Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Podcast Ep 18 - Leading Carmel Forward - Sue Finkam, Mayor of the City of Carmel, Indiana

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Elevate Podcast Ep 18 - Leading Carmel Forward - Sue Finkam, Mayor of the City of Carmel, Indiana · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

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  Continue
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  straight on and take the roundabout.
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  Then arrive at your destination.
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  Welcome to the Elevate Podcast.
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  Now we'll take it from here.
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  Welcome to the Elevate podcast powered
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  by Braden. This is your front row seat
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  shaping our community. Every episode
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  brings you leadership insights, lessons
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  elevate your leadership, hit subscribe
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  and follow us on LinkedIn for updates
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  and behind the scenes content. Now,
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  let's dive in. Hey everybody, Jason here
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  with another episode of the Elevate
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  Podcast powered by Brading. These
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  episodes, these things are so much fun.
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  We've had a number of people in the
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  studio already. All the stories are
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  terrific. This one's going to be the
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  first. I haven't sat down with the mayor
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  yet. And so, it's terrific to have a a
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  friend and a city that I love actually
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  and an opportunity to have a
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  conversation with her and learn more
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  about her story. And so, Sue, welcome to
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  the show.
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  >> Thanks for having me.
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  >> So, just quick, you know, which which
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  city are you with, Sue? If our people
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  don't know, they probably should, but
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  >> Carbo, India, the greatest Indiana
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  planet.
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  >> Love that. So, all right. So, we've
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  talked before, but you know, there's a
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  lot about your story that I don't know
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  up until the point where you get into
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  city government. So, where are you from
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  originally?
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  >> A little town in Northern Michigan
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  called Ross Common. Okay. Other people
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  may know it as Ians Lake.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> It's one of the two nicest lakes in
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  Northern Michigan by far. So, very
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  touristy, very wooded. Uh, spend summers
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  riding motorcycles, uh, horseback, you
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  know, chasing through the woods,
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  whatever. So totally different envibe
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  than I have here in Caramel for sure.
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  >> Okay. So a little little part of uh of
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  Michigan. And so high school, what were
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  you doing kind of through those days
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  before you get into college? What did it
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  look like for you in those high school
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  days?
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  >> Uh I was a math and science kid, a music
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  nerd, uh played basketball, you and
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  softball. So a little bit of everything.
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  It was a small school, graduated class
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  of 126, right? So much smaller uh than
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  we had in Carlana, too. So, uh, it was a
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  great school, high academics, it was
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  fun.
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  >> Okay. All right. So, finishing up high
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  school, making the decision to go to
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  college. Where do you go and what do you
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  think you're going to study?
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  >> So, you know, I had looked at several
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  things. I I was really interested in
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  certifying in the military.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> But I didn't know of any females that
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  had been in the military.
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  >> Was really interested in computers. Uh,
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  was interested in being a teacher, was
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  interested in being an athletic trainer.
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  So eventually I landed on sports
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  medicine as a major at Central Michigan
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  University.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> I'm still a diehard Michigan fan. I was,
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  you know, pretty much, you know, set to
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  go there. Uh my dad had the first day of
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  high school and my senior year. So that
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  was our first day of my senior year of
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  high school. Okay.
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  >> Tough, right? And my aotted me to stay
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  at home in this little tiny cutie
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  college.
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  >> I still want to Michigan and so
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  compromised on septum this year, which
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  was a fantastic choice for me.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> 15 13,000 students, I guess, only an
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  hour and a half away. So reasonably
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  close. Yeah. Yeah.
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  >> But a good opportunity. But the
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  interesting So thought about the
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  military. Yeah. And and then all those
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  other things and then decide to go
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  there. Okay. So now you've got you're
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  starting in university in central
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  Michigan. How how do things progress for
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  those next four years for you?
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  >> Busy. You know, uh the sports medicine
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  major was 120 credits, which was the
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  largest program at the time. And then
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  you work with teams every afternoon.
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  Yeah. weekends, your travel teams, and
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  so you really had to reorganize. Uh I
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  still had to pick up some part-time work
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  uh to bring in a buck or two on the sock
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  as well. So they went fast and um it was
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  great though, you know, being around
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  collegiate athletics.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> Uh division one collegiate athletics. Uh
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  you start with 250 people down to a
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  group of 12 gets accepted into the
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  program. Some highly competitive.
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  >> Uh and just a whole new world,
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  >> right? So, you go through those four
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  years, you're in you're in that space.
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  As you come come to the end of your
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  college days, what do you think you're
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  going to do? Like what what's a career
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  look like for you or where do you think
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  you're going to go next?
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  >> Well, this is uh in my head in my head
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  that I was going to be the first head
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  athletic trainer that's a female and
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  then
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  that still hasn't happened yet. And that
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  was like a thousand years ago. Oh,
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  >> so it still hasn't happened.
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  >> You're finishing the main goal. You're
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  gonna go work for the NFL and be a lead
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  athletic trainer. Okay. So, that's where
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  the goal was,
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  >> but our last semester is supposed to be
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  off campus at a full-time and 15 hour
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  credit hour uh internship.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And so, that means you pay for the 15
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  hours right before our core hours. I'm
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  working for somebody for free. And uh I
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  since I was from a little town in
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  Northern Michigan, the big opportunities
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  with the big sports were all in Detroit.
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  And that intimidated me.
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  >> Didn't have any family there. Didn't
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  have the money to get an apartment. like
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  there's just some barriers there. So, I
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  had this opportunity to go to the thumb
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  area of Michigan. I guess the thumb area
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  and the lake
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  >> um and work at a manufacturing facility
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  as an athletic trainer. There were there
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  was two others there.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And they did needed an intern. And that
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  really opened my eyes literally almost
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  overnight. You know, you take care of
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  moms and dads with shoulder injuries,
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  back injuries, knee injuries, just
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  trying to get through their Yeah. their
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  work. It put their kids through school
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  or you know whatever their goals were
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  financially. We also ran a fitness
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  center and then the amazing leadership
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  that owned that man manufacturing
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  facility also let us treat kids in high
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  schools for southern counties around
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  that which basically the whole thumb
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  area.
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  >> How cool is that?
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  >> Both schools didn't have an athletic
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  trainer. There's only one orthopedic
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  surgeon in that whole part of uh
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  Michigan.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> So that still got me across to
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  athletics. I ended up starting a program
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  at a small school being the only
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  athletic trainer there doing football,
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  basketball, wrestling. Um, so they had
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  me a little bit of entrepreneurship. So
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  I had to go market myself, sell myself,
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  develop the program, implement it. It
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  was a family of manufacturing facility.
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  So after a year I was so I did my
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  internship, I got offered a job the same
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  day I got offered a graduate
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  assistantship at West Virginia
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  University.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And uh they wouldn't give me football uh
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  because I was the phenom candidate and
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  that made me mad. And so my boss came up
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  and said, "Before I make a decision,
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  here's a job offer." And I just serve it
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  was I just I took the job offer. I
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  stayed there two years, got to open
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  another manufacturing plant facility
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  doing uh rehab and fitness and they got
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  recruited to Indiana to do the same
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  thing.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> Well, for the next several years, I
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  spent time doing on-site rehab and
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  fitness at manufacturing facilities. But
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  I was really interested even when I was
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  at Michigan, ergonomics was just
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  starting
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  >> and you know the ability to identify a
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  problem and prevent before someone gets
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  hurt is intriguing and so and especially
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  when you lay the lens of being a
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  caregiver right on top of that
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  >> and most people coming at ergonomics
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  were coming from the engineering side of
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  things. You know how to fix the process,
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  the equipment, the tooling. Um, and I
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  was coming at it from a how do we look
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  at the preparation, physical
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  preparation, uh, the nutrition, the
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  fatigue ratios to work, you know, those
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  kind of things. And
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  >> uh, so I ended up going uh, into that
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  field and I had a boss that was gave me
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  a gift
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  >> and it was, hey, look, I hear you. I
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  know you want to do this. Here's what
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  we'll do. We'll send you to all the
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  ergonomics education you want. You feel
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  you need. And University of Mission was
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  leading uh, in that space. in the um
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  engineering school that they had. And he
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  said, "Once you're ready, then you have
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  a year to cover your salary and your
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  benefits and any of the costs. You can't
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  cover that after a year. We're going to
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  have to think about whether this is
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  something we want to pursue."
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  >> Okay.
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  >> Past that day.
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  >> And so that made me instant motivation.
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  You're right.
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  >> Sure.
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  >> And but it also started me thinking
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  about sustainability of business.
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  um you know, is this is this a nonprofit
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  where I'm giving away my time and my
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  effort or is this actually a business
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  where I'm bidding
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  >> the ability to charge for something that
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  has value? Yeah.
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  >> Cover my costs. And so as a 22year-old
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  because I graduated young from college
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  and only 22 they gave you this
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  opportunity. Yeah. Great.
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  >> Yeah. Uh 23.
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  >> Okay. Yeah. It was a Yeah. I guess. So I
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  had the safety net of the company.
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  >> Yeah. Uh but this little little tidy
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  division to kind of start and right out
• 8:34
  of the gate we got bigger companies like
• 8:36
  uh Delta Faucet and Indianapolis Power
• 8:38
  and Light and Carrier Corporation and
• 8:39
  Cumins and Navastar and Subaru. Like we
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  started picking off these bigger ones.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And it was just a blast. And so my job
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  kind of evolved into
• 8:49
  business because I had to sell it,
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  right? and then deliver it and then
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  evaluate it and then
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  >> so you you were doing the whole cycle
• 8:55
  but you were actually pulling out on you
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  were the tip of the spear hitting into
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  all those businesses.
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  >> I I didn't know that about your story.
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  That that's interesting to hear that you
• 9:04
  were out really selling yourself.
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  >> So I did it for several years and uh
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  ended up working for another company.
• 9:11
  They got acquired by Community Health
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  Systems. worked for them for a couple
• 9:14
  years and then partnered with a a gray
• 9:17
  bag out of uh northern Indiana and I was
• 9:21
  a partnering firm for four years doing
• 9:22
  economics consulting multiple states. Uh
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  it was great. It was great experience.
• 9:27
  Uh you know you help people right away
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  because they do workers come they feel
• 9:32
  better at night. They could sleep
• 9:33
  through the night. Um there's happier at
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  work and you know they look forward to
• 9:37
  seeing you like every week or every
• 9:39
  couple days or whatever the contract
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  call it for. So uh it was good. It was
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  harder, right? Sure. Those plants are
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  really hot or really cold or really
• 9:46
  noisy or other dirty.
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  >> Uh but there, you know, kind of like
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  three days with football,
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  >> maybe not the best environment, but if
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  you love it, you're doing it. It doesn't
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  matter.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> So, it's really interesting. So, you
• 9:58
  know, when when you hear people's
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  stories, right? So, you think about what
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  you were doing. You actually were
• 10:02
  providing the service, helping somebody
• 10:04
  with a shoulder injury, for example, a
• 10:06
  mom and a dad, helping them get back to
• 10:08
  being better so we can support the
• 10:09
  family. You don't normally hear people
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  with that skill set coming over to the
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  other side of the table going out
• 10:16
  knocking on a door like here's what we
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  do and selling it. So as you as you were
• 10:20
  working that particular role and kind of
• 10:22
  working through that did you really
• 10:24
  enjoy both sides of the job? Did one of
• 10:27
  them take you one way? I mean what what
• 10:29
  was your favorite part of that role?
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  Because they're that's two separate
• 10:32
  things.
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  >> Yeah, they're both hard. They're both
• 10:34
  challenging. I felt like at one point I
• 10:37
  was being really pulled to be more of a
• 10:38
  technical expert. I was u a board
• 10:41
  certified ergonomist, nationally
• 10:43
  accredited um or nationally certified I
• 10:45
  should say.
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  >> And so I thought, you know, maybe maybe
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  I take a little bit deeper route there,
• 10:49
  which drove me into getting to
• 10:51
  understand tooling better. You know, I
• 10:52
  went to a couple manufacturing
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  facilities that made tooling and talk
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  about ergonomic changes so that my
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  clients could be better. So I kind of
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  like I had a pull toward that.
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  >> Okay.
• 11:02
  >> It was harder for me not having an
• 11:03
  engineering background, either
• 11:05
  industrial engineer or mechanical.
• 11:06
  >> Yeah. So
• 11:08
  that was challenging. Um
• 11:12
  and then I also had this pull to
• 11:14
  developing this line of work within the
• 11:16
  athletic training community.
• 11:17
  >> I think um when I went to work at Wall
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  Bro was the name of the company in
• 11:20
  Michigan that I first started working
• 11:22
  for. I was one of only six athletic
• 11:25
  trainers out of 40,000 that were working
• 11:28
  in the industrial setting. And so at
• 11:31
  along the journey there, I chaired the
• 11:33
  they called clinical industrial
• 11:35
  corporate committee representing 40% of
• 11:37
  the athletic trainers that worked in
• 11:39
  that space. And so I was really kind of
• 11:40
  pushing the industrial part. Um so that
• 11:44
  was interesting to me because I like
• 11:45
  advocating which I think got me along a
• 11:47
  pack for um public service.
• 11:49
  >> Yeah. Sure.
• 11:50
  >> Um and I really like the business
• 11:53
  development because that's where that
• 11:54
  scoreboard, right? I'd hate to see some
• 11:56
  of my first cold calls or some of my
• 11:58
  first calls. You I'd have to l basically
• 12:00
  send $10 to uh Harris, Kentucky or pick
• 12:06
  a city.
• 12:06
  >> Yeah.
• 12:07
  >> Uh and say, "Give me your business
• 12:09
  development, your um local chamber of
• 12:11
  commerce business list and I'd look at
• 12:13
  that list and try to identify who is
• 12:15
  your manufacturing facility."
• 12:16
  >> Yeah.
• 12:17
  >> Get the phone number, cold call. Yeah.
• 12:19
  >> You know, the the access that we have
• 12:20
  now for data is crazy. I had been such a
• 12:22
  metroas person or prospector to the very
• 12:25
  least.
• 12:26
  >> Uh so I I like them all but I feel like
• 12:30
  I did gravitate toward the business
• 12:31
  development side because I ended up
• 12:32
  going to full-time into marketing.
• 12:34
  >> Okay, gotcha. So that's where you
• 12:36
  transition now. So you're working at a
• 12:38
  company up in Michigan. Where do you go
• 12:40
  next from there? up for two years in
• 12:42
  Michigan, get recruited down to Indiana,
• 12:43
  split time consulting and then I had a a
• 12:46
  little one in 2002 and that's what I was
• 12:49
  a partner of a consulting firm going to
• 12:51
  eight states and uh a couple times into
• 12:54
  Canada and coming back to him was hard
• 12:56
  being gone and we were coming back you
• 12:58
  know I have another trip coming up so he
• 13:01
  was about 18 months old and I said to my
• 13:02
  husband I got I got to find something
• 13:03
  else and I love my business partner but
• 13:06
  it just and the people that we had
• 13:07
  working with us I just couldn't do it
• 13:09
  any longer and So I got an amazing
• 13:11
  opportunity at Orthob to be their
• 13:13
  director of marketing
• 13:14
  >> and uh and they were like hey we like
• 13:16
  your background you know how to talk to
• 13:18
  coaches from the sports medicine side
• 13:20
  you know how to top work compop with the
• 13:21
  workop nurses and manufacturing
• 13:23
  facilities and people we work with there
• 13:25
  and you also know how to deal with
• 13:26
  orthopedic surgeons.
• 13:27
  >> Yeah
• 13:28
  >> and uh all three are challenging and
• 13:30
  they're both paying on your pain and it
• 13:33
  was just a great opportunity. So I when
• 13:34
  I the time I was there, they were
• 13:36
  getting ready to open their um or
• 13:37
  hospital and then was there about a year
• 13:40
  and they got an opportunity to open the
• 13:41
  hospital in Caramel that is now a pulp
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  neuro hospital.
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  >> Oh sure. Yeah.
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  >> I had another great opportunity um that
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  uh boss the CEO there John goal was a
• 13:53
  fantastic is a fantastic human.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> And just a coach, a mentor, a kind
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  human.
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  >> Yeah. And uh it was a it was just a
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  great opportunity getting to learn from
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  him because he was all about culture
• 14:05
  development people brought the
• 14:06
  development uh and really delivering
• 14:09
  service to the customer. It was beyond
• 14:10
  expectations.
• 14:11
  >> Yeah. You know it's interesting was at
• 14:13
  or indie three different areas your
• 14:17
  career up until that point. You had done
• 14:19
  all of those things. You were kind of a
• 14:20
  rear burger first sir, right? I mean you
• 14:23
  s because you could run through all
• 14:24
  those things because I live in farm
• 14:27
  working at IU Health but eventually we
• 14:29
  know we end up getting into tool uh to
• 14:32
  Jordan of the city.
• 14:33
  >> So where do you go after IU Health?
• 14:35
  What's next?
• 14:35
  >> Well really Dan Evans who's a CEO of and
• 14:38
  it's called Clariate Health
• 14:41
  the brand had changed
• 14:42
  >> and Dan Evans was the one that said look
• 14:44
  you got an opportunity here at Caramel
• 14:45
  that's unique uh Ascension St. Vincent
• 14:48
  uh has been here 20 years. We're the new
• 14:50
  guy on the block. Um you really need to
• 14:53
  get have a close working relationship
• 14:55
  with the municipality, the city
• 14:57
  >> and so you know see what you can do
• 14:58
  there and uh paired me up with a with a
• 15:02
  local governmental affairs guy who was a
• 15:05
  friends with the near sponsor some
• 15:07
  things and I did a caramel bears what do
• 15:10
  they call it? Caramel Bears health
• 15:12
  challenge or something like that and we
• 15:14
  said we'd do health screens for people
• 15:15
  had 600 people show up on a Saturday. Uh
• 15:18
  a lot more than we thought.
• 15:19
  >> Yeah. More than you expect.
• 15:21
  >> Yeah. But those those early days that
• 15:22
  time to really understand what beer
• 15:24
  greater was doing with the city of Carl
• 15:26
  which is transformational. I took that
• 15:28
  as an educational opportunity.
• 15:30
  >> Listen to Dan Evans a tremendous
• 15:32
  healthcare leader. It was another
• 15:33
  opportunity how how healthc care's
• 15:36
  >> forging how healthcare was forging its
• 15:38
  future at that time. Listen to John
• 15:40
  Goble talk about customer service and
• 15:42
  how to treat people as an employer. I
• 15:44
  mean, I was getting lessons left and
• 15:46
  right. Fantastic.
• 15:48
  >> Right. So, but so you're getting all
• 15:49
  these lessons. Had you had you ever
• 15:51
  considered, you know, stepping out of
• 15:53
  working in, you know, healthc care and
• 15:55
  those types of things and going down a
• 15:57
  different path? What's kind of going on
• 15:58
  in your mind as you start to think about
• 16:00
  what's going to be next? you know, as I
• 16:03
  moved uh from Orthoindi to IU Health, I
• 16:08
  got I took part of a program called um
• 16:10
  the Luger series. Richard Luger is a
• 16:12
  longtime senator in the state of
• 16:13
  Indiana. Need a training program for
• 16:15
  women and it's uh over I think it's 32
• 16:19
  years uh strong male. But I thought as I
• 16:23
  settled down, I wasn't traveling so
• 16:24
  much. I thought, who's running the show
• 16:26
  here,
• 16:28
  >> right? uh why are we not able to be our
• 16:30
  schools and local governments? What's
• 16:32
  happening here? Who's made good
• 16:33
  decisions? How does this all work? So, I
• 16:35
  really had to paid attention to it.
• 16:36
  >> Yeah, of course.
• 16:37
  >> And um haven't been about that time for
• 16:39
  about 10 years. I want more of an
• 16:41
  education. I got accepted to this
• 16:42
  blubber series. That program teaches you
• 16:45
  to either be a really good volunteer or
• 16:47
  a campaign manager or a finance person
• 16:50
  or, you know, a sponsorship person or
• 16:53
  the candidate. every aspect of a of a
• 16:56
  candidate candidacy is exposed and
• 16:58
  trained.
• 16:59
  >> Interesting. And it's amazing. And I
• 17:01
  figured I was just going to use my
• 17:02
  communications and PR kind of background
• 17:04
  to help whoever was going to run.
• 17:06
  >> Okay.
• 17:07
  >> Uh and I did. I helped the judge. I
• 17:09
  helped a classy run for a position in
• 17:11
  Mary County. Help the judge. Uh, and I
• 17:15
  it was really fulfilling and I really
• 17:16
  liked it and I really did think much
• 17:18
  about it past that
• 17:20
  >> until I didn't like to see council
• 17:22
  representative
• 17:24
  that was my district rep.
• 17:26
  >> Okay.
• 17:27
  >> And I kept saying someone should run
• 17:28
  against him. I'm going to hope runs
• 17:30
  against him
• 17:31
  >> and Noah was running and Noah was
• 17:33
  running and uh it was getting close to
• 17:36
  the deadline and like oh no he can't get
• 17:38
  a free pass.
• 17:39
  >> Yeah.
• 17:40
  >> Can't do it.
• 17:40
  >> Sure.
• 17:41
  >> And so I threw my hat in the ring. So
• 17:42
  there's that point was like this is I'm
• 17:44
  just I'm gonna give it a go and see what
• 17:45
  happens but this is not cool.
• 17:47
  >> So the whole the whole time though again
• 17:48
  this is interesting. It's almost like
• 17:50
  becoming an entrepreneur, right? I mean
• 17:52
  there's a lot of folks that are have
• 17:54
  this they're maybe wantreneurs or they
• 17:56
  want to do this but they don't actually
• 17:58
  go and do it. You're thinking this whole
• 18:00
  time I'm going to be supportive, use my
• 18:03
  skills, help somebody come in whom I can
• 18:05
  support that I think would be a better
• 18:07
  candidate. But then you're like ah what
• 18:09
  the heck at the end all this time I had
• 18:10
  it. Yeah, that's interesting. So, when
• 18:13
  when you're doing that, you're thinking
• 18:14
  through those things, you'd mentioned
• 18:16
  some mentors and some people. I'm
• 18:18
  assuming you're you're talking to the
• 18:20
  community and and getting some insights
• 18:23
  and just decide to go for it. So, this
• 18:25
  is your first foray of getting into
• 18:29
  trying to be an elected official, not
• 18:31
  helping somebody go on the tam, right?
• 18:33
  And so, what happens? Tell tell our our
• 18:35
  go what happens with that. Well, first
• 18:37
  you you touched on something I think is
• 18:39
  important and that is ringing campaign
• 18:41
  as running a small business.
• 18:43
  >> Yeah.
• 18:43
  >> You have to differentiate yourself. You
• 18:45
  have to have a message. You have to have
• 18:46
  followers. You have to have finance
• 18:48
  plan. Uh and you have to cut. And when
• 18:51
  you're running a local uh campaign like
• 18:54
  that, I think I raised $11,000. My whole
• 18:57
  thing for perspective last year when I
• 19:00
  ran for I won, we raised 1.1 million.
• 19:03
  It's spread every dollar and then some.
• 19:05
  Uh so think of from a from a scale
• 19:08
  perspective as long as much different.
• 19:10
  >> Yeah. Sure.
• 19:10
  >> But I I think what happened was um
• 19:16
  >> you know you just start you just start
• 19:17
  put one foot in front of the other.
• 19:19
  >> Yeah.
• 19:19
  >> And say okay well
• 19:21
  >> I and you rely on people who've run a
• 19:23
  campaign before. Right. So I had never
• 19:26
  well that's not true. I've locked uh for
• 19:28
  other candidates in the past and knock
• 19:29
  on door. So a little experienced student
• 19:30
  hat. But let me tell you it's much
• 19:32
  different knocking on the door saying hi
• 19:34
  I'm Sue. are running for blah blah blah
• 19:36
  versus hi I'm here to talk to you about
• 19:38
  yeah sure right so it's just like
• 19:40
  totally different conversation but not
• 19:42
  of like me knocking on doors and saying
• 19:44
  hi I'm Sue I offer ergonomic service
• 19:46
  right yeah so you can absolutely rely on
• 19:49
  >> yeah though it's kind of experience it's
• 19:50
  a cold call right you make a cold call
• 19:52
  knock on that door no idea what you're
• 19:54
  going to see on you know your story you
• 19:56
  know what you're going to say you're not
• 19:57
  sure what you're going to get back but
• 19:59
  you know you have to do that at volume
• 20:01
  to be successful
• 20:02
  >> and just like I said I prospected with
• 20:04
  those ancient ways of getting
• 20:05
  businesses. You prospect for votes as
• 20:08
  well. You're not going to knock on
• 20:09
  people's doors who don't vote. It's a
• 20:12
  complete one. Shouldn't, right?
• 20:13
  >> It's a complete waste of time. If
• 20:14
  they're not ever going to vote, then you
• 20:16
  don't knock there. If they're not going
• 20:18
  to if it's a primary and they're only
• 20:21
  going to vote for one party, the other
• 20:22
  you're not going to knock on the other
• 20:23
  party's door either. It's a waste of
• 20:25
  time. If you got limited time, limited
• 20:26
  resources, you got as straight to the
• 20:29
  point and the right people as you can to
• 20:30
  get your message across. Yeah.
• 20:31
  >> So, we do have incredible data. Uh back
• 20:34
  then you'd print out pieces of paper. It
• 20:36
  would show a walk list to the
• 20:37
  neighborhood. It were 1,79 15 22 and 29.
• 20:42
  You know,
• 20:42
  >> yeah,
• 20:43
  >> those would be the people who always
• 20:44
  vote would always vote. The political
• 20:45
  party that you're hanging your hat on.
• 20:47
  >> Yeah.
• 20:47
  >> Um and now we have it in an app. You
• 20:50
  tremendously uh helpful to them say uh
• 20:53
  you not voting or really their issue is
• 20:56
  uh local finance or parks or schools,
• 21:00
  right? You could make notes and then you
• 21:01
  could customize your message based on
• 21:03
  what their interests are or your
• 21:05
  conversation was about. Back then it was
• 21:07
  not that way. You could write note in a
• 21:08
  piece of paper, but it was a lot
• 21:10
  different. So, so you know, you just
• 21:11
  pull one from the other, you learn, you
• 21:13
  refine your message, you get boulder,
• 21:15
  you get raver, and it just three weeks
• 21:17
  out I say, then you get hero. Um, I've
• 21:20
  done it every single time I brought it
• 21:22
  was just three city council campaigns
• 21:24
  campaign. That's three the last three
• 21:26
  weeks is just the absolute hardest.
• 21:28
  Yeah. just all of a sudden then
• 21:30
  everybody hates me. Nobody likes me. Why
• 21:32
  am I doing this? I've wasted my time.
• 21:34
  I've ruined my life. This is awful. And
• 21:36
  then they the day comes and you know you
• 21:38
  win or lose.
• 21:39
  >> Yeah. Exactly. Right. It goes back and I
• 21:40
  was going to take it back to the
• 21:41
  athletics piece. Right. Football for
• 21:43
  example, they play games on Sunday, but
• 21:45
  the other six g six days they prepare.
• 21:47
  Yeah.
• 21:48
  >> Right. It could be in the classroom. It
• 21:49
  could be, you know, on the field,
• 21:51
  whatever the case is, but they game.
• 21:53
  They're going to go out and do all that
• 21:54
  they can. for you that's the election
• 21:56
  and you're going to go spend all of the
• 21:58
  time and do everything like you said
• 21:59
  outwork a lot of folks there's a lot of
• 22:02
  business you know parallels to like you
• 22:05
  said running a small business doing all
• 22:07
  of these things and a campaigner very
• 22:09
  similar that's why it's interesting why
• 22:11
  I said you threw your hat in the ring
• 22:13
  you kind of were becoming an
• 22:14
  entrepreneur hey I'm going to go be the
• 22:16
  leader of this it happens to be a
• 22:18
  campaign but then I'm going to go lead
• 22:20
  something over here so all right so
• 22:22
  three campaigns for city council one for
• 22:25
  the opportunity for mayor. But so now
• 22:27
  now you win and now you're part now of
• 22:30
  the government. Yep.
• 22:31
  >> And you're walking forward. What's that
• 22:33
  look like and what's the path look like
• 22:35
  to get to where you are today?
• 22:37
  >> Well, you have a transition time and
• 22:40
  that's challenging where you go from
• 22:42
  campaign to governing governing. Okay.
• 22:44
  >> Uh it's a mental change and I would say
• 22:48
  myself and most candidates it takes you
• 22:50
  a little while to get out of campaign
• 22:51
  mode.
• 22:52
  >> Uh because you're just going
• 22:54
  >> uh and then you well who am I going to
• 22:56
  hire and what are we going to
• 22:57
  accomplish? Now in my campaign as a
• 23:00
  differentiator
• 23:01
  uh I'm going to tell you this so don't
• 23:03
  laugh because I'm gonna come back and
• 23:04
  qualify it. Um I did a play called Alb
• 23:06
  Caramel is 57 points. 57 points is a lot
• 23:10
  and I was told to stop writing at that
• 23:12
  point. But the reason I did that was to
• 23:15
  show that I had the breadth of thinking
• 23:16
  to run a city.
• 23:18
  >> Sure.
• 23:18
  >> I didn't expect anyone to read probably
• 23:20
  past the headlines of each of the pages,
• 23:22
  right? Public safety, uh, QE outreach,
• 23:24
  financial, uh, you know, sustainability,
• 23:27
  transparency, but it was there if they
• 23:29
  wanted it.
• 23:30
  >> Sure.
• 23:30
  >> But that was also my road map from day
• 23:32
  one. And so I'd probably say we're like
• 23:34
  probably 87% of us done after two years
• 23:37
  and two months.
• 23:39
  uh somewhere in there and so or done are
• 23:41
  in the process of getting done. So um
• 23:45
  most people aren't going to read more
• 23:46
  than three bullet points. So I we knew
• 23:48
  that that was a lot but it was also just
• 23:50
  a it was a comparison piece against my
• 23:52
  client or my competitor.
• 23:53
  >> Yeah.
• 23:53
  >> And it was also I wanted people to see
• 23:55
  that I have experience to terms of city
• 23:57
  council and as a business professional
• 23:59
  to be thinking deeply about the things
• 24:01
  that matter to the city of Carmel's
• 24:02
  residents.
• 24:03
  >> Yeah.
• 24:03
  >> And that I was a person to hire for the
• 24:05
  job. So, we just got to work that, you
• 24:07
  know. Next thing though is being very
• 24:09
  thoughtful about hiring people. Yeah.
• 24:11
  >> Uh some uh electeds choose to go the
• 24:15
  very the route of like who helped me on
• 24:17
  my campaign and then they earned a spot
• 24:19
  like through trust and expertise they
• 24:21
  earned a spot on the uh administration.
• 24:24
  I didn't do that. have been a very very
• 24:26
  small campaign team
• 24:28
  >> and uh amazing volunteers but we didn't
• 24:30
  have anybody that we say okay this
• 24:31
  person's going to be chief of staff or
• 24:33
  this person's going to be helping in
• 24:35
  figure department
• 24:36
  >> so we had hunting
• 24:38
  >> um and so part of my experience that I
• 24:41
  did tell you about is I spent two years
• 24:42
  at a manufacturing facility
• 24:44
  >> as a head of all administration I spent
• 24:47
  two years hiring 350 people for a baby's
• 24:50
  only manufacturing facility and so again
• 24:52
  I was able to tie that like back and
• 24:54
  like who do I who's going to fit
• 24:56
  their wall, um what's the culture I want
• 24:59
  to create and went and try to find the
• 25:00
  very best people. We just found
• 25:02
  fantastic people. It slowed down the
• 25:04
  transition a little, right? Because
• 25:05
  people were coming out at various points
• 25:07
  in the first year. Uh but I just get it
• 25:10
  was better you get the right people in
• 25:11
  the seats than just anybody in the
• 25:13
  seats.
• 25:14
  >> And you know, we didn't always hire
• 25:15
  perfectly. Uh some of the things we try
• 25:17
  to do year one have to change year two
• 25:20
  or year three because some of the
• 25:21
  changes the state has done with their
• 25:22
  property tax. So, I'd love to say it
• 25:24
  would have been a smooth uh ramp. It's
• 25:26
  not. It's life. You're resilient. Yeah.
• 25:28
  You know, uh change change course when
• 25:30
  you need to, but uh interviewing people
• 25:34
  for this positions was such a fun thing
• 25:36
  to do because all I got to do is sell
• 25:38
  the city a couple of people.
• 25:39
  >> Yeah.
• 25:39
  >> Right.
• 25:40
  >> What a great job.
• 25:41
  >> Yeah.
• 25:41
  >> But I'm going to go back to the 57
• 25:43
  boards. So, when you when you think
• 25:44
  about that,
• 25:46
  >> for you it was for you it was your road
• 25:48
  map. These are the things that we want
• 25:50
  to do. These are the 57 things we want
• 25:52
  to do. People could read that of course,
• 25:54
  right? But that's when you walk in and
• 25:57
  you hand that to somebody and think
• 25:58
  translate this to the business side.
• 26:00
  This says to your client, look, these
• 26:03
  are the things that need to get done.
• 26:05
  These are the things I'm thinking about.
• 26:06
  And it's not a 30-day thing. This is
• 26:09
  this is the three, four, five year
• 26:10
  thing. It whether everybody pays
• 26:13
  attention and reads everything. They're
• 26:15
  they're leaving with oh my gosh, the
• 26:18
  amount of preparation it would end. Yes.
• 26:20
  Goes back to like football. The amount
• 26:21
  of time that they spent here, you can
• 26:23
  see that on the field. That's awesome. I
• 26:25
  didn't realize you had 50 so
• 26:29
  things you done.
• 26:30
  >> So,
• 26:30
  >> well, we started with a public safety
• 26:32
  top tie or whatever for to win over
• 26:34
  basically the trust of the police and
• 26:36
  fire. We had uh three sitting city
• 26:39
  councilors running for mayor and someone
• 26:41
  who had been a county counselor. So,
• 26:43
  >> um you know, I felt like I needed to
• 26:45
  speak to them directly. We did a 10 or
• 26:48
  whatever it was point public safety
• 26:50
  grief and I'm like what if we did this
• 26:52
  for other areas transparency fiscal
• 26:53
  sustainability so we felt like if I
• 26:56
  heard something out of a door people
• 26:58
  said you know I'm worried about our
• 26:59
  transparency I never hear this I don't
• 27:01
  understand that then I'd say great look
• 27:03
  up page seven this top my client for
• 27:05
  transparency
• 27:06
  >> if it was um I'm concerned about the
• 27:09
  city spending uh fantastic we thought
• 27:12
  through look at page five because it's
• 27:13
  all of our fiscal policy you know
• 27:14
  conversation so we do these kind of
• 27:16
  narrow your own book. Sure. But it was a
• 27:18
  pretty hefty document, right? And uh it
• 27:20
  was pretty. I'm a marketing girl, right?
• 27:22
  Pretty and attractive. And so that gave
• 27:24
  us, you know, at least a brand presence,
• 27:26
  too, as far as I like polished to put
• 27:28
  together.
• 27:28
  >> Yeah.
• 27:29
  >> Uh so uh we we killed a couple trees for
• 27:32
  those, but uh they were received very
• 27:35
  well.
• 27:35
  >> Yeah. I love that. All right. So now we
• 27:38
  know you're the mayor of city. I love
• 27:40
  Kerbal. M city. A lot of folks do,
• 27:42
  right? And and a lot of times when we
• 27:44
  have these conversations, we're talking
• 27:46
  to for-profit business leaders, right?
• 27:48
  Or sometimes nonprofit organization,
• 27:49
  right?
• 27:50
  >> But this is the first time we're talking
• 27:51
  to somebody that's running a city, but
• 27:53
  it's a business. You're running on a
• 27:55
  city doing those types of things. So,
• 27:57
  you know, what does it look like for
• 27:59
  you, right? What are the things that
• 28:01
  you're doing? What's going on in the
• 28:03
  city? And and being that we're a
• 28:05
  technology company, it's interesting to
• 28:07
  understand how technology is changing.
• 28:09
  We've heard it from gleaners, right?
• 28:12
  Nonprofits talking about how they're
• 28:14
  leveraging technology to squeeze dollars
• 28:16
  to feed more people and how for-profit
• 28:18
  companies are talking about AI and
• 28:20
  leveraging all these types of things.
• 28:21
  So, just I'm curious, you know, with the
• 28:24
  city, talk a little bit about what's
• 28:27
  going on.
• 28:28
  >> So, I'm going to back up a little bit.
• 28:29
  Sure. Some of our listeners, viewers,
• 28:32
  whatever, who may have come from other
• 28:34
  states. Oh, this would be great
• 28:35
  >> because mayors function differently in
• 28:38
  different states.
• 28:39
  >> Great idea.
• 28:40
  >> So, we are a strong mayor state.
• 28:43
  >> Okay.
• 28:44
  >> And that means the mayor has a lot more
• 28:46
  power and authority in Indiana than say
• 28:50
  Texas.
• 28:50
  >> Interesting.
• 28:51
  >> So, um
• 28:53
  uh in some states it's by city. So, it
• 28:55
  could even confuse it even more. In some
• 28:57
  states the mayor has a responsibility
• 28:59
  for schools. Most don't. Uh in Indiana
• 29:02
  we do not. is a separate elected school
• 29:04
  board.
• 29:05
  >> But a strong mayor means you are the
• 29:07
  executive. In a in a weak mayor state,
• 29:09
  there's a city manager that's hired by
• 29:11
  the city council and then the mayor is
• 29:13
  more of a figurehead, vision setter.
• 29:16
  >> Oh, no kidding. I didn't know that.
• 29:17
  Okay.
• 29:18
  >> And sometimes the mayor is actually a
• 29:19
  member of council and the council voted
• 29:21
  them to be the mayor and it changes
• 29:23
  every year. Uh others it's elected by
• 29:26
  the people. Sometimes it's partisan,
• 29:28
  sometimes it's not partisan. In Indiana
• 29:30
  it's partisan and the mayor is a strong
• 29:31
  mayor. So I just want to do I'll set
• 29:33
  there.
• 29:34
  >> So that that's interesting. So as you
• 29:36
  broke that down strong mayor there's no
• 29:39
  city manager,
• 29:41
  >> right? So that makes you to relate that
• 29:43
  into a business term makes you like the
• 29:45
  CEO of the city.
• 29:47
  >> Yeah.
• 29:47
  >> Okay. So now you're the CEO of the city.
• 29:49
  That's good to understand how that
• 29:51
  works. Okay. Interesting.
• 29:52
  >> So all the employees report through me.
• 29:54
  If it was the city manager, they report
• 29:56
  to them and the mayor's side. Uh sweet.
• 29:58
  So I feel like the mayor's three main
• 30:00
  responsibilities in India. It's first of
• 30:03
  all to promote the heck of the city,
• 30:05
  right? Uh you are the spokesman for the
• 30:07
  city. Uh and you are its biggest
• 30:09
  cheerleader. You should be.
• 30:10
  >> Yep.
• 30:10
  >> And different mayors choose to do that
• 30:12
  in different ways. Uh second of all, you
• 30:15
  convene people around important topics,
• 30:18
  you know, and it it's a little bit
• 30:20
  harder to grasp sometimes because I like
• 30:22
  to be I was in a position a lot of times
• 30:25
  where I'm in marketing PR. pushing the
• 30:27
  CEO forward.
• 30:28
  >> So now I'm the CEO, right? So I have to
• 30:30
  take that step forward. So it it takes a
• 30:32
  little bit to to make that shift, but
• 30:34
  basically we just announced that we're
• 30:35
  doing a mayor's advisory commission on
• 30:37
  food access.
• 30:38
  >> This is where I can use the power of the
• 30:39
  incumbency to say this is a topic that
• 30:42
  we should be talking about, who should
• 30:44
  be talking about it, how we're going to
• 30:45
  how we're going to pull these together.
• 30:46
  So, we're going to have people come and
• 30:48
  talk about the need, uh, the resources,
• 30:50
  and if there are any gaps, and then how
• 30:52
  we as a community, and not just Indiana,
• 30:56
  because I'm part of a, um, a nationwide,
• 30:59
  uh, initiative to help make sure
• 31:01
  children have the resources they need.
• 31:03
  So, we're pulling together resources,
• 31:04
  you know, uh, city, state, and local
• 31:07
  >> to talk about this issue. We did
• 31:08
  something similar with housing in 24.
• 31:11
  So promote, convene, and then lead as an
• 31:15
  executive officer for the city.
• 31:17
  >> Gotcha.
• 31:18
  >> So um
• 31:20
  with that you obviously have to you know
• 31:22
  we didn't we the city of Carmel had
• 31:24
  never had a mission statement, vision
• 31:26
  statement, value statements or strategic
• 31:29
  plan.
• 31:29
  >> So a lot of the things that would have
• 31:31
  come out of the business world that you
• 31:32
  would have done in Mari days that you
• 31:34
  would put together that was that didn't
• 31:36
  exist.
• 31:36
  >> Correct. So the city wasn't really in
• 31:38
  your mind operating, you know, the way a
• 31:41
  business would. So you got to go put all
• 31:43
  that in place.
• 31:44
  >> Yeah. Okay.
• 31:44
  >> You know, we have to have a place where
• 31:46
  we know where our shared vision is. We
• 31:47
  have to know where we're headed.
• 31:49
  >> And Mayor Verder developed such a
• 31:50
  fantastic city, right? I mean, just an
• 31:52
  incredible hero's environment. I felt
• 31:54
  like given the times we're in some of
• 31:56
  the financial changes, financial
• 31:58
  situations different for us in this
• 32:00
  crazy environment, uh, that we really
• 32:02
  need to focus on what's important. And I
• 32:03
  want to I want to center our people
• 32:05
  around the people in our community, not
• 32:08
  necessarily the roads or the buildings.
• 32:10
  >> Now, it's easy for me to say now because
• 32:12
  Jim Brader build the heck of a city with
• 32:13
  amazing roads and amazing buildings.
• 32:15
  Yeah.
• 32:15
  >> But I can take it to the next level and
• 32:17
  talk about our people.
• 32:18
  >> Who's the heartbeat of our community?
• 32:20
  And so we talked about that, you know,
• 32:22
  we try to curate incredible community uh
• 32:24
  and what we say is built for big dreams,
• 32:26
  you know, because we heard that over and
• 32:27
  over. I came here because I need my kids
• 32:30
  in a school system. I want a safe
• 32:31
  school. I wanted educational
• 32:33
  opportunities. I needed outstanding
• 32:34
  healthcare in my backyard. I want to
• 32:36
  make sure I knew my neighbor. I wanted
• 32:37
  international commuter heat. On and on.
• 32:40
  I want to pass some trails. But it was
• 32:41
  like this is my dream. I stayed and I
• 32:43
  scrimmed to get into Caramel or I timed
• 32:45
  it right to finally get here to Caramel.
• 32:47
  I've been trying to get a job caramel
• 32:48
  for two years, right? It's all coming
• 32:50
  together like this is their dream.
• 32:51
  >> Yeah.
• 32:52
  >> And so that's what we do. That's what
• 32:53
  our staff is working on every single day
• 32:55
  to make sure we create an community that
• 32:57
  meets and exceeds
• 32:59
  >> their expectations so they can exceed
• 33:00
  their dreams. It's amazing, you know,
• 33:02
  when when you think about it, the way
• 33:03
  you broke that down. You talked about
• 33:05
  the city, infrastructure, roads,
• 33:06
  buildings, and and that's that's kind of
• 33:09
  phase one. You're in phase two, which is
• 33:11
  how are we going to take those people
• 33:12
  that are living here and create the
• 33:15
  community for them that that's the
• 33:17
  community of the creeps, right? And
• 33:19
  that's what you guys are working on
• 33:20
  every day. That's awesome. Yeah. What a
• 33:22
  terrific job.
• 33:23
  >> But with that, it's technology. You
• 33:24
  asked me about technology. So, I forget
• 33:26
  your your question there. I think if
• 33:29
  there's one opportunity we really had, I
• 33:30
  was to modernize how the city of Carmel
• 33:33
  does business.
• 33:34
  >> Uh we've got a software program called
• 33:36
  Gary Software.
• 33:37
  >> Uh Gary is no longer with us on this
• 33:39
  earth, I don't think. And so Gary
• 33:40
  software can't get updated anymore. It
• 33:43
  runs all of our POS. We got some ancient
• 33:45
  other accounting software and other
• 33:47
  things that needs updated. So that's a
• 33:49
  huge opportunity. That's a glaring Siri.
• 33:51
  >> Sure.
• 33:52
  >> But we're also leading. So then that's
• 33:53
  where we're lagging and we need to bring
• 33:55
  us up to modern standards. But we're
• 33:57
  also leading our peers in in two areas
• 34:00
  of an example. Drone first responder
• 34:02
  technology.
• 34:03
  >> Yeah, this is interesting. I want to
• 34:04
  hear about that.
• 34:05
  >> So if you call 911, uh someone live
• 34:07
  answers a telephone starts asking you
• 34:10
  where's the location of emergency,
• 34:11
  what's your name, what's happening,
• 34:12
  right? Recording data and at certain
• 34:14
  point gets sent, it goes out, it gets
• 34:16
  sent out, that message gets sent out and
• 34:18
  where C personnel arrive.
• 34:19
  >> Yeah. Um what we have now is uh drone
• 34:23
  technology where we can be getting that
• 34:25
  information live as it's being called in
• 34:28
  and dispatch a drone. And since the
• 34:30
  drone can also fly like a crow right
• 34:32
  there by the ramp,
• 34:34
  >> the drone can actually be over the site
• 34:36
  of the accident or incident uh before
• 34:39
  the car has actually been dispatched
• 34:41
  many times.
• 34:41
  >> Okay.
• 34:42
  >> So that provides our officers with a
• 34:43
  better set of eyes. Yeah.
• 34:44
  >> It provides a safer environment for them
• 34:46
  to show up at.
• 34:47
  >> Yep. And it also um you know provides us
• 34:50
  that ability to call off an officer so
• 34:51
  they're
• 34:52
  >> in district more often bigger percentage
• 34:55
  of the time. Sure. It's like oh there's
• 34:56
  a thunder banner out there changing
• 34:58
  >> they'll send 10 people send a while.
• 34:59
  >> Yes sir. Right.
• 35:00
  >> Uh so it's a tremendous opportunity.
• 35:02
  We're second agency to see been able to
• 35:04
  do that but a few in the country.
• 35:06
  >> Okay.
• 35:06
  >> And the other thing we're doing is put
• 35:08
  it putting a tracking devices in all of
• 35:10
  our cars. Some businesses have this as
• 35:12
  well.
• 35:12
  >> Yeah. but particular snow plows. So, we
• 35:15
  could see the route they're taking. And
• 35:16
  eventually, I don't think it'll happen
• 35:18
  this spring, but next fall when our
• 35:21
  first snow storm hits, we should be able
• 35:23
  to push on a map so someone can look and
• 35:24
  see what Cloud has, where the trucks are
• 35:27
  at around the city. Um, maybe track to
• 35:29
  time as far as when they're coming to
• 35:30
  their call sack, for instance.
• 35:32
  >> Yeah, sure.
• 35:33
  >> U, but it also helps us look at
• 35:35
  efficiency, gas mileage, route
• 35:37
  confusion, training opportunities, all
• 35:39
  those kind of things. So,
• 35:41
  >> that's awesome. and also we're trying to
• 35:42
  leak with.
• 35:43
  >> Yeah. And it those two pieces of
• 35:44
  technology are terrific. The drone
• 35:46
  especially if you think about that that
• 35:48
  the drone can get very quickly like you
• 35:50
  said it's it's safety for the officer.
• 35:52
  What's that what's it look like? Do they
• 35:54
  need to be deployed? Like you said just
• 35:56
  a fender vendor. They're going to take
• 35:57
  off and exchange information. We call
• 35:59
  off. What a cool piece of technology. We
• 36:02
  didn't talk about this earlier, but I'm
• 36:04
  curious. One of the things you said was
• 36:06
  when you go out and knock on the doors,
• 36:08
  right, and part of your job was to sell,
• 36:10
  you know, the city of Caramel, you were
• 36:12
  selling the city of Caramel. So, if if
• 36:13
  if I wasn't from Indiana and I didn't
• 36:16
  live around here and I was just coming
• 36:17
  in and I was thinking about moving into
• 36:20
  Indianapolis, maybe north side, what are
• 36:22
  some of the things you would say, "Hey,
• 36:24
  this is why you want to choose
• 36:25
  Carnival."
• 36:26
  >> First of all, I'd say what our residents
• 36:28
  saying is safe, clean, and beautiful.
• 36:30
  Those are the top three things that our
• 36:32
  residents say about our community. So,
• 36:35
  um you know, from a safety perspective,
• 36:38
  uh we have the third lowest uh
• 36:40
  pedestrian fatality rate in the country.
• 36:43
  Uh we have uh we actually got excluded
• 36:46
  from a ranking, you know, number one
• 36:48
  best place to lay of those kind of
• 36:50
  things because we had zero murders and
• 36:52
  they thought we just would didn't want
• 36:53
  to participate in giving them the right.
• 36:55
  >> Yeah.
• 36:56
  So, uh, but incredible saved community
• 36:58
  with police officers who care.
• 37:00
  >> Yeah.
• 37:00
  >> Uh, we have incredible school district.
• 37:02
  >> Uh, literally one of the best in the
• 37:04
  country. Y
• 37:05
  >> um, and we have school resource officers
• 37:06
  in every school by the way, which is an
• 37:08
  unusual thing. We take it for granted
• 37:09
  here. It's not the norm
• 37:11
  >> really.
• 37:11
  >> Uh, there are police officers who carry
• 37:13
  to know the kids and the families and
• 37:14
  the issues and are there for a lot of
• 37:17
  reasons other than keeping the school
• 37:19
  safe. It's making sure the children who
• 37:21
  maybe fall through a crack as far as
• 37:23
  something going at home are identified.
• 37:24
  some kid a come to school maybe without
• 37:26
  shoes on or something like that. They
• 37:28
  can identify like this isn't a norm.
• 37:30
  >> Yeah.
• 37:30
  >> Uh we have an incredible park system
• 37:33
  twice won the gold medal award for the
• 37:35
  best park system in the country. They've
• 37:37
  won it every time they've been first up
• 37:38
  every time they've been eligible.
• 37:39
  They'll be eligible again I think in 27.
• 37:42
  What the Indiana Parks and Recreation
• 37:44
  Association outstanding agency last
• 37:45
  year. Just phenomenal um amount of park
• 37:48
  plan and our art scene is incredible
• 37:51
  too. And um we're waiting to see where
• 37:53
  we rank in the best art design districts
• 37:56
  in the country uh from USA Today. Uh
• 37:58
  that should be released here soon. Um
• 38:01
  and we expect to be we're we know we're
• 38:03
  in the top 10. Um but where that is
• 38:05
  we're not sure yet. Uh number one Chris
• 38:07
  Kennart in the country, the Palladium,
• 38:10
  which is now sponsored by Allied
• 38:11
  Solutions. incredible concert sound,
• 38:15
  beautiful facility, uh with an amazing
• 38:17
  staff that you know that put on you know
• 38:20
  80 to 100 shows a year. So we were just
• 38:23
  really blessed with amazing uh
• 38:25
  environment and I'll say then
• 38:28
  our people are unique. We're an
• 38:30
  international community uh 17% foreignb
• 38:33
  born, highly educated. At one point we
• 38:35
  had like the we're in the top 10 of most
• 38:37
  master's degrees in the country.
• 38:39
  >> Okay. uh incredible healthcare, you
• 38:42
  know, just we check all the boxes and
• 38:44
  it's just really really an honor and a
• 38:46
  privilege to be in this community
• 38:47
  because we got to really get here and we
• 38:49
  got to keep it really good here.
• 38:51
  >> Yeah, it's so great to hear when when
• 38:53
  you went through those things and there
• 38:54
  there's more, I'm sure, but when you
• 38:56
  think about it, everything is always
• 38:58
  near the top of the list, right? Safety
• 39:01
  top of the list, roads top of the list,
• 39:02
  schools top of the list. So having an
• 39:05
  opportunity, you know, to to be here, be
• 39:07
  part of the community, you know, why
• 39:09
  wouldn't you want to do that? Great
• 39:10
  answer, by the way.
• 39:12
  >> And so just thinking about the community
• 39:14
  and some of the ways we we talked to
• 39:16
  some of our guests about nonprofits that
• 39:19
  are supported. We talk about
• 39:20
  communities. We talk about communities
• 39:23
  within their business and how they're
• 39:24
  creating culture. When you think of
• 39:26
  community, obviously for you as a mayor,
• 39:29
  how are you you personally maybe
• 39:31
  interacting with the community? What's
• 39:33
  that look like for you?
• 39:34
  >> Well, my Sam will tell you that's my
• 39:36
  favorite thing to do is be with kids in
• 39:38
  the community.
• 39:38
  >> Yeah.
• 39:39
  >> Uh Monday having a breakfast at one of
• 39:41
  the elementary schools with the
• 39:42
  superintendent because it's on national
• 39:44
  school breakfast week or something like
• 39:46
  that
• 39:46
  >> and I thought that'd be a fun thing to
• 39:47
  do. So, I'm personally always looking
• 39:49
  for ways to engage in the community. Uh
• 39:51
  I I bring in a deputy mayor uh every
• 39:54
  council meeting who is a fifth grader
• 39:56
  usually,
• 39:56
  >> which is awesome, by the way. That is so
• 39:58
  cool to see.
• 39:59
  >> Thank you. It makes me happy. Yeah.
• 40:01
  >> So, they're like, "This is such a great
• 40:02
  opportunity for the kids." I'm like,
• 40:03
  "No, it's a great creative opportunity
• 40:04
  for me. These kids are impressive.
• 40:06
  They're going to run our world and
• 40:07
  they're we're in good hands." Uh, so I
• 40:10
  like that. Uh, we try to do business
• 40:12
  visits, both the large visits and then
• 40:14
  of course ribbon cutings and those
• 40:15
  things with the smaller businesses. Uh,
• 40:17
  we do a lot of just community engagement
• 40:20
  activities. We did six popup meetings
• 40:22
  >> where we had six council district and we
• 40:24
  were we went out to each one of them and
• 40:26
  just brought the fire truck, uh, the you
• 40:28
  know the uh the police cars. We brought
• 40:31
  uh Republic uh trash was with us.
• 40:34
  >> Okay.
• 40:34
  >> Uh to bring up the trash truck, which is
• 40:36
  every little little kid's dream to be in
• 40:37
  that um you know, our water and uh sewer
• 40:40
  utilities and a variety of other um
• 40:43
  personnel just to be out there and
• 40:44
  answer questions and just say thank you
• 40:46
  too back to them. They're so
• 40:48
  appreciative that we come to their
• 40:49
  neighborhood. So we'll be doing those
• 40:51
  again as well.
• 40:52
  >> Okay.
• 40:52
  >> And then we have a variety of themmies
• 40:54
  and you like citizens academy for
• 40:56
  police, citizens academy for utilities.
• 40:58
  We're gonna do one for overall city uh
• 41:01
  probably in the fall and picking. Um so
• 41:04
  I just like try to be creative.
• 41:08
  >> Yeah.
• 41:08
  >> Um and innovative and be out on where we
• 41:11
  can. Um you know, I think there's some
• 41:14
  of some safety concerns, right? Today's
• 41:15
  world is a lot different than it used to
• 41:17
  be. So we've had to maybe pull back on
• 41:19
  some of the things I wanted to do
• 41:20
  because like hey, maybe this isn't the
• 41:21
  smartest thing. But um again, we're the
• 41:25
  safest community in the country, one of
• 41:26
  them. So I don't have a concerns there.
• 41:28
  It was just more like you know you you
• 41:29
  do have to have a little bit of
• 41:30
  forethoughts of these things.
• 41:32
  >> Yeah.
• 41:33
  >> But again I like
• 41:36
  I think it was a the former CEO of
• 41:38
  Scandinavian Airlines and I think this
• 41:40
  might be the book one minute manager if
• 41:42
  I remember right and I could be wrong on
• 41:43
  that but this goes back 400 years but uh
• 41:47
  said uh saturate yourself with the voice
• 41:49
  of your customer. That's how they were
• 41:50
  successful. I had just like absorbed
• 41:52
  that from day one and said, "This is how
• 41:54
  I want to make sure we lead." The first
• 41:56
  thing I spent money on as a mayor was a
• 41:59
  comprehensive community survey. Um, we
• 42:02
  got uh I think it was 7,200 people to
• 42:04
  respond.
• 42:05
  >> No kidding.
• 42:06
  >> Incredible.
• 42:06
  >> It's a lot.
• 42:07
  >> And um that's how we know the safe,
• 42:09
  clean, and beautiful. And that's how we
• 42:10
  know when we asked them what's their
• 42:11
  number one priority. I thought it was
• 42:12
  going to be schools. It was public
• 42:14
  safety by far.
• 42:16
  >> Seriously? I would have thought it was
• 42:17
  schools, too. Yeah. Okay. There was, you
• 42:18
  know, you you think you know. Yeah.
• 42:21
  >> Uh data is going to come out. But I
• 42:22
  think you know that's where you have to
• 42:23
  lead with curiosity and that certainty
• 42:26
  and uh leave with the care. Well, what
• 42:28
  is the truth here? What do they want? By
• 42:30
  far they want to save community.
• 42:31
  >> Yeah.
• 42:31
  >> And so we worked really hard to keep our
• 42:34
  investment there while also investing in
• 42:36
  other areas and you know right sizing
• 42:38
  other areas which had opportunity.
• 42:40
  >> Yeah. It's interesting. So when when a
• 42:42
  lot of times when you look at a at a
• 42:44
  business right so you as the CEO of the
• 42:46
  organization you look at all the folks
• 42:48
  that that are working with you personal
• 42:50
  experience five kids I have my uh my
• 42:54
  number four was he was a fireman from
• 42:57
  the day he asked for he loves the
• 43:00
  firemen and so so he forever has loved
• 43:03
  we would go when he was little you would
• 43:05
  dress up like a fireman we would go
• 43:07
  trick-or-treating he wouldn't ask for
• 43:08
  candy he would check the fire it and
• 43:10
  said, "Yeah, this one's okay." Right?
• 43:13
  And so Caramel, no matter what station
• 43:16
  we ever went into, you go knock on the
• 43:17
  door, say hello. Every single time they
• 43:20
  were exactly the same. They treated that
• 43:22
  kid, that kid was the greatest kid. He
• 43:24
  was on top of trucks. He was putting
• 43:26
  hats on. He was doing everything he
• 43:28
  could do. And they treated him with just
• 43:31
  love and respect. And every time I
• 43:33
  thought of that, I thought, "This is so
• 43:35
  cool." And they're maybe they're
• 43:36
  recruiting a future fireman. But at the
• 43:38
  end of the day, that goes back to the
• 43:40
  leadership and the culture that's built.
• 43:42
  Whether it's a city or a business, you
• 43:45
  can see that culture that you built.
• 43:47
  It's really cool to see in the city of
• 43:48
  Carnival.
• 43:49
  >> And if you go back and look at when the
• 43:51
  city was spotted in 1837, there was four
• 43:55
  businessmen that put stakes in the
• 43:56
  ground and put lined out 14 plats
• 44:00
  >> right where the stoplight is at first in
• 44:01
  Maine, by the way.
• 44:02
  >> Okay.
• 44:03
  first main rage line that and they said
• 44:07
  we will excel and it was superior
• 44:10
  spiritually, financially, educationally
• 44:12
  and so they set the bar really high and
• 44:14
  I take 37
• 44:16
  >> and I just found that so interesting to
• 44:18
  read because I'm trying to go back and
• 44:19
  read different things about our history
• 44:20
  to better understand
• 44:21
  >> sure
• 44:22
  >> where we came from and where we're
• 44:23
  headed
• 44:23
  >> and I think that as a community we just
• 44:28
  continue to honor that and set the bar a
• 44:32
  little higher. Yeah, right.
• 44:33
  >> You know, I go back to my athletic
• 44:34
  training days. You know, I sit I don't
• 44:37
  know how many football practices
• 44:39
  watching the lineman get off the line
• 44:41
  and the coach, the offensive line coach
• 44:43
  would be like trying different things on
• 44:45
  the fingertips on the knuckles and the
• 44:46
  palms, you know, all this just to get
• 44:48
  >> that much faster. Same thing with, you
• 44:50
  know, a receiver with the release, you
• 44:52
  know, off the line. It's just like
• 44:54
  >> just a little bit more. You see these
• 44:56
  swimmers today, you see all of
• 44:57
  athletics, saw the winter Olympics,
• 44:59
  right?
• 44:59
  >> Absolutely.
• 45:00
  >> Um, and that's what we should be doing
• 45:01
  as a community. just continuing to say
• 45:02
  like we're going to set the bar that
• 45:04
  much higher for the next generation to
• 45:07
  tip it that much higher. So
• 45:09
  >> yeah, such an interesting story your
• 45:10
  journey from, you know, going through
• 45:12
  college and working through all the
• 45:14
  different places in your background.
• 45:16
  It's interesting how you've had the
• 45:17
  ability to work in all the different
• 45:19
  areas which has made you a well-rounded
• 45:21
  individual which could make you a CEO of
• 45:24
  any organization in my opinion. It just
• 45:26
  happens to be that the city of Caramel
• 45:28
  is lucky to have it.
• 45:29
  >> Yeah, I'm lucky to have it.
• 45:30
  >> That's awesome. That is so cool. So
• 45:32
  before we end, let's talk a little bit
• 45:34
  of fun.
• 45:35
  >> So So Caramel is awesome. Lots of fun
• 45:38
  stuff to do when you are outside of
• 45:41
  work. Of course, you're always the
• 45:43
  mayor.
• 45:44
  >> Exactly.
• 45:44
  >> No matter No matter where you go, you're
• 45:46
  always the mayor. But when you're
• 45:48
  outside of working, well, what's fun?
• 45:49
  What are you doing?
• 45:50
  >> Uh my husband and I like to go to
• 45:51
  national parks and hike and, you know,
• 45:53
  state parks, whatever. So when we
• 45:55
  travel, uh it's usually around hiking
• 45:58
  around wine. We both like wine a lot.
• 46:00
  So, you know, try to go to different
• 46:01
  wine areas. Um, and then, you know, now
• 46:04
  I've developed just, you know, a little
• 46:06
  bit of a passion for seeing how
• 46:07
  different cities
• 46:08
  >> look, feel, run, operate, right? Uh, so
• 46:11
  that's fine. I went to Montreal and just
• 46:12
  wandered around for uh, I don't know
• 46:14
  about six hours just seeing different
• 46:16
  things. Drisk Kenomart, they had a
• 46:18
  business district, they had a transit
• 46:20
  area. And so, I look at things a little
• 46:22
  differently when we travel. That's sure.
• 46:24
  Uh, we like to travel internationally.
• 46:26
  Big movie fans as well. Uh that is a
• 46:29
  good escape from being mirrored to get
• 46:31
  into some of their headsp space with
• 46:33
  whatever crazy show we're watching,
• 46:35
  >> right?
• 46:35
  >> Um and again, huge sports fans.
• 46:37
  >> Yes. I love it. I love it. So, one of
• 46:40
  the things that I didn't even know
• 46:41
  before we sat down was all the different
• 46:43
  ways that mayors operate in different
• 46:46
  states and different cities. It's
• 46:48
  interesting to see that break down and
• 46:50
  how it operates here. And so, that was
• 46:52
  something was very interesting for me to
• 46:54
  learn today. and then just the journey
• 46:57
  that you've shared and you know kind of
• 46:59
  the future of Caramel. I know it's going
• 47:00
  to be terrific and I'm sure it's going
• 47:02
  to be an awful lot of fun. Like you
• 47:04
  said, you're you're lucky to have
• 47:06
  Caramel. They're lucky to have you. But
• 47:08
  appreciate you being on the show and
• 47:09
  sharing your story. It was awesome.
• 47:10
  Thank you for the opportunity. Thank
• 47:12
  you.