Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Flannery.
Hi Kelly, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, just across the street from where I live today! I am a graduate of Florida State University with a B.S. in Political Science. Before my work with the chamber, I worked in sales, marketing, and management for the hospitality industry. I spent ten years away from Tampa before returning home in 2008. I was a chamber member for several years before joining the chamber staff in 2013 as the Director of Events & Membership. It was a great opportunity for me to use the skills I had learned in previous positions melding my event planning experience with a background in membership clubs. In 2014 I was appointed as the President & CEO of the South Tampa Chamber.
We had just come out of a major planning phase with a new strategic plan and a leadership team who was ready to do things differently and reenvision the organization into a chamber of the future. I was given a lot of freedom and leeway to take an 85-year-old organization and create something new. We saw the rewards of our work with in a few years when we had doubled our membership roster and operating budget, hired new staff, moved to a larger office, and had increased name recognition and impact in the community.
I am a proud board member for the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida and the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals. I currently serve as the Honorary Commander for the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, am a member of the MacDill Community Support Council, and Vice-Chair of the Tampa Bay Air Fest. I love learning about our community and have participated in the FBI Citizens Academy, Tampa Police Citizens Academy, Tampa Fire Rescue Citizens Academy, Tampa Mayor’s Neighborhood University, Hillsborough County Leadership University, Educate Hillsborough and Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Business Academy. I am honored to be a two-time honoree for Businesswoman of the Year, a two-time honoree for Business of Pride, the Tampa Bay Business & Professional Women Foundation’s “Woman of the Year,” and to have been included in the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Power 100, a guide of the Tampa Bay area’s most influential business leaders.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I became CEO of the South Tampa Chamber when I was only 34 years old. I was one of the youngest chamber executives in the state, and I wasn’t really a well-known leader in the community yet. I stopped counting how many times I was the only female at a board table or the youngest person in the room during an important meeting. I never felt like I was discriminated against, but I often felt like I had a lot to prove. I did my best to come to meetings prepared and to follow through on any promises made. I quickly became someone that others knew was worth their word and could get things done.
One mistake I made as I was establishing myself was that I said “yes” to every offer and invitation, and while it did help me to meet a lot of people and learn many new things, it also caused a lot of stress, and I had a lack of focus. I was being pulled in multiple directions, and none of the puzzle pieces fit together. Sometimes projects were even conflicting. I was socializing with some prominent professional women one afternoon when the topic of work/life balance came up. One of the women mentioned that just like you would have a strategic plan for your business, you should also create one for yourself. Where do you personally want to be in 1, 5, or 10 years? What do you want to learn? What goals do you want to achieve? Then create a road map for yourself and commit to stay on course.
This exercise has helped me to prioritize my time and efforts to focus on the things that matter most to me. It took some practice, but I now know how to gracefully decline when an opportunity is not right for me personally or professionally.
This past year we have all had to make lifestyle changes due to the pandemic. Without the hustle and bustle of nightly social and professional engagements, I was suddenly given the very special gift of time. It was actually hard at first because I was not used to having so much free time, but once I found my groove, I was able to be laser-focused during my workday and then shut down my laptop after hours. I also became a new mom this year which has been a huge adjustment! I love my job and the extraordinary opportunities that come from it, but my son and my family will take top billing for the foreseeable future, which means another revision to that personal plan and a shift in priorities.
As you know, we’re big fans of the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Established in 1926, the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce is an association of more than 650 businesses and organizations, making the South Tampa community a better place in which to live, work, and play. Our active membership consists of local businesses, professionals, non-profits, and government representatives who enjoy connecting to the community through advocacy, educational, and leadership opportunities.
In 2017, the South Tampa Chamber was recognized by the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP) as a Certified+ Chamber. Less than 30 chambers in the state of Florida have achieved certification. FACP certification illustrates that our chamber follows the best practices of our industry. In 2018 the South Tampa Chamber was recognized by the U.S. Chamber as a Three-Star Chamber of Valor, Hiring Our Heroes’ highest honor for local and state chambers recognizing demonstrated leadership in connecting companies with talented veteran and military spouse candidates. In 2019, I became a Florida Certified Chamber Professional (FCCP), a designation shared with only 18 chamber executives in the State of Florida.
Most recently, the South Tampa Chamber is proud to be named the 2020 FACP Chamber of the Year. The Chamber of the Year is awarded based on the culmination of three years of work in the areas of Financial Stability, Strategic Planning, Membership, Advocacy, Communications, Programming, and Innovation. The South Tampa Chamber is also a two-time Business of Pride Honoree for our advocacy of equality and diversity in the workplace and has been recognized as “Best in the Biz” by the readers of the Tampa Bay Business Journal for favorite Chamber of Commerce, Networking Group and Economic Development Organization.
What are your plans for the future?
In 2021, the South Tampa Chamber will celebrate 95 years as the voice of our local and small business community. We are excited to celebrate our past achievements but also to look ahead at what’s to come! This next year we will be increasing our advocacy efforts on behalf of local businesses, we will introduce new programs for our members, and will play a big role in helping our community transition from the impact of COVID-19 into the “next to normal.” We are also excited to launch a new Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. This past summer, our chamber’s leadership team came together to begin a dialogue about diversity, racism, and systemic oppression. We have spent this time listening and learning and will continue this practice to better understand our community’s challenges. There is no one solution to this problem, and we commit to working side by side with our members, partners, and the greater Tampa Bay community in the coming months and years to create lasting change and equality for all.
I am looking forward to continuing to work as a member of the Board of Directors for the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida and as an Honorary Commander for MacDill Air Force Base. I grew up watching my mom volunteer and lead in our community and it is important to me that my son has the same experience growing up.
Pricing:
- Chamber Membership Ranges from $250-$5000
Contact Info:
- Email: kelly@southtampachamber.org
- Website: www.SouthTampaChamber.org
- Instagram: @KellyAFlannery1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kellyaflannery
- Twitter: @KellyAFlannery
- Other: www.KellyFlannery.com
