I'm Matt Hunker CEO and co-founder of powder keg and on the show today CEO and co-founder of Indie Maven and Maven space Leslie Bailey my column was The Adventurous so I did the two-seater with Mario Andretti I did a two-seater on a Moto GP bike Dolphins at the zoo I've flown three different types of planes Christmas caroling at the mall it was it was interesting and I did Leslie Bailey has built an incredible Community for people who want to uplift women's voices Indie Maven and after launching Indie Maven she and her team built Maven space a co-working space social club and event venue in downtown Indianapolis raised outside of Detroit Michigan where her mother was a hair stylist and her father worked in the auto racing industry for over 60 years throughout her entire childhood in adolescence both of her parents battled cancer which has had a big impact on how Leslie approaches life she's been a writer throughout her professional career working the Saturday evening Post Indianapolis Star Indianapolis monthly and AAA Crossroads magazine before starting at Indy Maven in 2019.
in our conversation with Leslie we'll cover tips for telling a great story the importance of prioritizing your mental health characteristics of a strong community and be sure to listen to the end where Leslie tells us about an amenity people are going crazy for when they are co-working at Maven space that's all coming up on this episode of get in not to be such a bummer my most of my childhood was like marked by my parents being sick my dad got prostate cancer when I was in kindergarten and then from that point on up till High School one or both of my parents had cancer or something as a residual effect so that was kind of the big marker so I think I also I have a younger brother he works here in Speedway now here owns a carbon fiber shop and I think just like I grew up really fast we didn't have a huge Community around us so I took on like the bossy older sister role anyway and then on top of that like again just kind of having to grow up really fast did you know at the time that that wasn't like a normal thing to have to go through yes but I don't think I knew just like how extreme it was I mean I certainly didn't have and my parents were also both older than most the other parents so their friends were actually already grandparents so when I would go over to their houses it's like maybe their grandkids around like other kids to play with a lot our age so that was good because I had my brother and I definitely knew that like not everybody else is you know my mom was going through shaving her head giant scar on her head chemo radiation I couldn't like even just that was like my high school friend couldn't wear perfume in the house because my mom couldn't you know and I we get kind of you know there's all the different emotions that get resentful and embarrassed because you're a kid like you don't know what process you think terrified also I mean there's just run the gamut on emotions so sure I've been in therapy since I was 14 years old I think everyone should do it I still do it monthly amazing that you got into therapy that really yeah that's wonderful and it's funny I was always like my own Advocate like that was my idea like I was decided I should probably go to things where do you think that came from I don't know my mom that was kind of like my mom she's very determined get an idea and made it happen so I think that probably came from her what were some of those things that you learned going to therapy from the age of 14 that I don't mean catch us up on all of your therapy since 14.
no it was kind of timely because I also was a victim of sexual assault by like a family friend who also became my employer so there was a lot of that so it was probably I mean that happened around that same time so there was just a lot going on and like thank goodness that I had that in place yeah no kidding because I think that helped me get through a lot of stuff that I was way too young that I should not have had to face you know for a number of reasons and I I mean I think that was probably had a huge factor in what saved me but also like I had really good parents so that that helped what do you think helps to overcome those types of things is it there's like actual terms I think but the survival mode or survival kicks in but like some everybody's built differently right and so what do you think it was it helped you overcome those things too Focus yeah versus withdrawing I think that's like in nature versus nurture question I mean So my answer to my superpower is resilience but I don't know if that was like a result or if that was innate right was that built in or did that just come about or was it a combination of both so I don't know but I definitely now as an adult have looked back and having my mom as the role like the model when you say role model but the person showing me you know this is how you handle these things I mean I'm so thankful that that if I had to go through that with a parent that I went through it with a parent who was so positive and was like dying is not an option and we're gonna go to The Comedy Club I didn't but my parents went to the Omni Club every week after her radiation session and like just celebrated and I think just handled it in such a healthy way I think that number one that was one of the reasons she lived as long as she did and then I think number two that have probably formed a lot of me now today but it you know it takes getting to your late 30s to to see that I certainly did not see that at 16.
so going back to that right I had a similar story where my mom had medical Cancer all through High School ended up passing away in college and now when I look back on it it did seem like that was a starting life and like using those experiences as you look back on those as like motivation and in the moment it's like a terrible experience but how have you been able to pull lessons of resilience and and when did you officially realize that like though that it might be it might be difficult and you look back and it's very very hard like how did you take that in a positive stride and it become formative to your entrepreneurship journey to just your life in general today I think it first clicked for me I went to IUPUI and I was in a I was working on a project with my communications professor professor it was a women's studies project and we interviewed I think each of us did seven women and out of this team and my mom was one of them and that was the first time that I actually sat down and asked her questions about her life like before me and and then after me enduring and what was that like and I have it recorded and I've I've never gone back and listened to it I have it on my computer I I don't I kind of mostly just kind of forget about that it's there I would like I needed to make sure that I go back and find it I know I saved it but that was the first moment where I was like oh you were a whole person that had nothing to do with me you know and then hearing all of those experiences reflected back just as another woman not as my mom so it was able to take it out of context a little bit and then reformulate how it process through me was the first experience where I recognized that and then I think later is becoming when I became a parent and then now I'm looking it on the flip side from that perspective too so it took the it took time and then different experiences me playing different roles to look back and then like just process it in a different way and at the same time it's like it's awful my mom passed away when I was a couple months pregnant with my first son right it was horrible but she also got to I got her 25 years longer than she was supposed to be here and you know I learned so much and so it's yes there's those were horrible moments but I also am very well aware that have shaped me to who I am today so it you can't not be grateful for that that's commendable right the fact that you can do things stride and turn what the average world would look at and see as a negative and a limiting factor and turn that into you know being able to pull up the positive and be optimistic through that it's very impressive thanks yeah we'll credit the therapy for that yeah I I would imagine that therapy was extremely helpful and having that just kind of observation on your life through all of those trials and tribulations were really important and it sounds like those early experiences all the way from dealing with those traumas to um talking to your mom as a whole person that a lot of those things LED you towards a life of Journalism as you kind of look back how do you think those things played a role in you choosing that path in your career well I always liked writing and storytelling what do you like about it I I mean really going back I think that that was a way to process like Journal right before that was a thing we told people I think I figured that out pretty early that I just enjoyed it I enjoyed storytelling I liked that part of it and then later as an adult I don't know that I said I mean I know I did not set out to become a journalist but I think it was my Approach was like process of elimination and figure out what you don't want to do and I was lucky that it didn't take me that long to stumble into something I did because I you know that could have taken a while but what were some of the things you didn't want to do I interned at a radio station and that was fun but I realized I did not want to be on the radio well thanks for being on this podcast episode a bit different like the pop culture morning drive time thing was not for me I worked in racing for a bit in hospitality and those are really long you know days and I mean I'm glad again thankful for that experience but I did not want the life that my dad had in racing just being gone and being on the road and just that culture so and you said I wanted to do that he did yeah yeah in the in the 80s what was Indie lights for for those that weren't around here in the 80s so any lights is a feeder Series so essentially like a lot of the big guy names that you see now in IndyCar so Tony Canon Scott Dixon Helio castanovas they all came up through Indie lights yeah that's right which is still around you know just the evolution but yeah so he and a man by the name of Pat Patrick who was a team owner among many other things founded that together in the 80s and my dad I had a friend that raced in Indy lights oh did you this was it Mark Olson he raced around 10 years ago maybe yeah it's probably around the time my dad retired and I sort of got out of the whole scene too but he actually still he's 81 and he's the commissioner in the MSA sport car Series so he's still dabbles thanks for filling in the gaps for me as as these two guys know Sports Is My Kryptonite I know nothing about sports other than how to play a couple of them yeah and not very well so he's pretty good at basketball I've seen that yeah but when you're six foot ten Matt I'll go with 610 now now that it's on the record people will think that I'm actually 6 10.
I'll take it so you found out what you didn't want to do and that kind of LED you in that that path I had a question for you about your journaling practice has that evolved over the years I just got back into it this January 1st because I bought a one line a day Journal which I had already had once before I probably could have gone and found that one in my basement and just used it but I wanted a fresh start because my like being maybe a little bit of an overachiever too like the like I need to do it every day and I don't have time and I've got this whole busy life and so I I that clicked like that's something manageable because I also want to just track things right and so now I'm doing that I think because of like yeah I think you have to look at the season of life that you're in and you know there was a time where I had all the Time in the World to just Journal my thoughts and let them flow freely and I didn't have to be anywhere and I was going to interrupt me like that's not the season I'm in I would love to get back to that someday but with two little kids like probably not so for now it's the one line a day journal and that has been great that's awesome yeah we'll link it up in the show notes yeah yeah I might go check that out too yeah I've always wanted a journal but it's too intimidating oh this is super easy that sounds great I was reminded of it by a podcast I was listening called to that I love called The Lazy genius and I was sitting out front of silver in the city about that thing I bet silver in the city has it I walked in and they had it that totally sounds like something yeah did a whole journaling session but yeah well if silver in the city has it that's the one only the show notes yeah never heard of silver in the city yes yeah yeah even I've heard of Supremacy oops it's great they have two locations one on Mass Ave and the other one up in carnival I'm gonna go check it out all your gift giving needs we got to get one up in Zionsville for you too yeah yeah or next time we're down at Burnside Inn we can go and go up the jewel shopping yeah exactly I love that and I am very privileged in in the sense that I I am able to devote 10 minutes a day to my adrenaline practice and so it's nice to know that there are solutions for when I'm not in the season of life where I can peel away for 10 minutes yeah every day and do that yeah I can totally relate to the pressure of type A wanting to make sure you get the gold star every day for doing journaling yeah there have been two days that I missed and definitely went back the next morning and was like I'm not skipping it I remember what I did yesterday oh that counts yeah that counts definitely counts well what were your early experiences in journalism well like you said was very accidental I met these guys on the street in Broad Ripple and I was going out all the time and one of them was working at this um free magazine called Metromix back in the day the free stands that you get at the corner the newspaper and he was like would you be interested in writing about this you should have a Blog and I didn't know what a Blog was so I looked that up about what year was this 2006.
maybe somewhere in that range do you remember what bar you're coming out of all of them that's usually um yeah any of Rob sabatini's establishments that probably it was my typical hangout but became friends with this guy and he enjoy fingers and he worked at Metro mix and yeah and that just like that kicked off started a Blog that led to writing for Metromix which led to a column for Metro mix which led to some freelance articles for the star which led to my column in the star it just snowballed it was all about like local culture I was officially the things to do reporter once I became a columnist at the star and then so I got this hybrid which was I was very lucky to have a sort of I I covered things to do in the city you know events places to go things to eat right there are a couple of stories because I've heard some really good ones from when you were the things to do so yes so then my column was The Adventurous so that is where I got to go out and so I did the two-seater with Mario Andretti I did a two-seater on a Moto GP bike fans at the zoo I've flown three different types of planes glider World War II plane Christmas caroling at the mall it was it was interesting and I did it just keeps coming back no it's Christmas carols so it it was I was so lucky that was such a fun job I left to take care of my mom she when she got sick one of the times and then I went after she kind of got better ish I felt good and I could I was driving back and forth right to Michigan Michigan to here and so then I thought well I've been at the star like maybe my time there has ended and so I had been freelancing for Indie monthly for a long time and they were looking for a lifestyle editor so I took that until my mom later got sick again I got married and I left and then you know well and I want to come back to the decision to to leave um the different jobs that you were at but first one I kind of just rewind to those first couple years in journalism or at least those first I don't know dozen stories or so what is it that clicked with you about storytelling why do you think storytelling is important I think that's gonna sound cheesy but I think it gives like you have this cool opportunity to give people a voice that don't maybe don't otherwise have it and I think specifically I always tried really hard to focus on local businesses women-owned businesses minority-owned businesses like that was kind of on my radar before that was the thing to do right because that's what I was interested in so I I think my maybe a little bit of imposter syndrome that I had not being a actual like I did not go to school for journalism I was a Communications major I think being the person and you know one of the few if only I don't know everyone that I knew in that Newsroom had a journalism degree so I was like well I'm not gonna I can't beat them join them you know kind of thing like I'll do it a different way and it took the pressure off like the few times that I had to kind of kind of do like a harder it you know I just I was like this isn't what I want to do I'm not there are so many other people in this room who are better at this than I am so like let me stay in my Lane because if you're number one enjoying what you do and it naturally comes easy then why why do something else anyway so I guess just I don't know it clicked right away I I also maybe was naive and just you know maybe I didn't grow up here so Indianapolis Star was not like total household name I mean I knew it was the news I knew I understood what it was it just I don't know I think this has been a lot of things for me where I just I don't think I don't overthink a lot actually I love a lot of intuition people love that authenticity yeah I mean so you're very authentic true to yourself in that and that produces amazing something that's amazingly different thanks yeah how'd that change it so you went from opportunity to opportunity in journalism so how'd that change so you were doing things to do adventurism and then as you progress through that Journey how did that change did you cover different topics or things or kind of the same at each at each stop well at the start again I was so fortunate so I got to write about personal things too I wrote about mental health just things that I had gone through I wrote a column about my friend who died because he was waiting on a heart and I got to talk to you know I got this amazing response from organ donors and his family and other organ donor families so I mean I was really given a lot of freedom and autonomy and in that role which I'm so thankful for and was kind of like different for them right and I applaud them for being open to doing something that wasn't as traditional they were just sort of getting into this concept of journalists as personalities too so I was in this like first test group remember when Ian Landers was big yeah back in the day yes well so but I think that why that timing allowed for for a little bit more flexibility and freedom and what I was doing any monthly kind of more like as they had always done things but still loved it and I always loved the kind of like shopping restaurant you know lifestyle scene so it wasn't a stretch for me either and I had wanted to learn more about the process and the publication of the magazine that I had been freelancing for for a long time because you know being in The Newsroom I got to see how the sausage was made and I didn't know so much there so I'm glad I got to have that experience too so going into that right seeing how the sausages made the publication side what skills outside of writing did you learn over your 10 plus year career in journalism that have helped you as an entrepreneur today oh gosh well kind of talking to that point about becoming the personality so I got put on TV and I got put on the radio and I was doing radio commercials actually I forgot to write a guy back but the other day one of the sales people was like hey I found this radio spot you did and I sound like a baby and at the end I did this little jealous like that I remember they had me rehearse these things and that's all I can hear but it was basically saying I have such a cool job and I did but we we partnered with the cold so we did this like hybrid sports show where I would like go on with some of the players and it was called wring it on and like couples would play trivia to win an engagement ring at the end so it was like me and a bunch of Colts players like doing this game show at one of the pizza the pizza place from IU with the breadsticks Hot Box no oh there one before that it doesn't matter but anyway so like getting on stage in front of people and then I got a segment on Fox 59 in that job too so suddenly I was going on TV which I now to this day still have a segment on Fox 59 full circle so what is that every other Friday I have a segment called inspired living what time is the air 9 10 9 10 a.
m 9 10 a. m well in the morning show well your living's about to get really inspiring I love it yeah so just funny like totally unrelated but full circle back I'm box 59 and so I just developed that and then I don't know that this is a skill but thick skin yeah yeah for sure if you've ever read the comment section of your whole newspaper online or literally anything so yeah or any social media yeah so one of these days well how can we how can we convince people to just be less nasty is it is it Utopia thought well I was a big fan of engaging for a while and I got a couple apologies out of it right because I think what it comes down to especially back then I think now we're a little more aware because we've seen the effects of bullying and all sorts of things but we haven't talked about that as much then and it was this recognition that there is a human on the other end and typically when when suddenly now I'm like yeah let's talk we should have a conversation about your thoughts it was like oh well I shouldn't have said that I didn't know you were gonna anyway you're gonna respond to it and then after a while I was like I actually just you know but there was a quite a period of time where I was like yeah I'm willing to set aside some time for this because you you need to not do this to other people and I've always looked at this and this is probably a coping mechanism but that there have been that things happen to me because I have the resilience and so not to be like I'm a superhero but I think there there are things that would possibly break other people or damage them more in the way and that I feel better prepared to handle them so it really didn't bother me as much as I know that it probably did other people and I'd rather maybe the one to speak up and like fight that small battle Yeah if that means that person's not going to go on and do it again somebody else yeah yeah well I uh I'll go ahead and say that you're a superhero in the way that you handle that and for us newbies in the room here which is literally everyone but you what are you what are your tips or tricks for doing media well well I don't know that I always follow them I think I I well I'll tell you what I do forget still I forget to breathe because I'm a fast talker anyway I fumble over my words when I get excited or I'm not breathing think I have a tendency and I'm just gonna say the things I do wrong but sometimes I have a tendency I want to like over share and it's about the other person and I'm like but I want to share my experience with you and make it a two-way conversation and sometimes you know it's one thing in an interview where you can edit that out but if it's like live and you can't edit it that you're there to be the moderator or the host or just recognizing what am I in this situation yeah and is this a conversation or am I the moderator or it is my job because I see that you know I've seen people who are supposed to be there to Simply moderate and then they Center themselves at the discussion yeah I think that's a really important one which is like well let me tell you what I think management you do a great job saying yes really thought-provoking questions I will give you a little kudos for that yeah yeah well and um I I like what you had to say about you know live television you know sound bites you know are you there to give sound bites are you there to have a discussion are you there to ask questions yes and and asking that of whoever you're there for like what is my role at this event or in this interview I mean sometimes it's a very clear understanding you're a podcast guest okay I understand how that works but sometimes it's not always clear like what it is you want me to do and it just doesn't hurt to ask a lot of questions beforehand so you can go unprepared having interviewed a lot of people what do the best guests or people that you're interviewing do with that interview how do they show up or what kinds of things do they say that really help you craft a good story of to your point about just being authentic like when someone has scripted responses you know it and that's boring and nobody wants that I think if and that's also your job as an interviewer to get people comfortable to want to share some you know the worst thing you could do as a guest is a one-word answer right yep yes no yes and sometimes you have to dig a little harder than other times with people but that's also just like you know looking at I'm it's not like I sat and studied but I admired right like Barbara Walters and Oprah for like I'm not gonna let that go actually like I'm not I don't I don't accept that answer so let's try that again and I want you to give me the real answer Howard Stern's really good at that too right like no actually or the like I mean he's you know burying your face about it like that's not true but I I think that as the guest the best thing you can do is just be authentic and honest so you go through all these experiences growing up going to journalism self-starter self-taught right different different majoring Communications so so how did all of that culminate together that you woke up one day or was it over a series of days remarks or years that you decided to start Indie maven it was the the year after my first son he's going to be five at the end of this month the end of January and the year after he was born which I've actually heard women say that this can be a very creative time I partly think it's because you're sitting there and you're trapped a lot especially if you're nursing I mean but what actually even if you're not if you're just feeding it you're stuck holding a sleeping baby feeding a baby a lot of times it gives you a lot of time to think and also maybe you're sleep deprived and it's coming up with crazy ideas I don't know I think there's something to be said about that period of time and then so what do you want to do right you keep them alive for a year and I was like okay if you're gonna go back to work then what do you want that to look like and I had I couldn't picture myself going back to any of the places that I had already been not because I didn't enjoy it I just like I wanted a new experience and so I talked to my friend and mentor and Indie Maven co-founder Amanda Kingsbury a lot and she I don't know if somehow she had suggested her I suggested but what about all these ideas that we had that we were never able to bring to fruition for whatever reason during our time that we worked together at the star and we just started mapping out what that could look like because during that time when I was at the star newsletters were really kicking off and I was like an early adopter of the skim if you're familiar with that daily newsletter and so wouldn't it be cool if we had something like that here or daily candy there's newsletters very early on and thought well that would be cool to have here we already thought that a couple years ago but now we had the capacity to maybe try it on our own so that was the very early kind of version of Indie Maven oh so originally Indie Maven you weren't thinking co-working no the co-working just really came about in the last year so Indie Maven was designed well actually first and foremost it was like a um a directory this was lifestyle directory I found it so funny that I was sitting home covered in spit up and I was still getting texts like where should I go for my anniversary dinner where do I get my eyebrows done I'm just like well why are you asking me where do you get it it depends which part is I have different people for different things okay I'm gonna back pedal on that question but it was like I had this Rolodex of information in my brain because of what I had done professionally and it felt like a waste right your brain with a baby at home already feels like a little bit mushed I'm like I need to keep this sharp and I'm getting rusty and I don't want to lose touch of what's going on in my city and what I've worked hard to sort of become an expert at and so was going to be directory and it was it kicked off like that and then I realized directories are a lot of work and also not my area like not my best like skill set like the skill set is storytelling so I can yes I can put a listing of where you could go get your eyebrows done or I could tell you about my experience and here's how it happened and this is what I felt like and here's what you can expect because that's what story to go off of right storytelling and also like personal recommendation because you don't necessarily know on a directory listing right this is why we have Yelp and things where people can have their personal reviews and so very quickly it was like no no it's about the story behind whatever the the place the thing the the topic is so that became just content website free Weekly Newsletter comes out every Thursday I've never missed an issue and then from there what happened was it very quickly just evolved to a community which we knew the community we had it backwards like the content was the driver and then the community would come except now it's sort of flipped on its head where the community is the focus and the content and the storytelling just supports the community we have some experience with that yup that'll love it our content is not as awesome as yours but we I can totally understand how that would have shifted and but that means you're on to something right because if people are willing to build a community around something 100 yeah then that means they're they're interested it's like especially the organ sounds like how it came about yes so then had that parlay into the physical space so so launched 2019 covid five months later first summer asking the audience this community right that already existed what do you want this to be because we were supposed to do a lot of events and we couldn't and so what would you like instead or you know we were so we were super quick to jump on the virtual event thing but also knew that was gonna only last so long so just trying to think ahead and even though we were doing those I was still thinking okay but when the time comes what's going to be the event that we do what's going to be the in-person thing and the answer just from the women was always like I want to be with other women and support other women connect with other women and I mean ultimately we're a social species and that is We Gather right and so knowing that Gathering and we were we'd already plan to have these monthly meetups but it was hard to find a new place every month so like wouldn't it be nice if we just had one place and then during that time because I was always paying attention to Media but specifically like women's media seeing all the other spaces like this for women that were popping up around the country and just thinking well we're like a good size city we should probably have one of these too and then it was one of those things where I thought would it bother me if somebody else did this and the answer was definitely yes and so I kind of wanted to jump on it before someone else did and I and it happened really quickly after that so is is it powered by individual memberships or company memberships or both all of the above yeah so we have everything from day passes so you can just pop in for the day monthly memberships there's corporate memberships we have corporate sponsors our members are everything from solopreneurs small teams their company pays for it their non-profits so it's a lot of different people in there but all sort of with that same mission of uplifting women you don't have to be a woman but you need to have you know that mission at heart first and foremost and so we have about 40 members now the goal like I say sort of comfortable goals about 100 but I want to also see how that feels we have a big space and I have yet to really find how people will behave and it's funny you can talk I'm in a co-working community and one place in one city will say oh my gosh Mondays are so dead for us and then the next space like that's our busiest days so still seeing how people behave from an attendance standpoint I guess still figuring that out and then kind of decide there where we cap it can you tell us about your space kind of give us the give us a pitch on why why did a listener want to come and become a member yeah so it's we have 15 000 square feet and we are downtown Indianapolis we've got really easy surface parking it's easy to get to it's at the corner of Michigan and Capitol so we sublease from Salesforce so it was a very well done space to begin with and it was designed as an amenity space so that's really our our strength our strength is our amenities and our community the the people who are there on a regular basis like I again it sounds so cheesy because see magic happen all the time collaborations friendships business interactions like it's really really cool to see which I had already seen right but anecdotally or like through hearing things or seeing things at our events but now I get to see it at a daily basis so definitely that Community element is the strength and then just from the amenities standpoint we have an on-site Cafe for our members the fork and function is another local women-owned business they operate that we've got an event space so we can rent out the whole Space we can fit 300 people but then we also have a specific event room that can be up to you know 150 180 depending on what you want to do with it that has all the AV the projectors the mics so it's a great multi-use room we have a full gym on site we have sparkling water that's always a big hit but you know the number one thing that we get the comment is just the natural light the biggest thing people comment on is just the amount of natural light that we have it's super open and Airy we've got a lot of plants it just feels really good in there I love that so you keep talking about this word Community right you've used it a few times about this great community and this aspect there can you tell me the characteristics of of a good community and kind of Define that for the listeners of what makes a strong community well I'm glad you asked because I have researched that over the last not purposefully but I I like nerd out on topics right so if I get into something and I want to know more about it so I've listened to like three books recently on that very subject because I got annoyed hearing people use that word a lot and not really understanding what it meant and there are very there is a book called The Art of gathering I believe is the one right and okay you know I loved the definitions that they use right and so you can have a group of people that still gather but it doesn't mean that it's Community right so to me and for what our community is it's a group of people who will and this might be different from the book but for for us it's a group of people who want to be together right whether that is virtually or in person and they share common goals and they are gathering for a purpose and that can be a very broad purpose so for us it's just uplifting women and then from there they might have their own reasons while I'm also here to Network for my business or I want to make more friends right but when I say community it's this group that formed out of these women who said and it wasn't just women we certainly had all types of people but majority of female identifying people coming forward and saying like I think that there is a need for something like this to exist and therefore I want to show up in whatever way is asked or I feel comfortable so that I can make this happen and support this and keep it going get bigger include more people and have an in have this desired impact as someone who's hosted a lot of events now or at least let a company that has hosted a lot of events what kind of tips do you have for people on how to host a great Gathering whether that's corporate function board meeting or a dinner at home or a big conference you know anywhere in between what are those things that you've kind of seen both as a kind of sewer of events I'm sure you attended a lot of events while covering lots of different events but then now hosting your own events I think we hear here in the certainly in the marketing World about surprise and delighting people and I think that often does not translate over to events or meetings or Reasons Why We Gather and I think you know I see Brands like we want to surprise and Delight our customer but then their team is sitting in this room and has this terribly boring me right and like you can get into culture and all that but it's like it doesn't it has to be across the board so for us we have in the past once or twice once or twice tried a meet up where there was just like a let's just hang out let's just get to know each other and let's leave it open-ended and those fall flat it's there's has to be some sort of an interaction or an engagement initiative like I need to show up and know what it is that I am doing and that could be we've done food and wine tastings this last month or just like this I guess that was this month you know a panel of women and the media just sitting and listening to discussion and women came up to I mean attendees came up to me after and just were like that was one of the best ever and it's because back to your earlier point that they were so honest and so vulnerable and shared things that you just don't get to hear your evening news anchor talk about on their personal life and it was really well received now in that case people showed up they mingled that they had their social time they had a drink they had a bite to eat and then they went in and they spent a full hour and 20 minutes just glued to this conversation so I don't you know it can vary what it is but I think you have to kind of back to the art of gathering like why are we meeting what can I expect what's my right we're all children we're all kindergartners and we just want to know what is expected of us and like and then also have room for creativity yeah yeah I I love what you just said about the the reaction of people the word vulnerable like being vulnerable in discussions right and in the flip side of listening to people who are vulnerable I mean just a whole different level of connection right it's just amazing I think it's one of the few things you can't fake right because you can fake authenticity like that's the whole internet right that's majority of influencers out there it's really hard to fake vulnerability and when you do people see through it a lot easier I agree with that I think that especially over the last couple years my mindset on like vulnerability has like has totally shifted right because now when I see people that are willing to be vulnerable and talk about their story and the hard parts I now associate it to strength yes whereas maybe five years ago I was like oh vulnerable synonym to weak but it's like totally like especially just like hearing people like go out there and talk about the things that are hard and the things that they've struggled with it's like now I'm like wow you're so strong for doing that and like I really believe that and it's an awesome way to connect with people it creates a bond right because we all have experiences that that are good and experiences that are bad but the power of the bonding like the human to human Bond I know we're getting to the end but I almost get too deep in a hole here and then I get a little emotional because like all these like when I listen to your story I thought about a hundred things that I haven't thought about in a while right that's the power it's like there's almost like a healing a built-in healing mechanism you know when you listen to other stories one is a perfect segue for the last question I want to ask before the lightning round which is sharing your challenges is what I think makes a story interesting but I I'm not a professional Storyteller and so one question I wanted to make sure I asked you Leslie is how do you tell a good story I'm gonna be annoyed at my own answer here but it is well two things it's one it's what we grew up being taught sometimes we overthink things like there's the beginning in the middle and the end right and you have to have all of those things I was very guilty very early on and I still am like burying the lead as we say right so moving you know I will very often in my writing practice start and then about three paragraphs in delete everything before that and that's that's what you actually want to start with and then my annoyed part just because it's so Donald Miller in the building building a story brand like the hero's journey there's a reason that that is as popular as it is right I mean it works there's there's a formula or the solution so it's kind of not overthinking we can apply the hero's journey we can apply the beginning in the middle of the end and we can apply these things and and that is what makes a good story but then I think it's also the the human part of it a nuanced part of it because you can report all the facts and I think that's where I got a little bit I don't want to be that kind of journalist and not that not that facts aren't important they are but I also wanted to include the human part of it right which which again you can read like a really great crime reporter that's what they're gonna get into or even like Dana Benbow at you know she's sports reporter sports writer but her stories have more Humanity than half the things you'll read you know it's it's what is appealing to the human nature in in the story there are so many good good insights there that I could probably ask 10 more questions each on but I want to save time for the lightning round because I'm very curious to hear what your answers are we're pumped about this I do want to I do want to close out with speaking of sharing these stories could you share a quick story or two about what's going on with Indie Maven and some of the success stories that has been that has come out of this community that you've built yeah I'm trying to think what I can actually officially say yeah at the end of The Journey yeah so this week honestly has been really crucial in bringing some conversations right that were that happened at the end of last year but number one is that I started these as two separate companies like from a liability standpoint I thought okay on paper they should be different I think I got in my head that they had to be so different that I presented them in the market as so separate and then realizing well now I know how strong the Indie Maven brand is and the maven brand in general because I can't fight that I thought I could just make it very clear these are different here's what you get over in this one and here's what you get over in this one and I can tell somebody that and they're like yes but how do how how can we make them the same right and so it's having to listen to your customer and go okay I'm gonna be done fighting this I can send out as many explainer emails until I'm blue in the face and in the end they're like but could we combine them and so I've heard that and so this year is all about um putting the experience together that you're not just the Indie Maven member you're not just the maven space member right that you you're going to enter a different point in that Journey but but it is all one thing as far as you know the the public is concerned but through that I am able to elevate our partnership so we had a great partnership last year with Indy chamber and now this year we've put together a package that is even bigger and better and it involves in-person events and the storytelling and so we are the rest I won't say because like ink drawing but but this week specifically four really large Partnerships with brands that I really respect in the community and I'm excited because I think they could also use some shaking up but we can also benefit from what they know but that's one example of how we're going to bring the parts of this business together to then be able to serve our Greater Community by partnering with some of these other organizations and Brands so that's that's my big Focus I love it how can someone get involved so the lowest entry easiest point is signing up for our newsletter like I said it's free comes out every Thursday it was 8 A.
M but I had this Epiphany the other day when do I check my email not 8 am at 6am so last week was our first week being at six six I've had two kids under five but generally speaking right if you're if most people check their email as soon as they wake up in the morning which is typically between six and eights right not starting at eight so that was like a little tweak you know we made so I'm gonna watch and see how that performs but yep so free with the newsletter you can join as an indie Maven member starting at ten dollars a month all the way up to Maven space membership that we have for teams which is up to five people for 2. 95 a month and then there are all the different kind of the things in between if you're a corporate sponsor we're also doing sponsored memberships this year which I I'm really excited about because wanting to provide access like in the past a lot of spaces like this have been really exclusive like around the country have been really exclusive and not accessible and so through the sponsored memberships we're able to keep our lights on but also invite other people from the community to join who might not otherwise be there so that's another thing I'm really excited about so yeah there's a lot of different ways to get involved very cool and we'll link it all up in the show notes for those that want want links to that absolutely all right ready for the lightning round it's time Leslie the lightning round now authentic quick off the top of your head answers all right okay here we go outside of the amazing entrepreneur is what is Indiana known for Sports remember that time she said Matt not to have your guests give one word answers let's go deeper than that well so my this could also be influence my knowledge of Indiana before I lived here was indeed was racing the Indy 500 because that's what I knew so and I found that when you travel people go oh like the Indy 500 like Mario Andretti ties to racing I love it all right what is a Hidden Gem in Indiana I have two Asia coffee cakes and filigree Bakery I don't know why maybe February my son's birthday Asia coffee cakes has made two or three of my son's birthday cakes and they are amazing Paddington Bear last year and a minion before that so you've linked to her her cakes are incredible and delicious and Philly Greek Bakery we just recently connected she does Cakes as well but also beautiful macarons and I saw those on her Instagram right before I came here and I don't think a lot of people know about them but for this season year round but both women owned and really talented cool Bakers I love that okay final question yes who is someone that we need to keep on our radar someone who's doing big things Stacia Murphy at Indy chamber not to keep talking about them but also topic of mine but she and I got to know each other during covid and I just think we're so lucky to have her what's her magic she is like she is in it right she knows what she has a perspective that she brings to the table that I don't think and she is an example right of people who are going into establishments that already exist and sort of saying like Okay but also right and I think there are there are so many women doing this and we'll have we do an annual like women to watch story so you can look at that coming out we'll have a whole list of them but she's somebody who you know top of mind I recently communicated with that I think she has just gotten a promotion and I won't even attempt to say what the title is because I'm sure I'll get it wrong but she's doing really big things as far as like Dei and in the their their business initiatives and I think will really make an impact and have an impact on a lot of people through her job I love it through her role maybe we can get her on the show maybe we can yep I do have one final question I did that I know we're done with the lightning round but final question you had a lot of throughout your career a lot of your life a lot of strings pulling you back to Michigan pulling you back to family I'd love to know as we close out what kept you coming back to Indiana and Indianapolis specifically well it was free my dad had a condo here and he was like hey you can live here because he would go back to Michigan on the weekends and I would have this sick condo right on Mass Ave to myself all week so that really played a big role in it but what what kept me here and not leaving was every year like I would see how massive was changing and I'd see different businesses and I I just every year was like I gotta stick around and see what happens I feel like I need to see where this is going and I'm glad I did because using mass as a Mass Ave as an example like you don't even recognize it you know better or worse but I got to see what came of that because when I moved there it was me and the Massa video guy Rick and his cats and they were my only friends and you know now look at it well we're glad you're here too thank you for everything that you do to make Indianapolis awesome and everything that you have done to make Indianapolis awesome and thanks for being on the show thank you thanks for having me thank you so much thanks foreign this has been get in a powder kick production in partnership with Elevate Ventures and we want to hear from you if you have suggestions for our guest or segment reach out to Matt or Nate on LinkedIn or on email to discover top tier tech companies outside of Silicon Valley in hubs like Indiana check out our newsletter at powderkeg.
com newsletter and to apply for membership to the powder cake executive Community Check out powderkick. com premium we'll catch you next time and next week as we continue to help the world get in since you just listened to this podcast you might be thinking about starting one for your company lucky for you our partners over at cassid have you covered cassid is the first and only podcast in video marketing platform made specifically for B2B Brands I love this about them the platform makes it possible to publish Syndicate amplify and measure the value of your podcast and video content in fact we use it for our podcast here at Powder Keg and if you're a startup you should listen up because cassid for startups is definitely for you they are offering exclusive deep discounts of up to 82 percent off retail price for qualifying startups connect with casted casted. us slash powder keg
