Leading Ladies: DEVIN PAPPAS
Meet Devin Pappas. Magazine Publisher. Dog Mom. Humanitarian. Shoe Addict. Fearless, Queen of Heights. Chocolate Lover. Domestic Violence Advocate. Adventurer at heart, Devin lives life on the edge. Where most people fear heights (definitely me!), she relishes in it! Anything from parasailing to flying! She really did take flying lessons!
Devin is not just another beauty queen. She is currently the publisher of Harbor Bluffs Living Magazine, where she has developed a program that is a melting pot for all of her passions. The magazine features local residents and businesses to help build communities with monthly networking socials. A social butterfly by nature, Devin loves to see people have fun and is driven to help others succeed.
Inspired by her father, fashion has always been a part of her life and made sense that she would lead a lucrative career in retail management and visual merchandising. Wait until you see her massive walk-in closet, shoe and handbag collection… it is such a work of art! During her time as a District Manager, she was awarded the lowest turnover in the company and District Manager of the Year, all while supervising 19 locations, 7 states and over 300 employees. After she met her husband, Marc, she no longer wished to travel for her career and became the first female store manager for Sports Authority. In her first meeting, it was literally 25 men and Devin! Total badass! After relocating to Florida, she became the Visual Merchandiser and Window Designer for Patchington.
Devin has taken her experience in the corporate world and applied it to making a positive impact in the lives of others, especially women in crisis. She is an extremely hands on advocate for domestic violence. Devin founded and facilitated a six-week program at The Haven of RCS, a battered women’s shelter called, The Career Club, where they guide survivors of domestic violence living in safe houses on rebuilding themselves again. Topics include: Raising Self-Esteem, What to Wear/Not to Wear, Resume Writing, Behavioral Interviewing, How to Maintain a Job, and Banking and Budgeting.
She now collects gently used clothing from the community to provide these women with the apparel to dress for success and has even converted her garage into a warehouse where she sorts and organizes donations, so that these women have something special to wear for their interviews. Her intention is to set these women up for success with a years’ worth of clothing and feeling great.
Devin serves as The Chair for the Haven Advisory Committee and Denim and Diamonds Fundraiser for Hands Across the Bay, attends the DV Task Force, mentor’s teenage girls through Miracles Outreach that have been abandoned or have survived human trafficking, as well as, the Facilities and Projects Committee for RCS.
Catch her if you can! You can find Devin around town at the Denim and Diamonds Fundraiser for her very own Raising Relief Foundation, Harbor Bluffs Living Magazine/Stroll Harbor Bluffs events and sponsorship breakfast. Catch her presentations at St. Petersburg College, women’s groups and Rotary Organizations. You won’t want to miss these! She leaves a little bit of sparkle everywhere she goes!
Failure is not an option.~Apollo 13, Space Shuttle Missions
First thing you do in the morning? Love on my dogs and kiss my husband.
Best advice you’ve received? Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Dream vacation to escape to? Santorini, Greece (Our favorite spot!)
Everything tastes better with… Chocolate! (You knew I’d say that!)
How do you stay organized? Call you! When I can’t have you, I create checklists and to-do lists daily. If I don’t finish the list in one day, I transfer tasks to the next day.
What can you not live without? My close relationships, like my husband and girlfriends, which I am so lucky to have.
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Photo Courtesy: Devin Pappas