Doug Kollmer is one of the most creative and passionate people you will meet. He is a trusting leader with the ability to inspire everyone around him. Doug has an incredibly diverse professional background, including leadership in four different industries: law enforcement, education, residential development/construction, and corporate retail.

 

Along with God, Doug credits his parents for his leadership, drive, and opportunities. His mom was a working mother of three in the 80's and 90's, while his dad owned a custom home-building company. Doug's natural leadership caught steam as a middle school student in suburban Long Island in the mid-90's, when he began earning the captain title in sports and serving as president of the student body. Years later, at Florida Gulf Coast University, Doug was an inaugural member of the men's basketball team (twelve years before the infamous "Dunk City" Sweet Sixteen run). Doug eventually co-founded the first campus radio station, and would be the first student to travel and provide play-by-play basketball commentary to the FGCU community online. In 2005, he'd be named Founding President of the Lambda Xi chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike). Upon graduating in 2006, Doug earned an invitation to work for Pike's memorial headquarters in Memphis as an International Consultant; he'd visit, mentor and speak at several conferences, and consult at more than forty universities.

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After serving his one year consultant commitment to Pike, Doug pursued his childhood dream of being a New York City police officer. He'd lead his peers as Company Sergeant in the police academy. After a disabling injury forced his early retirement from the NYPD, Doug returned to Florida to start a family. He excelled in corporate leadership and mentorship for two Fortune 100 companies before co-founding AdVenture in Bonita Springs. Four years later, in 2021, after being re-baptized and pursuing a personal and professional life of more meaning and service, Doug strategically career-changed into education. He'd serve two school communities as teacher, student support coordinator and dean of students. As a dean, he fought to save two abused and neglected parent-less children. Eventually, they'd live with him and his family for six months during the school year, until they were able to transition into an adoptive home. He earned his Master of Educational Leadership in 2024.

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From his first high school photography class in 1998, or perhaps earlier, Doug has excelled in creative arts. In college, in the early 2000's, he was creating websites, designing graphics, and trying to make movies. Doug was fixing or altering photos for people before images could be texted and before social media had been created. A meme back then meant knowing someone skilled in Photoshop, like Doug, asking him to create it, and then printing it and hanging up for others. He'd eventually teach many others how to shoot photography, edit, design, and use creative programs such as Adobe Photoshop.

 

Doug continues to excel in all aspects of marketing and branding, while continuing to serve the Southwest Florida community in many ways.

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