Sarasota chamber welcomes bestselling author at annual breakfast

About 500 people gathered at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota for the 2024 Annual Chamber Breakfast on March 22, and according to Heather Kasten, the president and CEO of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, they all had something to take home as well. 

Delivering the keynote address was Kyle McDowell, a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who has held leadership roles in corporations including United Health Group, CVS Health and Bank of America.

The event also featured additional speakers including Patrick Duggan of the sponsoring firm Shumaker, and included the presentation of the Spirit of Sarasota Award to Charles D. (Dan) Bailey Jr.

Bailey has served as general counsel to the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority for the past 39 years and currently sits on the governing board of The Patterson Foundation, in addition to many past leadership roles with major organizations.

McDowell discussed creating a positive workplace culture through steps he calls the “10 WEs.”

"It started to become very clear that the questions I had been asking throughout the course of my career, were not the right ones to ask, and when I started to find the right questions to ask, I stumbled across something that I now kind of refer to as my epiphany moment," he said.