Top Recommends Team Meets Up With Friends and Partners at Clive Daniel and Big Top Brewery

Event details

• Event: Photo shoot and business meetup

• Locations: Clive Daniel (photo shoot) and Big Top Brewery & Restaurant (meal)

• Top Recommends: Founder Craig Wallace and co-founders Kevin StJohn, Tom Hadrava, Lea Graf, and Tina Pilz

• Business partners: Dr. John Plumley of South Bradenton Dental Care, Jana Marra of Elite IV Hydration, Michael Given of Karma Marketing, Marisa of Clive Daniel, and Ivy Thompson of Suncoast Social

• Photographer: Jerusha Pfannenschmidt of TJL Imagery

Why we got together

Nearly everything we publish at Top Recommends starts with a conversation. Craig sits down with a local business owner, hears how they got started and what they care about, and we turn that into a story for our community. It's work we're proud of, but most of it happens through a screen.

Every so often, it's worth closing the laptop and spending real time with the people who make this community what it is. That was the thinking behind this meetup. We invited a group of friends and business partners to join us for a photo shoot at Clive Daniel, followed by a meal at Big Top Brewery & Restaurant.

Who joined us

Craig Wallace founded Top Recommends, which grew out of a network of 81 connected Facebook communities with more than 700,000 members across Sarasota and Manatee County. Four of our co-founders were there with him: Kevin StJohn, Tom Hadrava, Lea Graf, and Tina Pilz. Each runs a business of their own, from an accounting practice to a men's spa, and together they help lead our Facebook communities. They brought a lot of the energy that carried the day. Dan Kelleher, our fifth co-founder, wasn't able to make it this time.

Joining us were Dr. John Plumley of South Bradenton Dental Care, Jana Marra of Elite IV Hydration, Michael Given of Karma Marketing with his girlfriend, Ivy Thompson of Suncoast Social, and Marisa of Clive Daniel. Behind the camera was our good friend Jerusha Pfannenschmidt of TJL Imagery.

Photo shoot at Clive Daniel

The day began at Clive Daniel, where Mareisa Madden, Clive Daniel's Director of Business Development, welcomed us in. Jerusha led the shoot, and everyone took a turn in front of the camera. Seeing everyone side by side made it clear how much this community has grown. Many of us work together throughout the year, so it meant something to finally be in the same room for a day like this.

Every business we feature and partner with has a person behind it, and our readers deserve to know who that person is. When you're deciding who to trust with your health, your marketing, or your home, a familiar face goes a long way.

Dinner and conversation at Big Top Brewery

From Clive Daniel, we walked over to Big Top Brewery & Restaurant. Over a great meal, the conversation turned to each other's businesses. Dr. Plumley talked about his practice at South Bradenton Dental Care. Jana shared what's happening at Elite IV Hydration. Michael spoke to the marketing side, and Ivy offered her perspective on social media.

It's not every day that a nurse, a dentist, an accountant, a marketer, a business coach, a photographer, and a spa owner share a table. That range is what made the conversation worth having.

It also gets at why Top Recommends exists. A recommendation carries weight when it comes from someone who knows the person they're recommending. The better our local business owners know one another, the more confidently they can point a friend or neighbor in the right direction. That's what we're building, and a day like this one is where it starts.

Join us next time

This won't be our last meetup. If you own a business in Sarasota or Manatee County and want to be part of a community built on real recommendations, we'd love to have you at our next meetup. Join Top Recommends, get to know the people in it, and watch for news of our next get-together. You can also follow Craig Wallace on Facebook for updates.