a look at...
Joanne and Bill Edwards
St. Petersburg’s Bill Edwards is a businessman,
financier, real estate developer, recording company
executive, entertainment promoter, sports team owner
and philanthropist. As chairman of The Edwards Group,
he has become a champion for the development of
St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay region. His wife Joanne,
a performer who once sang on the Arsenio Hall Show and
has shared the stage with Leanne Womack, Jon Secada,
David Foster, All-4-One and Cheap Trick, has lent her
musical talent to many fundraising events.
The stars aligned for Bill and Joanne at their first meeting
back in 2003 in Los Angeles, California. Bill, who had heard
a demo of Joanne’s country music project, was interested
in signing her to his Big3 Records label. From the moment
they met, they had an instant connection sharing a passion
for the arts, music and life. Those fundamentals created
the dynamic duo they are today.
Bill and Joanne have supported causes that focus on
children, veterans and health, such as Johns Hopkins All
Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, the Bill Edwards
Foundation for the Arts, the Veterans Airlift Command that
transports injured veterans and the Cleveland Clinic Lou
Ruvo Center for Brain Health. In 2013, Bill was inducted
into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame, and in 2015, he
received the William Belcher Award from All Children’s
Hospital Foundation. He also served on the executive
committee that brought the 2012 Republican National
Convention to Tampa Bay.
Bill’s company, The Edwards Group, consists of many
properties and businesses including Sundial St. Pete,
the Tampa Bay Rowdies professional soccer club, Big3
Entertainment and Big3 Studios, The Club at Treasure
Island, management of The Mahaffey Theater and the
adjacent Al Lang Stadium and various other real estate
and corporate holdings.
Bill and Joanne reside in St. Petersburg with their daughters.
What would you like to do that you’ve never done?
Joanne: I would love to try ballroom dancing; it looks
like it would be so much fun!
Bill: I would like to sell everything I own of material
value, take my family for a trip around the world
and not think about business. Oh, and learn ballroom
dancing.
How would you describe yourself?
Joanne: I’m fun, compassionate, a dreamer and
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| JULY/AUGUST 2017
extremely loyal.
Bill: I’m very determined and a person that gets
things done.
What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Joanne: Life is 10 percent what happens to you and
90 percent how you respond to it.
Bill: Watch your pennies and your dollars will watch
themselves.
Who is your role model?
Joanne: My role models would have to be my
parents. They taught me about values and morals, and
I’m thankful that I was blessed with such an idyllic
childhood.
Bill: Joel Osteen – we both agree that anything is
possible if you don’t quit.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Joanne: Raising our two daughters.
Bill: Being a father of six wonderful children of whom
I am very proud.
What do people not know about you?
Joanne: I’m a singer-songwriter, and I’m from Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada.
Bill: Unfortunately, my life is an open book. There’s
not much people don’t know about me so I’m not going
to tell you now.
What projects or activities are you presently involved
in that excite you?
Joanne: My eldest is out of school for the summer so
I’m having lots of fun keeping the kids busy.
Bill: Trying to take the Tampa Bay Rowdies to Major
League Soccer and have Major League Soccer in
downtown St. Petersburg.
What would you title your autobiography?
Joanne: “A Girl In A Country Song.”
Bill: “We Did It My Way.”
At what do you excel?
Joanne: At singing/songwriting, and I’d like to think
at being a wife and mom.
Bill: I’d like to think everything I set my mind to do,
I can get done.
What’s your favorite word?
Joanne: Family.
Bill: Absolutely.
What is your motto?
Joanne: Have courage and be kind.
Bill: Anything is possible. 9