Advertise on podcast: Big Hearted Indy - The Citizen 7 Podcast

Citizen 7 co-founders Greg Enas and Don Palmer were guests on Innovate or Evaporate, a podcast hosted by Toph Day. Enas and Palmer share their own story and explain why strengthening friendships has become part of their mission for Indianapolis. Day asks how two men from different professional backgrounds came together around mentoring, service and a commitment to building a more connected city. Enas, who spent his career at Eli Lilly, and Palmer, who worked in the automotive industry, describe how their friendship deepened while mentoring students at an Indianapolis charter school. That experience helped lay the foundation for Citizen 7, a community that places authentic relationships ahead of conventional business networking. The conversation explores men's isolation, the ways technology has changed daily interaction and the value of making the first call, asking meaningful questions and listening without rushing to offer advice. Enas and Palmer explain how Citizen 7 brings together men across generations, creates opportunities for service and makes room for honest conversations. They also discuss Wellspring 7, an emerging community for women. Day also talks with Enas about Polk Stables, a restored former milk company building in Indianapolis that now brings entrepreneurs and nonprofits together. The discussion turns to neighborhood investment, retaining Indiana talent and Enas' vision of making Indianapolis the joy capital of the world. Learn more at citizen7indy.com and wellspring7.com.

What does it take to revive a neighborhood—and help an entire state thrive? It starts with people willing to show up, build trust, and invest in the place they call home. On this episode of Big Hearted Indy, Brian Shutt and Bill Taft join Greg Enes, Don Palmer, and Chris Spangle to explore how entrepreneurship, genuine relationships, and service can strengthen communities across Indiana. Brian shares lessons from co-founding Refinery46 and his work with Indiana’s Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Bill draws on his experience revitalizing Fountain Square, putting down roots in Herron-Morton, and helping communities through Interurban at the Sagamore Institute. Together, they discuss buying existing businesses, supporting the next generation of owners, finding entrepreneurial peer networks, and putting relationships before transactions. They also explore South Bend’s approach to neighborhood development, the potential of opportunity zones, and why a thriving Main Street matters alongside major employers. Throughout the conversation, Brian and Bill connect faith with hope, hospitality, and practical service. Their challenge: You don’t have to buy a business or develop real estate to make a difference. Start by knowing your neighbors, sharing your gifts, and becoming part of the community around you. Share this episode with someone who cares about their community, and connect with Citizen 7 for opportunities to build friendships and serve in Indianapolis.

Zach Garrett built Liftify at night until it earned more than his corporate job. Faith and work shaped how he took that risk. The founder and CEO spent nine months building it on the side, initially charging Marcus Hall about $27 to test a service that helps local businesses generate online reviews. Hall, president and partner at California Closets, part of Threefold, describes leaving Salesforce for the trades and making closets at 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday. The conversation centers on a distinction that can get lost in an ambitious career: Work matters for eternity, but it is not your identity. Garrett and Hall discuss what their corporate roles taught them, why mentors matter and how to surround yourself with people whose skills fill your gaps. Garrett also explains why he declined an acquisition offer and how a hire who backed out a week before starting pushed him to pursue a more experienced leadership team. At home, both men describe specific routines that protect their relationships. Garrett avoids evening events, prioritizes nightly family devotions and makes time to play with his four children, even when it is just 15 minutes of freeze tag. Hall protects a morning routine of exercise, devotions and reading, and takes each of his twin daughters on a separate trip to spend time together. Hosts Jackson Troxel and Drew Kelley lead the conversation at Citizen 7's Honor God in the Grind event.

Speed City gives Indianapolis a broader claim than racing: a city where ideas, careers and businesses can move quickly because people reduce friction and act with conviction. Moderator Dave Neff leads a panel with Kristian Andersen, co-founder and partner at High Alpha; David McKissic, founder and CEO of Cerebro Creative House; and Matt Mindrum, president and CEO of the Indy Chamber. They trace the idea from Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the city's racing identity to a larger argument about civic culture, entrepreneurship, creativity and regional competitiveness. The discussion points to Indianapolis' history of bold bets, from major sports infrastructure to the rapid execution of the NCAA tournament bubble. Andersen argues that speed should become part of the city's operating system, including faster decisions from investors, businesses and public institutions. McKissic describes Indianapolis as a place where proximity and relationships can remove barriers for creatives and entrepreneurs. Mindrum reframes affordability as speed, from paying off student loans to buying a first home, while stressing that roads, education, public safety, housing and other basics remain essential to attracting talent. The panel also looks at Downtown West, a proposed vision connecting major health care, higher education, tourism, sports and development assets, and at Eli Lilly and Company's role in setting a pace for innovation and wealth creation. The conversation closes with a shared test for the Speed City idea: it succeeds when residents embrace it as culture, not just a campaign, and when Indianapolis becomes the place people choose to build their lives, careers and businesses.

Male loneliness is leaving young men isolated behind phones, pornography, gambling and shallow digital connection. Bill Moore and Taylor Moore say the answer starts with men who stay, listen closely and build trust face to face. Bill Moore, CEO and co-founder of Heart of a Man, traces his approach to fatherhood and mentoring to a childhood marked by his father's departure when Bill was 2. He explains how Bible study and friendships with Christian men reshaped his life, then became the foundation for how he led his family and the food manufacturing company PacMoore. Taylor Moore, president and co-founder of Heart of a Man, describes the opposite childhood experience: a father who was present, taught Scripture, welcomed friends into the family home and made time for his sons. After work at Procter & Gamble, Vanderbilt, Microsoft and PacMoore, Taylor returned to Indiana and found himself deeply lonely. Backyard gatherings with other men helped reveal the need that eventually became Heart of a Man. The conversation turns practical as Bill and Taylor explain how men can earn trust through eye contact, questions, confidentiality, emotional vocabulary and specific vulnerability. They also discuss fatherlessness, the despair they see among unmarried young men, the effects of phones and online isolation, sports betting, pornography, marriage, and the role older men can play by mentoring younger men without pretending to have every answer. Heart of a Man: heartofaman.org Citizen 7: citizen7indy.com

Civil discourse works best when leaders can disagree without dividing. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness and former commissioner of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education Chris Lowery share how they approach conflict with humility, restraint and conviction. The conversation is hosted by  Marlon Webb and introduced by Kraig Kinchen. The Citizen 7 ACT Series event, "More Love, Less Contempt: A Civil Discourse Discussion," centers on whether people can listen with curiosity, preserve dignity and still hold firm to what they believe. Fadness recounts meeting privately with a resident who had repeatedly criticized him, and how asking about her life changed the conversation. He also defines political courage as staying focused on a constructive outcome rather than adding to the noise. Lowery describes four values he tries to bring into difficult conversations: honor, trust, grace and gratitude. He recalls a contentious Indiana Senate committee hearing and explains why he chose a direct phone call instead of public retaliation. He also argues that complex problems require more than isolated information, and that stronger solutions emerge when people from business, education, government, nonprofits and philanthropy are brought to the same table. The discussion turns to lived experience after flooding damaged homes in Fishers, the difference between civility and passivity, and the role of truth in productive disagreement. Both speakers make the case that respectful dialogue does not require surrendering deeply held beliefs. It requires knowing where common ground exists, when to keep listening and when continued argument is no longer useful. Presented by Citizen 7's ACT Series, Advancing the City Together.

Honor God in the Grind reframes work as something that matters for eternity without becoming a man's identity, especially when career, fatherhood and faith collide. Drew Kelley and Jackson Troxel, hosts of Honor God in the Grind, sit down with Big Hearted Indy hosts Greg Enas and Chris Spangle to explain how their friendship grew through Indianapolis technology circles and deeper conversations about marriage, ambition, purpose and faith. Kelley traces his path from Marian University athletics and technology sales to marriage, three children and the challenge of staying motivated while working remotely. Troxel reflects on growing up on a dairy farm near LaCrosse, studying at Purdue University, joining Orr Fellowship and building a career that included venture capital, Springbuk and software leadership. Their central tension is familiar to ambitious professionals: work can matter deeply without becoming the source of worth. They discuss comparison, achievement, remote work, the pressure to provide, the desire to be present fathers and the need for habits that protect time at home. The conversation also turns to vulnerability and friendship, including why men need a community broad enough to remind them they are not alone and a smaller circle capable of carrying honest struggles. Kelley and Troxel describe Honor God in the Grind as a place to examine how faith shapes work, family, service and identity while they are still learning those lessons themselves.

Todd Maurer, interim CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis and founder of a commercial real estate firm, and David Morgan, founder and CEO of Senior Home Companions and Story Cottage memory care, join hosts Don Palmer, Greg Enas, and Chris Spangle for a conversation that covers tikkun olam, the Jewish concept of repairing the world, and how that principle connects to Christian ideals of service and generosity. The discussion ranges from how parents shape character in children of successful families, to how the Jewish Federation engages younger generations through programs like Koach and Atid, to what both traditions teach about hospitality, mourning, and genuine friendship. Maurer also discusses the September 1 Indianapolis appearance of Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the American-Israeli hostage killed following the October 7 Hamas attacks. The event is open to the full Indianapolis community. - https://www.jewishindianapolis.org/a-mothers-voice-a-communitys-strength Morgan and Maurer reflect on what it means to build friendships that cross faith lines, how to cultivate vulnerability in men's groups, and why the word mensch may be the highest compliment one person can give another.

Author Jeremy Pryor and local leader Guy East challenge the modern assumption that work defines a man's identity, making the case that fatherhood is the most important team a man will ever lead. Pryor, founder of Family Teams, draws on years of research, time living in Jerusalem, and first-principles thinking rooted in Genesis 1 to reframe what it means to be a father, a builder, and a man on mission. East, an Indianapolis real estate investor and community catalyst, shares how leaving a performance-driven background as a professional athlete led him to discover Sabbath, hospitality, and intentional community as the anchors of a flourishing household. They join hosts Drew Kelley and Jackson Troxel to cover the freedom-scale-legacy business framework Pryor uses to coach families out of W-2 dependence and toward multi-generational asset building. They also address atomized identity, the collapse of disciple-making movements in the West, why Western Christians rarely discuss family wealth-building, and how the Genesis mandate to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and rule is a pre-loaded vision statement for every household. East reflects on moving from San Diego to Indianapolis and finding relational density and brotherhood he had never experienced in California. Both guests discuss the high cost of genuine community, public repentance, and what it looks like to pursue interdependence rather than independence.A conversation for fathers, entrepreneurs, and anyone wrestling with how faith, family, and work belong together rather than in separate, competing boxes. Learn more in Jeremy's book Family Revision or at https://www.jeremypryor.com/ or on his podcast Family Teams. Honor God in the Grind is a production of Citizen 7, a community focused on encouraging men in Indianapolis to live with purpose and intentionality.

Greg Ballard built one of Indiana's most unlikely political careers, winning the Indianapolis mayor's race as a near-total unknown against a heavily favored incumbent. Now he's running for Indiana Secretary of State as an independent, and the coalition that helped him govern is rallying behind him again. Ballard, a 23-year Marine Corps veteran and author of "The Last Urban Republican Mayor," joins attorney and political strategist Joe Loftus for a candid conversation about how they built a city government from scratch, why Indianapolis punches above its weight on civic collaboration, and what has gone wrong in Indiana's political system. Loftus, who previously served under Mayor Steve Goldsmith and spent decades at Barnes & Thornburg, explains how he assembled a transition team, recruited talent, and handed Ballard a complete governing blueprint two days after an election almost no one expected him to win. The two discuss pre-K funding, the water and wastewater transfer to Citizens Energy, the city's long-running sports strategy, transit equity, and why cross-partisan relationships, not ideology, define effective local government. Ballard also lays out his case for opening Indiana's ballot access, ending straight-ticket voting, and pursuing a Voter's Bill of Rights as part of his Lincoln Party candidacy. For information on signing the ballot petition, visit gregballard.com or ballardontheballot.com. To get involved with Big Hearted Indy and the Citizen 7 community, visit citizen7indy.com.

Peter Greer, president of HOPE International, and financial advisor Scott Pothoven join the Big Hearted Indy hosts to discuss what it takes to stay on mission, personally and organizationally, in a world designed for distraction and comfort. Greer traces his path from studying in Moscow to leading one of the world's leading Christ-centered microfinance organizations, now serving more than 3.8 million families across 30 nations and approaching its two-billionth dollar of investment. He reflects on the lessons behind his books "Mission Drift" and "Lead With Prayer," including why organizations and individuals drift, and why a culture of prayer is the first defense against it. Pothoven shares what a trip to Rwanda revealed about relationship-driven development, including a Rwandan entrepreneur who grew from a $20 loan to a $20,000 loan over a decade, and savings groups where members contributing the equivalent of 30 cents pooled resources to care for one another. Both guests speak candidly about the tension between striving and Sabbath, the danger of comfort, and what the global church can teach communities in Indianapolis about shared meals, generosity, and genuine belonging. Join the email list and find upcoming events, including the Restored Family cohort and the May 13 Coffee and Connection on mentoring, at citizen7indy.com.

Human connection is eroding quietly, and the tools promising to replace it cannot deliver what people actually need. Chris Henry, senior pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, makes the case that presence, usefulness, and committed community are not optional features of a well-lived life but its essential structure. Henry draws on thinkers including Wendell Berry, theologian David Bentley Hart, sociologist Mark Dunkelman, and researcher Jennifer Wallace to diagnose what he calls the anti-social century: a moment when convenience has become a substitute for commitment, digital companions simulate belonging, and young men in particular are being sold connection in forms that cannot deliver it. The talk moves from personal vulnerability, Henry's own reckoning over whether to attend his grandmother's funeral, to a theological argument rooted in the concept of the Imago Dei, to three direct pieces of pastoral advice for leaders: guard your experiences of deep formation, rebuild your middle ring of relationships, and find tangible ways to be useful to others. Henry closes with a question he refuses to leave rhetorical: there is someone in your life right now waiting to hear that they matter. Go find them. Chris Henry is senior pastor of Second Presbyterian Church.

Two Indianapolis entrepreneurs share what surrendering business outcomes to God actually looks like, including the failures they didn't see coming and the peace they found afterward. Phil Daniels, a founder, investor, and co-author of "Spiritugraphics" and Darrian Mikell, co-founder of Qualify, an HR tech startup he recently sold, join host Drew Kelley for a candid panel conversation on identity, ambition, and vocational faithfulness. Daniels reflects on building a company steeped in Christian values that still ended in disappointment for employees and investors, and how that experience now equips him to guide founders through their own difficult chapters. Mikell opens up about a brutal 2023 that included personal failings, a serious car accident, multiple rounds of layoffs, and the moment he stopped trying to control the outcome. Together, they discuss what it looks like to root identity in Christ rather than in professional accomplishment, the discipline of documenting God's faithfulness in real time, how the Lord's Prayer shapes daily decision-making, and why the path to meaningful work is rarely linear. Both men are wired for ambition. The conversation is about what happens when that ambition gets submitted to something larger than a business plan. Recorded live at Meridian Hills Country Club as part of the Honor God in the Grind Growth Session series, this gathering is designed for men in sales, business development, ministry, fundraising, and entrepreneurship.

Two brothers building workforce housing across Indiana share how faith, family, and friendship shape every aspect of their work and lives. Mark Muselman, president and CEO of M2 Investments, and David Muselman, president of DJM Investments, grew up in Bern, Indiana, attended Taylor University, and have both planted roots in Indianapolis with a clear mission: provide attainable, quality housing in markets that need it most. In this conversation with host Greg Enas and Chris Spangle on Big Hearted Indy, the brothers trace their upbringing in a Swiss-heritage small town, the founding of a church that now draws 1,500 people weekly, and how their parents modeled open-handed generosity from the start. They discuss how they use apartment communities as a mission field, why they pursue what Mark calls "attainable luxury" housing in secondary Indiana markets, and how proximity, compounding relationships, and unreasonable hospitality have defined their lives in Indianapolis. The conversation also covers the state of young men, marriage, and community, including why brotherhood requires intentional effort, why loneliness is a growing threat, and why both brothers believe Indianapolis offers a rare combination of opportunity and accessibility that few cities can match. Mark and David Muselman are under 35, bullish on Indiana, and convinced that relationships are life's greatest currency.

Glenn McDonald and Andrew Hart discuss how their unlikely friendship has shaped their leadership across Indianapolis's nonprofit, business and faith communities. McDonald, who founded Zionsville Presbyterian Church and served there for 28 years, and Hart, who leads Oaks Academy after starting at Eli Lilly and Company, explore how relationships between clergy and lay leaders can enhance both personal growth and community impact. The two men talk about their shared commitment to serving underresourced communities, the importance of intentional friendships, and practical ways to cultivate joy and purpose in leadership. This episode of the Big Hearted Indy podcast features hosts Greg Enas, Don Palmer and Chris Spangle in conversation about friendship, service and forming whole leaders in Indianapolis. Sign up for Glenn's morning reflections here: https://glennsreflections.com/