Just call her island queen: Sandy Stilwell is a visible presence on Captiva, making rounds to all her businesses a daily priority. For the record, the businesses are: Key Lime Bistro, Sunshine Café of Captiva, R.C. Otters, LaTeeDa Coffee and Gift Shop, Captiva Island Inn, Celebration Center of Captiva and Paradise Shopping Center. All of her businesses, she says, are located "within a stone's throw of each other" on the island.
"Sometimes when I'm at the restaurants, if they need help I'll bus tables," she says. "I have a great staff and my job really is to help them." With 90 employees and 16 entertainers, Stilwell makes it a point to stay connected to them all. "I visit each business every morning," she says. After visiting each place, she goes to the office to answer e-mail and phone messages.
What are some secrets of this super-busy businesswoman? "I live by my PalmPilot," she says. Another is working weekends. "Actually, I wouldn't recommend it to most business people," she says, "but since I'm in the restaurant business, I work on the weekends." Stilwell says she accomplishes more in the office then, when the phone isn't ringing.
Stilwell also finds e-mail a timesaver: "I'm on eight different boards and I do an awful lot through e-mail, which saves us from running from meeting to meeting." Multitasking is another of her skills. "I try to get multiple things done at once, scheduling business meetings at my restaurants and constantly looking to see everyone is happy. Customer service is such a big part of what I do," she explains.
-Katie S. Betz
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