Self-Made Is A Myth - Make A Difference Together

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.

Episode #78: Alex Mounts - Krieg DeVault LLP

Alex Mounts is chair of Krieg DeVault’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group. His practice includes counseling both for-profit and not-for-profit clients on a wide spectrum of employee benefits-related matters. Alex also focuses his practice on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and spends significant time working with companies, trustees, lenders and sellers on issues surrounding ESOPs including design and implementation and sales of ESOP companies. He also spends significant time working with clients on executive compensation matters including designing and implementing nonqualified deferred compensation plans and equity and non-equity-based incentive compensation programs.
While much has changed since Krieg DeVault's founding in Indianapolis, over 140 years ago, our commitment to listening to our clients has not. Client satisfaction and loyalty have allowed us to grow from a two-lawyer general practice in the mid-1870s to our current status as a premier business-focused law firm.
 

Episode #77: Kara Long - The Memory Collective

Kara Long is an entrepreneur, writer, musician, and artist, born in the little historical town of Irvington, Indiana just east of Indianapolis. In her childhood, she experienced several losses of close family members that shaped her perspective, interests, and life. For a long time, Kara struggled to plot her career path, but when she found herself recording her husband’s great Uncle Al’s World War 2 stories on video in early 2019, everything seemed to fall into place. It turned out that she needed to create her own job to find her life’s mission.
Today, Kara is the founder and owner of The Memory Collective, a recorded oral storytelling company that captures individuals telling their life story on video before those stories are lost or forgotten. In this way, kids and grandkids can stay permanently connected to their parents and grandparents, even after Alzheimer’s, illness, or death. Future generations who never could have heard these stories in person can grow up watching these videos and truly know their ancestors and heritage—far beyond the limited stories faded photos, newspaper clippings, and a list of ethnic percentages could tell. Kara firmly believes that anyone, no matter how old or young, has stories to share that are worth passing down, and that recorded oral storytelling is the fastest, easiest, and most authentic way to do so.
To learn more about capturing your loved one’s or your own life story, check out www.thememorycollective.co.
Grab your free copy of the Legacy Starter Guide to learn how to talk with your loved one about capturing their life story: www.thememorycollective.co/starter-guide

Episode #76: Shalonda Johnson - Identity Marketing and Branding

Shalonda is known best for her Marketing and Branding expertise and is the proud owner of Identity Marketing and Branding and Silk Coffee Company. Gleaning from over 15 years of marketing and design experience, Shalonda has a passion for helping entrepreneurs bring their business ideas and visions to reality. Her personal investment in the success of others has afforded her the opportunity to work alongside numerous business owners as they work to further develop their business strategies, corporate branding profiles, and overall marketing goals.
Shalonda prides herself in taking her client’s vision and literally maximizing every resource and tool necessary to help bring it to life. Her desire is to bring a greater awareness to the digital marketing platforms and sources available to nonprofits and bridge the technological gap so that ministries and nonprofits thrive!
Shalonda attended Indiana University where she studied Graphic Design and Visual Communications and she currently serves as the Multimedia and Marketing Director for New Beginnings Fellowship Church in Indianapolis, IN.
 
 

Episode #75: Jason Beutler - RoboSource

Jason Beutler (pronounced ‘Butler’) grew up in Indiana. He graduated high school from John Adams in South Bend, IN and spent every March-November from age 13-18 working at a country club in the pro-shop. Through that experience, he learned how to converse with business owners and found he was passionate about leadership and entrepreneurship. He received an undergraduate degree in computer science from Taylor University and spent the next 10 years working his way up to Vice President of Information Technology. Jason received an MBA from the University of Notre Dame in May of ’09 and by January of 2010 he formed the business he is currently running.
RoboSource is passionate about helping people find and do work that matters. We leverage technologies, such as A.I. and software automation bots and we pair that with process improvement techniques and data analytics to help people identify and remove those mundane, life-sucking, tasks from their day-to-day lives so they can focus on the things that are important to a business.

Episode #74: Sue Ann - Emmons Painting Service

Sue Ann Emmons was born and raised in Indiana but also traveled the US due to her father being an active US Army enlisted soldier. She spent her early career testing out a variety of trades. One of which was business ownership as a commercial and residential cleaning company, along with her partner and husband Derrick Emmons. As fate would have it they closed the company and ventured on to other trades. She obtained a business degree and worked in the medical field, as well as homeland security. Her partner went on to learn a trade in General Contracting as a commercial and residential painter.
In early 2009 they decided it was time to make a go of entrepreneurship once again and opened Emmons Painting Service LLC. Then in 2012 turned the company from a sole proprietor into an LLC where Sue Ann became a partner and turned the company into a million dollar venture. Today the company offers a variety of services. Commercial and residential painting, as well as painting service plans to the greater Indianapolis MultiFamily Housing community. Emmons Painting Service also partnered with Uhaul and is also now a Neighborhood Uhaul Dealer Location.
Sue Ann also offers as a second career the opportunity for men and women to up their fitness, nutrition and mindset either by becoming a client, or allowing themselves the opportunity of partnering to help others. All with an online platform and all the tools for a successful business or lifestyle routine!
To book an appointment for painting services go to http://www.emmonspainting.com
To learn more about the BODi partnership go to https://linktr.ee/sueannemmons