Conversation with Jen Horvat

When GreyHawk Landing resident Jennifer Horvat moved to the area from Michigan four years ago, she took her time determining for which organization she wanted to volunteer. Her choice: Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Corp.

With an extensive background in marketing and sponsorships, she set out to aid the organization, both as a volunteer and as a member of the marketing committee. And in January, after just a year and a half of volunteering with CAC, the organization named her Volunteer of the Year. 

Horvat, who grew up on an island in the Detroit River, Grosse Ile, Mich., holds a marketing degree from Michigan State University. She began working full time when she was a junior in college.

She and her husband, Stitch, have two dogs, Cosmo and Abby.

You’re always proud when you are recognized for your accomplishments. It drove me to want to do more. There’s a lot of hardworking volunteers.

The most challenging thing I’ve organized wasn’t career related; it was home related. It was our move to Florida. I had three weeks to pack up our house, get our affairs in order in Michigan, start a new job and find a rental. I think all my years of experience in strategic planning and management — having that professional background certainly helped. It was chaotic. I was marketing director for Quicken Loans at the time ... I was still working while we were driving to Florida. 

There’s no better way to get to know your community than to volunteer.

I chose Community Activities because we don’t have kids. I wanted to get involved with children, but we don’t have children in school. To me, volunteering with Lakewood Ranch Community Activities was the perfect mix. They have kids activities, family activities and activities for adults. I could give back to the children and make new friends.

My theory is although we’re not technically in Lakewood Ranch, we’re an extension of Lakewood Ranch. The kids in this community go to Lakewood Ranch High School. I have nieces here and neighbors here who have kids, and they all consider themselves part of Lakewood Ranch because (the kids) go to Lakewood Ranch High School. We go to First Fridays (Music on Main), and we go to Main Street to go shopping. Everybody I deal with is in Lakewood Ranch, so I feel connected to Lakewood Ranch even though I live in GreyHawk.

My best marketing advice is be true to your brand. Figure out who you are and be true to it. Don’t try to be all things to all people. So many small businesses try to diversify to get more business, and I think it’s better to stick to what you know and exceed expectations by doing it really well.

My perfect day — I’m so lucky to have one. I get up on a Saturday morning. My husband brings me a cup of coffee. I sit on the lanai. It’s perfectly quiet. The dog cuddles up next to me. Then, we get in the shower, get our golf gear on and go spend the day at the golf course. In the summer, we come home and swim, and then my husband makes a huge dinner.

We’ve been vacationing on Siesta Key since I was about 10. My mom has family here. My husband did not vacation on this side of the state. When we got married, we continued the Siesta Key tradition. He fell in love with the area, but we knew we wanted to live in more of a community with families (than on the beach).

One of my craziest marketing jobs was I worked for AOL for six months, and I did sports. I got to go on the NASCAR circuit, as well as minor league baseball. It was a short-term contract position to do marketing. I also worked for a museum for four years, which fits really well into the Sarasota arts and culture scene.

I’m one of those very eclectic people. I could go to a sporting event one day and go see the orchestra the next day and be perfectly happy. 

 – Pam Eubanks