An Indianapolis Business Podcast: Off the Circle

Joined by Frank Leonard and Harry Howe, on this episode, we speak with attorney Wes Zirkle who was part of a sports talent representation firm that went international and Emily Schoenbaechler, who worked extensively in the State House and is passionate about female representation in our technology space.

The conversation about our business climate was frank and honest. We're all proud Hoosiers who have invested heavily in our home state and want it to move forward. No doubt, we've had some setbacks, but that shouldn't stop every company that works here from helping one another drive their businesses forward!

Special Guests: Emily Schoenbaechler and Wesley Zirkle.

Sponsored By:

• Lifeline Data Centers: When thinking about data protection and recovery, there is the age-old question of whether you should keep it in-house or use an outsourced data. Promo Code: Off the Circle

Support An Indianapolis Business Podcast: Off the Circle

Links:

• Wesley Zirkle — Business executive and attorney with nearly two decades of experience counseling startups and mature businesses on strategic planning, administration, complex transactions, intellectual property licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and global growth.
• Indy Grit Community — We are a community of successes, failures, and everything in between. Indy Grit was created to embrace the messy reality of entrepreneurship and professional development. If you are tired of soul-sucking networking events, then you will be right at home here. Participating in the Indy Grit community means sharing your struggles, failures, and challenges. Our events focus on speakers who are willing to be transparent about their ups and downs, and group discussion where we encourage and lift up one another.
• Leonard McDowell — Leonard-McDowell improves productivity with innovative technologies that fit your unique data storage, protection and recovery needs. By delivering the industry’s most cutting-edge IT solutions with integrity and personal involvement, we optimize the investment you have in your staff and resources and streamline the data storage and protection process.

On this episode, we interview Robert Bogue. Robert has a driving passion for delivering solutions through both teaching and learning. His drive for resolving problems is fueled by his creativity and innovation – by his ability to find solutions that others cannot find. His experience in the technical world has given him a unique opportunity to learn how to solve problems both in a technical sense and an organizational sense well before problems arise.

Robert is an Indianapolis leader and has owned his business, Thor Projects, for over 10 years. He has authored 26 books and has been an editor for over 100 additional books. Robert has received the prestigious Microsoft MVP designation fifteen times. He combines his love for emotional intelligence, communication skills gleaned from working in the IT world and having to talk to others, and his dynamic presentation skills to help change lives one at a time.

Robert is an engaging presenter who speaks at local, regional, national, and international events. He has spoken to tens of thousands of professionals. Robert has fine-tuned his ability to focus others into effective communicating to create a wonderful experience for his audiences. He can bring together all departments of an organization to help build communication bridges to increase employee satisfaction and therefore increase efficiency within the organization. He is committed to making the complicated, simple. His approach to continual learning has led him to be an expert in instructional design and video production.

Which led our host, Douglas, to travel to Robert's home studio where Thor Projects can sit down and record a podcast or video lesson at the click of a button. It's truly an exceptional resource for Robert and his wife who both provide content for learning management systems. On this episode, we speak to Robert about the studio, the equipment, and the lessons learned along the way.

Special Guest: Robert Bogue.

Sponsored By:

• DK New Media: If you're a marketing and technology firm that isn't driving leads through your online presence, we can help. We help you develop and execute a digital marketing strategy while educating your staff and providing all the resources. Promo Code: offthecircle

Support An Indianapolis Business Podcast: Off the Circle

Links:

• Thor Projects — Thor Projects has helped dozens of large and small organizations be more effective. Rob Bogue has authored 25 books and has more than 15 years of running his own education and consulting business.
• Burnout: Prevention and Recovery — Join Rob and Terri at the MAC as they discuss how to prevent and recover from burnout. There’s no cost to attend this event, and a light dinner will be provided.

On this episode, we interview Harry Howe. Harry has mentored hundreds of young people, entrepreneurs, and businesses in the community. As soon as you meet him, you'll understand why. We wanted to put the spotlight on Harry as a thank-you for all he's done for us and to find out more about his story. We discuss his military service, his education at Bucknell University, his corporate career at General Electric, and what brought he and his family to Indianapolis.

Harry is now launching a community to spread his influence and wisdom, the Indy Grit Community. Indy Grit was created to embrace the messy reality of entrepreneurship and professional development. It's not a networking event, it's a community of peers that will share the truth of their failures and how they were overcome with grit, a character asset that every entrepreneur must muster.

Special Guests: Chris Hoyt and Scott Taylor.

Sponsored By:

• My IT Indy: My IT Indy is a complete technology solution provider. We are 100% committed to making sure business owners have the most reliable and professional IT service in the United States. Promo Code: offthecircle
• DK New Media: If you're a marketing and technology firm that isn't driving leads through your online presence, we can help. We help you develop and execute a digital marketing strategy while educating your staff and providing all the resources. Promo Code: offthecircle

Support An Indianapolis Business Podcast: Off the Circle

Links:

• Indy Grit Community — Participating in the Indy Grit community means sharing your struggles, failures, and challenges. Our events focus on speakers who are willing to be transparent about their ups and downs, and group discussion where we encourage and lift up one another.
• Howe Leadership — Howe Leadership is predicated on the observation that entrepreneurs too often fail to achieve their dreams because they desire to improve their results without a commensurate change in their thinking and their actions.

A professional employer organization (PEO) is a firm that provides a service under which an employer can outsource employee management tasks, such as employee benefits, payroll and workers' compensation, recruiting, risk/safety management, and training and development.

Fullstack PEO was born out of necessity with the technology startups launched with DeveloperTown and has now expanded to assist any technology startup in the state. (Fullstack PEO does cover 2 other states and many other industries). Services with Fullstack PEO may include payroll, administrative and operational HR support, strategic HR consulting, ancillary HR support, compliance, health, dental, vision, supplemental benefits, 401(k) management, and health and wellness programs.

Special Guests: Dawn Lively and Michael Kelly.

Sponsored By:

• DK New Media: If you're a marketing and technology firm that isn't driving leads through your online presence, we can help. We help you develop and execute a digital marketing strategy while educating your staff and providing all the resources. Promo Code: offthecircle

Support An Indianapolis Business Podcast: Off the Circle

Links:

• Fullstack PEO — FullStack provides the services needed to support your team (payroll, benefits, HR, and compliance). If you need us to, we can do more. We can also help with with more strategic offerings like employee on-boarding, health and wellness, and professional development.

What are the benefits and challenges of being a solopreneur? We share the good, the bad, and the ugly with three new entrepreneurs and some experienced ones here in Indianapolis.

Being a solopreneur is not for the faint of heart or soul. Solopreneurs are a different breed of worker, that have cast away the notion of simply "having a job". One day they decided to follow their dreams to create something different for themselves. Their stories are unique, challenging, scary, and exciting (sometimes simultaneously) and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Come listen to their stories and see if being a Solopreneur is something you are interested in.

Special Guests: Paige Murrell, Robin Lanning, and Weston Hegerfeld.

Sponsored By:

• My IT Indy: My IT Indy is a complete technology solution provider. We are 100% committed to making sure business owners have the most reliable and professional IT service in the United States. Promo Code: offthecircle
• DK New Media: If you're a marketing and technology firm that isn't driving leads through your online presence, we can help. We help you develop and execute a digital marketing strategy while educating your staff and providing all the resources. Promo Code: offthecircle

Support An Indianapolis Business Podcast: Off the Circle

Links:

• Think Floof — Robin is a freelance sales & marketing professional who is determined to make the world a better place one person & one project at a time.
• Evolution Data Design — Evolution Data Design leverages the FileMaker Pro Platform to create customized database solutions to meet your workflow demands.
• The Story Sketcher — The Story Sketcher produces customized whiteboard sketch and animation videos, combining content with creativity to make your message both unique and persuasive.