40 Under 40

Mulloy, who served on a local school board in Ohio, volunteers with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Students in Free Enterprise, which works with colleges around the country to promote the tenets of free enterprise. He also took part this year in the Great Dock Canoe Races in Naples, which Neighborhood America sponsored.

Off the Clock:
A black belt in tae kwon do, his other passions are golf, skiing and boating.

Tara Paluck
Age: 38
Position: Judge
Lee County Court

Why her:
As one of Lee County’s newest judges, Paluck brings a background in mediation and a desire to serve her hometown. “Having grown up here, I really felt indebted to the community, and I thought, ‘What a great position I could be in, trying to help the community that in essence raised me,’” says Paluck, who attended Canterbury School.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and law degree from Creighton University. When seven judges seats became available last year, “I knew that if I ever wanted to become a judge, that was the time to do it,” she says.

Before taking the bench, she owned a general civil litigation firm, in which she focused on mediation and family law, and was a trial attorney for Allstate Insurance Co. and a prosecutor with the state attorney’s office. Now, she hears misdemeanor criminal cases and civil cases involving damages of $15,000 or less.

“I’m certainly not what people expect when they enter the courtroom and see me on the bench,” admits the five-foot-three-inch Paluck, mother of two young boys.

Off the clock:
She loves fishing; her biggest catch was a 300-pound marlin.

Lesa Peterson
Age: 39
Position: Corporate project manager
Collier Health Services

Why her:
After moving to Florida from Minnesota and working for Hope Hospice, Peterson realized she missed working with children. That led her to Collier Health Services Inc., which served approximately 28,000 children last year, and the colorful Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, which helps thousands of uninsured and underserved kids in Collier County receive medical and dental screenings and treatments.

Peterson handles the marketing, fundraising and budgeting for the mobile unit, which was the first in Florida. Last year, the program helped about 2,000 Collier children.

“It’s just nice that we are serving children that would otherwise not be served, [and] to see the impact on that one child when you’re able to improve [his or her] health status,” says Peterson, who also serves on the board of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwest Florida. “The Care Mobile has essentially raised awareness of what we do as an organization,” she says.

Collier Health Services, a private, nonprofit network of healthcare providers, will help even more children with the opening of a pediatric dental residency program. It is being created through a partnership with the Naples Children and Education Foundation and the University of Florida and is expected to open in the fall of 2008 at Edison College.

Off the clock:
Peterson enjoys biking with husband on Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach.

Brandon G. Phillips
Age: 29
Position: CEO
Global HR Research

Why him:
Phillips was 27 when he developed the idea for Global HR Research. Since then, he has been helping companies here and around the country hire top employees.

His Bonita Springs company provides products and services that assist companies with everything from recruiting to background screening.

“I saw a need for intelligent background screening, for a system or company that was technology driven and could provide solutions better and faster than the competition,” says Phillips, who grew up in Michigan.

With about 100 clients, including the Bonita Bay Group and Physicians Regional Medical Center, and some two dozen employees, the growing company anticipates a third move to larger offices.
A Michigan State University graduate with a dual degree in business and political science, he has worked in pharmaceutical sales and as director of sales and marketing for the Florida Flame, the NBA Development League team that was located here for a while.

An avid basketball player, Phillips recently shared his hoop skills by coaching Upward Youth Basketball, a program that promotes positive competition, character and self-
esteem in children through sports.

Off the clock:
He plays basketball, fishes and spends time with his daughter.

Stephen Prendiville
Age: 39
Position: Surgeon
Stephen Prendiville, M.D., Facial Plastic Surgery

Why him:
Prendiville is the only facial plastic surgeon in Fort Myers who’s board certified and fellowship trained, and he’s also board certified in head and neck surgery.

Perhaps even more gratifying is Prendiville’s pro bono work with organizations including Face to Face, providing free reconstructive surgery to abused women with disfiguring injuries, and Voices for Kids, for which Prendiville donates his talents to help children with dog bites or other facial injuries, and he performed free surgery for a young girl in the guardian ad litem program.

Born in Miami, Prendiville attended boarding school in Ireland from age 12 to 18, and earned his degrees at Georgetown University, where he graduated with honors. He also was awarded a highly competitive fellowship for facial plastic and reconstructive surgery in St. Louis.
 
But when it came time to settle down and start his own practice, the widely traveled surgeon and his wife, Christina—marketing director for her husband’s thriving practice—chose Fort Myers because of its climate and Prendiville’s memories of childhood vacations on Sanibel.

Prendiville almost couldn’t avoid a career in medicine. Both his father and grandfather were doctors, and an uncle was the first plastic surgeon in Ireland, he says. He planned initially to enter the field of neurology, but a residency in head and neck surgery changed his mind. “The results are very tangible,” he says of his chosen specialty, “and it’s really rewarding when a patient has a result they’re happy with.”

He also is an active supporter of the Southwest Florida Symphony Society and its outreach and fundraising efforts, and he donates services to local charities for fund-raising auctions. “I think the message is that you can give fairly substantially and still do very well,” he says.

Off the Clock:
Prendiville is an artist. His subjects? Usually faces, he says. “The human form is fascinating.”

Trey Radel
Age: 31
Position: News anchor
WINK-TV

Why him:
Radel spent 2006 putting his “life on the line,” he says, with the purchase, revitalization and sale of the Naples Journal. With five years as a reporter for WINK, the offer to buy the paper came to him at a bar when Dan Sheraton, a friend and then-owner of the Journal, indicated he was ready to sell the monthly tabloid-style paper.

“It had a niche. It had a great base of advertisers and a loyal following. I felt I could enhance it journalistically. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. The opportunity fit everything I wanted,” says Radel.

With no print journalism experience, he got a loan and spent 10 months writing, hiring, selling ads and turning the paper around. “I learned by looking at other publications,” he says.

“I guess I attracted attention.” The Naples Daily News’ parent E.W. Scripps Co. snapped up the tab for an undisclosed amount.

“For the first time in my life I had something I’ve never had—money and time.” He strapped on a backpack and traveled the world, and then returned to WINK in March to launch its 10 p.m. newscast on the area’s CW network affiliate. “I am so lucky that everything just fell into place,” he says.

Off the clock:
Radel is learning to salsa in preparation for October’s Dancing with the Stars fundraiser.

Christi Pritchett Sarlo
Age: 25
Position: Director of client services/project planner
VanasseDaylor

Why her:
Sarlo has been pursuing her career for only four years, but she’s risen through the ranks with promotions in fast succession, and was recently hired as director of client services by land development consulting firm VanasseDaylor.
Her quick success is right in character for Sarlo, who was 21 and working for Pulte Homes when she purchased and built her first house in a Pulte community in Ocala. “I’m the oldest of four, so expectation was kind of high,” she says with a laugh.

As land development coordinator for Pulte, Sarlo helped in the creation of master-planned communities for the company. She later served as planning and entitlements project manager for WCI Communities Inc., managing zoning approvals and development permits before transitioning to more face-to-face client work in her new position with VanasseDaylor.

The third-generation Fort Myers native brings that same level of organization and focus to her off-the-clock efforts, serving as a volunteer with the Fort Myers Women’s Community Club as well as the Edison Pageant of Light, an event she’s been involved with since childhood, along with the rest of her family.

Off the Clock:
Sarlo and her husband love to waterski.

Tracy Southers
Age: 38
Position: Public relations executive
WordPlay Inc.

Why her:
A founding member and past president of the local Public Relations Society of America chapter, Southers worked for a variety of businesses before becoming a principal of WordPlay Inc., a firm that specializes in PR and event planning.

Before moving here, she had gone from Texas to Pittsburgh. “A girl from Texas should never move that far north,” she says. Then Gulf Bay Group brought her to Naples.

She was working for the Registry Resort as it became the Naples Grande Resort & Club when
Southers became an entrepreneur.

“Teresa [Morgenstern, WordPlay’s founder] was lamenting how overwhelmed she was, and I was lamenting that I was ready for a change. We looked at each other and a lightbulb went off,” says Southers.

Her charge was to diversify WordPlay’s client base, which now ranges from business groups to a housing development in Costa Rica—for which she has gained extensive coverage, including in The New York Times, the holy grail of PR.

Southers, who is distinguished in her industry by achieving APR (Accredited in Public Relations) certification, also volunteers as a mentor with Take Stock in Children and for the Shelter for Abused Women and Children, one of the organizations for which she also does pro bono work.

Off the clock:
She goes to the beach almost every weekend.

Milissa Sprecher
Age: 35
Position: CEO
Noise Branding Communications

Why her:
As CEO of the marketing and branding firm started by her husband, John, Milissa Sprecher oversees the company’s finances and 15 employees and also serves as video editor.
She’s a mom of two with another child on the way, and she makes time to help the Sanibel-Captiva Cares charitable organization and the Children’s Education Center of the Islands.

During the evenings, she and John turn their attention to Special Kids, their video company that creates learning products for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. (One of John’s two grown sons has autism.)

The videos help the kids learn how to handle “things you and I take for granted, like going to a movie or a restaurant or even to the doctor or dentist,” says Milissa. “It gives them an opportunity to watch a video and prepare themselves mentally for what’s coming.”

It’s this work of which she is perhaps most proud. “I know we are helping families and making their lives better,” she says. “When I get a testimonial or note back from parents, that’s probably the best pat on the back you can get.”

Off the clock:
Sprecher likes to spend what little free time she has with her kids at the beach or in the pool.