Stephanie HayesColumnist
Please buckle in for a glamorous journalism biography. I left my job at a mall CD store to work here at 19, distributing faxes and running to Publix to pick up cakes for real reporters. Upon being the last warm body in the office, I got to write actual stories. The rest has been a wonderful journey. I'm now a columnist, writing on the proverbial "lighter side of life" and giving side-eye to Florida. Starting in 2021, my columns will be syndicated worldwide via Creators Syndicate. Before this, I was an editor overseeing arts and culture coverage. As a reporter, I’ve covered local governments, higher education, nightlife, obituaries and performing arts. How's that for variety? I'm a stepmom, fledgling novelist, amateur makeup artist and avid host of parties with too much food. Find me in Dunedin, coolest town in Florida.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/b6210e41-1306-44e5-87c6-4ae64eb40979.png "Stephanie Hayes - Columnist")
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 562 316"/%3E)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GC7CXZWOFNBKNBPVUPERHNFDJY.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/2IQFI3Z4FZCYJHGHYDZ5CGNSYM.jpg "The Steinbrenner High School Twitter account. The football players at the school are building character by returning shopping carts.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZXK4LKK5U5EKXPDZ2VJVH6P6PA.jpg "An abandoned shopping cart takes up a space at Walmart in Tampa.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/QMUEUXRYG5B7BMWFGYDRL67CDM.JPG "Celine Dion performs at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Jan. 15, 2020, and she plays in my car.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZCOC4AOBXFD57PFPXF2EL7H3WY.jpg "It's a quest. It's a quest for fun.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/TASUR5BQ3JB7BPLYWSCEXSTZI4.jpg "Anarkitty performs on Saturday, June 25, 2022 in St. Petersburg.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/QILQO3PRFZGI5LGOACRUYLKH7Y.JPG "A cormorant hunts for fish in the water at Rainbow River in Dunnellon.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/BR2MYKQCQDF77MOT54KRIXK2V4.jpg "Amazon’s Alexa might soon replicate the voice of family members - even if they’re dead. The capability, unveiled at Amazon’s Re:Mars conference in Las Vegas Wednesday, June 22, 2022, is in development.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/FWTJKMM4CBH7XKVE65O2KG6ZQI.jpeg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/OOXOL76DOZA5FG6BNDJIXRT6YA.jpg "Tampa Bay Lightning 2022 Stanley Cup Final shirts hang as SueEllen Byers, 53, shops with her brother Dave Uyak, 49, at the Amalie Arena Lightning team store in Tampa.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GACALIYGQJ47PP7NXMSKVGGLXM.jpg "Therapeutic real estate quiz time!")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JSNJ6PBMPVG2BG6CWFPLUAG7OY.jpg "Feeling distracted? Get into a good book this summer.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/AKWYHEJZY5AH7DHHBCBQ35U6DU.JPG "St. Petersburg's Eugenie Bondaurant walks in Balenciaga's fashion show on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Sunday, May 22, 2022.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DQRGHLLMTKSEO3JXMAUVNCN6SY.jpg "Kladys Castellón prays during a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JQR6Q6ZUCJA75N3JP6EOIVQMAY.JPG "In praise of chaotic, happy community pool scenes, like this one at Northwest Pool in St. Petersburg.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/I2KQKPXMDRHL3C5EDBJXWAKUOQ.jpg "The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. In coordinated press conferences across the globe, EHT researchers revealed that they succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of the supermassive black hole in the center of Messier 87 and its shadow.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/IMHBEAOP2JFMVD2XKG45P5FCEQ.JPG "Julian Hartzog stands near his rendition of the historic ceiling painting 'The Apotheosis of Hercules' from the Hercules Drawing Room at the palace of Versailles in France.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/6KQ2HYXQKRH7HGVUH55NXFQNQM.jpg)
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/QHCLTII73VB6VONHNJLTGCECFI.JPG "Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse wave to the crowd in 2019 at Disney World in Orlando.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/QBOJB65VB5HYXAYQKXFBKDSCAE.jpg "A rack at the Dillard's Clearance Center in Tampa on April 20, 2022.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/FZ2DYL4755B6LCFILFAE6G2YLI.JPG "Sitting in heavy traffic on the Howard Frankland bridge is a Tampa Bay rite of passage.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/NLIM22MSEVDMZM7XWKZD7ZDLIE.jpg "Hot dogs at a Tampa Bay Rays game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. on April 11, 2022.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3C3I7VIPUVASZJVRFNMKE6KUFE.jpeg "A Portuguese Man O' War sits on Midtown Beach in Palm Beach Tuesday March 8, 2016 at sunrise. The wind has blown many of the stinging creatures ashore.")
