Around Town | Margaret Wise

By Tom Reese | Photos by Nancy Guth | November 2024

You can’t help but notice this vivacious and engaging Southern beauty in any room she graces. Margaret Wise loves this town and for many years she has done everything in her power to lift it wherever and whenever it needs help. She is well-known on the Sarasota philanthropic scene, and when she gets behind something, do not bet against her! 

We caught up with Margaret while planning the inaugural soiree in December for Women in Philanthropy with good friend Katherine Harris. Its mission is to honor Sarasota philanthropists from the past and present, while inspiring and engaging our next gen philanthropists for the future enrichment of our community.

Your Southern charm emanates from your Mississippi roots.  How did your sweet accent and background influence who you are?

I grew up with a family that had a grocery store and a cattle farm. My father built everything from scratch and was a true entrepreneur. He had strong ethics; he was kind and believed in hard work. We worked hard from day one, and I learned how to ride a horse at the same time I learned to walk! 

The only day we got off was Sunday to go to church. I watched my father help people at the store and give them credit when he knew he would never get the money back, but he always said he couldn’t stand to see anyone go hungry. As a result, my mother held an annual bonfire to raise money for all the IOUs. We were not a wealthy family, and my father had many setbacks, but he always picked himself up and continued to get bigger and better. He was never a quitter. 

As a young single woman, you were the owner of several different businesses. What advice would you give young women today who want to become entrepreneurs?

I always try to walk in the other person’s shoes. My values were built from this and have never changed. I never knew anything other than entrepreneurism, and I never went into a venture where I did not honestly believe I was going to succeed. Setbacks were just part of learning, and I always figured out a way to make things work. You learn more from your faults and failures than you do from your successes! 

Additionally, my advice would be to know your weakness and surround yourself with people to offset those weaknesses. For example, with Women in Philanthropy (WIP), I knew that social media is not a strength of mine, so the selection of Tatyana Stewart and Dayle Hoffmann to help take that over was so natural. I think, now looking back, my greatest strength is my ability to take an idea, overcome all obstacles and make things happen.

You came to Sarasota in 1989 with your late husband, Bill Wise.  How did you select Sarasota and how have you seen it change over the years?

Prior to coming to Sarasota, my husband was vice president and chief counsel of Shell Oil, which was big on philanthropy. This allowed me, when we lived in Houston, to get involved in giving back, and one of my focusses there was the opera. 

When we moved to Sarasota in 1989, we had a neighbor named Deane Allyn. Deane was the CEO of Sarasota Opera at the time and had a vision for downtown. She recruited me to be the new president of Sarasota Opera. The setting for the opera was dismal. In fact, all Downtown Main Street was dead at that time. One of the main eyesores was what is now Five Points Plaza. It consisted of a fish market, now the park, a national tire company that burned tires on its premises, now the library, and a gas station, now Bijou Restaurant. 

The head of the Downtown Association, Paul Thorpe, who eventually became known as Mr. Downtown, teamed up with us to make the necessary changes. They led the vision with the help of good commissioners combined with good fundraising. Eventually, Five Points Plaza was created. These two people get little credit for what it is today. I was so proud of participating in this revitalization.

You have supported and helped raise millions of dollars for many nonprofits. Tell us about your early involvement with helping important institutions grow and become the vital nonprofits they are today.

I always looked for a need where my talents could be of some use. Examples include Sarasota Memorial Hospital when it needed a new tower, Asolo Rep when it was going bankrupt, and Selby Gardens when Jennifer Rominiecki (Selby CEO) first came to town. I also helped with co-founding Designing Women Boutique & Estate Services, a nonprofit organization with the mission to meaningfully grow funding for Sarasota’s arts and human services organizations.

As a founding partner in Designing Women Boutique, please tell our readers about how that store and its mission came to be and how the community has benefited from its being.

Three of us, Diane Roskamp, Jean Weidner, and myself, were all in Philadelphia at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While waiting to figure out how to get back home, we realized that raising money was not going to be as easy to support our charities. We realized that we would have to earn it. This was when the idea of Designing Women began. In our 23 years, Designing Women has given away over $8 million to many local charities and paid for our building at the same time. We achieve our mission through fundraising events, and by selling gently used donated and consigned unique designer fashion, furniture, art, and accessories in our fashionable boutique, and through providing estate liquidation and downsizing services to individuals and families in the Sarasota area.

Along with the Honorable Katherine Harris, you have formed a new nonprofit, Women in Philanthropy (WIP), which will soon host its inaugural soiree. Tell us more.

First, Katherine and I have known each other for over 40 years. She is a woman of integrity and intellect and is one of the hardest working individuals I know. She also has a wonderful passion for recognizing the great contributions of the women who have helped shape this community and helping the next generation of women with the joy of giving. She was a natural choice to help with this endeavor. Besides, I just like working with her!

The inaugural soiree is December 7, and it will be an unforgettable evening to honor the indelible legacy of exceptional Sarasota women philanthropists, both past and present. Held at the home of Katherine Harris, the evening will feature an exclusive reception, and a couture fashion experience led by WIP Creative Director, Tatyana Stewart. The soirée will culminate in a beautiful program for the honorees with gourmet banquet stations along the shore of Sarasota Bay, followed by dancing under the stars. 

Your legacy of giving, caring, and love for your community continues to make a significant impact in our town, and being a mentor is important to you. To those who want to get involved, what advice would you give?

The first thing someone needs is an area of interest that helps others. As you understand it more, it must also become a passion. The second thing you need to understand is that the reasons for getting involved must be to help others, not to gain self-recognition or attention. Finally, you must be dedicated to putting the work in to make it happen and incite passion in others.

You are a recent bride again since marrying Tom Taylor in 2022. Please tell us about Tom and how you met.

Tom and I met while he was having a business meeting at Jack Dusty in the Sarasota Ritz Carlton. I was with friends at the next table and the humor was abundant. As a result, we got to talking and I invited him to the theater. We had natural chemistry and the rest was written. Four years later, we are happily married.

When Margaret Wise is not at a board meeting, or raising money for a worthy cause, where can we find you around town?  What are some of your favorite lunch and dinner spots and things to do? 

My husband and I really enjoy staying home with a good movie or having intimate dinners with small groups of friends. When we go out on our own, we seem to drift to restaurants that meet our taste buds at the time. Lunch may include our normal destinations Cafe Epicure, Green Orchid at Selby, Taste of Hong Kong, good pizza houses, Duval’s, Connors and Columbia (on the Circle). For night adventures we like Hyde Park, State Street, Besos, Cafe L’Europe as well as our two clubs.