Rena Toppe (right)
Beth Beattie
both 26
Jupiter

› Founded Spark PR & Events last year, a Jupiter-based boutique agency focusing on small-business branding and community involvement.

They started with no upfront money, relying on earnings from clients of former jobs and new clients. They now have more than 20 clients, including an internationally traded gold mining company, salons and law firms. Both are involved with PR efforts for the non-profits Junior League of the Palm Beaches and the North Palm Beach County unit of the American Cancer Society. Toppe was nominated as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s 2007 Woman of the Year for the Palm Beach chapter.

Sam Tarantino, 20
Gainesville

› Job: Founder and CEO of Escape Media Group and creator of Grooveshark, a web-based music-sharing community that launched in March on a test basis to a group of 150. The public version is set to launch in August. Grooveshark’s model pays copyright holders for song purchases and rewards members with free or discounted music.

The company has 18 full-time employees, four part-timers and several interns, all from the University of Florida. Veteran music industry executive Vincent S. Castellucci and Grammy Award winner Jason Miles are on the company’s advisory board.

› Grew up in: Palm Harbor

› Education: Junior majoring in economics at the University of Florida

› Turning point: “One day I was driving and passed a little record store with a sign on the front that said ‘Buy, sell, trade CDs.’ And I thought, why doesn’t that work on a digital space? What if we melded into an e-trade where everyone buys and sells off each other? Now, it’s also grown into a social network.”

› 10 years from now: “Hopefully Grooveshark will become successful and have an influence on a big group of people. On a personal level, I want to see the world and have a villa in Italy with a winery.”

› Advice for young professionals: “A year ago, I thought, there’s no way I could ever do this. No matter how many people tell you that you can’t do it, a business plan is just a matter of breaking it down into pieces. When you look at it in front of you, you can say, ‘Today I can do this and tomorrow that.’ That’s how you get through it. Getting it started is the hardest part.”

Mark Bouldin, 28
St. Petersburg

› Job: A lawyer and entrepreneur, Bouldin owns the St. Petersburg law firm Bouldin & Associates, which he purchased in 2002. He works with 12 attorneys and has another branch in Sarasota, Bouldin King. He also owns Sun Coast Trust Co., which focuses on management and disbursement of trusts, and co-owns Savvy Buzz, a public relations company, with his wife, Cassie, 29. He partners with Florida First Development, a development company that is building 940 condo units and two mixed-use developments in Atlanta as well as several hotels in Orlando.

› Education: Bachelor’s in accounting/economics and law degree from the University of Florida

› Grew up in: Destin and Fort Walton Beach

› On being the youngest in the conference room: “I let them know upfront that I was a genius, so they take it pretty well,” he jokes. He kept 95% of the clients he inherited — many 55 and older — after buying the law firm.

› 10 years from now: He hopes to be retired.

› Advice for young professionals: “Go work for somebody until you learn the ropes. You have to be a risk taker and be prepared to handle stress. It takes a massive amount of time.

› Turning point: “After law school, I just figured it was the best time to buy the firm. If I got horribly in debt, I’d still be young and have time to work it out.”

Weina Scott, 18
Miami

› Turning point: For her 13th birthday, her parents bought her a programming book. She learned to program in a week and wrote the programming code for Switchpod using Microsoft Notepad.

› Job: Co-founder of Switchpod.com, a website that offers free podcast hosting. In 2006, Pittsburgh-based Wizzard Software bought Switchpod for $200,000 in company stock, although Scott and 17-year-old Jake Fisher from Minnesota, who helped launch Switchpod, still manage the company. Scott earned $40,000 a year working 20 hours a week while still in high school. Switchpod receives more than 3 million downloads a month and has signed up 3,000 podcasts. Switchpod users include Harvard University, Hilary Duff and Emmy Award-winning film producer Greg Smith.

› Education: Recent graduate of Michael Krop High School in Miami. She will attend Harvard University in the fall, where she plans to major in computer science and business while studying pre-med. She is already thinking of graduate school in business or medicine.

› Grew up in: Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for 10 years before moving to Miami in 1999

› Biggest influence: “My father. He was a businessman, and he’s always taught me to work hard, to believe in your dreams and to go after them.”

› Latest project: About to start another business. Plans to manage Switchpod through college, unless the workload becomes too much.

› 10 years from now: She hopes to be a CEO of a big corporation.

› Advice for young professionals: “Work hard. (You) have to get an idea. It’s not only using the web. Once (you) get an idea and ask for advice about that idea, you write up a business plan and get investors.”

Mike Whaling, 28
Daytona Beach

› Partner with InfiniSys Electronic Architects, a Daytona Beach consulting and designing company that wires condos for high-tech devices and designs networks. Whaling works with telecommunication service providers such as Verizon, DirecTV and TimeWarner in order to give residents access to the latest technologies. He was integral in making InfiniSys the first company in its market to introduce the iPod-ready Home Media Station as an amenity. Whaling is an active member of the Urban Land Institute’s Young Leaders program and the National Association of Home Builders.

Matt Greer, 29
Miami

› Job: COO of Carlisle Development Group in Miami, a developer of affordable housing. He is responsible for development strategy and management of Carlisle’s various operating units, including finance, development and construction. He also oversees a property management division that includes more than 6,000 apartments.

› Grew up in: Miami

› Education: Bachelor’s in history from Columbia University in New York City and master’s from Columbia University School of Architecture

› First job: At 15, started a company that created computer networks for doctors’ offices. “My first employee there was someone I work with now at my current company. I had a real desire to be an entrepreneur, to take that risk. It didn’t really go anywhere, but it was a great educational experience.”

› Community involvement: Involved in Our Kids, a foster-care organization in south Florida.

› Turning point: “We’d done two deals that year (2004), and we wanted to grow significantly. I worked hand in hand with the CEO to revise the corporate structure to put more authority in the hands of the younger people.”

› Advice for young professionals: “Have a vision for what you want. Make sure you also do things you enjoy along the way, such as volunteering. I think the worst mistake people make is to go for status. They spend five years hating it, and they don’t achieve what they want."

› First job: At 15, started a company that created computer networks for doctors’ offices.

Justin Miller, 26
Coral Springs

› Owner and president of JB Mortgage and Financial Services, a mortgage brokerage firm based in Coral Springs. Miller started the business out of his home in 2005. By the end of 2006, the company had more than $1 million in revenue. He is the vice president for the Plantation chapter of business networking group BNI. He is a member of the Plantation Chamber of Commerce and The Professionals Group with The Ann Storck Center, which helps children with disabilities.

Marcello Valenzano, 29
Andre Lyon, 28 (right)
aka “Cool & Dre”
Miami

› Job: Grammy-nominated music producers and co-owners of 510 Ocean Restaurant, an Italian bistro on South Beach. Their Epidemic Music, started in 2003, furnishes music to major recording artists. The two have been working together since high school. They have worked with heavyweights 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Fat Joe, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. They’ve signed their first artist, Joe Hound, to their record label and are releasing his CD in September.

› Grew up in: Both raised in Miami, but Valenzano was born in Venezuela and Lyon in New York

› Education: Graduated from North Miami Senior High School

› Turning point: They were selling self-produced CDs from their car trunk when a friend told them rapper Fat Joe was interested in new material. Valenzano and Lyon gave him a 60-track CD. Fat Joe picked up one for his 2001 platinum-selling album J.O.S.E.

› Career highlights: Lyon: “I think everyday people just really respect our music and who Cool and I are, and the love we get from people is dope. Like going in the studio and working with Mary J. Blige ... having Mariah call you up. Those are really cool things. We had an idea and turned it into our day job.”

› Hit list: “Hate It or Love It” by The Game, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard charts last year and garnered the duo’s first Grammy nomination for best rap song. Other popular singles include “New York” by JaRule and “Say I” by Christina Milian.

› On Success: “We’re real humble dudes. Having a couple hits has been really great. Just the fact that we made something out of nothing. It’s kind of humbled us to the point where we don’t celebrate anymore. We keep it moving and give thanks.” — Andre Lyon

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.”

Dennis Ngin, 23
Gainseville

› Founded OneGreekStore.com, a mostly online custom apparel store that targets multicultural fraternity and sorority members. He and co-founders Nick Leung and Tony Tran, both 22, are seniors at the University of Florida. They started the business last June with $20,000, using some of the money to buy an embroidery machine. They produce their products out of their apartment and receive most orders online. As part of an Asian-American fraternity, they saw a niche in the Greek market that didn’t cater to their needs. They say the business grosses about $2,000 a month. They hope to purchase retail space next year, when they expect to see a profit.

Matt Stewart, 29
Tallahassee

› Owner and general contractor of Tallahassee-based Stewart Construction, which focuses on custom home building and multifamily homes. The company posted less than $1 million in revenue in 2005. It is now up to $3.5 million in sales and has a $5-million contract for multifamily homes over the next three years. Stewart is the youngest member on the board of directors of the Tallahassee Builders Association.