your eating habits is gut health. Conveniently, another staple on the bookstore health & fitness shelves are titles calling out the benefits of gut hygiene, like The Good Gut, and The Mind-Gut Connection. For Sharon Juraszek, a Doctor of Ayurvedic Medicine and the owner of Sarasota’s Fermentilicious, it’s more than a trend. She understands exactly how important the gut is to overall health. She’s made a career of it. (“I send people to her all the time,” London says.)

For seven years, fermented foods have been Juraszek’s business, and you can find her most weekends at the Sarasota Farmers Market selling jars of fermented foods with names like, “The Healer,” “Golden Goddess,” “Ginger Bliss,” and “Mystic Mustard.” Each jar contains a mix of organic ingredients designed to deliver beneficial probiotics to every point in the digestive tract. And sure, you could run to CVS and buy a probiotic pill, but Juraszek says it’s not the same.

“The difference between eating versus taking a probiotic, when you eat the actual sauerkraut, you have the fiber of the food, which makes its way all the way into the large intestines, into the colon,” she says, noting that when it comes to fermented foods, a little goes a long way. “It’s not like you need to eat a ton of it, maybe just one or two servings per day, and that’s about two forkfuls with a meal.” Juraszek calls the process she uses to ferment her foods “sacred.”

“We have a high vibrational kitchen,” she says. “The two of us that work in the kitchen meditate to clear our minds, and then we set a healing intention: May all the food that we touch be filled with love, be filled with light. May those who consume this food feel this loving light energy in their bellies and their hearts and their minds in their homes and in their community.”

From there, she uses a traditional fermenting process with organic ingredients and pink Himalayan salt. She ferments in small batches, five-gallon clay vats.

“It’s truly done the traditional way where I don’t add water, I don’t add a starter,” she says. “A lot of modern fermentors are doing it that way, but I’m going back to our ancient ways of fermenting. I also have a little secret technique that I use where I’m capable of using less sodium. So my product has only 55 milligrams per serving, which is extremely low for sauerkraut. The next lowest brand on the market is at about 300 milligrams per serving.” She suggests pairing her fermented creations with salads, avocado toast, red and white meats, fish and eggs. Of course, you can also eat it straight, as many of Juraszek’s many repeat customers prefer.

“It’s helped so many people, and I had no idea what it had the power to do,” she says. “I am so grateful that I’m able to provide this to my community because people are feeling better, people are pooping, people are digesting their foods, their skin is clearing up. It’s pretty profound.” SRQ

Sharon Juraszek

Most Valuable Foods FIVE FOR FITNESS

At this point, most people understand which foods we should limit in our diets. Phrases like “dipped in butter,” “smothered in gravy,” and “deep fried”? They’re generally out, but it’s not always as easy to understand which foods deserve more focus. Naturally, we asked the experts:

Beans and Lentils

Knapp recommends some pre-made dinners that include beans and lentils. She specifically recommends Fillos to her clients, which are Latin-inspired, vegan-friendly, ready-toeat meals that are easy to prepare and pack a healthy serving of protein.

Wild Fish

Wild fish can be an excellent source for essential nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, London says, and it’s a good protein source. “Higher amounts of these nutrients have been associated with lower risk of heart disease, brain health and even improved mood to name a few of the benefits,” she says. Farm-raised fish, London notes, can be toxic, and their diets mean they don’t provide as much Omega-3 as wild caught fish. “Focus on smaller varieties such as sardines, mackerel or herring,” London says. “Wild sockeye salmon is also considered a good choice with lower mercury levels and of course high levels of Omega-3.” She says the best way to cook fish is to bake it. “I would suggest avoiding frying fish at high temperatures; it can damage the quality.”

Beef

Wait, beef? Really? Isn’t beef the enemy? No! Knapp says when choosing meats, “the closest to nature is always going to be the best.” When you’re in the grocery store, look for grass-fed, pasture-raised beef over processed deli meat. “The more that’s been done to it, the less healthy it is for us,” Knapp says. London agrees. To those who gave up red meat, she suggests adding them back to your plate “once or twice a week,” and ensuring it only comprises a quarter of your meal.

Monk Fruit

“Monk fruit has really gained a lot of popularity in the past couple of years, which I’m so happy to see,” Knapp says. “It’s a natural, no calorie, no glycemic index sweetener, but I find that people like it a lot better than stevia.” Knapp says getting off the “sugar rollercoaster” is the No. 1 thing people can do for their health, and seeking out products sweetened with monk fruit is a great place to kick off that effort.

Pasta Alternatives

Lentil pasta, chickpea pasta, and gluten-free pastas are nothing new, but Knapp suggests looking at pastas made from vegetables like hearts of palm or legumes like edamame and mung beans. “That gets us moving away from the processed, refined wheat,” she says. “That white flour, it just turns the sugar so quickly in our bloodstream that it keeps us on the blood sugar rollercoaster, and we’re fuller, longer.”

giving coast

A GOOD HUMAN AT WORK

With a mission to educate, connect and contribute, Brian Mariash helps local organizations thrive. Barbie Heit

WEALTH MANAGEMENT WAS NOT PART OF BRIAN MARIASH’S ORIGINAL CAREER GOALS. With aspirations to become a music teacher after college, he graduated and immediately went on to teach music to preschool and kindergarten children. After moving to Punta Gorda from the New York City area in 2001, he shifted gears and began a career as a financial advisor. He decided to stick with that career, and in 2012, he moved to Sarasota and started Mariash Lowther Wealth Management in 2014. Today, Mariash is a Senior Vice President at Merrill Lynch and the founder and CEO of Mariash Lowther Wealth Management.

Throughout the past ten years in Sarasota, Mariash has sat on many boards but has narrowed his focus to nonprofit consulting on a pro bono basis. “By offering specific project work on a pro bono basis we are able to help so many more organizations and do so very tactically and much more quickly,” he shares. A recent example was when Mote Marine asked him to help hit a milestone for their building campaign. With the year running out and early Covid reopening days Mariash saw this as a very large challenge. Within a month, he was able to help them structure a small event at a board member’s home and fill the event with a combination of direct mail targeting new affluent movers to the area, in addition to utilizing his vast personal networks. Mote was able to raise over $1.5 million at the event including a $500,000 gift from a brand new donor with less than $1,000 in expenses to put on the event.

Where does Mariash’s passion for helping others come from? “Human beings are not the fastest animals on the planet nor do we have the sharpest teeth or claws. Yet we are the dominant species on the planet due to our ability to cooperate and our compassion and empathy for others,” he says. “The feeling that we get when doing good for others—that positive shot of joy and serotonin—that is evolutionary science that allowed the humans with the most empathy to reproduce and evolve and allowed humans to become the thriving species on the planet that we are. I am passionate about the next level of evolution—I feel it arrogant to believe that we evolved from protozoa to jelly fish to great apes to humans and that it just stops. We are not the finished product yet and all the war, famine, and violence in the world is a good sign that we still have a ways to go. I believe that helping others is the key to evolving as a species. When a critical mass is formed of humans all working together for all of mankind then we can evolve into our higher level of consciousness.”

In addition to the Mote Marine campaign, Mariash shares a long list of success stories from his philanthropic work. One that is top of mind is his work with Easter Seals of Southwest Florida. When good friend Tom Waters, President and CEO of the organization asked Mariash to co-chair a luncheon gala, he eagerly agreed. With the help of the two best co chairs in town (Melissa Howard and Terri Klauber) the group raised a record amount of

money for the organization and possibly for any first ever luncheon in an arguably crowded event space in Sarasota. Mariash functions daily with a guiding mission to help others: “I live by the mission to educate, connect and contribute and the core values of the four agreements: Do not make assumptions. Do not take anything personally. Be impeccable with your word. Always do your best.” This spirit of helping others has apparently been passed along to his daughter, Alexis Mariash. Lexi is 19 now and a sophomore at Cal Berkeley but started her first nonprofit at age 9 when her family moved to Sarasota. Naming the operation Turtle Inc., she dedicated the project to raising funds for the feeding and care of sea turtles at Mote Marine, where she used to spend a lot of time with her dad.

“Ever since I was a young age I was completely immersed in philanthropy from attending events to watching my dad speak at events, though I definitely learned the most in our pre and post event talks in the car,” shares Lexi. “My dad always made sure to teach me about how important it is to give back to your community and the causes that move you the most and as soon as I was old enough to truly understand that, I started coming to him with grand plans to raise money for causes I felt truly moved by. I’ve always been extremely grateful for my dad introducing me to philanthropy. One of the first classes I took my freshman year in college was a philanthropy course through the business school to further my education in the topic and to hopefully return to my philanthropic roots after I graduate, something I know my dad will be overjoyed to help me with.”

For young people starting out in their careers, Mariash offers the following advice: Follow your passion. He believes that children naturally want to help others and give back and as adults, we just have to foster that. “When my daughter at 9 told me she wanted to start a company I did not tell her she was too young or that she should go play with her dolls….I helped her purchase a URL from Godaddy.com and helped her with her business plan. She started making bracelets and selling them at school. She brought the money to Mote to donate and the CEO met her and invited her to the run for the turtles. By age 12 she was running full scale mini golf tournaments for children to learn about philanthropy and raising 10K at a single event for Mote. Pretty amazing what you can do if you just don’t stand in their way and help them along!”

Mariash has devoted much of his personal time and treasure as a deeply engaged board member and volunteer for numerous organizations over the years including: All Faiths Food Bank, Circus Arts Conservatory, Child Protection Center, Easter Seals of Southwest Florida, JFCS of the Suncoast, and Embracing Our Differences.

SRQ For giving back to so many organizations that serve so many in need and exemplifying everything that we would hope for in a good, honest, dedicated, compassionate, caring human being, Brian Mariash was honored as one of SRQ Magazine’s Good Heroes in December 2021.

TOP DOCTORS

MEET COASTAL ORTHOPEDICS’

2022 TOP DOCTORS

Founded in 1973, Coastal Orthopedics is home to 20 orthopedic surgeons and pain management physicians who maintain hospital affiliations with Blake Medical Center, Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. Coastal Orthopedics' board certified and fellowship trained physicians provide patients with the very latest in pain and orthopedic treatment technology. Patients can experience restoration of function both surgically and non-surgically through the use of physician-guided strengthening, therapy, medications, injections and stretching.

Privileges with Blake Medical Center, Doctors Hospital, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, and Manatee Memorial Hospital.

Arthur Valadie, MD Sports Medicine Specialist

Melissa Boyette, MD Hand and Wrist Specialist

Richard Bundschu, MD Pain Management Specialist

David Cashen, MD Joint Replacement Specialist

Douglas Constant, MD Pain Management Specialist

R. Stephen Otte, MD Shoulder and Elbow Specialist

Gennady Gekht, MD Pain Management Specialist

John Harkess, MD Joint Replacement Specialist

Daniel Lamar, MD Sports Medicine Specialist

Andrés O’Daly, MD Foot and Ankle Specialist

Laura Ottaviani, DO Pain Management, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Orthopedic Spine Specialist

Coastal Orthopedics is proud to announce that 17 of our physicians have been recognized as Top Doctors by their peers in the Sarasota Manatee area. For 50 years, Coastal Orthopedics’ physicians have helped our patients get back to the activities they love with compassionate care. With our three convenient locations, diagnostic imaging, and physical therapy gyms, we treat patients from diagnosis to recovery. In addition, our new state of the art outpatient surgery center offers the latest in surgical treatment which allows patients to recover comfortably at home. Call us today to schedule your appointment!

Steven Schafer, MD Sports Medicine Specialist

Sara Simmons, MD Hand and Wrist Specialist

Justin Sirianni, MD Pain Management Specialist

Eric Sundberg, MD Orthopedica Spine Specialist

Alan Valadie, MD Joint Replacement Specialist

2022 Top Doctors

There was a time, not long ago, when area residents traveled out of town seeking expertise for their complicated medical problems. Now, however, a cadre of top-of-the-line physicians who would be the envy of any community have made the Sarasota area their home.

“We have worked hard to bring the best and the brightest to this community,” notes John Steele, M.D., a founding member of Intercoastal. “Our mission has always been to provide the highest quality health care. The success of Intercoastal is the result of quality and hard work by each of the physicians who make up the group.”

Intercoastal Medical Group is proud of its physician colleagues who have been named by their peers for SRQ Top Docs.

Scott Stevens General Surgery

Joseph Mets General Surgery

Wende Kozlow Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Jesus Perez Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Jon Yenari Gynecology

Robert Browning General Surgery

David Reichel Internal Medicine

Ricardo Yaryura Interventional Cardiology

Richard Aranibar Pulmonology and Critical Care

Joe T. Kelley Rheumatology

Luis G. Guzman Rheumatology

Mauricio Concha Neurology

INTERCOASTAL MEDICAL GROUP is a physician-owned and led organization, consisting of more than 100 physicians in more than 20 specialties, serving Sarasota and Manatee counties with multiple locations. Founded in 1993, Intercoastal features a team of board certified, experienced physicians, all of whom completed their residency training programs in either the United States or Canada. The physicians at Intercoastal Medical Group are highly recruited, nationally—coming from some of the best medical institutions across the country. Intercoastal offers this area’s most current technology and resources, allowing for fast and accurate diagnostic tests and procedures at conveniently located Intercoastal facilities. No matter your health concern, Intercoastal Medical Group provides seamless care through the shared accessibility of medical records among all of our specialists. Patients have access to weekend care clinics and superior services such as a 10,500-square-foot state-of-the-art ambulatory surgery center, where more than 8,000 surgeries are performed a year. Intercoastal services also include physical therapy, audiology, clinical laboratory and a wealth of diagnostic imaging options.

Ryan Supplee Vascular Surgery

Francene Martin Gastroenterology

Mark Ramos Cardiology

Julio Cantero Neurology

Janine Mylett Pulmonology and Critical Care

TOP DOCTORS

Sarasota including Palmetto and Palmetto Bay, Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Sarasota, Venice and North Port, Florida. The Colorado-based team at DataJoe Research facilitates all aspects of the online peer-voting process and conducting government references. We appreciate the doctors who participated in the program by sharing their thoughtful nominations—it is their insight that makes it possible for us to provide the readers of SRQ Magazine with this noteworthy guide to the highly-regarded doctors in the region.

METHODOLOGY

DataJoe Research is a software and research company specializing in data collection and verification, and conducts various nominations across the United States on behalf of publishers. To create the "top doctors" list, DataJoe Research facilitated an online peer-voting process, also referencing government sources. DataJoe then tallied the votes per category for each doctor to isolate the top nominees in each category. After collecting nominations and additional information, DataJoe checked and confirmed that each published winner had a current, active license status with the state regulatory board. If we were not able to find evidence of a doctor's current, active registration with the state regulatory board, that doctor was excluded from the list. In addition, any doctor who has been disciplined, up to the time-frame of our review process for an infraction by the state regulatory board, was excluded from the list. Finally, DataJoe presented the tallied result to the magazine for its final review and adjustments.

CARDIOLOGY

Ramos, Mark J.

Intercoastal Medical Group 965 S Beneva Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-366-1888

License ME100823

Satya, Y. Emmy Millennium Physician Group 3231 Gulf Gate Dr Ste 101 Sarasota, FL 34231 941-922-6447

License ME81682

COSMETIC SURGERY

Fezza, John P. Center For Sight 2601 S Tamiami Trl Sarasota, FL 34239 941-263-2828

License ME76288

Sessa, Alberico J. Sarasota Surgical Arts 4143 Clark Rd Sarasota, FL 34233 941-923-1736

License ME96256

DERMATOLOGY

Arsenault, Emily F. Arsenault Dermatology 230 Manatee Ave E Bradenton, FL 34208 941-907-0222

License ME87116

Bedi, Monica Dermatology Associates 3830 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 200 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-927-5178

License ME79670

TOP DOCTORS

Bishop, Brian Arsenault Dermatology 8926 77th Terrace E Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-907-0222

License ME150121

Ellis, Dana Arsenault Dermatology 8926 77th Terrace E Ste 101 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-907-0222

License ME146921

Pennie, Michelle Paradise Dermatology 315 Nokomis Ave S Venice, FL 34285 941-921-4131

License ME108521

Sax, David University Park Dermatology & Medical Spa 8451 Shade Ave Ste 205 Sarasota, FL 34243 941-360-2477

License ME83474

Zarkhin, Sonya

Arsenault Dermatology 9652 State Rd 64 E Bradenton, FL 34212 941-907-0222

License OS17736

ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES AND METABOLISM

Kozlow, Wende M.

Intercoastal Medical Group 943 S Beneva Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-379-1777

License ME100611

Perez, Jesus

Intercoastal Medical Group 943 S Beneva Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-379-1777

License ME86942

FAMILY MEDICINE

Charron, Albert Millennium Physician Group 2446 Laurel Rd E Venice, FL 34275 941-218-6200

License ME127208

Cooper, Christopher Cooper Family Medical 5123 4th Ave Cir E Bradenton, FL 34208 941-744-5510

License OS8142

Haider, Joseph Cooper Family Medical 5123 4th Ave Cir E Bradenton, FL 34208 941-744-5510

License OS16845

GASTROENTEROLOGY

Andari, Ronald

Florida Digestive Health Specialists 11505 Palmbrush Trl Ste 200 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-361-1100

License ME140338

Dawson, Mark Florida Digestive Health Specialists 101 Riverfront Blvd Ste 700 Bradenton, FL 34205 941-748-2417

License ME64729

Khazanchi, Arun

Florida Digestive Health Specialists-Lakewood Ranch 11505 Palmbrush Trl Ste 200 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-361-1100

License ME86268

Loewe, Charles

Florida Digestive Health Specialists 3325 S Tamiami Trl Ste 200 Sarasota, FL 34239 941-952-9223

License ME43998

Martin, Francene R. Intercoastal Medical Group 3333 Cattlemen Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-342-8892

License ME90139

Matheus, Tonantzin

Florida Digestive Health Specialists-Lakewood Ranch 11505 Palmbrush Trl Ste 200 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-361-1100

License ME100744

Mishra, Avantika

Florida Digestive Health Specialists-Lakewood Ranch 11505 Palmbrush Trl Ste 200 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-361-1100

License ME138694

Southerland, John

Florida Digestive Health Specialists

3325 S Tamiami Trl Ste 200 Sarasota, FL 34239 941-952-9223

License ME85007

EXCERPTS FROM THE 2022 TOP DOCTOR LIST OF HONOREES

GENERAL SURGERY

Browning IV, Robert

Intercoastal Medical Group 11505 Rangeland Pkwy Bradenton, FL 34211 941-362-8662

License ME115061

Mets, Joseph

Intercoastal Medical Group 3333 Cattlemen Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-341-0042

License ME140716

Stevens, Scott

Intercoastal Medical Group 3333 Cattlemen Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-341-0042

License ME81483

HAND SURGERY

Boyette, Melissa M.

Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME103549

Chan, David Suncoast Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine 836 Sunset Lake Blvd Bldg A Ste 205 Venice, FL 34292 941-485-1505

License ME113787

Sforzo, Christopher R. Sforzo | Dillingham | Stewart Orthopedics + Sports Medicine 5831 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 300 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-378-5100

License ME83510

TOP DOCTORS

Simmons, Sara P.

Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME113187

INTERNAL MEDICINE

Gutierrez, Liliana Millennium Physician Group 1720 E Venice Ave 1st Fl Venice, FL 34292 941-483-9700

License ME73303

Reichel, David T.

Intercoastal Medical Group 3333 Cattlemen Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-371-3337

License ME79284

INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

Yaryura, Ricardo A.

Intercoastal Medical Group 965 S Beneva Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-366-1888

License ME73423

NEUROLOGY

Cantero, Julio

Intercoastal Medical Group 2881 Hyde Park St Sarasota, FL 34239 941-906-7155

License ME94218

Concha, Mauricio

Intercoastal Medical Group 2881 Hyde Park St Sarasota, FL 34239 941-906-7155

License ME69547

Negroski, Donald Negroski Neurology 5741 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 530 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-487-2160

License ME46199

Swaim, Laura

The Roots Health Centers 8209 Natures Way Ste 115 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-877-1507

License CH11544

Swaim, Logan

The Roots Health Centers 8209 Natures Way Ste 115 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-877-1507

License CH11541

OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY

Swanson, Jennifer L.

Lakewood Ranch Obstetrics & Gynecology 8340 Lakewood Ranch Blvd Ste 140 Bradenton, FL 34202 941-907-9298 LicenseME96037

Yenari, Jon

Intercoastal Medical Group 3333 Cattlemen Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-379-1700

License ME87923

ONCOLOGY

Dattoli, Michael J.

Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute 2803 Fruitville Rd Sarasota, FL 34237 941-957-1221 License ME58562

OPTHALMOLOGY

De Rojas, Joaquin O. Center For Sight 2601 S Tamiami Trl Sarasota, FL 34239 941-277-9045 License ME139893

Kim, Joshua W. Center For Sight 2601 S Tamiami Trl Sarasota, FL 34239 941-925-2020 License ME93875

Shoemaker, David W. US Eye 2601 S Tamiami Trl Sarasota, FL 34239 941-925-2020 License ME39238

Soscia, William L. Center For Sight 2601 S Tamiami Trl Sarasota, FL 34239 941-277-9041 License ME84433

Stelton, Chris SK Retina 1700 S Tuttle Ave Sarasota, FL 34239 941-777-5000 License ME125837

EXCERPTS FROM THE 2022 TOP DOCTOR LIST OF HONOREES

ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY

Cashen, David V.

Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME99185

Cu , Derek J. Suncoast Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine 836 Sunset Lake Blvd Ste 205 Venice, FL 34292 941-485-1505

License ME95587

Dillingham, Christopher L. Sforzo | Dillingham | Stewart Orthopedics + Sports Medicine 5831 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 300 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-378-5100

License ME107087

Harkess, John W.

Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME132666

Lamar, Daniel S.

Coastal Orthopedics 8340 Lakewood Ranch Blvd, 3rd Floor Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-792-1404

License ME88228

O'Daly, Andres E.

Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME126890

TOP DOCTORS

FROM THE 2022 TOP DOCTOR LIST OF HONOREES

Otte, R. Stephen

Coastal Orthopedics 6202 17th Ave West Bradenton, FL 34209 941-792-1404

License ME141436

Valadie, Alan L.

Coastal Orthopedics 6202 17th Ave West Bradenton, FL 34209 941-792-1404

License ME70378

OTALARYNGOLOGY, EAR, NOSE, THROAT

Marlowe, Andrew Marlowe & Marrs MD 5432 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 150 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-379-3277

License ME75996

Marrs, Chad Marlowe & Marrs MD 5432 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 150 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-379-3277

License ME114119

PAIN MANAGEMENT

Bundschu, Richard H.

Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME68442

Constant, Douglas L.

Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME108659

Gekht, Gennady

Coastal Orthopedics 8340 Lakewood Ranch Blvd, 3rd Floor Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 941-792-1404

License ME95933

Sirianni, Justin J. Coastal Orthopedics 8000 FL-64 Bradenton, FL 34212 941-792-1404

License ME132277

PEDIATRICS, GENERAL

Good, Virginia J. Good Pediatrics 1961 Floyd St Ste A Sarasota, FL 34239 941-955-7337

License ME98981

PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION

Ottaviani, Laura B. Coastal Orthopedics 6202 17th Ave West Bradenton, FL 34209 941-792-1404

License OS7921

PODIATRY

Cottom, James Florida Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Center

5741 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 490 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-924-8777

License PO3305

Lasday, Stephen

West Coast Podiatry Center 1611 53rd Ave W Bradenton, FL 34207 941-253-5569 License PO2382

Saltzman, Megan

West Coast Podiatry Center 1611 53rd Ave W Bradenton, FL 34207 941-253-5569

License PO4130

Stroud, Dustin

West Coast Podiatry Center 1611 53rd Ave W Bradenton, FL 34207 941-253-5569

License PO3896

Vonherbulis, Eric

West Coast Podiatry Center 1611 53rd Ave W Bradenton, FL 34207 941-253-5569

License PO3826

Zdancewicz, Alissa

West Coast Podiatry Center 1611 53rd Ave W Bradenton, FL 34207 941-253-5569

License PO3140

EXCERPTS

HONOREE Interventional Pain Management

DOUGLAS CONSTANT

Dr. Constant provides compassionate and personalized care. While living on Siesta Key, he attended Pine View and has practiced in the Bradenton area for the last decade. Dr. Constant is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and the Tulane School of Medicine. He completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and was selected as chief resident. Afterwards, he completed his interventional pain fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He specializes in cutting edge interventional treatments of the spine (cervical, thoracic and lumbar). He is a diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology with certification in anesthesiology and pain medicine.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE. My practice is dynamic and cutting-edge allowing me to continually introduce new therapies and procedures which greatly improve my patients’ lives. I actively participate in clinical research and teach fellows, residents and medical students. Part of my duties include an invitation each year to teach at Harvard Medical School where I completed my pain management fellowship. During medical school, I also participated in clinical research at Harvard. Additionally, I have been appointed to the President’s Council and advise the U.S. Congress on matters pertaining to this nation’s healthcare policy. Bringing the most current therapies to my patients is my passion.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE HELP TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PATIENTS? My practice improves my patients’ lives in a wide variety of ways with the most up-to-date medical information and therapies. I use minimally invasive techniques to treat pain with targeted injections using ultrasound or fluoroscopy and with outpatient surgeries. My procedures can be o ce-based or performed in ambulatory surgery centers. Restoring function and improving the quality of life for my patients are my ultimate goals. Seeing my patients return to athletics, travel and normal routines is highly rewarding for me. This partnership with my patients in selecting the appropriate treatment is fundamental to returning their lives back to normal.

PSYCHIATRY

Cohen, Rebecca

Rebecca S Cohen MD LLC

1217 S East Ave Ste 209 Sarasota, FL 34239 941-559-8500

License ME112405

Hollen, Jordana

Bluestone Psychiatry PLLC 5664 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 203 Sarasota, FL 34233 877-422-9355

License ME119785

PULMONOLOGY

Aranibar, Richard Intercoastal Medical Group 11505 Rangeland Pkwy Bradenton, FL 34211 941-362-8662

License ME75531

Mylett, Janine

Intercoastal Medical Group 3333 Cattlemen Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-379-1799

License ME72529

RADIATION ONCOLOGY

Fitch, Dwight L.

Advocate Radiation Oncology 5325 State Rd 64 Bradenton, FL 34208 941-220-6263

License ME95935

TOP DOCTORS

RHEUMATOLOGY

Guzman, Luis G.

Intercoastal Medical Group 943 S Beneva Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-366-3062

License ME137093

Kelley III, Joe T.

Intercoastal Medical Group 943 S Beneva Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-366-3062

License ME85515

Manickam, Sampath

Millennium Physician Group 8383 S Tamiami Trl Ste 115 Sarasota, FL 34238 941-497-4069

License ME133234

SPINE SURGERY

Dermarkarian, Patrick G. Coastal Orthopedics 6202 17th Ave West Bradenton, FL 34209 941-792-1404

License ME140651

Meinhardt, Philip A. Sforzo | Dillingham | Stewart Orthopedics + Sports Medicine 5831 Bee Ridge Rd Ste 300 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-378-5100

License ME103325

Sundberg, Eric B.

Coastal Orthopedics 6202 17th Ave West Bradenton, FL 34209 941-792-1404

License ME120448

SPORTS MEDICINE

Schafer, Steven J.

Coastal Orthopedics 6202 17th Ave West Bradenton, FL 34209 941-792-1404

License ME77986

Torrance II, Ron Regenexx Tampa Bay 2401 University Pkwy Ste 104 Sarasota, FL 34243 941-357-1773

License OS14664

Valadie, Arthur L.

Coastal Orthopedics 6202 17th Ave West Bradenton, FL 34209 941-792-1404

License ME71811

VASCULAR SURGERY

Edwards, Je rey

Sarasota Vascular Specialists 600 N Cattlemen Rd Ste 220 Sarasota, FL 34232 941-371-6565

License ME132518

Hershberger, Richard

Sarasota Vascular Specialists 600 N Cattlemen Rd Ste 220 Sarasota, FL 34232 941-371-6565

License ME128434

Lepore Jr, Michael R.

Sarasota Vascular Specialists

600 N Cattlemen Rd Ste 220 Sarasota, FL 34232 941-371-6565

License ME81013

Nair, Deepak G. Sarasota Vascular Specialists 600 N Cattlemen Rd Ste 220 Sarasota, FL 34232 941-371-6565 License ME99082

Parrack, Inkyong K. Sarasota Vascular Specialists 600 N Cattlemen Rd Ste 220 Sarasota, FL 34232 941-371-6565

License ME137320

Suplee, Ryan S.

Intercoastal Medical Group 3333 Cattlemen Rd Sarasota, FL 34232 941-341-0042

License ME124998

Torres, Vivian

Tampa Bay Surgical Group 5860 Ranch Lake Blvd Ste 200 Bradenton, FL 34202 941-504-8248

License ME118443

Wagner, Jason K.

Sarasota Vascular Specialists 600 N Cattlemen Rd Ste 220 Sarasota, FL 34232 941-371-6565

License ME139385

EXCERPTS FROM THE 2022 TOP DOCTOR LIST OF HONOREES

HONOREE Family Medicine

Dr. Christopher Cooper is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulation. He received his medical education from NOVA Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He completed his residency at Sun Coast Hospital in Largo, Florida. Dr. Cooper was previously the Chief of Sta at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. He also served in the US Navy as a medical o cer until 2004. Shortly thereafter, he opened Cooper Family Medical in Bradenton, Florida. He is currently working as a hospitalist for the group at Manatee Memorial Hospital.

SPECIALTIES

Family Practice Osteopathic Manipulation

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE.

Cooper Family Medical was founded in 2004 by Drs. Christopher and Catherine Cooper as a "mom and pop" type of family practice. Dr. Andrew Clark joined shortly thereafter and is board certified in family practice and sports medicine. The practice has grown to 14 providers and a full-time ultrasound tech and treats patients from birth through the senior years. We have one location on SR 64 in Bradenton and have started the building process on another full size practice o of 301 in north Manatee County to provide comprehensive medical care to all our new neighbors moving into the Parrish and the North River Area. We have been voted the Best Family Doctors in Manatee County by the People's Choice Awards for 12 consecutive years.

In addition to supporting his o ce, Dr. Cooper has also recently taken on a new role in teaching at Manatee Memorial Hospital. Dr. Cooper is currently teaching medical students, interns, and residents as a Core Faculty member for the Family Medicine program at Manatee Memorial Hospital in Bradenton, Florida. He is also the Director of Family Medicine for Inpatient Services. He has a passion for teaching and educating our future physicians and these roles align with his desire to prepare our next generation of Board-Certified Family Physicians for integration into our community as skilled providers. This task is crucial for our healthcare system and our local community as our area continues to grow. The primary goal of this residency program is to keep graduates  local and integrate them into the local healthcare system as caretakers for current residents and support future growth in the community.

Dr. Cottom received his bachelor’s degree with honors from Michigan State University. In 2002 he graduated Magna Cum Laude from Scholl College / Finch University, in Chicago, Illinois. Subsequently, he completed a three-year surgical residency in reconstructive and trauma surgery of the foot and ankle at the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan. In addition, he completed an AO International Trauma Fellowship in Seattle, WA, an Ilizarov Fellowship in Kurgan, Russia as well as a 12-month orthopedic foot and ankle fellowship in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Cottom has been in practice in the Sarasota area since 2007.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE. At Florida Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Center (FLOFAC), our team of board-certified specialists care for men, women and wwchildren. We strive to provide the best foot, ankle and leg care on the Gulf Coast. From routine foot care, to state-of-the-art total ankle replacement, our patients receive individualized, compassionate care in an o ce equipped with the most innovative technologies in lower extremity care. Dr. James Cottom and his team provide treatment for a full range of foot and ankle conditions and ailments. The fellowship-trained team cares for sprains, arthritis, fractures, sports injuries, and traumatic injuries of the foot, ankle and leg. Our doctors specialize in trauma and reconstructive surgery, o ering a variety of advanced arthroscopic procedures, joint replacements, ligament and tendon repairs, and deformity correction surgeries. In addition, the FLOFAC team provides cutting-edge non-operative regenerative treatments like shockwave therapy, platelet rich plasma injections, MLS 6 class IV laser therapy and BMAC injections. We work very close with local physical therapists as well to help our patients achieve the best possible outcomes.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? Individualized, state of the art compassionate treatment. It is simple, we have focused our patient care on the most important aspect, the patient! Our new o ce is state of the art with an environment that is very relaxing and comfortable. This has also allowed us to limit how many patients we see each day so that each patient receives the appropriate time that is needed with the physician. With an inviting, family-friendly environment and a practice that treats its patients’ time with as much respect as their own, it's time to schedule with the team at FLOFAC.

HONOREE Podiatry

HONOREE Pediatrics General

Throughout her education and years of experience, Dr. Good has learned the importance of introducing healthy habits early on in a young patient's life and realizes sickness does not have o ce hours. She takes her own calls and is just a phone call away even when the o ce is closed. Dr. Good has three children and two standard poodles, "Annie" and "Benny". In her spare time, she loves to fish, read and spend time with her friends and family.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF. Dr. Good is board certified pediatrician. She was born and raised in Shreveport, LA. She went to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and played tennis for the LSU Tigers. After graduating and teaching tennis for 2 years, she returned to LSU for medical school and residency. She then spent several years in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit caring for critically ill children. Dr. Good and her family moved to Sarasota, Florida where she worked as a hospitalist before transitioning to primary care. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Board of Pediatrics, and the Sarasota Medical Society.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? Dr. Good is truly a child-centered physician. She creates and establishes an ongoing working relationship with her patients and their families, rendering visits to the doctor special instead of scary. Dr. Good treats the whole child, remaining aware of emotional as well as physical health needs, particularly in emerging adolescents.

Dr. Good's professional experience within a pediatric critical care unit extends her range of knowledge beyond common childhood illnesses. The continuity of care and attention to detail experienced within her practice sets parents' minds at ease. She is an extremely dedicated physician, who routinely goes the extra mile for her patients.

HONOREE Rheumatology

SAMPATH MANICKAM

, MD

Dr. Manickam studied biomedical engineering at the University of Miami. He obtained his MD degree at the Leonard Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. He completed his internal medicine residency at JFK Medical Center in Atlantis, Florida. He completed his rheumatology fellowship at Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia. Dr. Manickam has provided medical care in Sarasota County for the past 5 years. In his spare time, Dr. Manickam enjoys spending time with his family and friends. His wife is a Family Medicine Doctor.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF. Millennium Rheumatology is dedicated to providing high-quality medical care. We manage rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, lupus, gout, vasculitis and other conditions. Dr. Manickam is dedicated to providing the best and most up-to-date rheumatologic care. Our practice features sophisticated exam rooms, and a full infusion suite. We also perform joint injections and joint aspirations. We have an x-ray center and our clinic has ultrasound capabilities. Our clinic administers the following specialty medicines in our infusion center: Prolia, Reclast, Boniva, Evenity, Cimzia, Orencia, Remicade, Simponi, Actemra. Our group is dedicated to providing the best rheumatologic care.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE HELP IMPROVE THE LIVES

OF YOUR PATIENTS? Our practice improves the lives of patients in several ways. Our practice is patient-focused. We spend time extensively counseling patients on their conditions. Our priority is to provide quality, safe medical care. Patients are taken care of by our friendly sta . We provide care in an updated facility. We have a full-feature infusion suite. We also have access to an ultrasound machine, and x-ray center. We look at the whole patient. We tailor treatment to the individual patient. Millennium Rheumatology is dedicated to providing high-quality medical care.

HONOREE Cosmetic Surgery

surgery in a private facility. Under this tutelage, he was able to hone his skills performing complex breast, tummy, face, and nasal surgery. This expertise allowed him to come to Sarasota in 2007 and begin practicing at the highest level immediately. Thousands of surgeries completed, five patient choice awards, hundreds of 5-star reviews across multiple platforms, and thousands of thrilled patients. He is a diplomate of both the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery as well as the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Fellowship director, and American Board of Cosmetic Surgery Board examiner for the past four years.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART?

Sarasota Surgical Arts, the name says it all! This is where surgical excellence, safety, and art collide. Alberico Sessa, MD is an artist. An expert in Cosmetic Surgery. An expert is defined as 10,000 hours performing a task. After 14 years and 7,000+ cosmetic procedures completed at his surgical facility, Dr. Sessa considers himself to be an expert. It's all in the training. Alberico Sessa, MD, is a perfectionist. The surgery is never completed until it is perfect. The first questions asked at a consultation are to find out exactly what is the patient’s idea of beauty and what they are concerned about. Then the journey begins. Sarasota Surgical Arts provides an array of cosmetic surgery to help the breast, body, or the face. Some of the procedures performed: facelift, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, breast lift, breast reduction, liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, laser skin resurfacing. Non surgical options are also found at Sarasota Surgical Arts: Venus freeze—a skin-tightening procedure that works. Vanquish is an all-in-one treatment to dissolve fat and tighten skin, both painless and inexpensive. A medi-spa, along with a knowledgeable aesthetician, is also onsite. Skin peels, facials, derma planing, “PRP” facials (Vampire), micro-needling, as well as micro-blading for eyebrows are performed. We also have our very own skin care line-DR AL’s RX. All Cosmetic Surgery is performed at his private surgical facility. This facility is certified by the Florida Board of Medicine yearly. The anesthesia is provided by a board certified practitioner with 32 years of experience.

HONOREE Dermatology

SPECIALTIES

Pediatric and Adult Dermatology

Skin Cancer Screenings

Skin Cancer Surgery

Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Psoriasis/Vitiligo Laser Treatment

Cosmetic Services: Lasers, Injectables, Emsculpt Neo, etc.

Spa Services: Facials and Medical Grade Skincare

DAVID S. SAX, MD

Dr. Sax brings an impressive level of education and experience to his patients. He is a board-certified dermatologist and a Phi Beta Kappa honors graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Cell Biology and Computer Science. Dr. Sax graduated from Thomas Je erson University Medical College, completed his dermatology residency at the University of Michigan, and trained an additional year in Mohs surgery for skin cancer treatment in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Sax is now a dual board certified dermatologist and micrographic dermatologic surgeon.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE. WHAT SETS IT APART?

Over 20 years ago, David S. Sax, M.D. founded University Park Dermatology & Medical Spa. His vision then was to create a comprehensive dermatology practice providing a welcoming, “family feel” while o ering exceptional and personalized service. Dr. Sax has brought that vision to life by combining leading edge technologies and tailoring it with highly individualized attention to each patients’ specific needs. One of the main goals when forming my practice was to create a comprehensive skin care center; a single destination for the entire family. At University Park Dermatology, we combine the best of both medical and cosmetics, allowing us to holistically address all of our patient’s needs. Our medical team utilizes the most e ective treatments against skin cancers, including an in-house lab performing outpatient Mohs surgery. Within the same o ce, our ultramodern medspa o ers an array of solutions to improve virtually all aspects of our patient’s skincare needs; from lasers, injectables and Emsculpt Neo to our exceptional aesthetician services and medical grade skincare lines. However, it is my sta that truly sets us apart, creating the warm and inviting environment that is our trademark.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE IMPROVE THE LIVES

OF YOUR PATIENTS? One result of living in the Sunshine State is that there is an overabundance of skin cancers. Fortunately, when detected early, most can be successfully treated in the office. One of the most e ective treatments for skin cancers is the Mohs surgical technique. During Mohs surgery, thin layers of cancer-containing skin are removed and then examined until only cancer-free tissue remains. Having undergone extensive Mohs surgical training allows me to perform this precision surgical technique while meticulously minimizing scarring. Over the past twenty years, our o ce has treated over ten-thousand skin cancers. I feel exceptionally fortunate to continue to help patients with skin cancer treatment and prevention.

HONOREE Neuropathy

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? The team at The Roots Neuropathy understands that nervous system health is directly correlated to an individual’s overall health and well-being and recognizes that the body is genetically programmed for health rather than sickness. It is our vision to educate the community about the self-healing and self-regulating human frame provided there is no interference of neurological communication. By balancing the nervous system’s performance, we normalize communication between the brain and the body through state-of-the art neuropathy treatments. It is through this optimization of function and communication that individuals can realize their potential for optimal health and wellness. We address the root cause of the pain and help the body, nerves, blood vessels and tissue stop breaking down and start healing naturally without surgery. Typical healthcare approaches neuropathy pain by using invasive procedures to mask the symptoms while we get to the root cause of the pain. With the most advanced natural approach at reversing neuropathy symptoms we are able to provide independence and a quality of life we are all wanting.

The Roots Neuropathy, a division of The Roots Health Centers, PLLC is a family-run practice led by the husband and wife team Dr. Logan W. Swaim, MS, DC, BCN and Dr. Laura S. Swaim, DC. They are led by their core values: integrity, communication, community, commitment, and faith. The goal of the doctors at The Roots Neuropathy is to serve the Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch and surrounding communities at the highest level of healthcare excellence. They aim to empower individuals with better health strategies through completely natural, drug-free health care that allows the body to heal itself and help people at any age achieve their God given health potential and obtain a life full of optimal health. Dr. Logan is board certified in neuropathy by the American College of Physical Medicine. Drs. Logan and Laura were drawn to Sarasota & the Lakewood Ranch area and knew this was a community in need of natural health solutions. Since the inception of The Roots Health Centers, Drs. Logan and Laura continually strive to give back and be active in the community. The driving force behind every interaction is to be a community leader in natural health options for those looking for hope and healing.

HOW

DOES YOUR PRACTICE HELP IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PATIENTS?

It is our desire to empower individuals with better health strategies through completely natural, drug-free health care that allows the body to heal itself and help people at any age achieve their God given health potential and obtain a life full of optimal health. Neuropathy is a very complicated condition and at The Roots Neuropathy, we focus on improving the patient’s quality of life. Every patient is given a personal consultation to truly understand how their lives are being interrupted and a complete neurological evaluation by one of our health providers to pinpoint the amount of damage they have sustained. Many patients who come to us have taken pain medication to relieve their neuropathy symptoms and were not able to achieve the long term results they are looking for from previous treatment. At The Roots Health Centers it is our goal to get the problem fixed so that they no longer need pain medication and can return to living a life free from neuropathy. We strive to help our patients regain their independence so they can once again enjoy the activities they used to enjoy. We strive to make each recommendation individualized in order to fit the needs of every patient ensuring the highest success rate.

JORDANA HOLLEN

HONOREE Psychiatry

SPECIALTIES

Women’s Health

Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Psychopharmacology

Psychotherapy

, MD

ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE. At Bluestone Psychiatry, a physician-founded and led practice, we feel grateful to provide our patients and their families with a dignified, compassionate behavioral health experience. We partner with our patients to build solid connections and trust. Building upon this trust, we incorporate evidence-based treatments including psychotherapy and medication management, as appropriate. Bluestone Psychiatry encourages our patients to set goals, and more impor- tantly, achieve these goals. We appreciate that everyone is unique, and we strive to tailor our treatment plans to each individual. It is an absolute privilege to build these relationships, and we will always strive to create an environment that facilitates the best treatment outcomes.

Dr. Jordana Hollen is a Board Certified Psychiatrist with extensive training in psychopharmacology, mood and anxiety disorders, women’s health, ADHD, psychotherapy and TMS. Dr. Hollen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Honors Program, and she completed her Psychiatry residency training at the University of Florida. She has experience as a medical director and psychiatry instructor for trainees, as well as eleven years of outpatient psychiatric practice.

BLUESTONE PSYCHIATRY, PLLC

5664 Bee Ridge Road, Suite 203, Sarasota, FL 34233 1.877.422.9355 | Jordana- jhollen@bluestone.health bluestone.health

R. STEPHEN OTTE

HONOREE Orthopedic Surgery

SPECIALTIES

Shoulder Replacement

Arthroscopic procedures

, MD

ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE. Dr. Otte has a unique interest in primary and complex shoulder reconstruction including reverse shoulder replacement, anatomic shoulder replacement, and revisions. As a former athlete, Dr. Otte takes it seriously when patients have to give up activities they love, and uses state of the art, minimally invasive techniques to get patients back to their active life. Dr. Otte is one of very few surgeons on the Gulf Coast who is a member of the prestigious American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES) and is involved with the design and testing of shoulder implants to improve quality and outcomes for his patients.

Dr. Otte graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine before completing his orthopedic surgery residency at Michigan State University/Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI. He then went on to complete a shoulder and elbow fellowship at the prestigious Midwest Orthopedics at Rush in Chicago, IL where he was trained in the most advanced techniques in shoulder and elbow surgery. He then moved with his wife and two daughters to Sarasota.

COASTAL ORTHOPEDICS

8000 SR 64 East, Bradenton FL 34212 3420 Lakewood Ranch Blvd, Lakewood Ranch FL 34202 6202 17th Ave West, Bradenton FL 34209 941-792-1404 | coastalorthopedics.com

ERIC SUNDBERG, MD

HONOREE Spine Surgery

SPECIALTIES

Orthopedic Spine Surgery

Dr. Eric Sundberg is a board certified, fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in surgery of the spine, degenerative spinal conditions and deformities including scoliosis and kyphosis. After graduating summa cum laude from California State University, Dr. Sundberg completed medical school and a five-year orthopedic surgery residency at Stanford University. Dr. Sundberg focuses his practice on treating patients with back and neck problems that may be the result of degenerative conditions or spinal deformities.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE HELP IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PATIENTS?

Dr. Sundberg’s practice is dedicated to improving the lives of his patients by identifying the root cause of their neck and back pain, and then determining the best next steps to mitigate pain whether by surgery, pain management or therapy so that they may return to their lives and best level of functioning. He strives to incorporate the benefits of Coastal Orthopedics multidisciplinary approach via imaging, physical therapy, complex pain management, and minimally invasive surgery approaches, when required. All patients receive a tailored care plan that suits them best and aims to give them the best possible outcome.

MICHAEL J. DATTOLI, MD

HONOREE Oncology

SPECIALTIES

Brachytherapy Therapeutic Radiology

Michael J. Dattoli, MD, is a board-certified radiation oncologist with decades of brachytherapy experience, having performed thousands of prostate implant procedures. Dr. Dattoli attended the University of California at Berkeley and was the Valedictorian of his class at Vassar College. He earned his medical degree at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Radiation Oncology at New York University Medical Center. He was Special Fellow and Associate Professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC.

MONICA K. BEDI, MD

HONOREE

Dermatology

SPECIALTIES

Dr. Bedi founded Dermatology Associates in 2002 based on the principles of treating patients as she would her family. She feels every patient deserves an individualized treatment plan and prides herself on o ering alternative non-invasive treatment options. She is honored to be named a top doctor and is blessed for the 20 year long relationships she has built with her patients and the community.

WHAT MAKES THE DATTOLI CANCER CENTER SO SPECIAL? Drs. Dattoli and Soni have trained at the finest academic cancer research hospitals in the United States and have assembled the largest non-surgical prostate cancer research facility in the world. They have published the highest cure rates with the lowest side e ects imaginable and over 50% of patients come to the Dattoli Cancer Center from out-of-state or out of the country after extensively exploring their treatment options. These results are accomplished using pinpoint precise radiation called "Dynamic Adaptive Radiotherapy" (DART), pioneered at the Dattoli Cancer Center. Meanwhile, no cancer center in the world has as much experience utilizing brachytherapy. The same technologies are utilized to treat other cancer sites, especially breast cancer, also with unparalleled results.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? The ideals that Dr. Bedi started her practice with are the cornerstone for all providers. At Dermatology Associates we take pride in avoiding excessive procedures and cutting. You will not be pressured into cosmetic treatments, and we strive for natural results. We welcome treating rashes and other di cult dermatologic conditions. We think outside the box to make sure we are treating you. Taking time to educate you on your condition and treatment options is paramount. We strive to search for causes of your conditions and focus on prevention rather than just treating symptoms. Trust your skin to us.

DERMATOLOGY ASSOCIATES

3830 Bee Ridge Rd Suite 200 Sarasota, FL 34233 941-927-5178 | dermsarasota.com

REBECCA S. COHEN, MD

HONOREE Psychiatry

SPECIALTIES

Adult Psychiatry Psychopharmacology

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Dr. Cohen specializes in adult psychopharmacology for mood and anxiety disorders and serves as Regional Medical Director overseeing and prescribing transcranial magnetic stimulation at Greenbrook TMS NeuroHealth Centers. She is currently serving on the National Board of Directors for the Clinical TMS Society and is a member of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Cohen is recognized as an expert clinician in the area of TMS therapy and evaluation.

JENNIFER SWANSON, MD

HONOREE Obstetrics and Gynecology

SPECIALTIES

Pregnancy, Menopause

Infertility, Abnormal pap smears

Dysfunctional uterine bleeding and pelvic pain

Jennifer Swanson, M.D graduated from Boston College where she majored in Biology. She attended Medical College of Pennsylvania/ Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree. She completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital which is a liated with Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Swanson has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for over sixteen years. She enjoys teaching medical students as an associate professor at Florida State University College of Medicine.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? I have always approached patient care with the idea of recognizing the complex biological, psychological and situational impact of each person’s presentation. Psychiatric symptoms are the most complicated of any medical specialty, because they potentially impact who you are and how you feel about yourself. My goal with patients is to help them understand their psychiatric symptoms and conflicts, and to work collaboratively with them to improve overall health and well-being. In over a decade of private clinical practice, I have worked with patients in both acute crisis situations as well as with more chronic, debilitating symptoms or di culties. For some patients, seeking out care can be upsetting or di cult. My goal is to establish a safe and nurturing environment so we can do the work together, establish clear goals for a treatment plan and take proper care of the patient’s needs.

ABOUT THE PRACTICE. Lakewood Ranch Obstetrics and Gynecology is unique in that it is composed of all women practitioners. In fact, our motto is “Caring for Women, by Women” and together our team provides comprehensive care to women of all ages in a supportive, compassionate, family-friendly environment. Our pregnant patients deliver at Sarasota Memorial Hospital which o ers world class medical care. Teaming together with Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors and Neonatal Intensive Care specialists, we o er the best possible care to our patients and newborns. Gynecological services include o ce surgery and ultrasounds. Nitrous oxide administration is now available, and most procedures are pain free. If gynecological surgery is needed, our two board certified physicians emphasize minimally invasive techniques and robotics. We are committed to providing exceptional OB/GYN care to all our patients.

LAKEWOOD RANCH OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY

8340 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. Ste #140 Bradenton, FL 34202 | 941.907.9298

AVANTIKA MISHRA

HONOREE

Gastroenterology

SPECIALTIES

Cancer Prevention

IBD

Women's health

Obesity/nutrition

, MD

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE HELP TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PATIENTS? Diagnosing gastrointestinal issues can be very nuanced and layered; it requires paying key attention to patients’ symptoms while keeping in mind already diagnosed medical comorbidities. Patients need to know they’re heard and are working with someone that is invested in their care. An essential part of this doctor-patient relationship is continual patient education and engagement. As physicians, we need to constantly understand symptoms and early screening. With this work, we can save lives.

Dr. Mishra is a board-certified gastroenterologist serving the Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch communities. She has a special interest in obesity and nutrition, cancer prevention, esophageal and reflux disorders and women’s health. She completed her internal medicine residency at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, then went on to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School for her gastroenterology fellowship. Dr. Mishra provides care to patients who struggle with common to complex gastrointestinal and liver diseases.

TONANTZIN MATHEUS

HONOREE

Gastroenterology

SPECIALTIES

Esophageal diseases

Pancreatic disorders

GERD/Dysphagia

Irritable bowel syndrome

, MD

FLORIDA DIGESTIVE HEALTH SPECIALISTS

Bradenton | Sarasota | Lakewood Ranch

Venice | Englewood and More | Check the website for the locations | fdhs.com

Dr. Matheus is board certified in both gastroenterology and internal medicine. She specializes in colorectal screening and GERD/dysphagia and has advanced training in esophageal disorders, including swallowing problems, reflux and digestive tract motility. Dr. Matheus performs in-o ce capsule endoscopy and colonoscopy screenings and has been practicing for nearly 20 years. Fluent in Spanish and English, she enjoys taking time with her patients to ensure they are fully informed and their questions are answered.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? I treat patients at all stages of digestive health, from those who have been su ering for years to patients who are experiencing uncomfortable symptoms that are new to them. Each of them is seeking answers and a path to health. Our team takes the time we need to empathize and deeply understand each patient’s lives and the factors a ecting their condition. Education is imperative to helping patients regain their quality of life. I strive to combine professionalism, advanced treatments and compassion to amplify our patient’s chance at a healthy, active life.

FLORIDA DIGESTIVE HEALTH SPECIALISTS

Bradenton | Sarasota | Lakewood Ranch

Venice | Englewood and More | Check the website for the locations | fdhs.com

CHARLES J. LOEWE, MD

HONOREE

Gastroenterology

Dr. Charles J. Loewe is Board Certified in internal medicine, gastroenterology and hepatology. He received his medical degree at Hahnemann Medical University in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Loewe completed his residency in internal medicine at the Medical College of Virginia. He completed his fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at MCV/VCU and remained on sta for an additional year teaching advanced therapeutic endoscopy and laparoscopy. Dr. Loewe has been in practice in Sarasota since 1985 and founded Sarasota Center for Digestive Disease in 1992. He is an assistant professor at Florida State University.

JOHN SOUTHERLAND, MD

HONOREE Gastroenterology

SPECIALTIES

Crohn's disease

Ulcerative colitis

Dr. John Southerland completed his internal medicine residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland Ohio and his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Florida. He was awarded the Top 10 Physician of the Year Role Model from Sarasota Memorial Hospital in 2005. Dr. Southerland is married and practices in Sarasota.

ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE. We are an advanced and comprehensive gastroenterology practice consisting of four gastroenterologists, two physician assistants, and one nurse practitioner. We specialize in advanced therapeutic endoscopy, IBD, nutrition, colon cancer screening, treatment of liver diseases, and infusion services. Our newest service will be bariatric endoscopy for weight loss. We have been established in Sarasota County since 1984. We have an onsite outpatient surgery center performing all endoscopic procedures with the most advanced technology. Dr. Loewe has been in practice in Sarasota since 1985 and founded Sarasota Center for Digestive Disease in 1992. He has sat on the board of the HealthCare Foundation at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and the board of the Wellness Community of Southwest Florida. Dr. Loewe has performed over 40,000 procedures and is a world leader in advanced endoscopic procedures.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE HELP TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PATIENTS? We improve the lives of our patients by listening to our patients' needs and discussing the latest technology advancements. This will allow our patients to make the best-informed decisions on their care. We are a practice that believes in a holistic approach to medicine with shared decision making, personal patient care, and o ering the latest technology in the field of advanced therapeutics, diagnostics and weight-loss options.

SARASOTA CENTER FOR DIGESTIVE DISEASE

3325 S. Tamiami Tr. Suite 200, Sarasota, FL 34239 941.952.9223 | fdhs.com

IVAN ESTUARDO RASCON-AGUILAR, MD

HONOREE

Gastroenterology

SPECIALTIES

Esophageal disorders

In ammatory bowel disease

Liver and pancreatic diseases

Dr. Ivan Rascon-Aguilar is a board-certified gastroenterologist who received his medical degree at the Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala, then completed his internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida. He is a partner of Florida Digestive Health Specialists and is based in Bradenton.

RONALD ANDARI

HONOREE Gastroenterology

SPECIALTIES

Chronic abdominal pain Hepatobiliary and pancreatic disorders

Cancers of the digestive tract

, MD

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? First of all, the most important thing I try to keep in mind is that patients come to see me for a solution to a problem. My goal is to get to the root cause and not just treat it with pills. I get to the root by listening/investigating first and giving the patient the option to treat their problem with medications/procedures or lifestyle modification. Giving a solution to a problem is what brings me great satisfaction. Treating my patients as if they were my own family is always a goal. Making a di erence in people's lives is what gives me a reason to wake in the mornings. It's that simple–nothing more and nothing less is what I o er.

Dr. Andari is a board-certified gastroenterologist with specialized training in advanced diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures. His clinical interests include chronic abdominal pain, hepatobiliary and pancreatic pathology, endoscopic ultrasound and cancer prevention. Dr. Andari completed his internal medicine residency, gastroenterology fellowship and advanced endoscopy fellowship at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. He provides care to patients in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch, and he is fluent in Spanish, English and Arabic.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? I enjoy connecting with each patient and creating individualized treatment plans to help them lead a healthy, active life. In our practice, patients have access to highly advanced therapies and care without the need to visit a large hospital system or an academic medical center. We find that the outpatient setting allows for more coordinated, streamlined care that is convenient for the patient and their family members. The doctor-patient relationship also thrives. Personally, I find that this human connection, through compassion and alleviating human su ering, is what I love most of being a physician.

FLORIDA DIGESTIVE HEALTH SPECIALISTS

Bradenton | Sarasota | Lakewood Ranch

Venice | Englewood and More | Check the website for the locations | fdhs.com

MARK DAWSON, MD

HONOREE Gastroenterology

SPECIALTIES

Colon cancer screening/prevention

Barrett's esophagus

Biliary disease

Pancreatic disease

Liver disease

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PATIENTS? We treat patients in the We Care program and it allows us the opportunity to provide our community with high quality care for their GI needs. These patients would otherwise have to utilize the ER for their only source of healthcare. We allow them to follow up in our o ce and obtain outpatient procedures. Our practice also participates in community outreach with local hospitals to spread awareness about colon cancer screening and prevention as well as other GI conditions.

ARUN KHAZANCHI

HONOREE Gastroenterology

SPECIALTIES

Esophageal and pancreas ailments

Endoscopic ultrasound for cancers and biopsies

IBD

, MD

Dr. Mark Dawson earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois. He completed his internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Dawson's special interests in GI are preventing colon cancer, treating biliary and pancreatic diseases and Barrett's esophagus to prevent cancer. He enjoys learning new techniques in the GI world. Dr. Dawson has participated in Manatee We Care, providing free healthcare for over 25 years. He loves what he does, especially sharing good news, "I tell everyone, I don't get bored giving out good news." He individualizes each patient's care through discussion. When he's not treating patients, Dr Dawson enjoys time with his family and friends. He also likes writing, telling jokes, playing music and watching sunsets. Dr Dawson practices in Bradenton and Sun City Center.

SUNCOAST GI ASSOCIATES

101 Riverfront Blvd. Suite 700, Bradenton, FL 34205 941.748.2417 | fdhs.com

A nationally acclaimed gastroenterologist, Dr. Khazanchi treats digestive health disorders including Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis, esophageal and swallowing ailments, irritable bowel syndrome and more. He is one of a small group of physicians who perform endoscopic ultrasounds for cancers and biopsies of the rectum, lungs, pancreas and esophagus. He also specializes in conditions a ecting the bile ducts and gallbladder. Dr. Khazanchi practices in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE HELP TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR PATIENTS?

My practice is an extension of my family and we’ve created a friendly, warm environment to ensure patients feel comfortable and welcome. Digestive health is a complicated specialty with countless varying factors; it’s paramount for patients to work with a gastroenterologist they trust. Our team of doctors trained at some of the best programs in the country and have experience treating a wide range of digestive illnesses. We prioritize education because when patients understand their diagnosis and treatment path, studies show there is an increased rate of recovery and wellness.

FLORIDA DIGESTIVE HEALTH SPECIALISTS

Bradenton | Sarasota | Lakewood Ranch

Venice | Englewood and More | Check the website for the locations | fdhs.com

MICHELLE PENNIE, MD

HONOREE

Dermatology

SPECIALTIES

Medical Dermatology

Surgical Dermatology

Cosmetic Dermatology

Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Laser Skin Treatments

Paradise Dermatology is led by Dr. Michelle Pennie, one of only a handful of practitioners on the West Coast of Florida who is BoardCertified and fellowship-trained in both Dermatology and Mohs Micrographic Surgery, the most advanced treatment for skin cancer. With o ces in Sarasota, Venice, and Englewood, they deliver bestin-class, comprehensive medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatological care. Their expert practitioners and caring sta educate patients and provide a holistic approach to each patient’s unique needs.

MARLOWE

HONOREE

Otolaryngology

Dr. Marlowe prides himself on a long and successful ENT career in Sarasota. He has cared for patients with complex and life altering issues with knowledge and compassion, winning awards for being recognized as “most compassionate doctor.” His general ENT practice routinely treats hearing loss, vertigo, headaches, and sinus disease of all types. His engineering degree and a fellowship in otology make him uniquely qualified to treat hearing loss with every available option from hearing aids to EarLens and implants. His passion now extends to aesthetics, with the understanding that looking better leads to feeling better. Our goal is to make you look and feel rejuvenated with a natural appearance that will have your friends guessing how you did it.

ABOUT THE PRACTICE. Paradise Dermatology o ers a wide range of dermatological services. Whether it’s time for an annual full-body exam or a skin condition arises, the expert medical team provides detailed, thorough, and often life-saving care with a gentle approach. From initial surgical consultation to postop and ongoing care, the practice’s professional, certified sta are with their patients during treatment procedures every step of the way. Paradise Dermatology’s cosmetic services are designed to smooth, lift, and reveal younger, healthier-looking skin to make patients glow from the inside out. The ultimate goal of the practice is to leave patients feeling confident in their skin.

PARADISE DERMATOLOGY

Sarasota | 941.921.4131

3355 Clark Road #101, Sarasota, FL 34231

Venice | 941.242.8360

315 Nokomis Ave S, Venice, FL 34285

Englewood | 941.474.8811

699 S. Indiana Ave, Englewood, FL 34223 | 941.474.8811 paradisederm.com

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE. Marlowe & Marrs ENT is a comprehensive independent otolaryngology practice. We provide both an uncompromising focus on the needs of our patients and the ability to deliver all possible solutions to hearing loss by fellowship trained neurootologist Andrew Marlowe. Solutions may include surgery, hearing aids, and implantable devices. We provide testing and treatment of tinnitus, vertigo, and balance disorders. Our team includes doctorate level audiologists. In addition, we specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of sinus disease, migraine and head and neck disease. Dr. Marrs provides the treatment of thyroid, and swallowing disorders, in addition to common conditions such as tonsillitis and ear infections. Our Center for Aesthetics is a world class minimally invasive and non-invasive face and body aesthetics destination. For more than 20 years we have provided caring and compassionate care to the West Coast of Florida community.

DONALD NEGROSKI

HONOREE Neurology

Dr. Donald Negroski completed both his residency, serving as chief resident, and fellowship in neurology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. In additional to general neurology, he specializes in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. Recognitions include Partner in MS Care by National MS Society, a member of Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis, medical advisor for MS Views & News and clinical assistant professor at Florida State University College of Medicine, Sarasota Campus.

ABOUT THE PRACTICE. Dr. Negroski established his Sarasota private practice in 1985 and has a distinguished history of providing comprehensive care to adults su ering from neurologic disorders. Along with his partner Valeriy Sabodash, M.D., Negroski Neurology specializes in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's, dementia, epilepsy, migraines, Parkinson’s disease as well as diagnostic and therapeutic procedures including EMG, EEG and Botox for migraines and dystonia. By encouraging shared decision making, our patients and providers work together to make decisions, select tests, treatments and care plans based on clinical evidence that balances risks and expected outcomes with patient preferences and values. Negroski Neurology also conducts clinical trials to assist with development of novel therapies for Multiple Sclerosis and other neurological disorders.