Taja Graham is the Market President at Emmis Communications, a founding company in the radio industry. To make this even more notable, she is the first African-American woman to hold this position.  Taja has a lot of experience being “the only” in her circles, but she has never let that stop her from climbing the ladder to success with fierce determination. In this episode, Taja discusses the importance of not fearing the unknown and being okay with not having all of the answers. Listen to how her willingness to seek answers from others to educate herself pushed her far in her career.

Invitations to Listen: Don’t Fear the Unknown with Taja Graham

Shen Macheel is the VP and Director of Government Programs at LER TechForce and their affiliate company, LHP Engineering Solutions. She arrived in the United States at the age of sixteen as an accidental concert pianist and later transitioned to business.  In her life and career, Shen has had to observe, adapt, and grow. In this episode listen as she shares her story of fearlessness, curiosity, and how positivity is the key to breaching D&I issues. 

Invitations to Listen: Focusing on the Positive with Shen Macheel

Dr. Lynn Shaw is an Associate Professor at the University of Indianapolis in the Department of Social Work. She is a certified social worker and a certified laughter yoga leader who has spent the last 25 years understanding how laughter can be a coping mechanism for stress.  In this episode, Dr. Lynn shares her perspective on playfulness as a tool for productivity and highlights the distinct relationship between laughter and connectedness. Listen in to find out how to incorporate the principles of laughter therapy into your daily routine.

070: Laughter as a Coping Mechanism for Stress with Dr. Lynn Shaw

Jimmy Rayford stepped into his role as the CEO of Dealers Wholesale during the COVID season. Transitioning to a new job has enough challenges without a pandemic, but Jimmy made sure to lean into his leadership style of empathy and clear communication to ease the shift for himself and his new employees.  In this episode Jimmy shares resources he keeps in his “toolkit” to help cultivate leadership development and growth, and be a leader of people versus an organization.  Book Recommendations:    You’re in Charge, Now What? by Thomas J. Neff and James M. Citrin  Mindset by Carol Dweck Chase the Lion by Martin Batterson

069: Leaning into Your Leadership Style with Jimmy Rayford

LaJuana Warren is the Owner and Founder of the consulting firm Tapestry Solutions for Inclusion. In this episode, LaJuana shares her mission to help others incorporate diversity and inclusion into their organizations and point them towards the true importance of pursuing DEI efforts.

Invitations to Listen: Committing to Diverse and Inclusive Teams with LaJuana Warren

John Elliott is the President and CEO of Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, where they seek to provide food for communities in need of assistance.  Like many other organizations, Gleaners had to shift their operations during the pandemic, but their problem was unique. Their volunteer force dropped by 40% while the needs of the community and the work doubled. Listen to this episode as John shares how leaning on partnerships helped them continue to serve the community. Book Recommendations:   Win the Day by Mark Batterson

068: Betting on Partnerships to Serve the Community with John Elliott

Erica Ballard is a healthy living expert and coach with her own business, Erica Ballard Health.  Erica was on a mission to have the “perfect body”, but once she achieved her weight goals, she realized that optimal health is much more than weight loss and what you eat. It includes stress management, purpose, community, and spirituality as well.  In this episode, Erica breaks down what it looks like to have a healthy-living workplace and offers advice for making the change in your organization. To hear more from Erica, check out her podcast The Lies We’ve Been Fed. Book Recommendations:   Beyond the Pill by Jolene Brighten  Podcast Recommendations:  The Doctor’s Farmacy  Earn Your Happy Redefining Wealth

067: Inspiring Productivity through Healthy Living with Erica Ballard

Perhaps no one exemplifies the mission of trueU more than  JoDee Curtis, Founder of Purple Ink, an HR consulting firm. After spending many years in accounting, JoDee discovered her true passion for helping people bring out the best in themselves. Today, she and her team work with companies to find creative solutions to HR problems with one goal in mind: creating a JoyPowered workplace. What’s the key to making work joyful? For JoDee, it’s about discovering your strengths and leaning into them every day. On Make My People Better, JoDee talks to Kyle DeFur and Gretchen Schott about the importance of engagement and retention and why you should work into your strengths.

066: Bringing Out the Best in Others with JoDee Curtis

Entrepreneurship often manifests at a young age, and for Bob Kort, President of Kort Builders, the entrepreneurial bug bit him as a young boy watching his father run a pizza business. Today, Bob owns several businesses in central Indiana from restaurants like The District Tap to construction companies like Kort Builders.  How do you succeed as an entrepreneur? For Bob, it comes down to two words: Trust and Loyalty. On Make My People Better, Bob talks to Kyle DeFur and Gretchen Schott about the importance of building a better culture, and the integrity that comes with following through on your word.

065: Building Trust and Loyalty Leads to Opportunities with Bob Kort

Entrepreneurship and leadership often go hand-in-hand, for Andy Medley Co-founder and CEO of PERQ, it’s this connection that spurs his passion for creating a great place for people to work.    This past year, PERQ was voted as best place to work and the best tech startup in the 2020 B2B Innovator Awards.  How does Andy help foster this award-winning culture? In a word: transparency.    On Make My People Better, Andy talks with Gretchen Schott and Kyle DeFur about the importance of sharing how each team member’s role impacts the overall business objectives, and how you can transfer his lessons learned into your business.    Book Recommendations    Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz      High Output Management by Andy Grove  The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

064: Meaningful Work Equals Greater Output with Andy Medley

We’ve all heard the phrase “honesty is the best policy”, but how important is it to move a company forward? Darice Rene, VP of Strategy at Valve+Meter Performance Marketing, attributes a lot of her success, as well as her traits of openness and transparency, to her family. Early in her career, Darice noticed she was often one of few brown people in the room, and sometimes she was the only one. In this episode, she shares how being honest helped her break down barriers and how she has carried this characteristic into organizations.

Invitations to Listen: Leading with Transparency and Honesty with Darice Rene

Have you ever thought of your office space as a tool for reaching your company goals?  Cara Weber, Co-founder and Partner at DELV Design, and Eric Anderson, Principal at DELV,  are firm believers in design thinking and the power architecture has to influence people’s behavior. In this episode you’ll hear them discuss how constructing a building can solve seemingly unrelated problems. Offices can be unique, but they should also be steeped in meaning and intention.

063: Problem-Solving Using Design with Cara Weber and Eric Anderson

Liesel Mertes is the Founder of Handle with Care Consulting, where she also works as a workplace empathy consultant. When going through grad school, Liesel experienced the death of her third child only eight days after she was born. Her personal story fuels her passion for empathy and also pushes her to share its importance with leaders and organizations. In this podcast Liesel discusses the impact empathy has on the bottom line of an organization and shares ways to show empathy to your employees and peers. Want to hear more from Liesel? Follow her podcast Handle with Care, Empathy at Work or visit her website at lieselmertes.com.

062: Empathy in the Workplace with Liesel Mertes

As this year comes to a close, we want to reshare the most-downloaded episodes of 2020. In this episode, we’re revisiting the conversation with Shane Pilarski. Have you heard this phrase before, “leaders are readers?” In this episode, we’ll hear from Shane Pilarski, President and CEO of Alliance Bank. One of the initiatives she started was a book club leaning into the organizational values of helping grow and develop their people to be their best selves.  Interested in the books they read? You’ll have to take a listen. And if you do,  you’ll also learn other ways Shane leads her team to embrace new challenges, titles, and life opportunities. Shane’s story is an inspiring one. While she’s now CEO, she started at Alliance at an entry-level position and grew into the leader she is today.

[Best of] Leaders are Readers: Going from Entry-level to CEO with Shane Pilarski

As this year comes to a close, we want to reshare the most-downloaded episodes of 2020. In this episode, we’re revisiting the conversation with Demetrius Warren. Having difficult conversations doesn’t always come naturally. For Demetrius Warren, Branch Manager at Star Bank, this uncomfortability is something he’s learned to embrace. Throughout his career, sage advice from his dad has allowed him to maintain a learner’s mentality. The advice? Listen.  In the conversation with Demetruis, he identifies others who have made an impact on his life while reflecting on what challenges he faced as a Black leader in a predominantly white work culture.

[Best of] Invitations to Listen: Assuming Good Intentions with Demetrius Warren

As this year comes to a close, we want to reshare the most-downloaded episodes of 2020. In this episode, we’re revisiting the conversation with Chad Peterman. Why are you a leader? Is it because it was the next career move? Or because you really want to make an impact on people? For Chad Peterman, President of Peterman Heating Cooling and Plumbing, the answer was clear. He is passionate about growing people and helping them chase their dreams, and he joins the Make My People Better Podcast to share how his company is working to create an environment where growth is unstoppable.

[Best of] Creating a Culture of Unstoppable Growth with Chad Peterman

As we reflect on 2020, we know this year has been a challenge for many, but it’s taught us the importance of listening to each other. In this final episode of 2020, Gretchen and Kyle recap the interview highlights from this year and share the lessons they’ve learned from the conversations.

A 2020 Reflection with Gretchen Schott and Kyle DeFur

Join the trueU community, along with Truth At Work, in this special, live podcast event with New York Times best-selling author Bob Goff (@bobgoff).  Bob is driven by a desire to help others unlock their potential to love and be loved greater.  His books - Love Does and Everybody, Always - have inspired millions of people to be action-oriented in living out a richer life of service to others, while having fun doing it. Listen in as Bob discusses how faith, love and being present tie into meaningful relationships. As Bob says, there is huge power in being present and available to those around you.  If you want to feel inspired - and laugh along the way - this episode is for you. 

[Re-Release] Meaningful Relationships: Faith, Love, and Being Present with Bob Goff

During these difficult times it’s important to reflect on what we are thankful for. For this episode, Gretchen and Kyle invite leadership members of the community to take a moment to reflect on what they’ve learned from these challenges and how they are moving forward. You’ll get to hear from Christia Hicks, VP of Human Resources at Eskenazi Health, Bob Kort, CEO at Kort Builders,  Jeff McDermott, CEO of the Center for Performing Arts, Cynthia Pizzaro, President at C-Spring, Steve Long, CEO at Hancock Regional Health, and Greg Streamlaw, CEO with Indy Eleven. Each guest has a different experience with the  impact of COVID. Tune in as they share not only what they are thankful for, but also how they are giving back.

Leadership Series: Gratitude in the Midst of Crisis

Jason Barnaby is the Founder, President, and Chief Fire Starter at Fire Starters Inc., where his mission is inspiring  people to connect to their purpose.  In this episode Jason shares how  igniting passion within yourself will  propel you towards a more fulfilling life.  To learn more about Jason and Fire Starters Inc., email him at email@jasonatfirestarterstribe.com or go to firestarterstribe.com.

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