A Love Letter to South Florida
Sunrise on Ft Lauderdale Beach after a 5k run
I know that life in front of us is more important than the life behind us, but I have to take a moment to reflect on the past decade.
It’s been 10 YEARS since I moved to South Florida and I’m not even sure the words to follow can explain how grateful I am for the life I’ve built here.
A Florida girl with a sunny mindset. That’s me. My happy place is when I can breathe in the salt air and feel the ocean breeze on my face.
When I moved to the east coast of Florida 10 years ago, I had no idea what was in front of me. Within a few months I met my now husband, found my identity as a passionate marketer, made lifelong friends and most importantly, created a home and sense of community, in a place that is typically known as a vacation destination.
Living where people vacation gives you a duality of lifestyles: vacationers driving with leisure and locals commuting to work. Tourists enjoying happy hour and residents looking for good specials. It forms an appreciation of your daily habits - I remember when I first started running on the beach pedestrian A1A walkway, posting sunrises on the beach as being my motivation to wake up and work out.
Most of my time in South Florida has been spent in the sports & entertainment world, where working or attending live events became my comfort zone. Some of the fondest memories and deepest friendships were formed in this zone. In 2017, my husband and I even did what we called the tri-fecta of festivals in the tri-county area - Ultra in Miami, Tortuga in Fort Lauderdale, and Sunfest in West Palm Beach. In 2018, I planned a destination wedding and worked on a major brand launch at the same time (more on that here.)
Then 2020 came along and flipped that lifestyle upside down. Its signal was to slow down and reevaluate what is most important in life - focusing on health, planting roots, and making a house a home. With those changes, we became homeowners and dog parents, and for the first time, my job wasn’t my comfort zone anymore.
I left the industry that gave me so much - and stepped out in the unknown. I took on unique clients in unfamiliar industries, and worked on some challenging, yet very impactful campaigns that taught me a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. I struggled with my health, finally healing and then in 2023, was given the greatest thing that has ever happened to us - a daughter.
With a new title, ‘Mom’, my priorities shifted, people surprised me, and my work changed. We have a lot to do to support working moms in today’s society but that tangent is for another time. During a vulnerable period of my life, I was faced with many professional decisions, and one that would have potentially moved us out of the Sunshine State. In the end, I stayed true to my identity - knowing that this place, South Florida, meant more to me than ever before. I want my daughter to breathe in the salt air and feel the sensation of the Atlantic ocean breeze on her face.
After 10 years here, I am thrilled to share that my professional journey is taking me on a new and exciting path as the Director of Integrated Marketing for Visit Palm Beaches! I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason and now my passion of being a resource for this area is amplified by being able to market and drive economic development for this sunny destination that I proudly call home.
Thank you South Florida for an unforgettable 10 years, I can’t wait to see what the next decade has in store for this Florida girl. XOXO