CO-FOUNDER

Margaret Wise is a native of Prentiss, Mississippi.  She moved to Jackson at age 18, and went to school at Mississippi State University.   An entrepreneur, she owned and operated a hair salon, a dress shop and a commercial real estate business in Jackson before moving to Houston, Texas in 1984 when she married Bill Wise.  They came to Sarasota in 1989 and Margaret has been one of the community’s most active supporters ever since.

Most recently, Margaret was one of three co-founders of Designing Women Boutique, which benefits enormously from her entrepreneurial skills and experience.  She is currently president of the Asolo Repertory Theatre Company board of directors.  Margaret has also served as president of the Sarasota Opera from 1991 to 1993; she has been on the boards of SPARCC (Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center) and the Sarasota Winefest Executive Committee.  She is presently in her fifth year as a member of the board of the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Foundation and serving her second term on the Florida State Arts Council as an appointee of Governor Bush.

Margaret has won numerous awards for her contributions to Sarasota including the Sarasota Opera Grand Finale and Impresario Awards, the Girls Inc. “She Knows Where She’s Going” award, the Golden Gavel Award from the Sarasota Herald Tribune, and more.  She was named to the Hall of Fame Video Archives in 2001.

SEE ALSO:JEAN ALLENBY-WEIDNER DIANE ROSKAMP