America Jones is an agent with Goosehead Insurance located in Sarasota, FL. America joined Goosehead because of her unwavering commitment to take care of her clients. Using cutting edge technology to shop with dozens of "A" rated insurance companies in just a few short minutes, she is able to find the right coverage at a competitive price. She takes the time to review all of the options and customizes a policy based on the unique risks and desires of each client. After finalizing an option, America is backed by a service team that has the highest client loyalty rating in the industry. Request a quote from America and you will quickly understand why Goosehead is one of the fastest growing distributors of home and auto insurance in the United States.

Tell us what you do:

I have been in the insurance industry for over 10 years. I worked my way from Licensed Sales Producer to Office Manager and now Agency Owner. I believe in having a simple conversation and a personal transaction that make people feel at ease. My calling is to help others where it is needed the most. In protecting what is important to my clients.

What would you like to talk about?

I like to encourage others to not let life hardships keep you from achieving great things. My entire life from childhood has been filled with what others would consider setbacks. I see them as building blocks to make me who I am today. I am very open with my personal story because there are many people who are going through tough times that need to know they are not alone. We do not need to hold it in. That this too will pass to not give up. There is a purpose for why each of us are here and going through what we are going through good and bad.

Are you promoting anything?

Of course being a business owner I am always promoting my insurance agency. But what I am called to do is help others who are going through difficult times. That it is ok to feel not ok. To not suffer alone.

Anything else we should know?

Here is a little back history of my life. 1. Dad was in the military that is how I got my name 2. I watched my Dad die of cancer at the age of 5 1/2 3. Raised by Mexican mom with mental health issues and does not speak English 4. Grew up poor. Riding county bus. Food Stamps. Apartment in the hood. 5. Age 12 I started babysitting, 15 I had 3 jobs, 18 I was a manager, 21 I was one of the youngest branch managers for Enterprise Rent A Car, 24 National Accounts Manager for PGT Industries, 34 I became an insurance agency owner. 6. July of 2020 Car accident should not have walked away from (splenectomy, traumatic brain injury, broken ribs, broken sternum, broken clavical, 9 blood transfusions, damage to several discs in my back). 7. Nov 2020 started the process to open my own insurance agency. Office opened 2/21 8. 2022 Found out I am BRCA2 Positive 9. Received inconclusive testing results decided to have preventative mastectomy, tube removal and ablation 10. From surgery results found I already had cells growing abnormally that where on the path of turning cancerous. 11. 8 Surgeries from Accident and BRCA from 2021-2024 12. During that time I won Readers Choice Award for Agent of the Year 2023 couldn't even go to event because of one of my surgeries. Lol sounds depressing but let me tell you my favorite saying is where there is a will there is a way and I got a whole lot of will!

Blake Fitzpatrick, owner and founder of Sunshine Movers of Sarasota.

With my wife Ashley beside me, I started Sunshine Movers back in 2013 after working in the drywall business and helping out a local mover. After he kept asking me to come back because he was happy with the work I did for him, I decided I wanted to start my own moving company.

I can still remember the excitement of purchasing our first truck and moving our first clients into their new homes. We started with only one truck and one employee…me.

In that first year, I took the calls, went out for estimates, and serviced every move we booked. I didn’t have a playbook to build a successful company, and I made a lot of mistakes along the way.

Tweeds founder, Donald Carlson, has fashion woven into his story. Growing up, he was surrounded by suits and dress shirts, courtesy of his family's dry-cleaning business. Young Donald lent a hand, picking up and dropping off clothing for clients.

After steering the marketing side of the family business for eight years, Donald ventured into selling suits. This shift felt natural, drawing on his years of exposure to styles, fabrics, and fits of upscale menswear. What started as a boutique suit-selling endeavor blossomed into Tweeds.

Donald believes in the language of a suit. To him, every stitch and fold has a story to tell. This philosophy led Tweeds to source only the most opulent fabrics from the world's premier mills. Donald's innate sense of fashion, coupled with his authentic passion and discerning eye for fit and style, cemented Tweeds' status as Sarasota, Florida's premium destination for custom-made menswear.

In 2022, Donald expanded his vision by inaugurating a Tweeds showroom in Sarasota. And now, with the same commitment to excellence, he's gearing up to unveil a second locale in Tampa, Florida.

Experience the Tweeds difference. Schedule an appointment and let a masterfully tailored suit amplify your presence.

Company founder and President Robert Milligan is a non-competing broker who started his first real estate brokerage in 2005 and began encouraging the Realtors® he hired to strategically grow their business with the principles he developed while in production as a top 1% producer himself.  With Robert’s guidance, his agents experienced uncommon success that propelled the brokerage to grow into all major markets of Florida with over 1,700 agent hires.  His career so far has produced more than 30,000 transactions, paying associates $241,000,000 in earnings on $8.04 billion in sales volume.