Self-Made Is A Myth - Make A Difference Together

Episode #88: Maria Murphy - Carmel Christkindlmarkt

Maria Murphy is CEO and Market Master of the award-winning Carmel Christkindlmarkt. Maria has served in this role since the Market’s opening in 2017, and she has been instrumental in bringing the Market to its current success.
After graduating high school a year early, Maria spent a year in Germany as recipient of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange scholarship supported by Senator Richard Lugar. While there, she stayed near Dresden and Hamburg, learning to speak the language and developing a wide network of contacts that she still keeps in touch with today. Maria considers Germany to be her second home.
Prior to her work at the Market, Maria spent 10 years in the banking industry. After attending a networking event and hearing Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard talk about his desire to bring a Christkindlmarkt to Carmel, Maria joined a special committee charged with bringing his vision to life. As a result of her work there, she was offered the “best job in Carmel” - to serve at the helm of the Christkindlmarkt as the Market Master and CEO.
Under Maria’s direction, the Market has been selected twice as the Best Holiday Market by USA Today’s 10Best competition, winning the title in 2019, 2021 & 2022. In 2022, the Market welcomed more than 400,000 visitors, and total Market sales eclipsed $5.8 million – an almost 25% increase from the previous year. In future years, Maria hopes to increase programming geared at children and families, as well as recruit a steady stream of various German artists to do presentations for guests.
Maria maintains memberships in several networking groups, including the OneZone Chamber of Commerce, the board for the Indiana German Heritage Society, the Indiana-Germany Business Council, and the Hamilton County Tourism BEST (Business of Entertainment, Sport and Tourism) Task Force, as well as a sitting on the BEST Task Force Steering Committee.
She was honored to be a part of the 2022 James T. Morris Global Leadership Series cohort and is grateful for the many connections she made as a result of her participation.
Maria is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve all of central Indiana and the Midwest as CEO and Market Master of the Carmel Christkindlmarkt.
 

Episode #87: Kurtis Arbuckle - KD Global Solutions

Kurt is a husband, father, and serial entrepreneur from Indianapolis Indiana. Kurt and Jenna’s son Grant is 3, with one more boy on the way in July.
After attending Indiana University Kurt helped found a Global Audio/Video Integration company that became the foundation for his many other entrepreneurial endeavors. KD Global Solutions is a world class AV Integrator handling national and global accounts in 30+ countries.
Kurt’s current focus is to build off his national and global capacities to help bring industry-changing technologies to market. Kurt’s current focus is in the world of Weapons Detection and Autonomous Robotics.
CK2 Technologies is changing the way fans experience safety at venues across the country, from Radio City Music Hall to the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Arbuckle Robotics is bringing real ROI and changing customer experiences with autonomous cleaning and delivery in hospitals to restaurants across the country.

Episode #86: Mac McKeon - MacquyverTech

Mac is the founder and CEO of MacguyverTech with over 25 years of experience in the technological world. Before he began work, Steve always had a passion for creating and taking things apart. His knowledge of software development extends from a passion for reverse engineering and ethical hacking. Mac began his career with MacGuyver Music where he not only was an accomplished DJ, but he was also creating commercial soundtracks for Hasbro and Motorola. Mac’s philosophy on software has been a guiding lens for the team. He believes that no company should have a “cookie-cutter mold” system; each company is unique and requires a fully customized software to fit their specific needs.
Steve also has a fiery passion for blockchain. With the emergence of this new technology, Steve is able to integrate it into a lot of different projects. The applications for blockchain are almost unlimited and Steve has the knowledge to propose the best application of blockchain technology to the system to fit a company’s needs. While the team at MacguyverTech as well as Steve have the technical skills to create such a system.

Episode #85: Jason Lippert -- Lippert Components

Jason Lippert is the third-generation leader of LCI Industries, a publicly traded company that predominately serves the marine, RV, and other recreational markets. Jason has helped grow the company from $150 million in 2003 to $5.1 billion in 2021 with over 12,000 team members world-wide.
He has served in many capacities throughout his 29 years with the company where he started as an intern welding manufactured housing chassis. Since 2003, Jason has been the company’s CEO and President and has had an intense focus on building strong teams, bettering our communities, and growing the company with new product innovations.
The Boys & Girls Club of Elkhart County is Jason’s philanthropic passion where he serves as a board of trustee and chairman of their annual Bids 4 Kids auction which has help raise millions of dollars for their club’s on-going effort to improve the lives of the children in the community.
Jason has been passionate about finding creative ways to move the needle around leadership, culture, and community service within LCI. In the last 9 years, Lippert has initiated a cultural transformation within the company known as Everyone Matters. To stress a truly human culture in the business, Jason implemented a Culture and Leadership team who strives to grow the company’s team members through coaching and working on personal and professional development. He and his team believe the quality and effectiveness of front-line leadership is the key to building a successful business. LCI team members have completed over 550,000 hours of serving in communities across the world, and Jason is continuously pouring support into other companies wanting to make an impact in their community and truly join the movement to create a stronger force for good in the world.
Future information about Jason Lippert and LCI Industries can be found on their website at www.LCI1.com.

Episode #84: Geoff Dodge - Geoff Dodge Racing

Geoff Dodge was born and raised in Colorado Springs and moved to Indianapolis in 2006 in pursuit of the Indy 500. He spent the first part of his career racing sprint cars, midgets, and Indy Lights and electing to finish his college education at IUPUI. During this time an acquaintance offered a small business opportunity that sparked a passion for small business, specifically within the contracting industry.
Today Geoff owns Lamb Excavating, a water, sewer and septic contractor serving the greater Indianapolis area, as well as Geoff Dodge Racing, a sprint car team focused on sharing the opportunity he found within the skilled trades. Operating under the tagline Racing to Build Brighter Futures, GDR is partnered with SkillsUSA Indiana in promoting skilled trade and technical education along with partners Lamb Excavating, Diamond Equipment, Dirt Perfect, Palmetto Epoxy Floors, and DRC Chassis. Geoff Dodge Racing hopes to be a catalyst for young people to find the opportunity that exists within the trade industry to reach their dreams!

Episode #83: Jacob Bills - American Aqua Solutions

Jacob Bills has been in the water treatment industry for over 20 years. After a medical separation from the Marine Corps, Jacob started as an installation and service technician at a large water treatment company in Avon Indiana. From there he has worked for many others over the years. Jacob has worked for Aqua Systems, US Water Systems, Chem-Aqua, Absolute Water Technologies, and now his own business-American Aqua Solutions. Over the years, he has held many different positions and gained a lot of experience in the industry. Jacob has become a Certified Water Specialist II and a Certified Water Treatment Installer. He has also done everything from sales, service, tech support, customer service, deliveries, and more.
Jacob started AAS as a part time side project out of his garage about (6) years ago. As the company grew it was requiring more and more attention to continue the growth. In 2022, Jacob decided to quit all other jobs and focus on AAS fulltime. Since then, AAS has seen continuous growth. AAS is still a small business with 5 employees, but is making in impact with water treatment and the community. American Aqua Solutions is a full-service water treatment company in Indianapolis that specializes in residential and commercial water and air purification. They offer many different technologies suchas; water softeners, whole house filter systems, drinking water systems, and more. They also service most makes & models in the commercial and residential markets. American Aqua Solutions can help with system design, service, and new installations.
Jacob and this company prides themselves on providing excellent customer service and great prices on some of the best equipment in the industry. Their online reviews and testimonials prove this to be true. At American Aqua Solutions, they are not happy unless the customer is. It seems that there motto of; "premium, affordable, and sustainable wellness solutions you can trust. We treat you and your wellness right!" also rings true. Please keep AAS in mind for any of your water/air quality testing or water/air equipment solutions. Consultations and advice is totally FREE!!

Episode #82: Alejandra Malo - Pink Team Cleaning Services

Pink Team Cleaning Services LLC was founded by Alejandra Malo. She was born and raised in Mexico to a family of businessmen. Bachelor degree in Accounting and Finances, fluent in 4 languages, athlete and musician. Apart from running multiple businesses, Alejandra created a foundation to help improve the lives of orphans in Mexico.
Through her university and work experience traveled the world finding Lafayette Indiana her adopted home where her 2 children were born and raised.
All 70 Pink Team employees take pride in their professional cleaners who, through their quality work, allow businesses to run efficiently with clean facilities.
Pink Team is proudly professionalizing the cleaning industry in the State of Indiana. In 2022 it expanded to Mexico and in 2023 to the states of Texas and Georgia.
For more information please visit: https://totallypink.com, https://pinkrentalsllc.com, https://pinkteam.org

Episode #81: Megan Lohman - Plan Forward

Plan Forward offers a solution for designing and managing your inhouse membership plans, for dental practices. We enable practices to determine the pricing and terms of their own plans and drive a recurring revenue stream. Uninsured patients benefit too, with access to a custom plan with simple, transparent pricing and terms. Our solution includes a best-in-class software platform and a customer service team that partners with practices to grow these plans and ensure their success.
As Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Plan Forward, Megan is passionate about creating profitable insurance alternatives for dentists and loves being an integral part of Plan Forward’s evolution. She has a heavy focus on product development, enterprise client onboarding, and internal operations. Prior to starting her career in the dental space, Megan gained business experience in sales, recruiting, and was the first employee of a marketing agency where she had her first taste of entrepreneurship. Megan graduated from Indiana University and currently resides in Westfield, IN with her husband, Peter, two kids, Henry and Leah, and their German Shepherd, Vino.

Episode #80: Paradise Bradford - Pretty Passionate Hands

My passion for our youths who started families at a young (teens) age inspired me to start a nonprofit organization. Eight years ago, with what was just a dream, has now become a reality and my daily life. Advocating and bringing others together to support and encourage our teen parents to excel in life is my main goal and priority. My major motivation is my personal experience having been a teen parent who struggled through the process with little or no recourses.
I am currently training to improve in Professional Leadership, Early Childhood Education and Development. I have experience in Home Health Care, Hospice Care, Restaurant Management, Night Club & Lounge Hospitality, Administrative Assistance, Project Management, and Program Coordination. My greatest interest is compassion for others and building my skills and education in nonprofit organizations.
My professional journey has resulted to various opportunities to take part in many Cohorts and leadership committees, endorsements, scholarships and trainings. I hope to use the skills knowledge acquired in both my professional and personal endeavors.
I enjoy networking and connecting with community partners to share real stories of real teen parents because I work directly with our teen parents. I build safe environments for our teen parents to share their stories and ask for the support they need freely without fear or intimidation. Meeting our teen parents where they are and giving them the opportunities to further learning, while they thrive in life but mostly believe in their self is paramount.

Episode #79: Dave Cox - Meeks Mortuary and Crematory

Dave was born in Muncie, but moved to Oklahoma with his mother in the mid 1970’s, after his parents divorced. He moved back to Muncie my sophomore year of college to attend Ball State, graduating in 1993 with a B.S. in Business Administration.
He then spent 6 years in Retail and Retail Management throughout the Midwest for a Retail Apparel and Footwear company, before moving back to Muncie in 1997 to work for my father at Meeks Mortuary. Dave has been at Meeks Mortuary for over 25 years.
Dave took over as President and CEO in January 2015 when his father retired after 50 years in the funeral industry. The Meeks Mortuary and Crematory was established in 1844, now 179 years old, and the second oldest firm in Indiana. They have been locally owned and operated since their inception. They are founded on a tradition of integrity and fairness, and trust.
Dave has been married for almost 30 years and has 3 children. In his spare time, Dave enjoys cruising in his ’69 Camaro He is a member of Muncie Sunrise Rotary Club and volunteers for many service organizations, and currently serves on the board for Hillcroft Services and Primetrust Credit Union.