Lindsey Calvert, 28

Lindsey Calvert had a primo job in hospitality, working for the Ritz-Carlton, Naples, when a chance encounter at the gym changed her career track.

It was there, at the treadmill during a pre-dawn workout, where she met Joe Gammons, CEO of Fort Myers-based Office Furniture & Design Concepts. Gammons, like Calvert, had an early morning exercise routine. A friendship soon turned to a job offer, with Gammons looking for a sales associate well-versed in customer service, and the outgoing and driven Calvert looking like a good fit.  “At first I just laughed it off,” says Calvert. “Office furniture?”

With a degree in hospitality management from Florida Gulf Coast University, Calvert had been a concierge and worked in training and human resources for the Ritz for four years, from 2010 to 2014. When Gammons explained OFDC wouldn’t be only about selling chairs and desks, but a full-service business development position, Calvert took a chance.

A tenacious networker, Calvert was successful quickly, working on a host of major projects for OFDC, which did $18 million in sales in 2016. This past summer that work was rewarded when Gammons came to Calvert with another offer: Move to Sarasota and open an OFDC office in the Sarasota-Manatee region.

Calvert has attacked the job the same way she started in Naples, by networking and meeting business leaders and decision makers all over town. People often tell Calvert she defies millennial stereotypes, with her strong listening skills, follow through and work ethic. That’s a source of pride for Calvert, who calls herself an “old soul,” someone who goes to bed at 10 p.m. most nights and doesn’t hit bars and clubs often.  “I work hard,” Calvert says. “I don’t expect handouts.”

— Mark Gordon

Survey says

Name: Lindsey Calvert

Age: 28

City of residence: Sarasota

Employer: Office Furniture & Design Concepts

Title: Market President

Birthplace: Venice

Years on the Gulf Coast: 28

Marital status/children: Single, no kids

Alma mater/degree: Florida Gulf Coast University with a degree in Hospitality Management

Best place to network: 5 to 6:30 a.m. in the gym

Messy desk or clean workspace: A perfect mess

Eat lunch out or at your desk: A mentor of mine lives by the mantra “never eat alone.” I’ve adopted the same frame of mind.

Best business lesson ever learned: Be anticipatory of needs and expectations. Understated, but powerfully effective and applicable to both professional and personal relationships.

Weirdest job you’ve ever had: I worked as a concierge at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples. I was tasked with hundreds of weird jobs.

A website that makes your job easier: Steelcase.com

App you use the most: The Navigation app

One thing you do every day: Go to the gym

Community group you’re most involved with: Most recently, I was involved with Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida (in Fort Myers). I am eager to get involved with a group in Sarasota that educates students on real-life experiences and encourages an entrepreneurial spirit.

Favorite off-hours activity: Boating

Two people, dead or alive, you’d like to have dinner with: I have three guests’ spots at my dinner table: Jesus, Jimmy Fallon and Sigmund Freud.

What you would be doing if you could pick another career: Social psychology

Top item on your bucket list: An extravagant vacation with my favorite people, to our favorite destinations, doing what we love to do. No holds barred.

Your happy place is: In the sun, on the water

Your biggest fear: Tornados

Favorite Ted Talk: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are by Amy Cuddy

Skill you’d like to learn: To dance and sing, as a service to everyone else

Who would play you in a movie about your life: A cross between Scarlett Johansson and Phoebe Buffay

Describe yourself in three words: Confident, honest and lighthearted