FRDA Scholarship Winners, Caitlin Miller and Abbey Jo Tomaszewski.
The Florida Rental Dealers Association came together for their annual meeting this week in Tampa, FL . This year’s theme was “FloGrown” that stands for “everything Florida”.
“We all have our own passions and even our own separate businesses, but at the end of the day we are … #1 – Florida grown and #2 – Florida proud. Even if our corporate offices are somewhere else, we all represent stores that are Florida Grown – stores that have opened up their doors in this great state. And we all represent Florida proud – we are proud of the businesses we work for, the products we carry, the people we work with, the customers we serve, the communities we help build, and the rent to own industry that connects us,” shared FRDA President, Sharon Tomaszewski. “And today it doesn’t matter that different logos and company names may hang over our doors, but what does matter is that we realize that the people in this room are the best that this industry has to offer – not only in terms of running a rent to own store, but in terms of being leaders and representatives for rent to own in Florida.”
The event kicked off with a Welcome Reception at Jackson’s Waterside restaurant with floor to ceiling windows overlooking beautiful Tampa Bay and the Channelside district. Immediately following the reception, water taxis were boarded and attendees began FRDA’s Pirate Pub Crawl. After a 40-minute river cruise along downtown Tampa’s Riverwalk, attendees walked the plank to their first stop at Rick’s on the River. From there they boarded streetcar ‘jolly trolleys’ and headed to their next stop, Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City. It was an evening filled with fun times, good memories and just a great night of conversation with the FRDA family. This event is a fundraiser to benefit FRDA’s educational scholarships where they were able to raise $5,000.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, Derrick Brooks, welcomed attendees at the annual meeting. Derrick is also a partner to 26 Buddy’s Home Furnishings stores. FRDA’s two scholarship winners, Caitlin Miller and Abbey Jo Tomaszewski, were also in attendance. Caitlin is the daughter of Keith Miller who has been a manager at Rent King for 13 years. “Caitlin is driven, smart, a pleasure to be around, and will be, without a doubt, a leader throughout her life,” said Sharon. FRDA proudly awarded Caitlin the 2016 Norman Slatton Education Scholarship.
FRDA’s second winner, Abbey Jo Tomaszewski, is the daughter of Jim Tomaszewski (husband of FRDA President Sharon Tomaszewski). Her father, Jim, has worked for Rent King for four years, and before that, he worked with Buddy’s Home Furnishings for eight years. “Abbey has an amazing personality, she can make friends the minute she walks in a room, and she wants to spend her life investing in the minds of tomorrow,” shared Sharon. FRDA proudly awarded Abbey the 2016 Terry Beville Education Scholarship.
Larry Sutton Education Scholarship Winner Tania Villasenor with Larry Sutton and her family.
This year FRDA added one more scholarship to their foundation named after longtime FRDA leader Larry Sutton to honor Larry and his passion to serve customers. The Larry Sutton Education Scholarship will be awarded to a rent to own customer who has demonstrated the same achievements as their other scholarship winners. This year’s $2,000 scholarship was awarded to RnR Wheels Customer Tania Villasenor. Tania is a student at Hillsborough Community College and has worked as many as three jobs at once to help put herself through her first year of college. When she arrived in America, she could not speak English, and she has worked tirelessly to overcome that obstacle and many others that her hard-working family has faced. She has been inspired by her parents and how they have overcome their struggles as an immigrant family, and she knows that a good work ethic and a positive attitude are keys to her success. She thanks her teachers and Larry for seeing the potential in her and encouraging her to continue to work hard to reach her dreams. Larry also made a deal with Tania – that if she continues to bring him A’s and B’s, he will continue to pay for her classes. And he backed up that commitment by presenting her with a matching $2,000 scholarship at the annual meeting.
Click here to view more photos of FRDA’s 2016 FloGrown Annual Meeting.
Click here to read more about Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, Derrick Brooks.
Mike Lewis is a Premier Rental Purchase franchisee with multiple stores and currently serves as Vice President of Operations. With 33 years of experience in the rent-to-own industry, he has spent the past 20 years working closely with franchisee owners and previously spent 12 years in Corporate RTO, gaining a strong foundation in the business.
For the past five years, Mike has been sharing his knowledge by teaching managers and franchisees at the company’s Training Center.
Outside of work, he enjoys time with his family, kids, and grandkids, and appreciates the simple things in life – especially riding his Harley Davidson with the sun on his face. If you know, you know!
Lauren Talicska
Arona Corporation dba Arona Home Essentials
Lauren Talicska is an experienced multi-channel marketing specialist and the Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Arona Home Essentials. She has found her home in the RTO community, supporting stores in branding, growth, and increasing traffic.
You may recognize Lauren as a former RTO vendor, including her time as a partner for Nationwide RentDirect, or her previous participation in the APRO Vendor Advisory Committee. Lauren calls Columbus, Ohio, home and spends her workday crafting and executing marketing promotions from inception to realization, all while supporting the branding and social media needs of all the Arona stores in 12 states (plus Puerto Rico!).
Charles Smitherman
APRO
Charles Smitherman, JD, PhD, CAE, became CEO of APRO in 2023, bringing years of legal and executive experience in the rent-to-own industry.
Prior to joining the association, Charles served as COO, General Counsel, and Vice President of PTS Financial Services, where he played an active role in the rent-to-own industry by representing his company through PTS’s club program offering with APRO member dealers. Charles is an attorney with two decades of experience across a wide variety of areas, including RTO, consumer financial services, antitrust, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, franchise law, and privacy law. Following law school at the University of Georgia, Charles earned a Master of Legal Studies and PhD in Law from the University of Oxford in England.
Charles is credentialed as a Certified Association Executive (CAE) with the American Society of Association Executives, a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) with the International Franchise Association, and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals. As APRO’s sixth CEO in its 45-year history, he brings a collaborative, member-focused approach to association leadership, emphasizing transparency, advocacy, and value creation. Outside of work, Charles is an active ultra runner and open water swimmer.
Mike Kays
Ashley Furniture Industries
As VP of Rental Sales for Ashley Furniture Industries, Mike thrives on building relationships with our RTO industry veterans, and helping businesses grow through new product, new marketing, and new supply chain options.
Mike works to leverage a wide breadth of relationships and influence, intimate knowledge of market trends, and unique knowledge of what RTO dealers need from a supplier to be successful.
The saying goes that a high tide raises all boats, and our goal is to leverage the world’s largest furniture manufacturer to drive the continued growth of the RTO industry and all the suppliers.
Mike Tissot
Countryside Rentals Inc., dba Rent-2-Own
Mike grew up in the rent-to-own industry under the guidance of his father, former APRO President and RTO legend Darrell Tissot. For nearly 25 years, Mike’s innovative leadership has helped expand the family business to more than 40 stores across Ohio and Kentucky while also shaping the industry as a whole.
He has served as President of the Ohio Rental Dealers Association, an APRO board member and Treasurer, and President and Treasurer of the TRIB Group. His contributions have earned him the APRO President’s Award of Excellence and the title of APRO Rental Dealer of the Year.
Outside of RTO, Mike enjoys time at the lake house or in Orange Beach, Alabama, with his girlfriend, Angela Strong McCool. A passionate Cincinnati Reds fan, he rarely misses a game, whether watching or listening alongside his parents. He also takes every opportunity to visit Arizona, where his daughter is currently attending Arizona State University.
The event kicked off with a Welcome Reception at Jackson’s Waterside restaurant with floor to ceiling windows overlooking beautiful Tampa Bay and the Channelside district. Immediately following the reception, water taxis were boarded and attendees began FRDA’s Pirate Pub Crawl. After a 40-minute river cruise along downtown Tampa’s Riverwalk, attendees walked the plank to their first stop at Rick’s on the River. From there they boarded streetcar ‘jolly trolleys’ and headed to their next stop, Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City. It was an evening filled with fun times, good memories and just a great night of conversation with the FRDA family. This event is a fundraiser to benefit FRDA’s educational scholarships where they were able to raise $5,000.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, Derrick Brooks, welcomed attendees at the annual meeting. Derrick is also a partner to 26 Buddy’s Home Furnishings stores. FRDA’s two scholarship winners, Caitlin Miller and Abbey Jo Tomaszewski, were also in attendance. Caitlin is the daughter of Keith Miller who has been a manager at Rent King for 13 years. “Caitlin is driven, smart, a pleasure to be around, and will be, without a doubt, a leader throughout her life,” said Sharon. FRDA proudly awarded Caitlin the 2016 Norman Slatton Education Scholarship.
FRDA’s second winner, Abbey Jo Tomaszewski, is the daughter of Jim Tomaszewski (husband of FRDA President Sharon Tomaszewski). Her father, Jim, has worked for Rent King for four years, and before that, he worked with Buddy’s Home Furnishings for eight years. “Abbey has an amazing personality, she can make friends the minute she walks in a room, and she wants to spend her life investing in the minds of tomorrow,” shared Sharon. FRDA proudly awarded Abbey the 2016 Terry Beville Education Scholarship.
