The fifth annual SRQ Magazine 35 Under 35 Awards Reception took place on Thursday, January 29 at Aloft Sarasota. The event recognized and honored the local young professionals who are shaping the future of the Gulf Coast. Honorees and their guests enjoyed delicious food from Pier22 and music provided by Joey-D Entertainment.

Wes Roberts, Executive Publisher of SRQ Magazine and host of the event, began the program by greeting the attendees at the reception. He emphasized the magazine's commitment to the region's emerging leaders: "As a local publication, we believe it is vital to create a space to cultivate, recognize and honor our region’s young professionals who are taking the lead both at their company and in our community." Roberts then highlighted the diverse talent of the honorees, noting, "This year’s class of honorees consists of business owners, healthcare workers, marketing creatives and home and design professionals who have distinguished themselves as leaders in their field. From motivating their teams to starting their own companies, these individuals are leading the way for the next generation.”

Following his remarks, Roberts presented certificates to the 35 Under 35 Honorees. The evening wrapped as the honorees remained for additional mingling and networking.

Congratulations to this year's class of 35 exceptional individuals on their achievements and for inspiring the next generation of leaders who will soon follow in their footsteps. 

Photo by Daniel Wagner, Wagner Visuals.

When Camilyn Leavitt, founder of Camilyn Beth, was invited to 16 weddings in just over a year in 2012, she decided to begin making the dresses she’d wear herself. Leavitt attended school for fashion design, but had left the design industry to work as a creative director for several years. However, posting these dresses on social media brought her back to the fashion world—a small boutique in New Orleans requested to see her designs and then made a 32-piece dress order.

“I decided I was just going to sew all the dresses myself,” says Leavitt. Inspired by that order, she began building the Camilyn Beth brand and selling dresses wholesale to boutiques around the United States from her studio in the Mira Mar building in Downtown Sarasota.

The 2020 pandemic led Leavitt to reroute—she began selling online and directly to customers to adapt to lockdowns and changing shopping habits. “ I love the business more than ever before, now that we are not doing wholesale. When we were selling to stores, it always felt like I was trying to match what the store wanted,” she says. “Now I feel like we get to tell the story of Camilyn Beth and create my classic style for dresses. And classic is wonderful because it's sustainable. You can wear them over and over again.”

As Leavitt’s brand continues to grow in popularity in Sarasota, Camilyn Beth is now moving to a new location at Quay Commons near the Rosemary District. “I'm very customer-focused right now, listening to what customers want. The beauty of designing within the retail space is that we're constantly listening to customers. It makes us like the best designers we could be, because we're constantly seeing them try dresses on,” says Leavitt.

Although it has been 14 years since Camilyn Beth was founded, Leavitt has maintained her careful attention to detail and dedication to creating high-quality formal dresses—everything is designed in-house and offered in sizes 0-22. “In the new space, we have the design table as part of the front window display. It's always been my dream to be able to do this,” she says. “I just think it's so cool for people to be able to see behind the scenes, where designs are happening and where this dress started.”

Camilyn Beth, 468 Quay Commons Suite C, Sarasota, camilynbeth.com, 941-313-2217. 

Pictured: Camilyn Beth's new location features an in-store design table, where customers can see how a dress is designed and made. Photo provided by Camilyn Leavitt.

The Hermitage is a leading national arts incubator and the only major arts organization in Florida exclusively committed to supporting the creation and development of new work across all artistic disciplines. Located on Manasota Key in Sarasota County, the Hermitage provides accomplished and diverse artists with multi-week residencies to create original works of theater, music, visual art, literature, dance, and more. Hermitage Fellows have included eighteen Pulitzer Prize winners, multiple Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy nominees and winners, Poets Laureate, MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellows, and hundreds of extraordinary artists from around the world. Hermitage artists, writers, and performers offer a unique glimpse into the creative process, sharing their original works-in-process with our Gulf Coast community. These free, hour-long programs take the shape of musical performances, play readings, concerts, visual art demonstrations, panel discussions, master classes, open studios, and more. Audiences can experience a unique level of engagement with these extraordinary talents at our year-round sunset programs on the Hermitage Beach and other partner venues throughout the region. To register for an upcoming Hermitage program or to make a tax-deductible, year-end gift in support of the Hermitage, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org. 

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 Lee Wetherington Homes, a top rated, privately owned custom luxury home builder in Sarasota, recently unveiled the architect chosen and the amenity lineup and finishes for The Summit at Shellstone, the clubhouse and fitness center located within Shellstone at Waterside. Joiner Architecture was the architecture firm chosen for the project. Established in 2012, the Tampa-based company works to deliver exceptional design through spatial efficiency, flexibility, clear organization and thoughtful composition of form.  Shellstone at Waterside’s planned premier amenities will blend recreation and relaxation, with The Summit at Shellstone featuring a spacious social hall, state-of-the-art fitness center, resort pool and spa, firepit, poolside cabanas, poolside grill and fitness lawn.  Plans for the fitness center will feature a studio with the latest in fitness equipment, a group fitness area, fitness hall and restrooms. The proposed spaces will incorporate elements such as faux wood ceiling, pendants, accent stone wall tile, large scale shiplap and wood cabinetry, among others. For more information on the community and its amenities, visit LeeWetheringtonHomes.com.  

HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital announced today that it has been named one of America’s 250 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades. This achievement places the organization in the top 5% of U.S. hospitals for overall clinical performance. Additionally, HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital has been recognized for its exceptional patient outcomes in key service areas, including one of Healthgrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Surgical Care™ and one of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Joint Replacement™, Gastrointestinal Surgery™ and Spine Surgery™. HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital’s achievement is based solely on what matters most: patient outcomes. To determine America’s 250 Best Hospitals for 2026, Healthgrades evaluated risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for more than 30 of the most common conditions and procedures at approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Healthgrades’ analysis found that outcomes vary widely between the nation’s highest- and lowest-performing facilities—and the gap is getting bigger. In fact, if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to America’s 250 Best, on average, 210,126 lives could have been saved during the 2022-2024 study period.* These findings illustrate the importance of choosing a facility with an established record of superior clinical outcomes. 

Fueled by strong bond ratings, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMH) is moving full speed ahead on more than $1 billion in capital projects that will greatly expand and enhance the community’s access to its five-star care.SMH recently began laying deep foundations at its new, $507 million hospital in North Port, and has several other expansion projects under way, including an $82.5 million inpatient rehabilitation facility at its SMH-Venice campus and more than $50 million in radiology upgrades and expansions in Sarasota and Venice. The capital projects are supported by strong and upgraded bond ratings from Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings. Similar to an individual's credit score, strong bond ratings significantly lower the health system’s cost of borrowing for major capital improvements. Earlier this week, the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board voted to issue up to $425 million in revenue bonds this year to help cover capital project costs. Also this week, Moody’s reinforced the health system’s creditworthiness, upgrading the hospital district’s rating to Aa3. Fitch reaffirmed the health system’s “AA-” rating in 2025.

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Mira Mar Residences, a limited collection of 70 estate-style bayfront residences across two 18-story towers and set to rise above South Palm Avenue, recently celebrated the opening of its new permanent sales gallery located at 1258 North Palm Avenue in Sarasota. On Wednesday, January 21, Realtors and project partners were invited to the sales gallery to celebrate the opening. During the event, attendees heard from Patrick DiPinto, the developer of the project, as well as Jeff LaHurd, Sarasota city historian. In addition to enjoying light bites and cocktails, attendees were able to explore the new sales gallery, which provides prospective buyers with a history wall, a video presentation monitor, a preview of the residential collection that will be designed to the highest standards, a sample kitchen, and design elements for buyers to choose from, including flooring, tile, countertops and fixtures. The sales gallery was relocated from its previous temporary location on South Palm Avenue due to tenants moving out for the historic building to enter the restoration process.  To learn more, visit MiraMarsarasota.com.  

 Coastal Orthopedics, a full-service provider of comprehensive orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, spine care, diagnostic imaging and physical therapy service, recently announced it has completed its first outpatient total ankle replacement surgery. The outpatient procedure was performed for the first time at Coastal Orthopedics’ surgery center by Dr. Matthew Pacana, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle injuries and disorders at Coastal Orthopedics.  

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The County Administrator, Jonathan Lewis, has selected Nicole Rissler, the current director of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources, as Assistant County Administrator. Rissler will begin her new role effective Jan. 28. For more information, call 311 or 941-861-5000 or visit scgov.net.