Talking with Jill Prosser,
Straz Center accounts payable coordinator
As part of the Straz Center’s 30-year anniversary season, we’re celebrating the people behind the
scenes at The Straz. In this issue, we’re spotlighting the woman with whom the buck literally stops –
our accounts payable coordinator Jill Prosser. She joined the staff 11 years ago and has since seen
Jersey Boys quite a few times and will never, ever miss a Nat Geo lecture “unless there’s a bone
sticking out of me somewhere.” Jill’s the staff er who knows both the cost of a ballet toe pad and
Barbra Streisand, and she’s quick to tell you she loves her job here even more than her Roomba,
Franklin (see below).
Q. How did you get started at the Straz Center?
A. I’ve been in Tampa around 36 years, and we’ve been longtime family friends with Frank Morsani, so when the
building was under construction, he gave us a tour. I thought, ‘what a fun place to work!’ Years later, I got my job
here in accounts payable, and I’ve been here ever since.
Q. What’s always in your refrigerator?
A. 100% whole milk plain Greek yogurt
Q. What is your worst quality?
A. I adore any kind of bread or cake. Some people may think that’s a good
quality,
but not if you want them all the time.
Q. What music is on your playlist?
A. James Taylor and Sting
Q. What’s your sign and what does it say about you?
A. I’m a Pisces, so I’m easy going.
Q. Cat person or dog person?
A. Both. I have a cat, Hannah, and my golden retriever Maximus.
Q. What’s the greatest thing since sliced bread?
A. Roomba. You need to get one. If you have Alexa, you can tell her to turn
on your Roomba, and you have to name your Roomba. I named mine Franklin, which is my husband’s middle
name. I thought that would be funny. So I say, “Alexa, turn on Franklin,” and he cleans up everything. It’s really
great if you have animals – you don’t have that layer of animal hair that always shows up when the light hits it
just right. Maximus is 14 and lays around a lot, so when the Roomba bumps into him, he gets up and moves. So,
the Roomba cleans the house and exercises the dog both.
Q. What’s your “guilty pleasure” television show?
A. Westworld on HBO. It’s a western fantasy world with these robots. You can do anything too, because it’s a
fantasy.
Q. Who or what inspires you?
A. My next travel adventure. We like to travel a lot. Our next adventure is Morocco at the end of September. We’ll
go to Casablanca, Marrakesh. It’s one of a few countries that touches both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean,
so we’re excited. We just got back from eight days of hiking the parks in Utah – Bryce Canyon, Zion and
Escalante. My legs were killing me!
Q. What do you consider your greatest successes – personally and professionally?
A. Raising two successful boys. One is an architect, one is an attorney, and both live in Orlando.
Q. If you hadn’t chosen this career, what other career path do you think you’d have followed?
A. Archeology. I know, it seems like a stretch from accounts payable, but they’re both tedious, right? You really
have to spend a lot of time paying attention to tiny details and taking your time. I enjoy that.
Photo by Rob/Harris Productions, Inc.