Making room

As the former president and general manager of insurance giant Cigna's operations in Indiana, Mary Brandt oversaw a $900 million business with 200 employees.

Today, she owns a 10-room boutique hotel in Naples.

Brandt's journey from the corporate heights to hands-on entrepreneur may be a familiar story to women. Brandt retired from Cigna in 2003 when she became pregnant with her first daughter, moving to Naples for lifestyle reasons. She invested in real estate with her husband while doing some health care consulting as time permitted.