From Operator to Leader: How Vistage Florida Transformed Domenic Scorpio’s Thinking and His Business

Domenic Scorpio walked into his first Vistage Florida meeting expecting a networking group. What he found surprised him.

It was a room full of leaders and CEOs he deeply respected. And they weren’t there for small talk. They were there to challenge him, make him better, hold him accountable. And to be vulnerable themselves.

Ten years later, that combination is still what keeps him coming back.

“Learning from your mistakes is necessary. Learning from other people’s mistakes is much better. But learning from people’s successes is best.”

THE SOUNDING BOARD HE DIDN’T KNOW HE NEEDED

A COO at only 27, Domenic spent almost fifteen years as a partner in a construction firm. When he left to start his own construction management company, he took his experience with him. It wasn’t enough.

Through Vistage Florida, he found himself among the most accomplished business leaders in his community: all willing to share their successes, their struggles, their blind spots. He quickly found he wasn’t alone.

“You would never believe they were struggling with the same issues you were struggling with.”

He embraced that philosophy from his first meeting. But when the group turned that same honesty toward his own leadership team, he wasn’t ready to hear it.

THE LOYALTY TRAP

Domenic built his leadership team from people he trusted, people who had believed in him early and taken a chance on his vision. He elevated them, invested in them, and poured everything into their development. And for years, the company didn’t move.

His Vistage Florida group watched all of it and told him the same thing: these are not the right people.

Yet Domenic ignored their advice for five years.

It wasn’t stubbornness. It was loyalty. These were people who had shown up for him when the outcome was uncertain. Walking away from that felt like a betrayal. And so he kept investing, kept believing, kept finding reasons to think the needle would move.

“We went about four years without moving the needle.”

What finally broke through was one specific member who suggested he do the kind of reflective work that strips everything back to what actually matters.

Domenic took the advice. He spent a week with an organizational psychologist, working through the hard questions about who he was, what he wanted, and whether the people around him were capable of getting him there.

He came back with clarity he hadn’t been able to find in four years of trying.

“The answer just offers the courage to lean into what you already know. It might be simple. It’s never easy.”

THE COMPANY TAKES OFF

His Vistage Florida group held him accountable to what came out of that week. The changes were difficult. Of the six original members of his leadership team, four have since moved on. New leaders are in place across five markets in Florida.

“The second I started making those pivots, my company took off.”

Today his company operates with 120 employees across Gainesville, Orlando, Jacksonville, Ocala, and Tallahassee— and is expecting to reach $250 million in revenue this year. It’s still community centered. And still guided by the same philosophy he’s carried through ten years of peer group meetings, guest speakers, and one-to-ones with his chair.

When it comes to the return on investment that Vistage Florida provides, Domenic doesn’t overcomplicate it.

“Not tenfold. Not a hundredfold. I would have to say it’s a thousandfold.”