Talent Scout with Dave Neff

Indianapolis Indians executive Joel Zawacki has spent nearly 20 years helping grow the Triple-A club while reshaping how it serves downtown Indianapolis. His career has moved from partnership activation and sales to strategy, venue planning, brand development and community impact. Zawacki, vice president and chief commercial officer for the Indianapolis Indians, traces his path from a Michigan City childhood built around neighborhood baseball to the University of Indianapolis and internships in minor league baseball and with the Pacers. He explains how the Indians grew corporate partnership revenue from about $1 million to more than $5.5 million, why long-term relationships matter more than rate cards, and how a sports organization can create value for fans, partners and its city. The conversation also covers the business model behind a Triple-A team, the Indianapolis Indians' role in bringing hundreds of thousands of people downtown, and the next phase of Victory Field. Zawacki discusses the organization's brand refresh, plans for future ballpark improvements and the growth of Indianapolis Indians Charities, including Indy RBI and SWING at Victory Field. He also reflects on the mentors who gave him opportunities, the lessons he learned from a failed event and why he believes relationships compound into what he calls social capital. His leadership advice is simple and specific: bet on yourself, be responsive, be generous with your time and become someone people want at the table. He closes by explaining how losing his father and raising two young boys changed his definition of success, moving it away from personal legacy and toward passing strong values to his children. Talent Scout is hosted by Dave Neff. Learn more about JDA Worldwide at jdaworldwide.com.

AI compliance at a fast-growing health care startup requires more than spotting risk. Erika Nelson Sylvester explains how trust, speed and judgment help a legal leader support growth without becoming a blocker. Sylvester, general counsel and head of compliance at Authenticx, traces a career shaped by competition, hard choices and a willingness to change direction. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs, played Division I basketball at Bradley University and describes how a difficult junior season pushed her to seek help from a sports psychologist. Her senior year became her best, a lesson in letting go of pressure and rediscovering why she loved the game. After Valparaiso University School of Law and several years in private practice, Sylvester moved to Cummins, where she worked in audit and legal roles, then to Angi before taking a role at Authenticx. She explains how repeated coffee meetings and professional relationships opened doors, why broad experience matters to her, and what attracted her to the speed of startup life. The conversation also covers Authenticx's use of AI and human listening to analyze health care call-center data, the legal balance between revenue and risk, working in a regulated industry, and why the company's mission of helping people be heard keeps the work meaningful. Sylvester also discusses coaching youth basketball, leadership agility, vulnerability and her advice to younger professionals: do not be afraid to make the hard choice. Talent Scout host Dave Neff talks with Indiana leaders who are making a difference in business, community and civic life. Learn more about JDA Worldwide at jdaworldwide.com.

Leadership at Merchants Capital began for Michael Dury with a simple habit: listen, find the answer and take on work others needed done. That approach helped him grow from a 2007 hire at PR Mortgage & Investments into president and CEO of a national multifamily finance company. Dury tells Talent Scout host Dave Neff how sports shaped his views on discipline, competition and teamwork. He reflects on growing up in Fishers and Indianapolis, attending Bishop Chatard High School, playing baseball at the University of Notre Dame, and choosing academics and long-term development over chasing a quick career move. He also describes how a chance introduction led him to Michael F. Petrie and a company of roughly 12 people just before the financial crisis. The conversation follows the business as it expanded beyond Indiana, rebranded as Merchants Capital and built a team of about 350 employees. Dury explains why the firm stayed focused on multifamily, affordable housing, senior housing and health care finance, and why that specialization helped it compete nationally. He also discusses the Indianapolis developers and mentors who accelerated his learning. Dury connects professional leadership with family, coaching and community service, including his work with Providence Cristo Rey High School. His advice to early-career professionals is practical: be resourceful, listen closely, handle small jobs well and help the team before worrying about a title. Talent Scout features conversations with Indiana leaders making a difference in business, community and civic life. Learn more about JDA Worldwide at jdaworldwide.com.

Jeff Brown built a church that looks like its neighborhood. The lead pastor of North City Church in Indianapolis describes how a kid from the east side who got expelled, lost his brother and best friend to violence, and never planned on ministry ended up leading one of the city's fastest-growing congregations. Brown traces his path from the streets of Indianapolis to Ivy Tech, Crossroads Bible College, Southern Seminary in Louisville, and a staff role at College Park Church before taking over a struggling 25-person congregation in Pike Township. Three years later, North City has more than quadrupled in size and reflects the racial and economic diversity of the community around it, roughly 45% Black, 45% white, with Latino and Asian families filling out the rest. He also discusses his role as board chair of Together Indy, a coalition of more than 50 Indianapolis churches working across racial and denominational lines, his involvement with the men's leadership group Citizen 7, and why he believes Indianapolis is on the verge of something significant. His definition of success has nothing to do with church size. Talent Scout host Dave Neff sits down with leaders across Indiana who are building something that matters. New episodes available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Learn more about JDA Worldwide at jdaworldwide.com.

Luke Bosso built one of Indianapolis's most unconventional resumes in civic life, moving from state government and the Indiana Economic Development Corp to leading Division I athletics at IU Indianapolis. Now three years in as director of athletics, Bosso oversees 300 student athletes across 18 sports and is preparing to open the James C. Morris Arena, a 3,800-seat downtown venue that represents the most significant facility milestone in IU Indy Jaguar Athletics history. Bosso traces his work ethic to his parents' habit of welcoming people in need, his years as a bat boy with the Indianapolis Indians, and mentors including former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb's chief of staff Earl Goode and the late civic leader Jim Morris. He discusses what it was like to serve as chief of staff at the IEDC during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a late-night chase to verify a fraudulent PPE deal that ended with a 4 a.m. phone call to 3M Malaysia. The conversation also covers what surprised him most about working inside state government, why he believes curiosity is the most underrated professional skill, and the pressure of leading an athletics department where wins and losses are always public. Bosso is a Franklin College and North Central High School alumnus who serves on the Indianapolis Zoo board of trustees and the Hoosier Lottery Commission.

Michael Berkery built his career from directing parking lot traffic to leading one of Indianapolis's most storied cultural campuses. Now serving as Chief Operating Officer of Newfields, Berkery reflects on the operational philosophy, mentors, and defining life experiences that shaped his leadership. Berkery traces his path from the south suburbs of Chicago through a decade with Live Nation Entertainment, where he managed concert venues in the Chicago area and Washington, D.C., to 11 years rising to COO at the Indiana State Fair Commission. He discusses what drew him to Newfields, a 152-acre cultural campus that includes a world-class art museum, historic garden, and free public nature park, and why he believes the institution is entering one of its most transformative periods yet. He also opens up about growing up with an older brother who had cerebral palsy, how that experience shaped his work ethic and empathy, and why he believes opportunity is most often found in the work nobody else wants to do. From a $9 million garden restoration to the future of Newfields' physical campus, Berkery offers a candid look at what it takes to steward a complex, mission-driven institution. Talent Scout with Dave Neff features conversations with Indiana leaders making a difference in business, community, and civic life. Sponsored by JDA Worldwide - jdaworldwide.com.

Morgan Snyder has spent 15 years helping shape how the world sees Indianapolis, and her work is entering its most consequential chapter yet. As Vice President of Communications and Community Relations at Visit Indy, Snyder oversees the messaging strategy behind a city in the middle of a $3 billion tourism infrastructure boom, a Michelin guide expansion into the Midwest, and the arrival of the American Society of Association Executives convention, what she calls the Super Bowl of the conventions world. Snyder traces her path from Oldham County, Kentucky, to Butler University, where a brochure promising "one of the country's most romantic campuses" sparked a career rooted in hospitality, place-making, and civic pride. She reflects on her time at the Conrad Indianapolis, where luxury service principles shaped her professional philosophy, and on the years she spent navigating the national fallout from Indiana's 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, one of the most challenging communications crises Indianapolis has faced in recent memory. She also discusses mentorship, the value of treating every internship like a job interview, and why success, to her, means uplifting the people around you as you rise.

Olivia West turned a $5 Fever ticket and a cold approach to team leadership into a career as one of Indianapolis's most visible emcees and keynote speakers. The Purdue University alumna and partner at Driven Content Marketing traces a path from raising hogs in LaPorte, Indiana, to MCing Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers games, hosting the 2024 NBA All-Star events, and now speaking nationally on competitive advantage, communication, and talent development. West details the moment she spotted Dr. Allison Barber at a near-empty Fever game and asked for a role before one existed, the "audition" that turned out to be a live season opener, and how a single email from Pacers and Fever VP Ebony Armstrong connected her to one of the world's top production agencies. She also discusses leaving corporate life, the data she analyzed before betting on herself full-time, and why she now hosts monthly office hours for the eight to 10 students who contact her each week seeking career advice. West is a keynote speaker and partner at Driven Content Marketing, based in Indianapolis. Learn more at OliviaWestSpeaks.com. Talent Scout is hosted by Dave Neff, CEO of the 500 Festival. Learn more about the show and its sponsor, Prolific, at prolifichq.com.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum's $60 million renovation changed how 115 years of racing history gets told, and Jason Vansickle helped make it happen from the inside. Vansickle, Vice President of Curation and Education at the IMS Museum, traces the museum's origins to a 1956 tribute to three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Speedway president Wilbur Shaw, through the 1976 building that stood for decades, to the sweeping renovation that reopened in April 2025. He explains how a collection of 200 vehicles and 55,000 artifacts gets curated, restored, and selectively displayed, including a recent acquisition of 14 Chip Ganassi Racing cars that filled a critical gap in the museum's modern racing history. Vansickle also details the museum's expanding education programs, from iRacing simulators and a dissected IndyCar to STEAM classrooms and summer camps developed in partnership with BorgWarner. He previews a planned 72,000-square-foot restoration and event center on Polco Street that will open public access to nearly 150 vehicles and allow visitors to watch the restoration team at work. His own story mirrors the institution's growth. He started as a volunteer docent in 2011 while studying history at Indiana University Indianapolis, joined the full-time staff in 2015, and has built the curation, restoration, and education departments into what they are today. His advice for early-career professionals centers on one consistent theme: build real relationships and ask for advice often.

Michael Kaltenmark, Vice President of Marketing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has helped transform the Indianapolis 500 into a perennial sellout, drawing 350,000 fans and 8.5 million television viewers to one of sport's most iconic events. Here he explains how strategic marketing, the Snake Pit EDM stage, and a generation of experience-hungry young fans drove that growth. Kaltenmark traces a career that began with a journalism degree from Butler University, an early pass on motor sports job offers from CART and Walker Racing, and nearly two decades building Butler's live mascot program through back-to-back Final Four runs in 2010 and 2011. He also shares how a Crohn's disease diagnosis and a kidney transplant from his brother shaped the empathy and resilience that define his leadership approach. On the professional side, Kaltenmark breaks down the vision behind positioning the Indy 500 alongside the Super Bowl, the Masters, and Wimbledon on every sports fan's bucket list. He previews what the 110th running on May 24, 2026 has in store, including a patriotic pre-race production tied to the nation's semiquincentennial, the return of Black Hawk helicopters and the Wienermobile, Zedd headlining the Snake Pit, and Counting Crows and Switchfoot on Carb Day. He also reflects on the mentors who shaped his path and why relationships, not applications, have driven every career opportunity he has ever received.

Sarah Myer has spent her career turning Indianapolis into a destination, and she is not done yet. As Senior Director of Communications and Marketing at Indiana Sports Corp, she helped execute the 2021 NCAA Men's Tournament bubble, led the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium, and is now building toward the 2026 Men's Final Four and beyond. Myer traces her path from a Cleveland suburb to Butler University, where a professor handed her a $30-per-game rooftop camera job with the Indianapolis Indians and opened her eyes to what the city could offer. She talks about interning with the Indiana Pacers during the 2004 brawl, marketing the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra through a financial crisis, and what those hard seasons taught her about crisis communications, self-advocacy, and resilience. She also speaks candidly about personal loss in 2020, the grief that followed, and how a November phone call about hosting the entire NCAA Tournament gave her something to pour herself into. The conversation covers what makes Indianapolis's local organizing committee model unique, why the city is pursuing an NFL Draft bid for 2030, and what fans can expect for free at the 2026 Men's Final Four on American Legion Mall. Myer closes with three words she would give any young professional: be curious, be humble, and do not be a jerk.

Kyle Albrecht, the new president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, joins Talent Scout to discuss his path from playing Division I soccer at George Washington University to leading one of the country's most prominent Olympic sports organizations. Albrecht shares his career journey through Under Armour, Major League Soccer and now USA Gymnastics, his vision for growing the sport ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the planned national Training Wellness Center in Noblesville, Indiana.

Kyle Albrecht, the new president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, joins Talent Scout to discuss his path from playing Division I soccer at George Washington University to leading one of the country's most prominent Olympic sports organizations. Albrecht shares his career journey through Under Armour, Major League Soccer and now USA Gymnastics, his vision for growing the sport ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the planned national Training Wellness Center in Noblesville, Indiana.

On this episode of Talent Scout, host Dave Neff talks with Blaine Zimmerman, chief talent and marketing officer for the Indy Chamber, about the experiences that shaped him and the work he is leading across the region. Zimmerman reflects on growing up in Tipton and Cicero, the influence of his great-grandfather Gene Fox, and running track and cross country at Indiana State. He shares why he left college early to join the Army, what life looked like as an infantryman with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and how that transition eventually led him into talent work focused on helping veterans build civilian careers. He explains how InVets grew its reach by building trust with military bases and hosting virtual resume, networking and LinkedIn training with employers. At the Indy Chamber, Zimmerman outlines priorities tied to economic development, telling Indianapolis’ story, and attracting and retaining talent, including efforts to better connect college students and interns with the city. He also discusses apprenticeships, the “I’m Not Done Yet” message, Speed City, and why mentorship and saying yes opened doors in Indianapolis, closing with his definition of success: the ripples you create by helping others.

Emily Poff joins Dave Neff to talk about her promotion to vice president of operations at Prolific and the career path that took her from New Castle to nonprofit leadership and into business operations. She shares how faith and community shaped her early years, why she studied political science and nonprofit management at Olivet Nazarene University, and what she learned working at United Way of Kankakee and Iroquois Counties and the Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce. Poff also breaks down Prolific’s portfolio companies, credits Brad Benbow as a key mentor, and explains what she gained from earning her MBA at Butler University and her Society for Human Resource Management certification.

Indianapolis Colts placekicker Spencer Shrader talks with Dave Neff about his unique journey from Westfield, Indiana, and homeschool roots to pursuing pro soccer in Brazil and Canada before switching to football in his senior year of high school. Shrader explains walking on at South Florida, earning a scholarship, transferring to Notre Dame and how faith and embracing discomfort shaped his decisions. He shares insights on playing under coach Marcus Freeman, thriving through setbacks, and navigating the NFL as an undrafted free agent with stops on the Colts, Jets and Chiefs before returning to Indianapolis. Shrader reflects on resilience during injury recovery and offers advice for young athletes on competing with yourself and defining success.

Addison “A.T.” Simpson joins Talent Scout to talk about growing up on Indianapolis’ east side, the family legacy that shaped him, and why he believes Indy is worth the investment. Simpson reflects on his path from Cathedral High School to Purdue football under Joe Tiller, including lessons in discipline, leadership, and a winning mindset from the Drew Brees era. He also shares his career journey from the Hoosier Lottery to medical device sales, then into entrepreneurship in construction, before stepping into his current role as a regional manager with McFarland Construction. Simpson discusses bringing McFarland’s community-focused approach to Indiana, the joint venture work connected to the LEAP District, and why mentorship, relationships, and accessible leadership matter for the city’s future.

Whittney Parkinson, owner of Whittney Parkinson Design, joins host Dave Neff on Talent Scout to share her path from growing up in Kokomo to leading a small, high-end design firm in Indiana. Parkinson talks about learning business by watching her parents build their companies, studying art and illustration, and pivoting from Ringling School of Art and Design to interior design in Chicago. She explains how working with her father after the 2008-09 financial crisis shaped her fast, hands-on approach, and why psychology classes helped her manage clients, personalities and high-emotion projects. Parkinson also discusses launching her firm in 2016, setting strict boundaries as a mother of three, vetting clients, and focusing on full home renovations and new builds, often in the Meridian Kessler, Meridian Hills, Carmel and Zionsville areas.

Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen, the city’s 29th mayor, joins Dave Neff on Talent Scout to share how growing up in Noblesville and being raised by a single mom shaped his leadership and life as a father of four. Jensen talks about his time at Butler University, including early setbacks, joining a fraternity, serving as a male cheerleader and returning to win class president. He also explains how an internship with state Sen. Luke Kenley led to working with Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and how mentors like Skillman, Kenley, Mitch Daniels, Susan Brooks and Eric Holcomb influenced his approach to public service. The conversation covers taking office in January 2020, navigating COVID-19 and seeing downtown momentum, including $150 million in private investment announced in 2020 and $4 billion in private investment over about five and a half years. Jensen also discusses the Noblesville Boom, a $93 million arena, the team name’s ties to Noblesville history, and regional work through the Central Indiana Regional Development Authority and AIM.

Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen, the city’s 29th mayor, joins Dave Neff on Talent Scout to share how growing up in Noblesville and being raised by a single mom shaped his leadership and life as a father of four. Jensen talks about his time at Butler University, including early setbacks, joining a fraternity, serving as a male cheerleader and returning to win class president. He also explains how an internship with state Sen. Luke Kenley led to working with Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and how mentors like Skillman, Kenley, Mitch Daniels, Susan Brooks and Eric Holcomb influenced his approach to public service. The conversation covers taking office in January 2020, navigating COVID-19 and seeing downtown momentum, including $150 million in private investment announced in 2020 and $4 billion in private investment over about five and a half years. Jensen also discusses the Noblesville Boom, a $93 million arena, the team name’s ties to Noblesville history, and regional work through the Central Indiana Regional Development Authority and AIM.