Kylen Granson was the typical kid- loved sports and video games. But his mom, who is a teacher, wanted her son to be an avid reader. In this episode Heather and Kylen Granson go into what sparked his love of reading, but also why reading and the discipline of reading helped Kylen thrive. We also talk about how this mother and son team started "KGs Kids," a nonprofit to get more diverse books into classrooms.

Now with Indianapolis Colts, Kylen and Heather are wanting KGs kids to grow in not only Indiana, but beyond.

You can find more information atbout KGs Kids here: https://kgskids.com/

In this episode, Abby and Megan share an insightful conversation with Pam Marmon: a best-selling author, speaker, and CEO. Within 15 minutes, Abby, Megan, and Pam confront the importance of incorporating change within one's entrepreneurial journey while also touching on the challenges and beauty of being your own boss.

Follow Pam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pammarmon-change-management-consultant/

Music: Exploding Sun by King Electric

Listen on Soundcloud: EXPLODING SUN by King Electric

Frank Garza is a visionary leader, coach, and tech enthusiast. In this episode we cover everything from breathing techniques, to "name, image, and likeness" for college athletes, and what education can do to improve. Oh yeah, his son was the NCAA player of the year.

This is one of those episodes where I forgot that I was hosting a podcast and just had an amazing conversation.

You can find more about Frank on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/frankgarza57

And online: http://SportsHood.net

What "is" the new normal for the upcoming school year- and what will that look like?

Also- Happy birthday to Jamal!

Faith Spencer is a junior studying Cybersecurity & Network Engineering Technology at Purdue University's Polytechnic Institute.

In this episode, she shares her experiences with innovation, entrepreneurship, and networking while also offering tips and advice for students looking to enhance their communications skills. Additionally, Faith highlights some key takeaways from challenges that she faced while getting to where she is now.

Follow Faith on Linkedin!: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-spencer-4100b5189

Music by Northwest

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has always been interested in entrepreneurship. In fact his background as the founder of ProFlowers. com and co-founder of the Tech giant "Techstars," you could say he is THE governor with the most entrepreneurial background. So, how has Gov Polis created a robust startup ecosystem?

The answers were forward thinking AND music to my ears: Education and Quality of Life.

In this episode, Abby and Megan interview Christian Paris (19 years old) and Gavin Miller (18 years old): two musical artists from Northwest Indiana. Christian and Gavin play together in an on-the-rise indie/rock band known as Synthetic Smiles. The two artists have also released some solo work listed under Gavin’s stage name: King Electric. Their solo music encompasses multiple genres, from psychedelic soul to 70s rock, with their most popular single, Green and Blue, recently reaching over 51K streams on SoundCloud!

Synthetic Smiles on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/syntheticsmilesofficial/

Synthetic Smiles on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/38eblBSj13qcxCdp00NNLR?si=oLx5p5VqTe-PRLRa2aj4qg&dl_branch=1&nd=1

King Electric on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-55111500

Today I get the chance to talk to Mick Hetmen, Ray Niehaus, and Collin Sallee about innovation and entrepreneurship where you might not expect it.

However, Mick and Ray have worked with local students to be innovators, but they also wanted a place for these students to continue to grow and stay in Pike County.

Enter the Elmer Buchta Technology Center.

In this episode we talk about why this center is so important to not only develop innovators, but also retain them! Collin weighs in on the high school to college to "real world" pipeline that Mick, Ray, and the county has provided them.

For more information go to: https://www.facebook.com/piketechcenter

Michael Claycamp was a finalist in last year's Innovate WithIN competition, and has always had a passion for agriculture and entrepreneurship. However, the road hasn't been easy.

Take a listen to the mindset and determination of a rural entrepreneur trying to navigate thru education and finding his future.

You can follow Michael on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-claycamp-268593168/

Today we welcome Dr. Tim Holcomb, who is Founding Chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship, Director of the John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship, and a Farmer School Endres Associate Professor Fellow in the Farmer School of Business at Miami University.

On the show we went into the history of the department, and their new class that focuses on economic placemaking and quality of life to attract and retain top talent.

Dr. Holcomb previously held the Jim Moran Professorship in Entrepreneurship and served as Executive Director of The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. While at Florida State, Holcomb helped raise $100M to establish the nation's largest interdisciplinary entrepreneurship school, the Jim Moran School of Entrepreneurship. He earned his Ph.D. in strategic management and entrepreneurship from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, and he earned his bachelor's degree in accounting and information systems and his MBA from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He received the 25th Annual Golden Arrow Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2005.

Winner of the 2020 NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award given annually to the top entrepreneurship program and institute in the world, Miami's Entrepreneurship program is internationally-recognized for outstanding academic research and immersive, practice-based learning programs in startup and venture capital, social entrepreneurship and impact investing, corporate innovation and technology commercialization, and creativity. In its annual ranking of the top entrepreneurship programs in the world, Entrepreneur Magazine and The Princeton Review® has ranked Miami's program in the "Top 10 Undergraduate Public Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies" for 13 consecutive years, reaching the Top 5 among publics for the first time in 2020. Since 2015, annual student demand for entrepreneurship courses at Miami has grown by more than 700% in credit hours (to 15,890 credit hours) and almost 450% in the number of students that take at least one entrepreneurship course (to 3,219 students).