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Up and Comers
Aiming High
14 young Floridians who are already experienced businesspeople.
Chris Morgan, 23
Tallahassee
› Job: COO, CFO and president of Tallahassee-based Captiveyes. He co-founded the company in 2006 with CEO William Wilson, 29. Captiveyes markets customized advertising via plasma LCD TVs to companies such as bars, gyms and medical offices. A business owner might buy the system to display streaming video advertising its products or services. “Digital signage” is popular in Asia and Europe. The company hopes to expand throughout Florida.
› Education: Bachelor’s in financing and accounting from Florida State University
› Grew up in: Sarasota
› Experience: Worked his way through college promoting local clubs and bars. Worked as an audit consultant at Deloitte and Touche for a few months upon graduation
› First job: He started an unsuccessful business as a sophomore in college trying to sell Kofte, a Turkish meatball dish, during sporting events at the school. “My buddy and I laugh about it all the time. My partner was Turkish, and I went over with him to Istanbul. It sounded like a great idea at the time. It was a great experience, as far as knowing what kind of documents you need.”
› Biggest lesson from first business: “Choose what you’re
going to go into wisely. Know enough about it.”
› Advice for young professionals: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions and getting at it and doing it. The worst that can happen is someone’s going to say no.”
Scott Piergrossi, 26
Miami
› Job: Director of creative development for pharmaceutical branding company Brand Institute in Miami. He oversees all creative brand name development and works closely with some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline. He partnered with co-workers to come up with the drug names Brovana, Tyzeka and Invega, among others.
› Education: Bachelor’s in architecture from Barry University in Miami Shores
› Grew up in: Long Beach Island, N.J.
› Experience: Worked as a licensed registered commodities representative after college. “I didn’t see it as a career path, but I was able to transfer a lot of good business sense from it. I learned about macroeconomics and how markets work. I developed a lot of my backbone and salesmanship during that, and it helped me segue into this career.”
› 10 years from now: “I feel I will still be in pharmaceutical branding. The opportunities are boundless just in the area of drug development."
› Advice for young professionals: “Be realistic in the position you are going after or the position you are currently in. In an organization you can tell how much mobility is there.”
