Antonio Carter shared his unique and inspiring story of starting and growing his own business, Freshlocs, just one year out of being incarcerated. Antonio is a local Indy loctician but is highly regarded across the nation for what he can do with hair. Truly amazing! We also talked about the loc journey and it's symbolism for how we choose to navigate life.

The Bottleworks District is a $300 million, 12-acre urban mixed-use development, Bottleworks will reimagine the iconic Coca-Cola building in downtown Indianapolis. The largest private development of its kind in Indiana, Bottleworks will serve as a culinary, arts and entertainment hub, featuring the city’s first food hall, a hotel and unique residential options, as well as 180,000 square feet of creative office space and 175,000 square feet of prime retail space. We were lucky enough to talk to the VP of Development for Hendricks Commercial Properties, Gavin Thomas to take a dive into Bottleworks and discuss the development of Indianapolis as a whole. 

We were blessed to spend an hour with a major up-and-comer in Indianapolis, Bunmi Akintomide. Bunmi is climbing the ladder in an organization within the tech industry, while creating several organizations of his own including Indy Black Millenials, Afro United, and Shop Black Indy. We learned so much from Bunmi's go-getter mentality and fierce desire to bring people together. 

Owner of Naptown Thrift, rapper, Indy native, and dear friend, Aaron Marshall (aka Double A) chopped it up with us on entrepreneurship, responding to adversity, and investing in our communities. While attending Butler University, Aaron started Naptown Thrift in 2015 selling thrifted vintage clothing out of a storage unit to his peers. Using his business to make new connections, Aaron was able to network and grow his rap career within the city. He performed at many of the city’s most notable venues and events including the HiFi and the Vogue as well as the Chreece and Virginia Avenue music festivals. Following graduation, he was able to open his first storefront for Naptown Thrift in the fall of 2018 while simultaneously winning IndyStar’s vote for best local hip hop artist.

The creative community in Indy is an untapped opportunity that can bolster the identity of Indianapolis, and curator/event producer of Lari Pati, Steven Russell challenges us to think differently in how we include and support this community in Indianapolis. 

We were fortunate to spend an hour with Business and Digital Strategy Executive, Rupal Thanawala and listen to her story of immigrating to the U.S. from India, making her way to the top of the IT consulting industry, and uplifting underrepresented communities along the way. 

We had the opportunity to recognize Chancellor Alison Bell and Western Governors University (WGU) Indiana on it's 10-year anniversary. We learned about their unique education model, discovered their impact on the Indiana community, and had a discussion on the relevance of higher education in our professional lives.

Lifelong Indy resident, Greg Stowers joined us this week for a discussion on his career focus of engagement, exposure and empowerment, opportunities to strengthen our communities post-COVID-19, and the importance of recognizing privilege.

Young PowerPreneur and community leader, Anthony Murdock II joins us for a deep conversation on power, voice, personal branding, relationships, and introspection. Murdock is wise beyond his years and challenges us to continuously question our current frame of mind.

Executive Director of Teach for America Indianapolis, Amar Patel takes us through his journey from growing up in Terra Haute, Indiana as the son of Indian immigrants, joining the movement to end educational inequity, to uniting people and communities around a common vision.