Cory Collier

Last Friday afternoon, we at NFi (plus a few friends), were honored to have Donna Dowless chat with us about her life, and about life / business success. She spoke of common themes, like ingenuity, patience, self-confidence, and most importantly, perseverance.

I feel like I’m part of something. There’s a growing movement in Orlando, to get the outside world to notice that we’re more than Mickey Mouse . I spoke previously that Orlando has a growing artistic community as well. Donna has done much to help realize that.

Listening to Donna Dowless’s life story is like hearing a tall tale. The only difference is, it’s real. Donna took 90 minutes to tell us her life story, and every minute is filled with one unbelievable tale after another.

Donna grew up in a military family, and was taught to have humble aspirations. Her father had hoped she would join the military when she graduated high school. Her mother wanted her to become a secretary instead. Donna took her chances with a secretarial career.

Long story short: Donna wound up doing secretary work in the entertainment industry, where she climbed the ladder until she was a venue director. Not one to rest on her laurels, Donna jumped on board with Tickemaster during the beginning of that empire. Donna left Ticketmaster when she was senior Vice President of the company.

All I can say about it all is: wow.

Many thanks to Donna, for all the inspiration. My continued sense of opportunity has been heightened by her.