Entrepreneur Lives To Compete


Tampa Tribune:

Competition has always been in Dawna Stone’s blood.

She thrived on it as a 6-year-old entering her first aquatic meets; as an elite college-level swimmer; as an Ironman endurance athlete.

And the contests didn’t have to be athletic. Her competitive spirit showed up in professional venues as well: on Wall Street, where she put a finance degree into action; in the publishing world; and on reality TV, where Stone won a coveted one-year job as Martha Stewart’s apprentice.

After winning “The Apprentice” with Stewart in late 2005, Stone spent a year working at a bevy of enterprises in Stewart’s publishing and entertainment empire.

She returned to St. Petersburg; her husband, Matt Dieter; and Her Sports + Fitness, a first-time publishing venture for the former chief marketing officer at Clearwater’s MarineMax.

Though Stone has loads of her own success stories, she admits she uses this feature as a major source of motivation, especially when she’s struggling to juggle the life of a mother, wife and business owner. Even great competitors need a little inspiration, she says.

Photo by Tampa Tribune.

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