Events Listed As Speakers

Nancy Carlson is retired from the Media Department at Ball State where she also served as chair. She spends her retirement volunteering at Classroom Connections (the free teachers store), Muncie Civic Theater and Grissom Elementary School. Just for fun, she decided to find and photograph all the New Deal Post Office Murals in the State of Indiana.

Brad Schum is a graduate of Ball State University’s Miller College of Business, where he earned his degree in Management. Since beginning his career in 2001, Brad has developed a strong track record of helping organizations operate more efficiently, elevate customer service, and enhance internal processes. Brad spent more than 15 years in sales, primarily within the plastic distribution market serving the healthcare industry. In 2018, he transitioned into the construction services sector through the purchase of Coast 2 Coast Chipping. Under his leadership, the company delivered concrete-removal services across 37 states and doubled in size before being acquired by a competitor in late 2024. That same year, Brad and his wife, Cindy, purchased Heartwood Enterprises Inc., which later became a division of A.G. Maas Supply Co., a company they had originally acquired in 2019.Cindy Schum graduated from Ball State University cum laude in 2001 with a degree in Finance. She began her career in commercial banking, where she spent nearly 20 years advising business clients, managing risk, and overseeing multi-million-dollar loan portfolios. Under Cindy’s leadership, A.G. Mass Supply Co. has grown its team fivefold and expanded its capabilities to better serve customers across Indiana and beyond.

Ball State alumna Jennifer Wiese, '87 is the Founder and Owner of BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery, a Noblesville, Indiana-based snack company she launched in January 2010 after herfamily's gluten- and casein-free journey, sparked by her son's autism diagnosis, revealed a gap in great-tasting, better-for-you options.With a foundation in fashion merchandising and business and professional experience spanning fashion, sales, and fundraising, Jennifer has grown BeeFree from a grassroots, farmers-market hustle into a nationally distributed brand-reaching major retailers and showing up in everyday places like grocery stores, coffee shops, and airports - while staying anchored to a "real ingredients" approach and a mission that encourages people to feel strong, fueled, and free from processed junk. Through BeeFree's nonprofit arm, BeeFree Bakes, she extends that purpose into community impact by creating job opportunities and support for adults with autism and other disabilities, demonstrating how values-led entrepreneurship can scale with both heart and results.A national speaker and poster presenter, she has presented at HIMSS, AMSN, and AACN, sharing insights on care models, staffing innovation, and performance improvement. Carrie is passionate about patient-centered care, operational excellence, and empowering teams to achieve measurable results. She recently completed her MBA in Healthcare Management to further her impact on healthcare transformation.

“Corporate America” is neither as sinister nor as sophisticated as Hollywood and the headlines often suggest. This talk offers an insider’s perspective on the corporate world, revealing its very human realities through the experience of someone who has worked extensively within it.

Born and raised on the U.S.–Mexico border in Ciudad Juárez, México, Félix Medina earned his B.A. in Hispanic Literature & Linguistics from the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez. He moved to Indiana in 2007 and, inspired by his father’s entrepreneurial path, launched his first company—Vedia Global—in 2014. The translation and language-services firm grew quickly, serving major clients such as the Department of Justice, the NBA, the Smithsonian Institute, the City of Indianapolis, the NCAA, and the Indiana State Museum, before being acquired by a larger corporation.After several years in the translation field, Félix transitioned into marketing and media, spending time with Telemundo and later working in the broader Indy marketing ecosystem. But the entrepreneurial call never left. In August 2025, he founded El Capitán Digital Marketing (AKA El Cap DM)—a multicultural boutique strategy agency helping U.S. companies authentically connect with Latino communities through culturally intelligent marketing, community engagement, and real-world bilingual insights.Outside of work, Félix is usually traveling, skiing, drinking great coffee, brainstorming creative ideas with ChatGPT, playing tennis, or listening to Bad Bunny. A true language lover and multicultural explorer, he speaks Spanish, English, and Portuguese, is currently studying Turkish, and has traveled to more than 20 countries—including Iceland, Turkey, Greece, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Cuba, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and Spain.

Elizabeth Richter presents the fascinating story of one of the oldest and most beautiful musical instruments found throughout the world. She will perform examples of music written for the harp as it developed over the past millennium.

Darius Norwood is an entrepreneur and CEO who stepped into the leadership of a second-generation, family-owned commercial landscaping company serving the Indianapolis area for more than 30 years. Rather than building from a blank slate, Darius has focused on rebuilding, navigating legacy systems, inherited culture, and real-world constraints while modernizing operations and repositioning the business for long-term growth.With experience across corporate environments, real estate, and entrepreneurship, Darius brings a practical, ground-level perspective on business development, decision-making under pressure, and leading through uncertainty. His approach is rooted in faith, accountability, and disciplined execution, with a belief that sustainable businesses are built by honoring people, process, and purpose, not shortcuts.Kirsten Norwood is a second-generation entrepreneur and Executive Chair of a family-owned commercial landscaping company serving the Indianapolis area for more than 30 years. A Ball State University alum, she focuses on company strategy, workforce development, and community impact while navigating the realities of family business ownership. Kirsten is passionate about faith-driven leadership, breaking barriers as a Black woman in entrepreneurship, and helping the next generation build purpose-led careers.