Author: Brian Rowland

Growth Requires Change and Adapting To It

  It has often been said about Northwest Florida that we have can avoid mistakes made in South Florida by responsibly managing development and infrastructure improvements in ways that stay ahead of the growth curve. Never has that challenge been…

Self Expression: It’s Your Right

  Days after the Parkland, Florida, killings in February, thousands of young people descended on the Old Capitol in Tallahassee to demonstrate and to express their anger and disappointment about our nation’s gun laws and gun culture. Rallying around a…

An Enduring Partnership

Over the 18 years since it was first conducted at the historic Gulf View Hotel in Okaloosa County, our Best of the Emerald Coast event has grown to become one of the most anticipated and consequential happenings in the region.…

A Purpose-Driven Event

In June, I had the privilege of attending the culminating event in the series of activities that made up the 2017 edition of the Emerald Coast Top Salon competition. About 60 people gathered at Brotula’s Seafood House, a Top Salon sponsor, to…

Finding Happiness

Recently, I watched a show on HBO hosted by Bryant Gumbel, who was joined by an Ivy League psychologist. Jointly, the two men interviewed two accomplished individuals — a retired Navy SEAL and a former professional football player. The interviewees…

Make the Time for Professional Courtesy

After 25 years in the advertising and marketing business, I am never surprised when a phone call goes unreturned. Rather than becoming offended on such occasions, I let them roll off me like water. Recently, however, I found myself counseling…

The Art of Giving

Giving opens many doors, creating new and numerous opportunities along our life paths. In my line of work, I interact with a wide range of people representing countless organizations, passions and fields of endeavor. For some, I have noticed, giving…

You May Have Noticed

For the past six months, we’ve had an Emerald Coast Magazine redesign in the Rowland Publishing incubator. It’s been five years since we overhauled the look, feel and content of the magazine and, in today’s world of publishing, five years…

Here’s to Your Good Health

I have always said that people cannot fully appreciate their good health until they experience illness or injury. The difficulties may be a simple one like a cold or sinus infection or an acute, chronic or even life-threatening physical challenge.…

We’ve Come Up with Another One

One of the absolutely great parts of doing our jobs is the opportunity to collaborate as a team to come up with new ideas and bring them to fruition. Ideas may come in the form of an innovative story concept;…

Giving Back is Just What We Do

I was recently sitting at a meeting with a group of people, many of whom I didn’t personally know, who represented a cross section of our community. When it was brought to their attention that I worked with Tallahassee Magazine,…

An Apology Can Go a Long Way

It is almost a lost art … to take responsibility, to be transparent and to deliver an apology to a person or a group that you have done wrong. I have always told my sales staff that when a mistake…

Keep an Attitude of Gratitude

Ever found yourself looking over your shoulder and comparing yourself, your relationship, your kids or your business/professional success to those around you? Does your observation — at least what you see on the surface — make you rethink your current…

A Sense of Optimism Returns to the Emerald Coast

Optimism is a noun that means having a tendency to have a favorable view of things — and the belief that good things will prevail. The synonyms of optimism include confidence, hopefulness, cheerfulness and brightness. Over the past four years,…