Risk & Resolve

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner sits down with Todd DeKruyter, C12 Principal Chair, former pastor, financial advisor, entrepreneur, and author. Todd shares his unconventional career journey, why faith and business shouldn’t exist in separate worlds, how peer advisory groups sharpen leaders, and why Christian business owners should focus on faithfully doing the “next right thing.”

Main Talking Points:

• Growing up in a successful family business and learning the value of hard work
• Feeling called to ministry at a young age and wrestling with what that calling actually meant
• Todd’s description of himself as having an “entrepreneur mind” and “heart of a pastor”
• Recognizing that traditional ministry didn’t fully align with his gifts
• Transitioning into financial planning and discovering a passion for strategy
• Growing a financial planning organization from roughly six advisors to around sixty
• Building teams around complementary strengths instead of looking for one person who can do everything
• The creative “blue vase” hiring philosophy and testing candidates for grit
• Todd’s approach to generosity, stewardship, and “storing up treasure in heaven”
• Moving into family legacy work and eventually discovering C12
• Why business owners need a place to work on the business, not just in it
• C12’s philosophy of building “great businesses for a greater purpose”
• Why Todd believes Christian faith should influence hiring, firing, strategy, finances, culture, and operations
• Viewing business itself as a form of ministry
• Why executives need people willing to question their answers—not simply answer their questions
• The importance of unfiltered feedback as leadership responsibility increases
• Why “iron sharpens iron” can be uncomfortable when you’re the iron being sharpened
• Combating isolation and loneliness among CEOs and entrepreneurs
• Todd’s explanation of the Bema Seat and stewardship from his Christian theological perspective
• Imposter syndrome among executives and business owners
• His advice to stop comparing your calling with someone else’s business or ministry
• Asking “What’s in your hand?” and faithfully stewarding what you’ve already been given
• Why the Christian life is easy to understand but difficult to consistently live out
• Taking the next right step rather than waiting to understand the entire journey
• His personal reminder that even something as ordinary as carpool becomes precious when you realize how few times are left

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner sits down with Woody Waters, co-founder of Imagine360, to explore his journey from insurance broker to healthcare entrepreneur. Woody shares how ELAP and its early claim audit program evolved into reference-based pricing, the risks involved in building a new healthcare model, lessons from Imagine360’s earliest clients, and why he believes employers and American families need better alternatives to the traditional healthcare system.

Main Talking Points:

• Growing up in Marietta, Georgia and becoming a lifelong Georgia Bulldogs fan
• Studying business and insurance at the University of Georgia
• Learning sales through hours of cold calling during his first insurance internship
• How one ambulance-company client transformed the early trajectory of his career
• Meeting Steve Kelly and eventually deciding to go into business together
• How ELAP began by helping self-funded employers make difficult claim determinations
• Discovering enormous discrepancies between medical charges and underlying costs
• Why “usual, reasonable and customary” pricing created problems
• Developing what became the Claim Audit Program and eventually reference-based pricing
• Landing Langdale Company as the first client through a real-world claim pilot
• Building a healthcare company while the mortgage crisis was unfolding
• Why early clients and trusted relationships were critical to gaining momentum
• How Indianapolis became an important early market for the model
• The misconceptions surrounding reference-based pricing and balance billing
• The financial pressure medical expenses place on American workers and families
• Why Woody believes traditional healthcare remains highly disruptive for consumers
• Competing against the healthcare status quo rather than simply other alternative vendors
• Why larger employers are increasingly considering alternative healthcare strategies
• The importance of member service and earning trust when something goes wrong
• Building a member-service team around empathy, not just insurance expertise
• Acquiring TPAs to create greater control over the entire member experience
• Using years of claims data and predictive analytics to improve the model
• Knowing your natural strengths—and surrounding yourself with people whose strengths complement your weaknesses
• Why hard work and good luck often seem to arrive together
• Lessons in becoming more gracious and self-aware as a leader
• Leaving a successful brokerage career with young children and limited financial runway
• Woody’s unfinished goal of seeing alternative healthcare solutions gain meaningful market share

NICE Healthcare founder Thompson Aderinkomi explains how direct primary care can give employees easier access to primary care, mental health, physical therapy, prescriptions, labs, imaging, and in-home services. He breaks down why traditional primary care has become unnecessarily expensive and complicated—and how NICE is building a simpler model designed around patients and employers.

Main Talking Points:

• How Conner Insurance first discovered NICE Healthcare through Minnesota clients
• Why traditional on-site employer clinics can be difficult and expensive to operate
• What direct primary care (DPC) actually means
• Thompson’s fiddle-leaf fig analogy for what’s wrong with healthcare
• Why he believes the healthcare system has accumulated layers of cost that aren’t actual patient care
• Questioning why traditional primary care costs so much rather than asking why alternatives cost less
• Thompson’s early advocacy for direct primary care
• The limitations of physical-only DPC clinics and virtual-only telehealth
• Thompson’s son inspiring the creation of NICE Healthcare
• Why NICE should be viewed as a primary care clinic—not a tech or telehealth company
• NICE employing its clinicians rather than renting a provider network
• Combining virtual care with in-home and workplace visits
• Included access to hundreds of prescriptions and dozens of labs/tests
• Primary care, mental health therapy, physical therapy, nutrition, and chronic-condition programs
• Allowing dependents to access NICE even when they aren’t enrolled in an employer’s health plan, depending on employer eligibility rules
• Developing continuity by allowing patients to repeatedly see the same provider
• In-home testing, blood draws, physical exams, imaging, and other services
• Why multi-person family visits can make care dramatically easier for parents
• Thompson personally serving as a courier during NICE’s startup days
• NICE Healthcare’s expansion into Indiana through its relationship with Conner Insurance
• Increasing utilization as employees become familiar with the service
• Thompson’s philosophy of operating on an “ethical margin”
• Why NICE wants members to use the service more—not less
• Using primary care to potentially prevent more expensive downstream healthcare
• New intelligent referral capabilities designed to direct patients toward higher-quality, lower-cost providers
• The importance of privacy and security as NICE scales
• Thompson’s mission to “bend the healthcare cost curve”
• Giving ordinary employees an experience that resembles concierge medicine

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner and Todd Hufford sit down with longtime pastor and mentor Gary Stump. Gary shares the life-changing story of losing his first wife, Donna, in a tragic car accident, the question from God that reshaped his understanding of trust, and how suffering ultimately led him into pastoral ministry. The conversation also explores Gary’s theological perspective on Israel, biblical prophecy, the church, and the importance of passing faith and leadership to the next generation.

Main Talking Points:

• Growing up in Indianapolis and Brown County, Indiana
• Starting his career in the life insurance business alongside his father
• Meeting Pete John and discovering a personal relationship with Jesus
• How studying Scripture began transforming Gary’s marriage and family
• The devastating car accident that took the life of his wife, Donna
• The question that changed his life: “Do you really trust me? Or do you just say you trust me?”
• Wrestling with grief while raising four young children
• Becoming a student of the Book of Job during his darkest season
• The Charles Stanley message that challenged him not to “waste” his suffering
• Moving from asking “Why?” in accusation to seeking purpose through suffering
• How grief ultimately became part of Gary’s call into pastoral ministry
• Meeting Kathy and watching God rebuild his family
• The influence of Pete John and Malcolm Nabel on Gary’s faith and theology
• Gary’s theological perspective on Israel and the Jewish people
• His interpretation of biblical prophecy, the church, the tribulation, and the future of Israel
• Why he believes Christians can support Israel while still disagreeing with actions of its government
• The influence of visiting Israel and studying the Jewish foundations of Christianity
• Preserving Pete John’s Bible and the legacy of the people Pete led to faith
• Leaving his former church in 2011 without knowing what would come next
• Stepping out in faith and eventually founding Onward Church
• Gary’s desire to write books and identify the next-generation leader for his congregation
• The importance of passing faith, leadership, and stewardship to the generation behind you

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner and Todd Hufford sit down with marketing leader, educator, and entrepreneur Leah Richards Hartzell. Leah shares how the legacy of her father, Dr. Mark “Doc” Richards, continues to shape her leadership, parenting, and business philosophy. From launching Bulldog Moving Company to mentoring college students and balancing family with meaningful work, this conversation explores what it means to build a life that leaves a lasting impact.

Main Talking Points:

• The lasting legacy of Dr. Mark “Doc” Richards
• Growing up after losing her father at a young age
• The values of “Glorify God. Work Hard. Have Fun.
• Choosing Indiana Wesleyan and discovering a passion for business
• Transitioning from pre-med to marketing
• Becoming both a marketing professional and educator
• Why mentoring students extends beyond the classroom
• Launching Bulldog Moving Company from the ground up
• Building a customer-first culture through servant leadership
• Lessons learned from entrepreneurship and family business
• Raising children while pursuing meaningful work
• Why leadership begins with investing in people
• Defining success through faith, legacy, and intentional living

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner and Todd Hufford sit down with Darren Thompson, Founder and President of Process Alliance, to explore an incredible journey from a thirty-year engineering career at Eli Lilly to building one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical consulting firms in the country. Darren shares lessons on entrepreneurship, faithful stewardship, leadership, marriage, generosity, and why success is ultimately measured by the people you invest in—not the businesses you build.

Main Talking Points:

• Growing up in a blue-collar family in Franklin, Indiana
• Lessons learned from thirty years at Eli Lilly
• Taking the leap from corporate security into entrepreneurship
• Building Process Alliance from a handful of retirees into a national engineering firm
• How COVID unexpectedly accelerated the company’s growth
• Why technical excellence alone isn’t enough to build a lasting company
• Developing the next generation of pharmaceutical leaders
• Creating a culture centered on mentorship and “pouring into people”
• Why stewardship—not ownership—is the foundation of leadership
• Launching Ripple Works to create second chances through meaningful employment
• Restoring dignity through work for people overcoming incarceration and poverty
• Working alongside his wife and navigating the beauty—and bumps—of entrepreneurship together
• The importance of pursuing your spouse every day
• Wrestling with generosity, wealth, and leaving a meaningful legacy

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner sits down with legendary Heritage Christian coaches Rick Risinger and Ron Young to reflect on decades of coaching, friendship, and the lasting legacy of Dr. Mark “Doc” Richards. From state championships and unforgettable games to leadership, mentorship, faith, and the relationships that mattered most, this conversation reveals why great coaches build far more than winning teams—they build people. 

Main Talking Points

• Rick Risinger’s journey from Indiana All-Star to Purdue basketball
• Ron Young’s path through basketball, tennis, and coaching
• Meeting Dr. Mark “Doc” Richards and forming lifelong friendships
• How Doc’s leadership shaped Heritage Christian basketball
• Lessons learned from competition, discipline, and preparation
• The philosophy behind building championship teams
• Why great players make the team bigger than themselves
• The heartbreaking loss of Doc Richards and carrying his vision forward
• Winning seven state championships while keeping people first
• The importance of preparation, scouting, and attention to detail
• Coaching beyond basketball—building character, discipline, and faith
• The role parents, teammates, and assistant coaches play in lasting success
• Why humility matters more than trophies
• Reflections on friendship, legacy, and investing in future generations

In this episode of Risk & Resolve with Adam Weber to explore what it truly means to lead with purpose. Drawing from his experience as a startup founder, executive coach, and leadership expert, Adam shares practical strategies for avoiding burnout, maintaining perspective, and building sustainable leadership. From the “tyranny of the now” to creating healthy boundaries, this conversation offers actionable insights for leaders who want lasting success without sacrificing their lives outside of work.

Main Talking Points:

• Adam’s most embarrassing leadership moment—and what it taught him
• The “Tyranny of the Now” and why leaders lose perspective
• Why business is simply a series of solving problems
• Building centeredness through intentional daily practices
• Leading with calm, predictable presence instead of emotional reactions
• Creating a meaningful life outside of work
• The power of writing a personal life vision
• Why hobbies make better leaders
• Prioritizing physical health to improve decision-making
• Using gratitude as a leadership advantage
• Simple gratitude practices that transform team culture
• Walking, meditation, and creating mental space for better thinking
• Reading timeless wisdom instead of reacting to constant noise
• Leading from the “top of the mountain” with long-term perspective

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner and Todd Hufford sit down with Kristopher Loving, Big Ten football official, Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader, teacher, chaplain, and minister. Kris shares his journey from growing up in Chicago to officiating college football at the highest levels while discovering that ministry isn’t confined to a church building. This conversation explores faith, leadership, sports, purpose, and the courage to say yes when God calls.

Main Talking Points

• Growing up as an only child on Chicago’s west side
• The church influence that shaped Kris’s leadership and faith
• The moment he fully surrendered his life to Christ in 2011
• Learning leadership through church ministry and public speaking
• Moving from Illinois to Minnesota and entering a new season of life
• How a simple conversation led him into sports officiating
• Receiving a vision of ministry through officiating sports
• The unlikely path from first-year official to Division I football
• Working Big Ten football and the UFL
• The hidden preparation, study, and discipline required of elite officials
• Building relationships and ministry opportunities within officiating circles
• How sports became a platform for serving people outside church walls
• Workforce chaplaincy and meeting people where they are
• Creating a legacy of faith, stewardship, and service for future generations

In this episode of Risk & Resolve, Ben Conner and Todd Hufford sit down with Erik Braden, Managing Partner of Braden Business Systems, to discuss family business, technology, growth, and leadership. Erik shares his journey from cold-calling his way onto Wall Street to returning home to help grow his family business through acquisitions, innovation, and a people-first culture. From managed print and IT to AI consulting and automation, this conversation explores what it takes to stay ahead of change while building a business that serves clients, employees, and family well.

Main Talking Points

• Erik’s Indiana roots and early ambition to work on Wall Street
• Cold-calling his way into an internship at Bear Stearns
• Lessons from JP Morgan, private equity, M&A, and board-level leadership
• Why he returned to Indiana and joined the family business
• Braden Business Systems’ evolution from fax machines and copiers to full technology solutions
• Using acquisitions to grow and diversify the business
• Building in downtown Fishers and betting on the city’s future
• Working alongside his father and honoring the family business legacy
• How the pandemic reshaped demand for IT, cloud, and remote-work support
• Why Braden is leaning into AI consulting and implementation
• The importance of helping companies adopt AI—not just turn tools on
• How automation, workflows, and agentic AI will reshape office work
• Erik’s people-first leadership philosophy and “never miss your kid’s game” standard
• Building a culture of energy, optimism, service, and long-term resilience