If a picture can tell a thousand words, then Sean Murphy, Skye Bailey, and Tyler Trant could fill volumes with their art. Impressively, intricate tattoos canvas their bodies—creative works they are proud to share.

“Storytelling is most important,” Murphy says. “We can have all the latest technology and use all the best tools, but what really brings us together as a team and sets us apart in the industry is finding a special angle to our storytelling.”

The Gannet Creative House origin story began when all three worked together at BOTE, a Florida-based company specializing in innovative, high-quality stand-up paddleboards, kayaks, and outdoor water gear. Traveling the world together, working on extensive projects for BOTE, they realized how compatible they were as a team.

Ideas flowed freely, mutual respect was shared, creativity flourished, and work they were proud of came to fruition. Starting out as a side business with just a few clients, they sought to ride that momentum as far as the journey would take them.

By January of 2025, their “fun side project” became a full venture when they agreed to commit more time and talent to becoming a business. July brought their official company launch and an influx of clients, keeping their calendars packed and passports stamped.

Gannet Creative House specializes in high-end photo and cinematography storytelling. This could be a one-day, few-hour photo shoot capturing the essence of a local company in distilled frames. Or, it could include scouting, casting, scheduling, and logistics, all handled by their team for a month-long international production to make a major ad campaign.

When asked to define their roles, they say Bailey is the producer, Murphy is the photographer, and Trant is the cinematographer, but they all agree that each person contributes much more than just these roles.

“Every client is asking for something different, and you have to treat every project differently,” Bailey says. “As a producer, I’ve become a fixer, a problem solver, seeing us through to the end goal and vision.”

“I think Skye’s role is the most interesting and inspiring, especially to young people,” Murphy says. “Her career started in graphic design then transitioned to marketing before fully embracing her role as producer. She’s always learning, adapting, and gaining new skills.”

They work together to make client decisions, to conceptualize shot lists, to write scripts, and more. While they are a core team of three, they have others on staff and have the capabilities to bring on a large production team for high-end projects.

While Northwest Florida boasts the studio location, the team is ready and willing to travel wherever their clientele needs them to go, be it by sea with their access to underwater equipment or by sky with the use of drones.

“This is a great home base for us,” Murphy says. “We don’t have to live in a big city to have access to nearby airports and a wealth of local talent.”

While they have worked on campaigns for national and international clients, including BOTE, Lululemon, Kona Bikes, and Bajio Sunglasses, they delight in getting to shine the spotlight locally.

An upcoming campaign they are proud to contribute to is the B.E. A S.H.E.R.O. Foundation, a grassroots organization founded with the mission of addressing the urgent needs of those affected by sex trafficking.

“The campaign, titled ‘Girlhood,’ shines light on what young girls would miss out on if they experienced sex trafficking,” Bailey says. “It’s very moving and really rewarding to have worked on this. We were able to cast local women to share these stories. It’s really special for a campaign this large to be done in a small town.”

All three call the Panhandle home now, but Murphy was raised on the Emerald Coast. He spent much of his 30-plus-year career working in Los Angeles on global campaigns with an affinity for the music scene.

“We are lucky to have many of the clients we have because of Sean’s reputation, alongside the reputation we built working together at BOTE,” Bailey says. “For those reasons, we haven’t had too much fight for creative control. That stems from having clients that trust us and come to us knowing they like what they’ve seen.”

They all reflect fondly on their time working for BOTE, desiring that type of long-term, build-from-the-beginning-to-the-end relationship. All agree that it’s fulfilling to be a key part of building a brand.

Be it a one-time client, a yearly project, or a retainer client that lasts more than a decade, the thrill and the challenge are to craft something unique.

“I think clients like that while we stay true to us, we never repeat the same idea from job to job,” Trant says. “Not having egos and really listening to our clients gets us a long way.”

Gannet Creative House has embraced the use of AI in some aspects of its work. It’s utilized as a tool for expediting processes such as building treatments, generating script ideas, and organizing shot lists.

With the latest and greatest in camera and video equipment, and as business-minded creatives, they keep with the cutting edge while knowing their minds are their greatest assets.

“No matter how good technology gets,” Trant says, “it will never replace the human element of being on set and creating with a client.” ▪

Since becoming president and CEO of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce, Patrick Chapin said the job is “nonstop, but a lot of fun.”

While gearing up for the Gulf Coast Salute Airshow, a three-day aviation showcase that took place the first weekend of May, Chapin said, “I’m like an 8-year-old schoolboy. I’ve never lived in a community with a military presence like this. Every time I hear the jets fly by, I rush outside to record them so I can send it to my brothers.”

It was his first time in Bay County but not in Florida. Chapin grew up in Orlando and spent the formative years of his career at the Walt Disney Company developing international programs and sponsorships. He moved on to serve as president and CEO of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce before pursuing the same role in North Carolina for the Highpoint Chamber of Commerce for around seven years.

“I wanted my gills to grow back, to be near water and sunshine,” Chapin said. “There were several places I could go, but Bay County was definitely the most appealing.”

That appeal, he said, stems from “an undeniable collaborative, positive energy,” he detected the moment he stepped foot in the Panhandle. He enjoys that Bay County is still small enough to get community leaders — the heads of hospitals, school superintendents and university spearheads — around a table. 

“Bay County has a tremendous opportunity for growth,” he said. “Orlando grew so fast, and there are challenges that come with that. With the great leadership within our county, I feel like we can strive to do some appropriate, positive development.”

Thus far, Chapin has been doing more listening than speaking. He praises the expertise of people, such as Bay County Economic Development President Becca Harden, and Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport Executive Director Parker W. McClellan, calling those individuals and organizations “some of Bay County’s biggest assets.”

He doesn’t mind being the new kid in school, as he believes a fresh set of eyes will inspire the work he plans to do as he succeeds former president and CEO, Carol Roberts.

“Carol was with the chamber here for decades and created a strong foundation that, frankly, most chambers never get around to accomplishing,” Chapin said. “We have spoken several times, and she is open to being a resource for me. It would be silly to waste that expertise and historical IQ.”

Chapin is dedicated to focusing on specific issues important to the community. Namely, the chamber is zeroing in on providing affordable child care and bolstering workforce development. Chapin is passionate about career and technical education (CTE) and previously worked to establish the Guilford Apprenticeship Partners, a program that became the model for CTE in North Carolina by providing career pathways for high school students to obtain certifications and internships in sectors such as cybersecurity, logistics and advanced manufacturing. 

“I would say the most important thing in front of us right now is the infrastructure surtax renewal,” Chapin said of the bill that will appear on the November ballot. “We now have significant data showing the number of projects our community has been able to do and their impacts.”

Chapin conducted a survey among chamber members and said that 89% of members are in support of infrastructure surtax. The initiative, which was passed in 2016, is devoted to the improvement of structures such as roads, sidewalks, and sewer and water lines. Chapin said they have been able to leverage some $100 million worth of projects in Bay County, and the chamber is prioritizing driving its renewal.

For Chapin, leadership in projects such as these succeeds by “focusing outward and giving selflessly.” 

Chapin holds himself to a high standard but sets realistic expectations.

“Anything you expect from your staff, you should be willing to do as well,” he said. “I’m happy to speak before 400 people, and then load the events cooler into the back of my truck. I don’t have sharp elbows; I don’t have an ego, and I’m OK with not being the smartest guy in the room. I don’t think you can separate Patrick the leader from who I am personally.”

In addition to enjoying time with his family, Chapin has visited 55 countries, is a five-time Ironman and ultramarathon finisher and a kidney donor. He is passionate about fundraising for Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare genetic disorder from which his young niece, Blaire, passed away.

He once explored the expanse of the Grand Canyon from “rim to rim” in 16 hours, but going to work in Bay County every day gets his heart pumping.

“I simply wish to be a very good partner as all these wonderful figures in our community lead forward,” he said. “We really are an active county, and you can feel the optimism. I get excited to work here every day. I really do.”

When asked what more he could want in life, he laughed, “Nothing, except for maybe the beach and a good day of fishing.”

Tracie Hodson is the executive director of FavorHouse of Northwest Florida, the certified domestic violence center that has served Escambia and Santa Rosa counties since 1980. She is known for an audacious and assiduous mindset, determined to serve survivors of domestic violence.

“One of my nicknames is Tenacious Tracie,” she said. “I’ve just always been driven, and I am not a status-quo-is-good-enough kind of gal.”

Hodson moved from Indiana to Pensacola in 2019 and joined Pensacola State College as WSRE-PBS Director of Development & Community Engagement, then joined FavorHouse in June 2022, where she can help make a real difference. 

“I’m good at it,” Hodson said of serving survivors, “but I also have a passion for it.” 

For Hodson, who previously spent a decade growing a domestic violence center in northern Indiana with great success, the work is personal. “I am called to advocate for domestic violence victims. I’m called to make sure that they have a voice in our community.”

Hodson is a child of a domestic violence survivor but didn’t realize her mother had suffered until much later. “It was not my dad who was my mom’s abuser.” When recalling her early years, she said, “What I remember of my childhood up until their divorce was fairly idyllic.”

A survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2020 showed that at least 30% of domestic violence cases go unreported in the U.S. and 49% globally. Reasons for this range from fear of the abuser to financial dependence on the abuser. 

“When my mom’s story came out in my early 20s,” Hodson said, “and she told me about what had happened, she felt like she had no resources and no place to go.”

More than anything, Hodson wants people experiencing domestic violence in the Pensacola area to know they have somewhere to turn for assistance and compassion. She also wants the community to understand that the stakes are high. In the U.S., 20 people per minute experience physical abuse at the hands of an intimate partner, a total of approximately 10 million victims per year. According to the National Coalition of Domestic Violence, at least 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will experience an abusive relationship in their lifetimes. 

“When you put those numbers just to our population,” Hodson said, “there are tens of thousands of people in this community that are suffering. Domestic violence impacts us all. It is statistically impossible for you not to know somebody who’s being impacted.”

Because Hodson sees domestic violence as a genuine public health threat in the Pensacola area, she’s identified two ambitious goals to mitigate its harm. The first is to establish a clear path to transitional housing for the women seeking help at FavorHouse. 

“If you’re staying in our shelter, you know it’s considered an emergency shelter. It’s a short-term stay,” Hodson said. “And you can’t really focus — none of us can — on the next steps if we don’t know where we’re going to lay our head down tonight and where our kids are going to sleep.”

The second goal is to add therapeutic licensed mental health counseling to the nontherapeutic counseling currently being offered at FavorHouse. 

“When you look at trauma, especially trauma created by intimate partner violence, that’s a special subset,” said Hodson.“To be able to have somebody who specializes in that trauma would be fantastic.”

Hodson has the vision but needs the capital to make it happen. Though financial funding is always a deterrent, Hodson’s ideal solution would be a self-contained village, of sorts, that featured individual cottages along with mental health and child care services. 

Her team is always seeking creative ways to raise money for FavorHouse or qualify for private and public grants. Currently, roughly 70% of the organization’s funding comes from federal, state or local grants and the remainder from private donors. 

Hodson credits the success and growth of FavorHouse to the workers and volunteers who serve alongside her. Most of her team are from the Pensacola area and have a deep and invaluable knowledge of social service resources. Hodson relies on their individual talents and unique insights when she’s making the rounds at community events, conveying the big picture, courting donors and raising awareness of the FavorHouse mission.

“None of us are meant to do any of our work on our own,” Hodson said, praising the balance of strengths within her team. Collaborative leadership has always been a top priority for Hodson, adding, “To build that tribe, that team, that network, you’ve got to get to know people.” 

After the COVID-19 pandemic, community and connection are what prompted Hodson to join the Pensacola Women’s Alliance in 2021, claiming that, “it’s just women empowering women.”

Whether she’s promoting FavorHouse or networking with the Pensacola Women’s Alliance, Hodson’s goal is to connect, invest and uplift. 

“I believe that we’re all put here on the planet to make things a little bit better than what we found,” she said. “To do no harm.”

In 2005, a group of friends, united by a passion for fine wine and a philanthropic spirit, decided to host a silent auction to benefit children in need in Northwest Florida.

To their delight, the event raised around $80,000 and laid the groundwork for what would become the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation (DCWAF). As of last year, the organization had distributed $32 million in donations to children’s charities in Escambia, Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties and benefitted an estimated 100,000 youths.

With a staff of four, a board of directors, trustees and partnerships with 17 different charities, DCWAF’s mission is the same as it was in the first place: better the lives of abused, infirm and disadvantaged children through special, wine-related events. 

For DCWAF president Karah Fridley-Young, there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.

“I’ve been with DCWAF for about 11 years now, and as soon as I graduated college, I sought out this job,” said Fridley-Young, a Destin native. “Even if I won the lottery, I’d be right here in this position, giving back to the community that raised me.” 

At this writing, Fridley-Young and her team were gearing up for DCWAF’s signature wine auction weekend, a two-day event featuring private patron dinners curated by local chefs and celebrity vintners; a wine tasting and silent auction; and a live auction, where attendees bid on exceptional wines, getaways and other highly prized items.

For a decade, Wine Spectator Magazine has ranked the experience as one of the top charity wine auctions in the United States. 

“That success is accomplished through collaboration,” Fridley-Young said of the event, which raised $3.4 million in 2023. “It is our board. It is our sponsors and our vintners, chefs and volunteers.” 

“It is hard work to fundraise,” added DCWAF director of marketing and communications Kate MacMillan. “It speaks to the caliber of our supporters and what they’re willing to invest in our community and us.”

MacMillan said DCWAF’s fundraising efforts take place year-round. According to its financial report for 2022–23, DCWAF raised $175,000 at its sixth annual Harvest Wine & Food Festival in Sandestin and $75,600 at its second annual Galentine’s event. 

Fridley-Young and MacMillan reflected on the success of the 2024 Galentine’s gathering, which raised over $100,000 for girls served by eight charities. Dozens of ladies, dressed in pink, of course, came together to celebrate women in business in Northwest Florida, exchange stories and indulge in a little vino.

“It was a beautiful and cathartic afternoon,” Fridley-Young recalled. “It was a room full of all women, sharing some very personal experiences and moments that shaped their lives and engaging in conversations that wouldn’t happen if there was a single man in the room.”

“One of the causes we supported was providing supplies for period poverty,” MacMillan said. “Point Washington Medical Clinic and one of our newest partners, Caring & Sharing of South Walton, applied for a grant with us that would help supply female hygiene products to girls, along with education on how to use those products safely.”

DCWAF also supports the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center (ECCAC). Sadly, there are times when girls who have been sexually assaulted arrive at the center and must turn their clothing over to investigators as evidence. DCWAF helps provide these children with new attire, as well as a gift card to purchase an item of their choice to help them regain a sense of control and comfort.

ECCAC chief executive officer Julie Porterfield said DCWAF has given the advocacy center $2,740,500 since 2009. Those funds have mightily aided efforts to “restore lost innocence” through advocacy, therapy and safe havens for children who have been neglected and abused.

“Last year, we were able to open an office in Fort Walton Beach to focus on children in neglectful situations through our CARES program, which works with children and their families to either keep them out of the system or get them out of the system very quickly,” Porterfield said. “As we develop new programs, DCWAF’s funding has helped support us. Right now, we’re seeing about 1,200 children a year, and DCWAF has impacted every one we serve. They are helping grow a healthy place for children to thrive in our community.”

DCWAF will mark its 20th anniversary next year, and Fridley-Young said they are already looking toward the next 20 years. 

“Going forward, our biggest goals are to continue the trust within our donors to make sure their dollars have the biggest impact they can,” she said. “We want to continue to raise the bar each year, reach more children than we have before and ultimately help end the issues plaguing the children of our community.”

DCWAF has begun to solicit legacy gifts and plans to continue building awareness through small wine education events while adding more nonprofit partners.

“The concept of being able to get to a place where every dollar cuts through operational costs and just goes straight to the kids is, for us, very meaningful,” MacMillan said. “Figuring out how to get to that place is something we will continue to explore.”