Edge Of Indy

It's time to get healthy Indy! This week we are talking to the organisers of the Indy Criterium Bicycle Festival and Freewheelin' Community Bikes and the owner of Open Gym Indy! -- First up on the show are Jennifer Cvar, Founder & Event Director of the Indy Criterium Bicycle Festival, and Holly Titus, Executive Director of Freewheelin' Bikes. If you haven't heard of the Indy Criterium Bicycle Festival before, this event was founded in 2010 and every year attracts over 500 racers and thousands of spectators to downtown Indianapolis. Jennifer noted the lack of urban races in Indianapolis and conceptualised the race course through downtown Indy, with part of the race going around Monument Circle. All of the festival's proceeds goes to benefit Freewheelin' Community Bikes as well. Freewheelin' Community Bikes was founded in 2007 and teach kids ages 10-18 bicycle mechanics, safe riding, life and leadership skills. This year's Indy Criterium Bicycle Festival takes place on Saturday, July 8. -- Jennifer Magley i

It is officially summer in Indianapolis and we are kicking off the summer with Taste of Indy and Visit Indy. -- This year will be the sixth year of Taste of Indy and in case you haven't heard about the event, it is one of the bigger food events in downtown Indianapolis. This year, they will take over the circle downtown and feature local restaurants and musicians. This event has grown every year and started at the canal, moved to White River State Park, and now at Monument Circle. Organizer Jonathan Warren joined us in studio to talk about what all will happen in this year's event! To purchase tickets, please go to their website. -- Next up on the show is Morgan Snyder, the Director of Public Relations for Visit Indy. Visit Indy is the organization that helps bring groups and events into Indianapolis. Everything from conventions to events, Visit Indy has a hand in bringing those people to see our great city. To learn more about Visit Indy and keep up to date with the latest events in Indianapolis, please visi

We are one week away from Indianapolis's newest tech conference, so we wanted to have Kara Kavensky on the show again to discuss more of the details of the inaugural year of inx3. Plus, she brought along a couple others who you will see at inx3. Brian McGinnis, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg, was one of the first sponsors of the event and has helped Kara with the planning and strategy of the conference. Also on the show is Thor Wood, Founder/CEO of Snapshyft, who will be one of the companies participating in the pitch competition of the show. There is still time to get your tickets, please use code "WeAreIn" to get 30% off of your ticket! -- For the second segment, we welcome Ashley Miser, Community & Events Manager at IndyHub, and Lesley Gordon, IndyHub Board of Directors, join us to talk about their upcoming event called Indyvolved. The event is held at the Central Library on Thursday, June 15 from 6-8:30 p.m. and they will have over 100 non-profit, community, and young professional organizations f

We have another exciting show for you this week as we learn more from the culture at Gregory & Appel Insurance and find out more about the upcoming conference inX3. -- Gregory & Appel Insurance was founded in 1884 and is a 100% Family & Employee company. Recently, they were named as the #1 Best Place to Work in Indiana in 2017. We welcome David Riley, COO/CFO, and Karl Ahlrichs, Senior Consultant, from Gregory & Appel on the show to talk about the history of their company and what they have done to create a company culture that has been recognized as a Best Place to Work. -- Have you heard about the newest conference coming to Indianapolis? It's the inX3 conference and this will be the largest regional gathering of entrepreneurial in the Midwest. This event will combine the Venture Club of Indiana's Innovation Showcase with TechPoint's Winner's Circle Event during a whole week in June.  The event takes place June 13-17 at Union 525 and they have 111 sponsors for the event! Edge Media Studios i

It's the month of May in Indianapolis and that means it is time for the Indianapolis 500! So, for this show, we wanted to have an IndyCar theme! First up on the show is Michael Pearson from Daredevil Brewing. Michael is the Head Brewer and co-founder of Daredevil Brewing and he came on the show to talk about his Race Day Lager. If you don't know the story behind Daredevil Brewing, then this is the show for you! Plus he brought us several different kinds of beer for us to try and sample during the show! In the last segment, we were lucky enough to track down Spencer Pigot, IndyCar driver for Juncos Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing. Spencer is one of the rising stars on the IndyCar circuit and he's getting ready to run in his second career Indy 500 on Sunday. On Sunday he'll be driving for Juncos Racing, a team he knows very well as they helped him rise through the ranks from the Pro Mazda Series to the Indy Lights. Be sure to watch for him on Sunday!

First up in this episode is Mina Starsiak, one of the stars of the HGTV Show "Good Bones". Locally, Mina and her mom (Karen Laine) own a local house rehab company called Two Chicks and a Hammer. They rehabbed their first home in 2007 and have been doing them ever since. Mina was on the show to talk about the upcoming second season of Good Bones that premieres on May 30th at 10 p.m. Mina talks about some of the homes they encounter this season and also find out where you can stay at one of their designs on AirBNB. --- In the second part of the show (around the 24-minute mark) we transition our show and welcome on Charlie Henry, the Director of Communications with the Indianapolis Indians. The Indians are the local AAA affiliate for the Pittsburgh Pirates and are the oldest sports franchise in Indianapolis.  The Indians are always coming up with some great ideas to get people out to the ballpark, and this year is no different. This year they have Superhero nights throughout the summer promoting a different supe

A 2016 Gallup report found that 71% of employees are not engaged at work, 60% of employees do not connect with their company's mission, and 60% of millennials are open to different job opportunities and likely to job hop. Ryan McCarty is trying to change that trend with his organization called "Culture of Good." The program started when Scott Moorehead, the CEO of TCC Verizon (the largest Verizon Authorized Retailer), to help change the culture of his company of 3,000 employees at 800 stores across the U.S. And ever since then, this movement took off and has spread across the country by helping companies inspire employees to have a positive impact in their community and the world. Join Brittany and Ryan today as they discuss company culture on this episode of Edge of Indy!

What an amazing show do we have for you this week on the Edge of Indy! First on the show is Pete Butler - the CEO, President, and Founder of MS Companies. MS Companies was founded in 1999 with a different outlook on hiring. They looked to place individuals in opportunities that engage individuals in short-term, or project-based, employment that they call the "Gig Economy." In their 18-year existence, MS Companies is now one of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation that has a 200,000 person talent pool and supports 900 customers across 14 states. Listen to Pete Butler tell his story and learn more about his company's history in this episode! --- ClusterTruck joins us in the second segment of our show and are fresh off of winning two Mira Awards! If you haven't heard of ClusterTruck before, it is a combination of technology and dining. They are literally revolutionizing the way food is ordered, prepared, and delivered. They have combined 10 food-truck style menus under one roof and you can order f

We have a powerful show for you today. This week on Edge of Indy we talk with Andrea Cowley, the Associate Director of Dress for Success Indianapolis and Lisa Mitchell, the Founder of Power Body Language. Dress for Success Indianapolis is an organization that helps women get clothes for jobs interview, help women keep their jobs under their Employment Retention Program and they also have programs to help women prepare for employment with through their Career Development Center. They have over 500 active volunteers and serve close to 1,400 women a year. On April 23, Dress for Success is having a fundraiser at Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Salon in Carmel for women to get a free color service and the salon will donate $5 per person who shows up! If you want to learn more about the event, click here. Also, on May 18, Dress for Success will have a Spring Wine Dinner Fundraiser at Matt the Miller's Tavern in Carmel. For more information, please click here. ____ Lisa Mitchell is the founder of Power Body Language and she spe

What is NinjaZone? That's what we wanted to know - so we had the CEO of NinjaZone Casey Wright in our studio to discuss her NinjaZone sport has taken over the country. NinjaZone is part gymnastics, obstacle course training, parkour, martial arts, and dance to create one unique sport for kids ages 3-11. The goal of the sport is to move through an environment or a series of obstacles with fluidity prowess and stealth. This is done by using a combination of flips, jumps, rolls, spins, and kicks - children bring out their inner-ninja while getting a lot of great exercise and athletic skills that can be learned for life. Coming up this year is the inaugural year for the Ninja Games. Regional competitions will be held in Sacramento, Cedar Rapids, and Chicago with nationals being held in Indianapolis on August 5, 2017. Casey and her team has done an amazing job building this program and sport. They have already amassed more than 240 locations in just THREE years! Truly amazing and we were very excited to learn more

As you know, Indiana has a lot of great places to eat. In always wanting to try a new restaurant, we noticed that Yelp had just released a new list called "The Top Places to Eat in Indiana." So we wanted to have them on to discuss their new list! Brittany Smith is the Yelp Indy Sr. Community Director and she helps connect local businesses with the Yelp platform. She published this list with the help a unique methodology: The rankings are based on reviews written by Hoosiers, and are places you can eat a full meal. The rankings were also determined by an algorithm that considered review trends in the last year and overall restaurant rankings. And from the top 50 list, we brought in four Indianapolis-area restaurants that were featured in the list. Bosphorus Cafe, Caplinger's Fresh Catch, Three Carrots, and Goose the Market.

This week we have two great guests for you on the Edge of Indy! First up on the podcast, we have Kate Franzman the owner of Bee Public. Kate wants to make Indianapolis a more bee-friendly city through education and community outreach. Since 2012, Kate has installed beehives all across Indianapolis with locations like the Monon Trail and Eskenazi Hospital. She also goes around to area schools to make classroom presentations on the importance of honeybees. Second, we had a group of guests from Your Image Works and the Humane Society of Indianapolis. Twenty-Three chihuahuas were rescued from a hoarding situation in southern Indiana and brought to the Hannah Giere at Humane Society of Indianapolis for medical treatment and eventual adoption. Then, Courtney Bills and Shawn Quick-Raflik of Your Image Works saw the story and decided they wanted to help. They helped set up an online store and created fundraising campaign called #SayChis. 

This week we have two great segments for The Edge of Indy! First up, we have Kasia Kwiatkowsa, Membership Director of the Skyline Club, and Steve Jefferson, the Crimebeat Reporter for WTHR, join us in the studio to discuss an event they are having at the Skyline Club. On Friday, March 24th, the Skyline Club is hosting an event called "Meet the Media." This event plans to bring together entrepreneurs, journalists, and business professionals from the Indianapolis metro area to build relationships with the local media. Plus, they will hold a roundtable discussion with news reporters about how to pitch your content to them and discuss different ways of advertising. To register for the event, please sign up with Eventbrite here.  Second, on the show, we talk to Tom Hanley of Nine13 Sports. Nine13 Sports is a non-profit organization that has developed the Kids Riding Bikes program that promotes health, wellness, and exercise by getting kids aged 5-18 on a stationary bike synced with their curriculum. They partner w

Deseri Garcia is the President of Vida Aventura and provides executive coaching, leadership development, and team building for businesses and organizations of all sizes. Another thing that Vida Aventura offers is Adventure Retreats. On a retreat, you can experience some new adventures (like surfing, yoga, or paddle boarding) but also receive some coaching and personal growth exercises. We had a great conversation with Deseri Garcia and hope you will check out her website

This week on the Edge of Indy, we were joined by a father and son team. Dr. Dean Stratman, and his son (also named Dean), joined us to discuss their interesting take on dentistry - 24-hour Care. The company is called 24-Hour Dental Care and they actually do take patients at any time of the day. You can walk in and receive treatment that day, with or without an appointment. They have two locations in Indianapolis, one on the north side and one on the south side, and hope to have one in Avon by the end of the year. We had a great conversation with Dr. Stratman and his son discussing how they came up with the idea, how they are marketing it, and we also enjoyed some of the stories about the interesting phone calls you get for being open 24 hours.

We live in a connected society. Social Media has taken over our lives and sometimes we just need to disconnect. Well, we invited Lisa Whitman and Aaron Douglas from "A Place to Float" to discuss how they help people to disconnect and relax. According to their website, A Place to Float is a place to relax, recover, and recharge. At their spa, you can relieve stress, pain, insomnia, and clear your mind. When you come to A Place to Float you lay down in a buoyant tub that has 10 inches of water with 1,000 pounds of Epsom salt. If you would like to learn more about A Place to Float, you can visit their website here.

Forty years ago (1977) in downtown Indianapolis, Tony Kiritsis went to the fourth floor of 129 E. Market Street - his left arm was in a blue string, and carrying a department shoe box and blueprints in his right. It wasn't strange for the director of Meridian Mortgage, Richard Hall, to see Kiritsis sitting in the lobby of his office when he arrived after 8 a.m. Kiritsis would regularly show up to discuss his plans for a strip mall on the west side of Indianapolis. But this morning was different. Richard Hall invited Kiritsis into his office and for the next 63 hours, Kiritsis held a sawed-off shotgun to Hall's head with a dead man's line wired to the trigger. Alan Berry and Mark Enochs are Indianapolis filmmakers who have spent the last four years putting together a true-crime documentary about this importance piece of Indianapolis history. They have interviewed over 40 people - news reporters, police officers, lawyers, jury members, family, & friends - to help make this film. We had Alan and Mark on the

Mark Light is the Co-founder and President of The Pancreatitis Foundation, a non-profit organization who's mission is to provide funding to advance research leading to a cure for pancreatic disease and provide support for patients and their families. Mark joined us on the podcast to discuss the work he is doing with the foundation as well as the #EmmeSmiles fundraising campaign. Emily (Emme) Theisen, a 4-year-old from Noblesville, who is battling pancreatitis, a rare condition for a child of that age. Last week, Emme underwent a surgery at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital to remove her pancreas to help relieve the pain. So Mark, and his foundation, have partnered with the Theisen family to help cover some of the medical costs. One of the most recent fundraising efforts was Mark's cross-country bike ride that raised about $30,000 to help support the Theisens. If you would like to donate to the cause, please visit their website.

Dave Colt and Clay Robinson are the founders of Sun King Brewing Company join us on the podcast this week to promote their upcoming Winter Warmer! The Winter Warmer will take place at the Flatwater Restaurant on February 9th, 2017 at 5 p.m. No tickets are necessary for the event but for more information about the event, please sign up on Facebook! This year's Winter Warmer will feature 11 beers and those are: Velvet Fog, GranMuckle, Bourbon Barrel Timmie, Whip Fight, Cherry Busey, Carmel Apple Tripel, Total Germination, Small Batch Texas Bronco, Triptonic, Rumpshaker, and When Doves Pie. In this episode, we talk with Dave and Clay about the history of Sun King, this year's Winter Warmer, as well as some of the community outreach the company does throughout the state of Indiana. To learn more about Sun King and what they offer, visit their website at http://www.sunkingbrewing.com/

We are excited to have Caroline Hoy, the Executive Director of Flight 1, in studio for our fourth episode of Edge of Indy. Flight 1 is a charitable organization that provides confidence-building experiences for children whose families struggle with the loss of confidence and emotional toll of facing a serious health challenge or losing an immediate family member to illness. If you are interested in donating or finding out more information about Flight 1, visit their webiste at http://flight1.org/