Every Monday morning at 7:30, line-of-business managers and executive management team members gathered round a fabulously expensive, custom-made mahogany table in a conference room that overlooked 23rd Street in Panama City, then to await the arrival of the bank’s founder…

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…

Illustration by jesadaphorn / iStock / Getty Images Plus It’s the oldest story in the book. Man falls asleep on couch. Man wakes up groggy and must have a bite of something sweet. Man has a forkful of pecan pie.…

My wife, Cherie, and I count travel as one of our chief passions. Over the past 30 years, we have visited six continents and experienced many cultures, in the process learning a great deal about both others and ourselves. When…

Tom Putnam’s office is in a featureless metal building located maybe a hundred yards behind the tackle business on Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach that his father established in 1972. There, he spends his workdays doing something that he…

Sabelskaya / Shutterstock.com In the river behind my parents’ Daytona Beach home, there’s an artificial reef made entirely of blueberry pancakes. My father always got up early on Sunday mornings and got busy in the kitchen. By the time my…