Bernie Borges [00:00:00]:
Bridget Bello, welcome to the Midlife Fulfilled podcast.
Bridget Bello [00:00:04]:
Hey, Bernie. Thank you so much for having me today. I’m looking forward to a great conversation.
Bernie Borges [00:00:09]:
So am I. Thank you so much for joining. And as you know, when we, we actually discussed you coming on the podcast, I kinda suggested that this would be a hybrid between a maximum episode because you’ve got so much you can teach on as well as a vulnerable conversation because we’re gonna have a great conversation about your background and some of the things that you’ve achieved. And let me set the stage a little bit for my listener. As you know, because I’ve already told you, I’m not gonna read your entire bio because, Bridget, if I was to put it this way, if I was to print your bio, I’d probably kill a tree. It’s a pretty extensive bio. Suffice to say, career wise, you’ve pretty much spent your career in the publishing industry. You’re currently the CEO and publisher of Tampa Bay Business and Wealth, which is a digital print and events platform.
Bernie Borges [00:01:05]:
You’re formerly the president and publisher of the Tampa Bay Business Journal where you were there for more than eleven years, and you were the first woman publisher of the news newspaper’s forty year history. And you’ve pretty much worked in every area of the media industry. You’re deeply, deeply involved in the community in so many ways, nonprofits. You’re involved in philanthropic commitments. You’ve been recognized with numerous awards. Again, I I’d I’d have to kill a tree if I was to print them all. So, I mean and and, Bridget, the other thing that really strikes me is that you literally know everyone in Tampa Bay. I did the math.
Bernie Borges [00:01:45]:
We’ve known each other sixteen years.
Bridget Bello [00:01:48]:
Oh, wow.
Bernie Borges [00:01:48]:
I know. Time flies. Right?
Bridget Bello [00:01:50]:
Absolutely.
Bernie Borges [00:01:52]:
You know everybody in Tampa Bay. So here’s where I’d like to begin. When I introduce you to my five pillars, health, fitness, career, relationships, and legacy, as the five pillars that span all of our humanity, you quickly said that one of those pillars really resonated. So why don’t we begin there?
Bridget Bello [00:02:14]:
Yeah. I mean, it like you said, those are, pillars that we all need, and we need all five of them. But there is definitely one that pops out for me and something that, I’m pretty passionate about and certainly something that when I’m asked to speak publicly that I, make sure to include how important it is to me, and that is relationships. I’ve been in this community now for almost, I think, eighteen years. The, you know, business community prior that I was in was Jacksonville. I was there for thirteen years. And so, really, my, my whole career has been focused in the local market that I’m in. You spoke about a lot of my nonprofit service.
Bridget Bello [00:02:51]:
I certainly do a a big, big amount of that. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to try to do a little less of that this year. But, you know, at the end of the day, I really believe that the only thing any of us have left is our reputation and our relationships. And so my my advice is always that those two things get protected at all cost. You know, they’re the only things that we have a % control over, and they’re also the only things that if we lose can have a very, very, very detrimental effect both personally and professionally.
Bernie Borges [00:03:26]:
Let’s go back to all the way back to college. You majored in journalism. What was your aspiration? What did you think your career was gonna look like when you were majoring in journalism?
Bridget Bello [00:03:38]:
So, I always joke and say I’m actually one of the people that does what I went to school for, and I have for a very long time. There’s not a lot of us out there. My kind of first writing, my mom loves to tell the story that I they owned a business and one of their clients owned, a gutter business. And the gutter business was looking for new ideas for, a television commercial. And at six years old, I wrote the television commercial that he ended up using, and it was about a raindrop. And I wrote about myself as a raindrop. And, so that was really my first foray into, a writing career. I I always knew that I was a truth seeker.
Bridget Bello [00:04:21]:
I always knew that the first amendment was something that I was very passionate about. I was editor of my college newspaper, both in junior college and, then when I well, when I got to Gainesville, I worked at the Alligator, which is a nationally renowned collegiate, newspaper. And, my first real job at 17 years old was at a daily newspaper. And so I I always was on the track for, like you said, publishing. I did have a long ten year stint in the radio industry industry and, enjoyed that just as much. So, really, today at almost 55 years old, I I say the media is in my blood. It it’s what I love. It’s what I believe in and what I’m super passionate about.
Bernie Borges [00:05:07]:
Yeah. I know. It it shows. What about the fact that early in your career, you were on the editing side, meaning you were on the content side. You were a journalist. Journalists produce content, and that lives in the editing side of of a media company. And you you migrated in your career to the publishing side. So how did that happen, and, you know, was it intentional? I mean, what was your thought process? What what was the experience like? It’s like five questions wrapped up into one.
Bernie Borges [00:05:36]:
You went from the editing side to the publishing side of the business. Embellish on that a little bit.
Bridget Bello [00:05:41]:
Yeah. That’s another fun story, actually. So I put myself through college, and when I was at the University of Florida, I was kinda headed down the broadcast media street a little bit. In the early nineties, they were already telling us the print was dead to which I’m still laughing. Right? Clearly, it’s not dead. But I thought, okay. Well, then broadcast media is the the road I need to go. So I worked at a radio station when I was in college.
Bridget Bello [00:06:08]:
I was the morning newscaster. My on air name at the time was Heather Fox. And, I am not a 04:30 in the morning person. And so my running joke is always if I’m up at 04:30, it’s because I’m still up and not because I got up. And so, having to be at the radio station and be on the air at 04:30 in the morning was challenging for me. But I I enjoyed what I did. And one day, the station manager, and he was actually the owner, came into the broadcast booth at the end of my shift, and he said, you know, I wanna talk to you. And he kinda put his arm around me, and I thought, oh my god.
Bridget Bello [00:06:43]:
I’m getting fired. I’m started saying, Doug, I’m sorry. I won’t be late anymore. I’m just not a morning person, and, you know, I can I can get better? And he was like, no. No. No. No. And, you know, he’s kinda ushering me with his arm towards the door, and I’m like, I’m I’m really getting fired.
Bridget Bello [00:06:57]:
And he took me out into the parking lot. And, clearly, he had seen something in me that I didn’t see in my side. I was 20 years old, and I’m still figuring out you know, I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but certainly still figuring it out. And he pointed at a car in the parking lot, and I always have to preface this with depending on the age of your listeners, this is the midlife. Right? The car he pointed out was a Pinto. And, for those who don’t know what that means, they used to explode on impact. So it was not a car that anyone wanted to drive. And he said, that’s the car that my highest paid on air personality drives.
Bridget Bello [00:07:33]:
And then he pointed at the other end of the parking lot, and he pointed to a BMW. And he said, that’s the car that my highest, highest paid salesperson drives. What kind of car do you wanna drive? And the answer was obvious. I mean, at least it was to me. I wanted to drive the BMW. And like I said, he he had seen something in me. He said, you’re doing a great job on the air, but, I really think that you would be even more successful in, the business side of media, and I’d like for you to give it a shot. And so that’s when I came out of the actual content side of, of news and ran an advertising department in Jacksonville for, about eight and a half years, which was print, the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Bridget Bello [00:08:18]:
And then ended up getting promoted to, the Tampa Bay Business Journal as the kind of CEO, the market president, and doing that for almost twelve years. So a good twenty years of my career was with, American City Business Journals in the publishing world, and now I’m doing it on my own.
Bernie Borges [00:08:35]:
So you spent part of your career in Jacksonville, Florida, which is Northern Florida for those who may not know. And then, you’ve been here in Tampa Bay, I think you said, for eighteen or twenty years, something like that. So both of those stints for you really span your entire career. Is that right?
Bridget Bello [00:08:54]:
Pretty much. Yeah. With the exception of college.
Bernie Borges [00:08:56]:
Okay. So what they have in common, aside from the fact that they’re in the state of Florida, is that they’re both local. And I wanted to really kinda, unpack that a little bit with you, Bridget, because in both cases, you have built a phenomenal career at the local level. And there’s so so many aspects of careers that are not local. You know, people I’ve worked for companies that that are international. When I had my own business my first business, I had clients all over The US. And but for you, your world has been local, and it’s been phenomenal for you. So first of all, was that planned? And secondly, how what’s that impact been on your life?
Bridget Bello [00:09:40]:
It was not planned. It definitely was not planned. I was no different than any other, you know, 18 year old, 22 year old coming out of college, and I’m gonna move to New York City, and I’m gonna change the world. Right? I I definitely was not strategic enough to come up with, I’m gonna get in a local market with a local publication, and and my life’s gonna be based on, you know, local market and local relationships. But I wouldn’t change it looking back. There’s absolutely nothing about it that I would change. And I think really why I continued that focus and why I will continue that focus is because I’m one person. And, sure, I can make a difference in the world too, but it’s a whole lot easier to make a difference in my world, in this world, which in our case is in Tampa Bay.
Bridget Bello [00:10:28]:
And, you know, I I speak pretty passionately on a number of topics. I’ve been blessed to be, on the rough side of, you know, breast cancer, on the rough side of, domestic violence, you know, a lot of issues. And, I I do that because I feel like if I can help even one person, that it’s that’s why it happened to me was because I have the platform and and the passion to be able to speak to those people. So it’s really it’s about the impact that I can make, and that impact is, easy is the wrong word, but it’s easier to make an impact in the community that I live in than it is to try to take on this, you know, save every starfish kind of mentality.
Bernie Borges [00:11:14]:
Now you’re also involved in a number of, philanthropies, and you have been for quite some time. So how do you balance all that? You’ve got a very demanding you’ve had a very demanding career for quite some time. How do you balance the philanthropy contributions and involvement with a busy career?
Bridget Bello [00:11:33]:
I don’t. That’s the short answer. My husband and I actually had a conversation about that going into the new year and, have have decided to try to stop balancing that as much as I have been. You know, I I would be lying if I said that there wasn’t sometimes a business aspect to it. Right? Some of some of our best clients at Tampa Bay Business and Wealth are the nonprofits because we have a wealthy audience. We reach the people that can write big fat checks. And so, you know, the large majority of why I get involved in these things is altruistic. Absolutely.
Bridget Bello [00:12:09]:
But, it’s not that I don’t benefit from them in some ways sometimes. And, you know, it’s I don’t I don’t think we can be a great community without being a great community. And the people who, who need our help, who aren’t as blessed as as we are, who don’t see a way out of the situations that they’re in, who are in those situations sometimes just because it’s generational. I mean, I I could go on and on. But I feel a real responsibility to, to make a difference for those people if I can. You know, I I used to say I wouldn’t take on a cause that I didn’t have a mission tie to, and, I have found myself a couple of times in a cause that I didn’t necessarily have a mission tie to when I when I signed on. That during my service, I’ve ended up with and I’ll give you an example. I was sharing the Alzheimer’s gala, in 2020, which that was a lot of fun.
Bridget Bello [00:13:08]:
It ended up being a two year stint, obviously, because of the year that it was in. But I I have no one in my head, no one at the time in my family that had Alzheimer’s. But while I was serving in that chair role, my aunt not only got Alzheimer’s, she died from it. And similar experience with the American Cancer Society. No one in my family had ever had cancer. I’ve been super tied into them for a long time. All of a sudden, I’ve had skin cancer, breast cancer, and I’m in the middle of this. So it’s there’s a part of me that says maybe I should stop signing on to things because I keep having a tie to the mission once I sign on to them.
Bridget Bello [00:13:44]:
But also a part of me that, you know, if there’s a story there and there’s something that I get sucked into and passionate about that I’m I can tell that story and, take that to the streets and help raise money and help make a difference for our community.
Bernie Borges [00:14:00]:
Yeah. That’s great. Now I’m sure I’m not gonna be the first person to tell you, Bridget, that you have been you you are, not have been. You are a wonderful role role model for women, especially young women starting in their career. And, so I just wonder how that responsibility lands on your shoulders knowing that you are a role model, that a lot of women look up to you, and, just how have you sort of embraced that throughout your career?
Bridget Bello [00:14:29]:
Well, first of all, there’s no greater compliment, and, I’ll never get tired of hearing that. So don’t apologize for, for saying that. It it is it that is something I’ve been very intentional about. And, it is a responsibility, but it’s also something that I’m, again, passionate about. You know, I was just in a meeting prior to this conversation, and, I was talking about how every year somebody asks me, do we still need to recognize women in business? And why aren’t we just recognizing business people? And to that, I always say until it changes, until 50% of the C suite is women until that parody exists. Yeah. We’re gonna keep recognizing women in business. It’s harder to be a woman in business clearly, or we would have more than 20% represent representation on all of these corporate boards around the country.
Bridget Bello [00:15:20]:
Right? So a turn and pull kind of mentality is is what I’ve always had is somebody helped me get to where I am, and I have a responsibility to do the same, for another. You know, the irony of the conversation is in a lot of cases when I talk about my mentors and the people who made a significant impact on my career, I e, the station manager we were just talking about, it was men. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Right? But there wasn’t women doing that for me. And so, you know, we we’ve all heard the you can’t be what you can’t see moniker. And so being something that women can see, young women can see, and not even young women can see, and that you can have a family and you can have a happy marriage and you can have a successful career and you can give back to your community and you can do all of those things at the same time. I’m I’m really proud to be called a a role model in that space.
Bernie Borges [00:16:19]:
Well, it’s well known, and you have been a a wonderful role model, and you continue to be a wonderful role model. And it’s kinda wanna where I wanna go next is the word continue, Bridgette. What what do you see in the near future? And I’m not asking you to pull out a crystal ball because none of us have a crystal ball. But in terms of your aspirations, your passions, you know, where you’ve been, where you are, and, like, kinda where you wanna go, what are you thinking? You know, I’m I think you know from our conversation around this podcast, the Midlife Fulfill podcast, I feel very strongly that most of us in our midlife seasons are very passionate about certain things that, you know, we just wanna do, we wanna be, we wanna, maybe it’s the next chapter. You know, how are you thinking about that in your own midlife season at this point?
Bridget Bello [00:17:06]:
I think I went through my midlife a little earlier than most. So 02/2017, was just an unbelievable year, for me personally and for my family. Literally three months in a row of just getting punched in the face by, by the universe. I got breast cancer in July of seventeen. My husband’s job was eliminated in August of seventeen, and then we lost our house in hurricane Irma in September of seventeen. And so it was literally just right? That was kind of my midlife moment of what am I doing? What am I doing with myself? Why am I killing myself? What what am you know, where my priorities lie? What do I wanna be when I grow up? And that is ultimately what led to me deciding to end a almost twenty year career and, to go out on my own and as terrifying as it was, take you know, put my money where my mouth was for lack of a better way to put it. All the things that I had been saying that I thought were the correct direct direction of the media industry and, put them into practice. And so what’s next for me, hopefully, is a a really long successful run here with Tampa Bay Business and Wealth.
Bridget Bello [00:18:24]:
You know, build and scale and sell is what everyone says. But I I also can’t imagine not being a part of this. We definitely are looking at other markets. And can we expand the brand? Can we take the business and wealth brand to, not only other markets in Florida, but markets around the country? And so that is in the cards in the future. But I I’m doing exactly what I wanna be doing. I am very happy doing it. I’ve got an amazing team, people that, you know, there’s three of us that we like to say we kinda Jerry McGuire together. We grabbed our goldfish and said, we’re gonna go do this.
Bridget Bello [00:19:01]:
Those three of us are still here today, and we’ve added some additional people who have become a part of our tribe and, you know, almost doubling our staff. So we’ve got a long way to go in Tampa Bay as far as the growth that we think that we still have in front of us here, but that there is definitely world domination plans down the road at some point.
Bernie Borges [00:19:22]:
I I I love that your body language, you know, for those that are watching on video, I can see it in your face. I can see it in your face. You you really you’re you feel challenged, but also, really you aspire to to achieve that mission, and I can see that, so that’s wonderful, and I’m sure you will.
Bridget Bello [00:19:41]:
Thank you.
Bernie Borges [00:19:42]:
Bridget, I have a question that is a really common question, and I’m more a fan of asking uncommon questions and common questions, but I the reason I wanna ask this common question is because I just I’m dying to hear your response to it. You’ve probably been asked this many times before, and that is the proverbial, you know, if you could go talk to your 20 or 25 year old self, you know, what would you say whatever it may be. What what advice or insight insight would you give that younger version of yourself knowing what you know now?
Bridget Bello [00:20:18]:
You know, it’s funny. I’m not a big fan of that question either normally, but as I age and have experience, I I find myself recommending that I answer that question more often than not. I’m gonna be on a panel here pretty soon, and they’re telling me about the audience and these, you know, twenty to forty somethings. And I’m like, well, I guess I’m the old broad in the room, and it’s time for me to to put into play and share, the things that I’ve learned. You know, it gosh. I always say I’m not a person that regrets anything. I believe that every choice I made, everything that happened to me, every every decision got me to where I am, and I’m very happy with where I am. So So I wouldn’t necessarily go back and change anything.
Bridget Bello [00:21:00]:
But what I would tell myself is to slow down, to not necessarily try to be all things to all people all the time, to remember that I’m a people too. Right? And that as much as the people in organizations and companies around me need me, I need me too. You know, some of that sounds silly. And, again, drawing on experience, I I would not have said that five years ago, maybe even two years ago. Right? But, I think we forget to take care of ourselves in a lot of cases, and I’m certainly guilty of that. I learned at a pretty early age that it’s a lot easier to get things done if you’re careful in choosing your words when you’re speaking to people. I used to be well, I’m still very direct. And some people like that, and some people don’t.
Bridget Bello [00:21:53]:
But I, in the last thirty years, have learned to stop and think before I say, this is what I need done. I need it done right now. And I really don’t care what’s going on in your life, because I need this done right now. Now. Right. And to say, Bernie, I’m sure you’re busy, and I know you’ve got other priorities, and I’m hoping that this can be one of them. Right. And to just change the way that I ask for things.
Bridget Bello [00:22:16]:
So that was a tough lesson to learn. And I think the other one that’s also really cheesy and kind of a cliche is that one bad apple, having run organizations of different sizes and seeing that one bad apple and what that can do to an organization is is shocking. And, you know, you hear that in theory and you think there’s no way and, you know, there’s 50 other people or 250 other people or whatever. But, when you’ve got somebody on your team that is that bad apple, I highly recommend that you get them off your team as quickly as possible.
Bernie Borges [00:22:56]:
Yeah. Great advice. And, by the way, great trust rehearsal for that panel session where you expect to have a question asked or whether it’s asked directly or indirectly. Certainly, I think it’ll it’ll it’ll happen one way or the other. But thank you for for sharing the before we begin to wrap things here, any kind of closing thought or advice for, you know, my listeners? They’re generally a midlife audience, in terms of what people might be thinking in their own transitions, maybe transformations, maybe challenges, just, you know, based on your own life experiences, anything you you kinda wanna leave my listener with?
Bridget Bello [00:23:37]:
What kind of a recurring theme for me right now is, I have my first, granddaughter on the way, and, my granddaughter my daughter is pregnant with my first granddaughter. And she’s my first biological grandchild. I do have a grandson, through my bonus daughter and my marriage. But this is the first DNA replication that is happening. And what that’s done to me from the perspective of some of the things that we talked about already, right of slowing down and not having to say yes to everything and not having to be at everything and, getting rid of the, you know, the FOMO, the fear of missing out. I’m I’m not I’m not missing out if I have more time to spend with my daughter or my granddaughter. You know, in in one regard, I’m I’m young to be a grandma. I’m almost 55.
Bridget Bello [00:24:31]:
And in another regard, I I’m not that young. Right? We are kind of midlife at this point. And, just taking a step back and, reprioritizing things and, really deciding. You know, at the end of the day, nobody’s gonna remember the car you drove or the amount of money you made or the clothes you wore or the watch you had or any of those things that they’re they’re gonna remember how you made them feel. And I wanna make sure that my granddaughter and my daughter feel like they’re important and that my husband and my dogs feel like they’re important and that my team feels like they’re important and the people that kinda are my ecosystem and are are the ones that matter to me. So, yeah, I would just say look at your priorities and really drill down into what matters and make time for those things.
Bernie Borges [00:25:22]:
Yeah. It’s a great reminder. Thank you. And I can relate. My wife and I have four grandchildren, and, unfortunately, they all live up north. Or both of our adult kids live up north. You know, we have to get on planes to go see them, so time with them is precious. So I can relate.
Bernie Borges [00:25:38]:
Thank you. Bridget, before I do let you go, I do wanna invite you to share with my listener how can people connect with you and just learn more about, everything you’ve got going on in your world.
Bridget Bello [00:25:49]:
Very easy to find. They can Google me, and it comes up. I also am pretty prolific on LinkedIn. It’s Bridget Bello on on LinkedIn, Facebook, same thing. Instagram. I’m still getting the hang of Instagram, but I’ve gotten much better. Twitter, I still have an account. I still post some things, but it’s probably not my primary.
Bridget Bello [00:26:12]:
And, yeah, just send me an email. Easy to find my email address as well. It’s on my website, which is pbbwmag.com. And, so I always like to meet other smart business people in in the region and nationally, potentially, if there’s somebody that, wants to reach out. I I don’t shun relationships that are not local. I just focus on the ones that are. So, yeah. Thanks for the opportunity to do this and to be a part of the podcast.
Bernie Borges [00:26:42]:
Absolutely. Well, of course, Bridget, my listener knows that it all will be linked up in the show notes. And, you know, we I’m I’m privileged. We’re privileged that we have people listening in different parts of the world, Australia, Europe, Africa. So you might hear from somebody somewhere far away from us in Florida. So I but I just wanna thank you for taking your time, taking time out of your busy schedule to spend this thirty or so minutes with me and my listener, sharing your backstory and really providing some inspiration, you know, looking at your career and your life in general and what you’ve achieved and understanding your priorities at this point in life, is just a great reminder and a and a great inspiration for all of us. So thank you, Bridget. I really, really appreciate it.
Bridget Bello [00:27:26]:
Thank you. And, again, thanks for having me.
