NICOLE VALLS

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, VALLS GROUP, MIAMI

Valls has worked for her family’s restaurant company since 2006 and now oversees day-to-day operations. She was the one who first suggested the Valls Group get a website. They own several long-running Cuban restaurants in Miami, including the iconic Versailles restaurant in Little Havana. The company has more than 2,000 employees at more than 30 establishments, including Versailles, La Carreta, Casa Juancho, MesaMar, Casa Cuba and at Miami International Airport. Her late grandfather, Versailles founder Felipe A. Valls Sr., fled Cuba in 1960 and is credited with creating Miami’s emblematic “ventanita” concept, a walk-up window serving Cuban coffee and pastries. Since 2009, Valls has been on the board of directors of Amigos for Kids, a Miami-based nonprofit dedicated to child abuse prevention.

EDUCATION: University of Miami (BA)