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CONTENTS TK BUSINESS MAGAZINE | JULY/AUGUST 2021

ON THE COVER NINJA CPA | WORKING WITH HAIR | WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME | BIOSOLIDS MASTER PLAN

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NINJA CPA

Jeff Eilliott used ninja focus to turn failure into business success.

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Photo By JOHN BURNS

Photo By JOHN BURNS

JULY/AUGUST 2021

WORKING WITH HAIR

Midwest Barber College helps people realize their goals of creating a business working with hair.

36

BUILDING BRAND EQUITY

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SELLING SPORTSMANSHIP

Three local businesses help instill skills that will stay with kids throughout their lives.

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EXPERTS

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BIOSOLIDS MASTER PLAN

Topeka’s Flavorista takes you to 3 local favorites where regulars feel like family.

RONNIE MURPHY Bajillion

Bartlett & West is working with the City of Topeka to make wastewater treatment options more environmentally friendly and fiscally sound.

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Generational growth and innovation fuels 70 years of business.

Michelle De La Isla talks about her time as mayor and what the future holds.

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

HOW TO EARN BRAND LOYALTY

PHOTO SUBMITTED

THE BASICS OF STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS

MERIDETH SNEPP Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

@tk_business_

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WHERE EVERBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

@TK Business

TK Business Magazine

McELROY’S

@TKBusinessMag

LAST WORD

@TK...Topeka's Business Magazine

Photo By ALISON BEEBE

Photo By JOHN BURNS

SELLING SPORTSMANSHIP

A Washburn University professor shares his tips for building an effective brand.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

PG.

Thank You Topeka!

Terry & Von

785-272-1633

www.BlueDotKansas.com

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N. Larry Bork Miranda K. Carmona Timothy A. Shultz Cynthia J. Sheppeard David P. O’Neal Susan L. Mauch

Tracy A. Cole Samuel R. Feather Lance R. Smith Cameron S. Bernard Wesley A. Weathers Patrick M. Salsbury

515 S Kansas Ave Topeka, KS 66603 The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements or prior results obtained.

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TKmagazine.com CHECK OUT

Get expert business advice and up-to-date information on business in Topeka at TKmagazine.com. Send your news releases to news@tkmagazine.com.

BUSINESS NEWS

The Stormont Vail Wound Care Center Earns Center of Distinction Recognition from Healogics The Stormont Vail Wound Care Center earned a Center of Distinction recognition from Healogics for the fourth consecutive year. The Center achieved outstanding clinical outcomes for twelve consecutive months, including patient satisfaction higher than 92 percent, and a minimum wound healing rate of at least 92 percent within 28 median days to heal.

Advisors Excel Raises Nearly $1 Million for Folds of Honor Scholarships Advisors Excel and its affiliated financial professionals recently raised $932,000 for Folds of Honor during a fundraising event in Houston. The gift will help fund scholarships for families of fallen and disabled military heroes.

Businesses Provide Funds for Enhancements at the Pavilion in Redbud Park Donations from two area businesses will be used to fund enhancements for the Pavilion in Redbud Park. The Walmart Community Grants and the North Topeka Walmart #5441 awarded $500 for the purchase of a television to be installed in the Pavilion. The following day, Topeka Electric Motor announced it would match the gift for the purchase of a second television.

WORKING CAPITAL is about local and regional businesses within the KTWU viewing area. WORKING CAPITAL showcases entrepreneurship and provides an atmosphere for sharing business concepts and practical business experiences.

Tune in to KTWU-HD, Digital Channel 11.1.

New Project to Bring More Than 100+ Jobs to Topeka Dover Development and Brahms Construction broke ground for their brand-new senior living community in Topeka. Upon opening, this will be the 59th community managed

by Cedarhurst Senior Living across nine states. The multi-million dollar, 75-thousand square foot campus will offer 57 Assisted Living and 27 Memory Care apartments and is expected to be ready for move-ins in the fall of 2022.

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Neurologist Muhammad Amin, M.D. Joins Stormont Vail Health Muhammad Amin, M.D. has joined Stormont Vail Health team to practice as a neurologist at Cotton O’Neil Neurology.

Hills Pet Nutrition Gift Enables Parks and Recreation to Double the Size of Hills Bark Park $175,000 sponsorship from Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc., will enable Shawnee County Parks + Recreation to double the size of Hill’s Bark Park in Gage Park.

The large dog section will extend into a rarely used ball field while the small dog section will grow in footprint to what is currently the large dog section. The expanded Hill’s Bark Park will have two separate parking areas and two entrances. Other new additions will include a concrete wall just inside of the entrances where patrons tend to gather, new fencing, new shade structures in the large dog section, new LED lights, and improvements to the existing turf.

congratulations KANSAS FINANCIAL RESOURCES congratulates

ERIC HUNSICKER

on earning the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation.

This honor is achieved only upon completion of extensive course work, demonstrated practical skill and advanced product knowledge. Further, it reflects the goal of KFR to offer all clients the utmost in professional service. Eric will concentrate on wealth management and specialized planning for his clients.

Join us in congratulating Eric on his accomplishment. He may be reached at:

3311 SW Van Buren | Topeka, KS 66611 785.266.1200 | www.KFRtopeka.com | eric@kfrtopeka.com ERIC HUNSICKER, CFP , CLU ®

®

Registered representatives offer securities through Securities America, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Financial advisors offer advisory services through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Kansas Financial Resources, Inc. and the Securities America companies are separate entities.

CORPORATE SERVICES  AIRPORT TRANSPORTATION  WEDDINGS & EVENTS july/august 2021

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FROM THE EDITOR

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COACHING FOR LIFE

Lisa Loewen Editor-In-Chief TK Business Magazine As a mother of four children who all participated in at least one sport, I have witnessed firsthand the role that sports/ coaches can play in a child’s life.

My oldest son, Cody, who was 5’6” and weighed 130 pounds as a freshman in high school probably had no business playing football. Yet, he put his helmet on every day and practiced just as hard as everyone else on that team. When Friday night came along, he always hoped for a chance to take the field but understood that being part of team sometimes means cheering your teammates on from the sidelines. He learned that courage comes in many forms. He learned that you can’t achieve your goals unless you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get right back into the game.

My daughter, Kylie, was not a competitive swimmer, but she went out for the high school swim team. It was probably the most physically challenging thing she had ever done. Struggling to swim a lap on that first day, she considered giving up because it was too hard, but her coach convinced to stay.

Every day at practice she found she could swim a little farther and a little faster. While she didn’t break any speed records over the next four years, she discovered the power of perseverance and that success comes in many forms.

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My son, Dalton, played soccer when he was young. He was quick and had a good head for the game, but he hated losing. He would get so mad—at himself, at his teammates and even at his coaches.

He would often blame a loss on the referees for not calling fouls on the other team. I will never forget his coach calling him out for this after one game, telling him that sometimes the other team is really just better, so get over it. During his years in soccer, Dalton learned that you can’t win every game. He learned that good sportsmanship means having patience and self-control and that winning gracefully is just as important as losing gracefully.

My daughter, Ryn, has been a dancer from the time she was born. But natural ability and innate musicality aren’t enough in the dance world. She needs someone to correct her form, to teach her how to stretch her body and her creativity, to strengthen her muscles and her mind. She needs someone to cheer her on when she does well and someone to console her when she fails. Mostly, she needs someone to believe in her as much as she believes in herself. Her dance teachers have helped her see that competition is healthy because it makes her better. They don’t let her make excuses and remind her that success comes through hard work.

The cover of this issue features entrepreneurs who use sports to teach kids valuable life lessons that will serve them well when they become tomorrow’s business leaders. Think about what coaches teach kids to value: • Teamwork • Resilience • Competition • Courage • Hard work • Perseverance Those are the same traits that businesses look for when hiring new employees. When we talk about workforce development, it might all begin with a coach.

TK Business Magazine

PUBLISHER Tara Dimick EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lisa Loewen CREATIVE DIRECTOR & DESIGNER Janet Faust MANAGING PARTNER & SALES DIRECTOR Braden Dimick braden@tkmagazine.com 785.438.7773 MARKETING ASSISTANT Hope Dimick Ally Oakes COVER PHOTOGRAPHER John Burns CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Alison Beebe Samantha Egan Kim Gronniger Lisa Loewen Adam Vlach CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS John Burns Alison Beebe Hope Dimick CONTRIBUTING EXPERTS Tom Hickman Ronnie Murphy Meredith Snepp

PUBLISHING COMPANY E2 Communications 7512 SW Falcon St. Topeka, KS 66610 785.438.7773

FOUNDER ǀ Kevin Doel

tkmagazine.com 2021 TK Business Magazine is published by E2 Communications, Inc. Reproduction or use of this publication in any manner without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Every effort was made to ensure accuracy of the information in this publication as of press time. The publisher assumes no responsibility of any part for the content of any advertisement in this publication, including any errors and omissions therein. E2 Communications, Inc. makes no endorsement, representation or warranty regarding any goods or services advertised or listed in this publication.

Listings and advertisements are provided by the subject company. E2 Communications, Inc. shall not be responsible or liable for any inaccuracy, omission or infringement of any third party's right therein, or for personal injury or any other damage or injury whatsoever. By placing an order for an advertisement, the advertiser agrees to indemnify the publisher against any claims relating to the advertisement.

August 13-15

Heartland motorsports park Topeka, kansas

get your tickets at nhra.com suite tickets available 816-607-9706 july/august 2021

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HEART OF THE ENTREPRENEUR

NINJA When most people start a business, they usually don’t choose a name that represents failure. But that is exactly what Jeff Elliott did when he started Another71, a website about passing the CPA Exam.

The magic score needed to pass the CPA Exam is a 75, which is the equivalent of an ‘A-.’ A score of 71 can be gut wrenching—especially if it isn’t the first time you have taken the test. Or the second. Or maybe, the third.

As a young business professional in his 20s with a full time job, a wife and three kids under the age of 5 at home, a mortgage and a commitment to involvement with church, Jeff knew firsthand the struggle involved of finding time and resources to study for the CPA exam.

“I really wanted to be a CPA, but just couldn’t find the focus to really study the way I needed to pass the exam,” Jeff said.

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By LISA LOEWEN Photo by JOHN BURNS

JEFF ELLIOTT, CPA & Founder of Another71

Photo by JOHN BURNS

CPA

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HEART OF THE ENTREPRENEUR

BLOGGING FRUSTRATIONS After his third attempt on the various sections of the exam, he started a blog to voice his frustrations. The first entry on March 14, 2008 (three years after his first failure) read: “I scored a 74 on the CPA Exam and all I got was this lousy FAIL letter. It felt like a 44. Does a more gut-wrenching number exist?”

Rather than giving up, Jeff was determined to find a better way to study. He developed a hyper-focused approach that cuts out the unnecessary steps and redundancy found in most traditional CPA Exam prep courses.

Armed with a new study method, and a resolve to never fail again, Jeff was able to pass all four sections of the CPA exam by the end of that year, actually skyrocketing his scores on the tax portion of the CPA Exam to a 92.

Of course, he was ecstatic after passing, but after the euphoria wore off, he realized what he had accomplished was bigger than himself—he had also helped countless others along the way and, in the process, created a potential business idea.

WHAT? ... BLOGGING? Even in this pre-social media era, Jeff found that some of his blog posts had more than 3,000 comments on them.

“When I saw the number of people following my blog, I told myself ‘there is something there,”’ Jeff said.

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He partnered with another company to do some affiliated referrals, and within a short time found that his blog was bringing in more money than he was making as a CPA. I never intended for it to be a business,” Jeff said. “If I did I would not have called it Another71 because you don’t necessarily instill confidence in helping others pass the CPA exam if your name represents a failing score.”

In 2010, Jeff and his wife decided it was time to make the leap into entrepreneurship. Having followed the financial advice of Dave Ramsey for years, they were debt free except for their mortgage, with three months of living expenses sitting in the bank.

My wife was on board with it because I was essentially working two jobs and was burning the proverbial midnight oil. Other family members were a little more skeptical of my decision to quit a goodpaying job at a publicly traded company with full health benefits to work out of a spare bedroom. They thought it was crazy town,” Jeff said.

Crazy town quickly turned into success city.

CPA candidates typically pay $2,000 to $3,000 for a CPA Review course, which gives them access to lectures, textbooks, notes, and a bank of questions. At the time that Elliott started his business, there were no comprehensive supplemental study options out there, so he took his NINJA study methodology and created a set of

supplemental materials that could be affordably added to any study course.

FROM FAILURE TO NINJA CPA Today, NINJA CPA Review includes a complete test bank of questions with adaptive learning, comprehensive notes, an audio course, online tutoring four nights a week, flashcards, textbooks, study planners, study groups, and even a private social network where people can share their experiences.

NINJA also acquired Bisk CPA Review from Thomson Reuters in 2016.

“Everything I am doing doesn’t quite compute,” Jeff said. “People see this guy that failed the CPA exam a bunch of times. What business does he have telling people how to pass? He doesn’t even have a full course, why are people buying it?”

They buy it because his method works, and word has spread.

Another71 is the most visited CPA exam-related site on the Internet with 1,000,000+ monthly page views and 100,000+ unique visitors per month.

Jeff says the most expensive component of any business is acquiring a customer. The longer you can extend the lifetime value of that customer, the better.

They came into your funnel because they wanted product A. When they no longer need that product, what else can you offer them to keep them coming back?

SHINY OBJECTS SYNDROME “What you see a lot of times is that an entrepreneur will get bored with what brought them to the dance and lose sight of their core competencies,” Jeff said. “My friend calls it ‘shiny objects’ syndrome where they go off on these tangents that they know nothing about, but it looks fun.

That is a recipe for going out of business.”

Jeff says the company tries to stay in their lane by continually remembering their ninja focus as a supplemental product to the big study programs.

“It gets tempting to want to shift into the big course option, but we remind ourselves to stay true to who we are,” Jeff said.

“Life is a treadmill. It gets boring. Business is a treadmill. It gets boring. Boring is good.

Stay on the treadmill, just put the incline up one notch.”

NINJA CPA Review took it up a notch a few years ago when they shifted into a subscription model that gave customers more flexibility in their study needs. The pay-as-you-go model let subscribers pay for a few months while studying for a specific exam, stop for a month or two, and then jump back in with no ongoing contracts or commitments.

Customers love the flexibility, and the competition has taken notice.

“Competitors of mine try to offer something similar to our model,” Jeff said.

“They offer low monthly payments to make their product seem comparable, but it isn’t a true month-to-month payment. When you

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HEART OF THE ENTREPRENEUR

look at the contract, they just break it out into 24 monthly payments.”

PRICING & MARKETING As CPA exam study materials have become more commoditized over the years, with companies all offering virtually the same materials, Jeff says the business focus has shifted more to pricing and marketing. They acquire customers through pay-per-click ad buys and Facebook ads.

“I have team members who are exceptional at Google pay-perclick,” Jeff said. “That is how our little speed boat in an ocean full of oil tankers can compete—and even win. If you do a Google search on CPA review materials, Another71 and NINJA CPA Review are third mostsearched for brand right now.”

Another71 employs 10 people from all over the world.

These include software developers, project managers, content editors and marketing experts working from Topeka, Denver, San Diego, Costa Rica and India.

“Our database has over 6,000 multiple choice test questions and more than 250 task-based simulations, and the CPA test updates its content twice a year,” Jeff said.

“That’s a lot to manage, not to mention every time Congress even thinks about changing the tax law, we have to update it.”

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ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVICE Jeff says he often likes to give unsolicited advice. When he talks to someone who is thinking about quitting a job to start their own business, he can’t help but offer a little advice.

“I tell them the business needs to make at least 70 percent of what they are currently making because once they can devote all of their time to it, it will grow.

I also tell them not to borrow money to start a business because business is stressful enough without the added weight of debt hanging over your head,” Jeff said.

He also warns entrepreneurs that if they don’t do it right, they will eventually find that they have traded one boss for another. They will get caught up in systems and working in their business rather than working on their business.

Jeff says he has had offers from some big companies looking to purchase his business. At first he was flattered, but when he stepped back and looked at the big picture, he realized that the chances of another company buying his business and not wanting him to stay on were slim.

“So really I would be exchanging the freedom that I love as an entrepreneur to become another cubicle warrior,” Jeff said.

“And what do most entrepreneurs do after they sell their company? They start another one. I love my current company, so I think I will just stay with it.”

TK

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atstopeka.com

Investment advisory services offered through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, a Registered Investment Advisor. Cambridge and On Target Financial are not affiliated.

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SMITH BASEBALL ACADEMY

DANCE FACTORY

DARTING BASKETBALL ACADEMY

Sportsmanship TEACHING KIDS TO WIN AND LOSE LIKE CHAMPIONS IS NO SMALL BUSINESS

By SAMANTHA EGAN Photos by JOHN BURNS

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If you were on a competitive team when you were a kid, chances are you remember your coach.

Whether it’s dance, baseball or basketball, there are lessons to be learned from working hard and using your skills to help your team go after glory.

TK Business Magazine

Topeka’s vibrant youth sports scene is bursting with examples of incredible coaches who are shaping the next generation through the love of their craft. Meet three local business owners who are dedicated to helping kids be the best athletes and people they can be.

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Photos by JOHN BURNS

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SMITH BASEBALL ACADEMY

Rob Smith didn’t set out to start a thriving side business as a baseball coach. But that’s what happens when you coach your son’s team and happen to have experience playing Major League Baseball.

An All-American college baseball player, Smith was drafted to the Cleveland Indians in the 1990s. Fast forward to 2008 when Smith began getting requests from moms to coach their kids. One mom told Smith about a space available in Master Overbey’s space on Burlingame Road and told Smith she’d pay him to coach her kid. Soon after, Smith Baseball Academy was born.

In his first year, Smith did about 100 lessons a week in the corner of Master Overbey’s.

Later that year, he brought on a pitching coach, and their number of students shot from 30 to 50.

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Photo by JOHN BURNS

Rob Smith

Photo by JOHN BURNS

From a hitting standpoint, players learn valuable life lessons regarding success and failure while swinging, missing and making adjustments as explained by Rob Smith, owner and coach of Smith Baseball Academy.

Today, Smith Baseball Academy has a group of 12 coaches who teach baseball and softball players ranging from age 7 to adult. They now conduct lessons from Sportzone, where they work with their players on hitting, pitching, fielding and catching.

While he works with players of all abilities, including those with aspirations to earn college scholarships, Smith said his training is ideal for beginners who could use a confidence boost.

“A lot of students we get are kids that aren’t feeling confident or want to come into a learning environment, so they can contribute more to their existing team,” said Smith.

While parents are looking for results, Smith also focuses on the emotional part of playing the game. While all sports have what Smith calls “built-in failures,” he said baseball has a particularly high level of adversity.

“From a hitting standpoint, you’re dealing with the failure of game 70 percent of the time,” Smith said. “The life lessons that come with having perspective are huge.”

Smith said his players learn those lessons naturally while they’re swinging, missing and making adjustments. The other key part of Smith Baseball Academy’s coaching philosophy is simply having fun.

“You’re not going to stick with it unless you love it because

of the failures,” Smith said. “The other part of our approach is just loving and growing the game.”

For Smith and his coaches, the most rewarding part of their work is the “wow” moment they see athletes experience.

“There’s an awakening where they’re like, ‘OK, this is fun”—they get some belief in themselves,” said Smith. “Even if they aren’t going to be college players, they learn how to enjoy it.”

Smith only hires coaches who share his passion. Usually, he said he can tell within three minutes if a coach is right for the job. The number one quality he looks for is trustworthiness.

“It’s so important to be able to earn the trust of the student,” said Smith. “That only

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The coaching staff at Smith Baseball Academy teach baseball and softball players because it is their passion that is rewarded as students progress and experience “wow” moments.

Photo by JOHN BURNS

comes with communication and understanding.”

Often, he said, that trust is the key to getting physical results.

“Once they figure that out, there’s a lot of growth,” he said.

PRESERVING THE PASSION While all Smith Baseball Academy coaches have passion, they also have full-time jobs— including Smith. While the Academy has thrived in its 13 years, Smith said he has no plans to make it his career.

“Right now, we all love to coach,” said Smith. “We treat it like a passion.”

Because he doesn’t have the capacity to grow any larger, Smith doesn’t advertise his business. Other than his website, his sole marketing funnel is word of mouth.

“I want to keep it as a passion rather than a full-blown, high-risk business,” he said. “The reward is the student athletes and seeing the progression and change from where they started—even from just a halfhour lesson—from where they are to where they’re going.”

Photo by JOHN BURNS

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Photo by JOHN BURNS

DANCE FACTORY

Megan Toth & Kara Clawson 22

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Photo by JOHN BURNS

After experiencing Dance Factory as students and teachers, co-owners Megan Toth and Kara Clawson are finally in the position to take the 41-yearold studio in a completely new direction. Yet their goal is simple: preserve the culture that helped them blossom, both as dancers and as adults.

“We have a deep love for this place because it’s where we spent lots of time as kids,” said Toth. “It really shaped us into who we are today.”

Dance Factory offers jazz, hip hop, tap, ballet and contemporary classes to students ages 18 months through adult.

Students can take classes for fun or audition for a competitive dance team.

Close to 300 dancers attend class each week. Toth and Clawson squeeze every usable inch of their 11,000 square-foot

Photo by JOHN BURNS

space in Fairlawn Plaza when classes are in session. Their goal is for each student to take three to five classes a week.

“We really just hope to provide the opportunity for as many kids to dance as we can,” said Toth.

MARKETING WITH SMILES Toth and Clawson use a powerful marketing strategy: make class as fun as possible.

Events like the studio’s parent night, a once-a-month opportunity for moms and dads to sit in on their child’s class, are key in showing parents the money they pay for tuition is well spent.

“The smiles on their faces when kids leave class and run up to their parents at the end of the night means everything,” said Toth. “As a parent myself, that would appeal to me the most.”

“We really just hope to provide the opportunity for as many kids to dance as we can.”

—Megan Toth Co-owner Dance Factory

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The Dance Factory’s competitive dancers may like to win, but just as importantly, the dancers grow as a team creating lifetime connections and experiences.

Photo by JOHN BURNS

Dance Factory also uses social media to advertise. But the most impactful marketing is the reputation that comes with four decades of happy students.

“It helps tremendously that the studio has been around for a long time because of the number of students who have walked through these doors,” said Toth. “Several of my friends have kiddos who are starting now. It’s like a family, and it just continues to cycle forever and ever.”

Rather than go out of their way to change the studio, Toth and Clawson are focused on keeping that cycle going.

“I don’t feel like anything we are doing is broken. We grow every year, and that’s all that I can hope for,” said Toth. “As a business, I feel like we’re right on track.”

TEACH THEM YOUNG While they aren’t out to change the culture, Toth and Clawson have set out to expand their offerings for their littlest dancers ages 18 months through three years old. Their instinct proved to be on target. As they added more classes, demand followed.

Enrolling more toddlers doesn’t just amp up the studio’s cuteness factor, it also brings more opportunities to breed dancers who can’t get enough time in the studio.

“Once they’re dancing for a few years, it becomes ingrained in them,” said Toth. “At that point, it’s our job to make sure they continue to love it.”

Photo by JOHN BURNS

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STAGE LESSONS While Toth said she and Clawson aren’t as focused on competition as previous owners, Dance Factory’s competitive arm remains a strong part of

the studio. Starting as early as kindergarten, dancers can go to three competitions a year, where they are critiqued and scored for their routines.

“Kiddos can begin competing when they are four to five years old,” Toth said.

But unlike sports, Toth said video critiques make competitive dance different than, say, a soccer tournament.

“As we watch the videos, it’s really important to Kara and me that the kids understand this is how you grow,” said Toth. “We try to teach them not to feel defeated, to hold on to the praise but to also use those critiques to light a fire for us to work really hard.”

Toth hopes understanding criticism is a lesson her dancers carry with them into adulthood.

“You don’t always get first place. You don’t always get the job. You don’t always get picked for this, that or the other thing,” said Toth. “It’s so important to know how to pick yourself up and keep going forward. It makes the victories that much sweeter.”

GROWING UP AS A TEAM While Toth said her competitive dancers like to win, she thinks they are mostly drawn to the team atmosphere.

“Feeling like you’re a part of something is a good feeling,” Toth said. “As a business owner, it’s so rewarding to watch them grow as a team and grow up together.”

Toth and Clawson experienced that team connection in their own childhoods.

“They come from different walks of life, they like and dislike different things, but when they come here they have one common thing: they love dance,” she said “It’s those relationships that they carry with them forever.”

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DARTING BASKETBALL ACADEMY

Kerry Darting On the outside, Darting Basketball Academy is a basketball club focused on helping kids grow their skill level. But to Owner Kerry Darting, it’s about teaching lessons that resonate beyond the final buzzer.

Darting Basketball Academy helps kids from third grade to 12th grade improve their fundamental basketball skills. Their core program is their 18-week skills academy, where players come once a week for an hour to practice in a small group of kids with similar skill levels.

The training environment at Darting Basketball Academy feels different than what kids likely experience during their regular season.

“There’s always a score being kept, always parents in the crowd and referees. It’s hard for kids to make mistakes and be OK with it,” said Darting.

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Photo by JOHN BURNS

TK Business Magazine

“Obviously, we’re developing basketball skills, but our responsibilities are way more than basketball.”

—Kerry Darting Owner Darting Basketball Academy

and competence to where kids can have some success during their seasons.”

Photo by JOHN BURNS

But at the Academy, mistakes are encouraged, something Darting said takes some time for kids to get used to.

“In those first couple of weeks, they’re so passive, and they’re scared to do things they’ve never done,” said Darting. “But around seven weeks in, that’s when the improvement really starts to take off.”

While some students come in as star players with their eyes on college scholarships, some simply

want to make their school team.

“I just want to get kids better,” said Darting. “Better is different for everyone. It’s fun when you watch kids work so hard and it pays off.”

Broken up into two, nineweek semesters, the program ends in mid-October, just in time for their school team to start up.

“Basketball is a sport where you need to practice a lot,” said Daring. “By October, we hope we were able to develop their skills

BRINGING HIS CAREER HOME Darting started his own basketball career in Topeka before playing college ball at Kansas State University and Missouri S&T. After college, he started coaching at his alma mater before moving on to Division 1 schools.

After six years of fastpaced seasons and countless nights in hotels, Darting felt a pull to return to Topeka. Not long after he was back in town, Darting started getting requests from family friends to coach their kids. 10 kids quickly multiplied to over 100.

“It was obvious Topeka needed a place like Darting Basketball Academy,” said Darting.

Six months after his return home, Darting Basketball Academy welcomed its first students. Within the first year, 160 kids signed up. Today, there are 350 members and three Darting Basketball Academy locations.

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In Darting Basketball Academy’s inaugural year it welcome 160 kids.

Today, there are 350 members and three locations.

Photos by JOHN BURNS

KEY CONNECTIONS Members of the Academy benefit from Darting’s experience with some of the best in the game. His highprofile clients include the likes of Devonte Graham and Tim Hardaway Jr. Through his mentor Tim Jankovich, former Assistant Coach at Kansas University under Bill Self and current Head Coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU), Darting learned the skills he passes on to his students today.

And, of course, having a dad like Ken Darting, a high school and college coach with his own list of star players, adds to Darting’s impressive Rolodex.

“It’s really cool to use my connections and bring it back to the Topeka community,” he said.

But beyond instilling players with fundamental skills, Darting

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hopes to reach kids on a different level.

“Coaching is just a bridge to connect with kids,” Darting said. “That’s the bigger purpose of the Academy. Obviously, we’re developing basketball skills, but our responsibilities are way more than basketball.”

Darting said the life lessons in sports like basketball are huge in building confidence as well as learning to accept mistakes and move on from losses.

“I don’t even think kids realize they’re getting those lessons when they’re going through it,” said Darting. “But I know for me personally, I’ve been able to look back and see that a lot of my successes, those lessons were learned through basketball.” TK

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WORKING with Photo by JOHN BURNS

HAIR MIDWEST BARBER COLLEGE

Lucy Opit, owner of Midwest Barber College, employs three full-time instructors, an admissions officer, a financial aid officer and apprentices wanting to become instructors.

By KIM GRONNIGER Photos by JOHN BURNS

Growing up, Lucy Opit spent her free time braiding blades of grass and corn tassels in a rural farming community in Nanyuki, Kenya.

“We didn’t have toys,” she said. “Our toys were whatever we could find in the environment.”

As a teen, she began braiding the hair of her boarding school classmates, unaware that she was progressively fashioning a skill set that would evolve into ownership of a barber college on another continent.

Opit taught preschool in Canada while her husband pursued a master’s degree there.

When he attended Kansas State University to earn his doctorate degree, Opit realized she

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“It hasn’t been easy but it’s been a blessing.”

—Luci Opit, Owner Midwest Barber College

could make more money in a salon than she could in a classroom.

She braided hair at a Manhattan salon in Aggieville and cultivated a loyal clientele. In 2003, she opened the first hair braiding salon in Junction City, becoming so busy that she often found herself braiding hair until 2 in the morning. The barber she employed was inundated with business from the Fort Riley army base since he was the only one cutting ethnic hair. Opit, intrigued, decided she wanted to become a barber too.

But at the time, the only barber schools in Kansas were in Wichita and Kansas City, too far for Opit to commute to while taking care of a son and a business. In the meantime, she bided her time and in 2004 began braiding hair for Topeka clients one day a week at Fairlawn Plazal to keep up with area demand.

When Midwest Barber College opened in 2011, Opit was among the first students to enroll.

“By this time, I’d opened a second shop in Manhattan, so between work and school and family, I was really busy,” she said. “I was fortunate to have a very good support system.”

When Midwest Barber College announced its imminent closure in 2015, Opit used settlement money from her recent separation to buy the school she’d grown to love.

“I couldn’t let the school close,” she said.

“Where would the students go? What would the clients do? I decided to just buy it. It hasn’t been easy but it’s been a blessing.”

Opit is the first Black woman to own an accredited barber school in Kansas. To achieve accreditation in 2018, Opit had to hit a 60 percent graduation rate and a 70 percent licensure rate for graduates two years in a row.

Today the college employs three full-time instructors in addition to Opit, an admissions officer, a financial aid officer and apprentices wanting to become instructors. The school has

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35 students, each of whom completes 1,500 hours of training. To accommodate working students, the school offers three schedules—9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 1 to 7 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. The college has open enrollment with classes starting every first Tuesday of the month. The school also accepts federal financial aid, GI Bill and vocational rehabilitation students.

Opit said barbering is still primarily a maledominated business but she’s seeing more interest from female cosmetology graduates. The college offers a 500-hour crossover program for licensed cosmetologists interested in expanding their skills and potentially opening their own barber shops.

Opit said 100 percent of her graduates are employed when they finish the program and collectively account for about 60 percent of barbers in Junction City, Lawrence and Topeka.

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Photos by JOHN BURNS

To graduate from Midwest Barber College, a student must complete 1,500 hours of training that includes classroom learning, one-on-one instruction and practicing skills on clients.

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“Not everyone is meant for college,” she said. “Barbers can be their own boss and on average earn $1,000 a week or more without taking on a lot of debt. A skilled barber willing to put in the hours and the effort can make $80,000 to $100,000.”

Working with hair has been a lifelong passion for Opit, who appreciates the power of appearance.

“Women can put their hair in a ponytail and put on lipstick and heels to feel attractive, but for men, a haircut can make such a difference in how they feel about themselves,” she said.

The college provides traditional cut and color options but also responds to changing trends on Instagram and TikTok. For example, Justin Bieber’s dreadlocks have sparked more interest in locs and braids, Opit said.

“We provide a great service for the community. Our clients get a good deal with haircuts as low as $6. If you’re a single mom

TK Business Magazine

with five boys, you may not be able to afford to pay $20 to $25 for each haircut at a barber shop.”

Because the community has been supportive of the college and its students, Opit’s team returns the favor by giving free haircuts to people staying at the Topeka Rescue Mission through its “Work for Success” program, donating toys to the Boys & Girls Club and volunteering in other ways.

As of January 2021, Opit no longer cuts hair for clients, focusing her efforts instead on instructing and growing the business with her investment partner Randy Niemeier, a former client. Opit said eventually she’d like to open barber schools in Emporia, Junction City, Manhattan, Ottawa and Salina.

“Life is about personal peace of mind and happiness,” she said. “It’s gratifying to see the impact of how the college has changed people’s lives, including mine. I’m glad I took a chance.”

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By TOM HICKMAN

BUILDING BRAND EQUITY

Branding has existed for centuries as a way for producers to distinguish their products from those of the competition.

Successful branding is critical since brands that do not have positive differentiation from the competition are essentially seen as generic options in their product category. For example, for a consumer that sees no meaningful difference between Coke and Pepsi, these brands become completely interchangeable and a price-based choice is the likely result.

Importantly, anything can be successfully branded. The key to success is that customers understand how the brand is different and that they assign value to that difference. Brand equity is commonly referred to as the value of the customer perception of the brand, as opposed to the value that is created from the actual products or services.

Building brand equity is a key component to the overall health of an organization since it is associated with larger margins, greater support from business partners, increased loyalty, assistance in new product introduction, and insulation from competitive marketing tactics.

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BUILDING THE BRAND The four building blocks for the creation of a strong brand all hinge on consistency in messaging to the target market. You need to understand what your target market values and how your brand meets those needs. Then, you need to have an unwavering commitment to consistency in explaining how your brand is able to satisfy the customer.

1

2

Brand Salience The first building block to creating a strong brand is to simply have customers know that your brand exists.

Eventually, you want them to have top of mind awareness of your brand when they think of the product or service category that you are in, rather than to remember you only after they have done an internet search of businesses in the area. Focus on communicating the key elements of your brand that are highly valued by the target market.

This component has two distinct facets—brand performance and brand imagery.

• Brand imagery is focused on meeting the psychological and social needs of the target market.

The goal is for customers to possess a mental image of idealized users of the brand. This can be accomplished through creating a brand personality that reflects the human values that you want your brand to portray. For instance, Mountain Dew has long been effective at creating an exciting brand though imagery that connects Mountain Dew to activities such as hang gliding and the X-Games.

To put this in action for your brand, think about the personality you want your brand to exude and then go to work to find ways to consistently tie your brand to that imagery.

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Brand Response This element of brand building concerns what customers think about the brand as it relates to their brand judgments and feelings about the brand.

• Brand judgments include how customers think about the quality of your brand and how credible your brand is based on their assessment of expertise, trustworthiness, and likability. The key factors here can be summed up as being perceived as having superior product knowledge, keeping the interests of the customer in mind, and being likable. Crafting the brand personality with these issues in mind leads to favorable brand judgments.

Brand Meaning • Brand performance relates to the target market’s assessment of the functionality of the brand. In other words, does it meet the needs of the customer?

Focus marketing communications on things that matter to the customers. These include service effectiveness, product reliability, product serviceability, innovation, potentially price, as well as other attributes that your target market values. Always supplement any pricing messaging with important information about quality. You would much rather customers think about how good your brand is, as opposed to it being cheap!

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• Brand feelings are the customer’s emotional responses to your brand. Focusing on tapping into emotions that align with the brand is the goal. Key emotions to consider are warmth, fun, excitement, sincerity, and security. Again, the brand personality you create has a major impact on the feelings that come to mind for the customer about your brand.

Alternatively, if your brand has no personality, creating strong and positive feelings about the brand is an uphill struggle!

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Brand Relationships Ultimately, you want to get to the point where your brand is the only brand customers consider in that product category. To attain this level of loyalty, customers must feel an attachment to the brand. Iconic examples include Apple, HarleyDavidson and Jeep. The creation of a community of users is impactful to develop this strong brand relationship. Social media can be used to encourage engagement with the brand and to bring customers together to share stories about the brand. Events, such as Harley-Davidson’s Harley Owners Group and Jeep’s Jamborees can also be used to build camaraderie with other brand loyalists.

THE BRAND AUDIT MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE BRAND BUILDING STRATEGY

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Brand Inventory

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Brand Exploratory

The idea behind the brand inventory is to create a comprehensive list of all of the things the brand is doing to market its products and services. For example, Rolex uses its crown logo, exclusive dealers, communication about the usage of superior materials, celebrity brand ambassadors, and philanthropic activities such as their Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. All of this is focused on building the brand into one that is associated with prestige and excellence.

This phase of the brand audit is dedicated to determining exactly what the customer thinks of your brand as it relates to all of the elements of the brand building process. Ideally, this step is completed in two parts. First, interviews should be conducted with members of the target market to determine an in-depth understanding of their perception of the brand. Then, those insights can be used to help create a questionnaire that can be given to a larger number of target market members to obtain a very good idea of how current and potential customers view your brand. Sample findings from the Rolex study determined that it has the highest brand awareness of any luxury watch brand, that it is associated with being hand-crafted, and possesses social value through its high-status imagery. On the negative side, some members of the target market associated it with being flashy and mostly for older men. Therefore, the brand exploratory provides important guidance for future marketing efforts to both capitalize on the positive interpretations of the brand and address the negative perceptions.

In building your brand, you need to have a complete understanding of the message that you want to communicate. This revolves around understanding what the customer wants and how your brand delivers.

You need to have a balance of factbased information and an emotional component that builds the personality you want for your brand. Resist the temptation to talk too much about price. You cannot build a strong brand by training your customers to focus on the price tag. Instead focus on creating a connection with the customer on quality dimensions that are meaningful to them. Finally, continually track the success of your brand building through regular brand audits and make changes as needed.

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After you have carefully considered how to build brand equity and have implemented actions that include improving brand awareness, increasing the perception of the brand’s performance, and attaching a meaningful personality to the brand, how do you know if the customer is receiving the message that you are sending? A brand audit is the answer. It can be thought of as a way to determine the sources of brand equity from the customer’s point of view. This exercise should be completed on an annual basis. It is very customerfocused and provides guidance for future brand building efforts. There are two steps to the audit – the brand inventory and the brand exploratory.

Summary

Tom Hickman is the MBA Director and an Associate Professor of Marketing for the Washburn University School of Business.

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Biosolids The Oakland Wastewater Treatment Plant is becoming another source of revenue for City of Topeka as biogas is generated in the anaerobic digesters, purified and upgraded to renewable natural gas for sale on the national market.

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Master Plan Bartlett & West

By KIM GRONNIGER For several years, Bartlett & West, the City of Topeka and other entities have been working on innovative ways to make the community’s wastewater treatment operations more environmentally friendly and fiscally sound.

Andrew Wright, PE, has worked at Bartlett & West for 16 years and is the company’s lead engineer on the projects.

“Having a strong wastewater collection

TK Business Magazine

and treatment process is so important for public health and economic growth,” he said.

How important? The City of Topeka manages a labyrinth of 880 miles of sanitary sewer lines, 250 miles of storm sewers, 35 miles of channels and 22 miles of river levees.

In a given week, Topekans generate 180 dry tons of biosolids processed through the Oakland Wastewater Treatment Plant and the North Topeka Plant.

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

Clarifiers separate biosolids from treated wastewater. The biosolids are then digested and result in biogas that is upgraded to renewable natural gas for sale on the national market.

POTENTIAL POWER SOURCE In 2016, Wright began working with others to create a biosolids master plan for the city.

“We took a holistic look at the City’s biosolids processing so we could limit the costs of disposing of the biosolids and identified a way to turn the solids into a revenue stream,” he said.

The $26 million project allows biogas to be captured, upgraded to pipeline quality and injected into a pipeline for sale. The project is currently under construction and

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includes gas upgrading equipment and a two-mile pipeline to the interconnect point with Southern Star, a Midwest natural gas provider.

The comprehensive project included replacing belt filter presses with centrifuges and designing and constructing a waste receiving facility to dose anaerobic digesters with high-strength waste and fats, oils and greases. The upgrade also entailed enhancing ultra-violet disinfection and surface aeration systems to reduce energy consumption and operator input.

SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS The sewer collection system is another critical concern for the City of Topeka, which has a combined pipeline system in older portions of the sewer system through which storm water and sanitary waste travel.

“When the system was built 120 years ago, they didn’t separate storm and wastewater like they do now,” said Wright.

“If we had a rain event, the amount of water would be too much for the treatment plant to handle, forcing some of it into the river.”

A consulting firm suggested a $600 million price tag to separate the entwined system.

After conducting research, including monitoring and sampling overflows, Wright said the Bartlett & West team was able to put together a threephase plan spanning 15 years for half that much. The plan focuses on cleaning and repairing sewers to increase flows to the two wastewater treatment plants during rain storms.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Roger Haubold of Bartlett & West, discusses project tasks on-site at Oakland Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“Our approach allows the city to use funds to maintain the infrastructure instead of having to build a new system,” he said.

The solution has been effective.

Wright said Environmental Protection Agency regulations stipulate that utilities need to achieve an 85 percent wet weather

capture rate on an annual average basis. With recent enhancements, the City of Topeka is achieving wet weather capture in excess of 85 percent, which Wright said maintains the water quality of the Kansas River and allows the City to focus on the service and reliability of the sewer system.

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In 2019, Bartlett & West worked on another collection system project to help the City of Topeka incorporate closed circuit cameras (CCTV) and a centralized database using geograph information systems (GIS) mapping to conduct sewer main inspections.

“This allows the city to inspect lines, update rankings and make decisions on where to spend their money for repairs using algorithms,” said Wright. “They can be good stewards of funds and get the most bang for the buck as a data-driven utility.”

Growing up, Wright’s family vacations often entailed camping trips to national parks near bodies of water, which helped ignite his later career interest in protecting waterways.

“Engineering is the family business,” said Wright, whose father and brother are also engineers. “I chose civil engineering because it’s the most people-focused discipline and lets you see your work’s impact on a large number of people and communities. It’s gratifying to work on projects that have a positive effect on quality of life and economic growth.” TK

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Where Everybody Knows Your Name

“Making your way in the world today Takes everything you’ve got Taking a break from all your worries sure would mean a lot Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name And they’re always glad you came You wanna go where you can see Our troubles are all the same You wanna be where everybody knows your name*

By ALISON BEEBE TopCity Flavorista Photos by ALISON BEEBE

Remember the bar in the popular sitcom “Cheers” where people felt like everyone knew their name?

Well, Topeka is full of these bar and grill gems that make people feel right at home.

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* Cheers Theme Song by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart-Angelo

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Photo by HOPE DIMICK

Terry’s Bar & Grill 522 SW 6th Avenue

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Taco Tuesdays is just one of many favorite reasons locals stop in at Terry’s Bar & Grill for a meal.

TERRY’S BAR & GRILL

Photo by ALISON BEEBE

She called him “Lucky Larry” as he dropped down into his usual spot. There was no sign, nod or conversation, but she knew his order. “Lucky Larry” had been coming to Terry’s Bar and Grill for years and today was “Taco Tuesday.” No one really knew how many years he had been a regular or why he was so lucky. This was food for thought for regulars, newbies and taco lovers.

Kim Brunkow, who has been a server at Terry’s for more than 15 years, says her customers are like family to her. The Walker family, who has owned the bar for decades, acknowledge their success is based on repeat customers, loyal employees, great prices and hard work. Janet retired after 35 years, and Judy worked at Terry’s for 26 years.

“We’re lucky to have them all,” said current owner Brad Walker.

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Photo by ALISON BEEBE

Brad and Terry Walker | Terry’s Bar & Grill

Val and Terry Walker purchased the group of buildings located at 522 SW 6th Avenue on Jan. 1, 1976—the same year they married. The Walkers ran the Ginza Club and leased McDowell’s Bar next door to Mike McDowell—hence the name. Terry says he didn’t have to really think twice about buying the bar.

“Well, we used to drink and shoot pool there, so when it went up for sale, buying it seemed like the right move,” he said. “The whole family has worked here at one time or another and still do. Everyone pitches in to get things done.”

For the record, it was named Park Inn Tavern for two years—1974 and ’75.

When the legal drinking age was raised from 18 to 21, they added a commercial kitchen and changed the name to Terry’s Bar & Grill. Customer favorites include Reuben’s, chicken fried steak and burgers.

“We have everyone come in here from lawyers and legislators to blue collar workers,” Terry said.

A true family-owned business, Terry and Val’s four sons put in the work to get things done.

“One of my sons was in here the other day to mop the floors before he went to his regular job,” Terry said.

Brad Walker became the owner a year ago, but Terry is still there on a daily basis.

“I like to run the errands and get Brad what he needs,” said Terry.

“Plus, people come in to see Dad and like to talk with him. This is a seven-day-a-week deal, so many events involve family. Gosh, if we didn’t have our own family events here, I’d never see anyone,” said Brad.

The bar has closed twice: after a fire in 1983, they closed for four months and then again last year during the pandemic.

The Walker family took time last year to paint, redo the floors and update plumbing.

With a capacity of 150 they look forward to welcoming old and new customers alike.

Rick Crawford, a long-time patron at Terry’s Bar & Grill is one of those glad to be back in his seat at the bar.

“Terry’s is a neighborhood bar with good food, staffed with good people. The ‘Cheers’ of Topeka,” he explained.

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Photo by ALISON BEEBE

Brass Rail Tavern 401 NE Emmett Street

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The Brass Rail Tavern walls and ceilings are blanketed in memorabilia.

Photo by ALISON BEEBE

BRASS RAIL TAVERN The year was 1933 and it was the end of prohibition—Brass Rail Tavern was open for business. Claiming to be the “oldest bar in town,” Brass Rail Tavern is located in Oakland at 401 NE Emmett Street. Owner Emil Spaeth is thrilled they’re still around. During the pandemic, there were thoughts of selling the bar, and indeed, it was even on the market for a short time. But Emil is glad it didn’t sell.

Emil wrote on Facebook before reopening, “Damn, I’ve missed you! So has the returning staff!

Take care of them please. They’ve been hurting even more than me, and I’ve been hurting even more for them.”

Emil says the neighborhood customers at the Rail are some of the best people in Topeka. “And the customers that stopped by from around the world are just as beautiful. The original Brunswick

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Names of patrons and friends of the Brass Rail Tavern who have passed are engraved in a handmade table top.

Photo by ALISON BEEBE

front and back bar are over 100 years old.

When you sit at that bar you realize just how many people and conversations were had there. I wish it could talk.”

Brass Rail is blanketed in memorabilia and tributes to fallen friends. A beautiful handmade table is engraved with names of those who have passed. It’s definitely a place to celebrate anything and everything. With karaoke, live music, breakfast, table games, darts and various competitions, it is a “come as you are everyday” kind of place.

I ran into a few regulars on my recent visit: “Tony with a Y—no last name, like Cher,” John Bond Jr. and “King Edward Chary—King of Karaoke.” They all say being back in the bar feels like coming home.

Frequent “Railer” John Bond says he missed more than just the food and drinks last year. “When it was closed it was like not being able to go to grandma’s house,” he said.

They’ve never seen a fist fight, and if there is an argument, it’s likely someone that doesn’t normally frequent the place.

Brass Rail Tavern does have a particular vibe about it—do as you please as long as you’re not hurting anyone else.

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Women of Influence Awards Freedom to create your next masterpiece.

The Women's Initiative Committee is hosting the 7th Annual Women of Influence Awards and is currently accepting nominations. These nominees are women that have demonstrated excellence in serving and representing the community on a local, state or national level.

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Photo by HOPE DIMICK

Speck’s Bar & Grill 2105 SW Mission

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A regular customer of Speck’s Bar & Grill describes the place as being comfortable with nice people and good food.

Photo by ALISON BEEBE

SPECK’S BAR & GRILL “My dad told my mom he’d only have the bar for a year.” That was 1957 when Frank “Speck” Benge and Lou Benge bought Seabrook Tavern at 2105 SW Mission. Now, 65 years later, Speck’s Bar and Grill still challenges folks to eat their 3-pound burger and 3 pounds of fries! Frank’s daughter Deb Harrod bought the bar when her dad became ill in the late 80s.

“I always wanted it as a kid,” she said. “Even though I went to school for horticulture, I wanted to own the bar. We lived next door, so this was part of our childhood. We’d run over here and sneak some beer from the tap.”

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Photo by ALISON BEEBE

Photo by ALISON BEEBE

It’s been 65 years since Speck’s Bar & Grill opened and featured the “original 3# hamburger.”

Folks are still challenged to eat its signature 3-pound burger with 3 pounds of fries.

Deb Harrod | Speck’s Bar & Grill

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Over the years, Deb leased the bar out to new management a couple of times in order to step away and concentrate on raising her small children, but it seemed to always pull her back in. Then she stepped back in once again in July 2009 and renamed the bar Speck’s Bar and Grill—in honor of her father.

With good food and friendly service, it wasn’t long before the regulars started coming back.

Kent Hall, former cook and still regular customer, says it’s always been a great place for people to just relax and enjoy themselves.

“It’s a great place to come. People are nice and it’s comfortable. And the food is always good, “he said Fun fact: The canned beer in the cooler is turned upside down as a nod to her father who would clean fish on top of the cooler after a day of fishing. The cans were stored upside down to keep them clean.

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BRAND MARKETING

HOW TO EARN

PHOTO SUBMITTED

BRAND LOYALTY

Ronnie Murphy Vice President of Strategy Bajillion Agency

If you want a career that doesn’t draw the ire of customers—try pizza. Nobody hates pizza. But definitely don’t go into advertising.

To be fair to consumers, advertising has earned its poor reputation. It is a disruptive form of media, interrupting favorite shows and mindless scrolls.

Advertising also has a bit of a disingenuous history, preying on the insecurities of consumers, promising their product as the solution to all problems.

A man named Mark changed all of that.

Social media—like Facebook—gave audiences a platform to directly respond to brands. With the communication loop between companies and consumers closed, brands now have to earn loyalty.

You have to give your customers a reason to believe.

That’s because people don’t buy brands, they buy what a brand stands for. The best brands integrate almost seamlessly into the lives of their consumers and become a part of their identity in a way that the consumer doesn’t even have to think about. Good brands make us want to be better or perceived as something more.

Modern consumers are very brand loyal, they often just don’t know it.

But it is important to know an organization’s brand is much more than the logo on a business card. It is the feelings the logo evokes. It is what they perceive about an organization’s actions. It is expectations about the way the organization can help their life and others.

Start earning loyalty for your brand by standing for something, delivering on that promise, and treating your brand like a banner.

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LISTEN. DESIGN. INSPIRE.

Cyrus Hotel Topeka, KS

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WWW.AO.DESIGN TK Business Magazine 61

BRAND MARKETING

STAND FOR SOMETHING

DELIVER ON YOUR BRANDED PROMISE

MAKE YOUR BRAND A BANNER

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Your company’s mission, vision, and values shouldn’t be reserved as decor for the break room. Your organization values should be central to all of your communications and marketing efforts.

Cause marketing—popularized by brands like TOMS and Patagonia— attracts loyalty by giving to a cause with each individual purchase. This works for these brands because it is true to who they are as companies.

Your brand doesn’t have to give something away every time you earn a new customer but you will earn more customers if they know what you’re about. Discover whether your organization values are known to everyone by asking if everyone in the company can tell customers what and why the company is in business.

If they can’t, it might be time to reexamine or rediscover your values and make a branding plan to put them into action.

A brand promise is a pact that you make with your consumer, it tells them what they can expect from an interaction with your brand. Define what it is you want your customers to know about your organization and deliver on that every time. This is an important step in earning brand loyalty.

Fast food restaurants are masters at the brand promise. It’s the reason you visit the same national burger chain when you are on the road—you know the double cheeseburger in Garden City is going to be the same as in Topeka.

Family crests are often considered the first form of branding.

The medieval symbols contained elements that told the unique family story and carrying the crest said something about the individual behind it.

Short of creating custom chain mail, the best way to earn this type of loyalty for your brand is to put it on everything and give it to everyone.

Our design team knows they have successfully captured the soul of an organization when they reveal their design work to the client and the first response is “I can’t wait to get that on a t-shirt!”

That’s because our clothing choices are a matter of personal branding. We want to wear things that

make a statement about who we are and what we stand for. Make sure the quality of the swag you buy is consistent with the quality you want your brand to be known for.

Above all, remember people don’t buy brands, they buy what brands stand for. Being the kind of brand that inspires loyalty takes planning and a lot of consistency.

Authenticity is the consistent thread woven through every successful brand. The consumer can spot a fake and they have plenty of other options.

Don’t alter your brand to try and attract the customers you think you want. Instead, hold close to your values as an organization and use those values to attract customers who will stick with you.

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Photo by JOHN BURNS

Members of McElroy’s current management team are (L to R): Keith Watkins Commercial HVAC Service Manager Luke Dumler Plumbing Service Manager Dan Beal President Greg Hunsicker Vice President Residential HVAC Wade Jueneman Vice President

McElroy’s Generational Growth & Innovation Fuels 70 Years of Business

By ADAM VLACH Photos by JOHN BURNS

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Nothing spurs resilience and innovation quite like hard times. There isn’t anything like an uncertain future or deferred dreams to make one appreciate the people in one’s life.

After 70 years in business, these hard-earned truths were not new to McElroy’s, but they were something the company’s leaders needed to remember every day of the past 18 months.

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GREG HUNSICKER Vice President Residential HVAC McElroy’s

Photo by JOHN BURNS

Not far removed from celebrating 38 years at the company, Greg Hunsicker, vice president of residential HVAC, reflects on McElroy’s past with pride, and yet can’t help but envision its future as even brighter than the good old days he experienced firsthand.

Hunsicker joined the company as a field helper but at the time was likely most well known as thencompany president Jerry McElroy’s nephew and company founder Homer McElroy’s grandson.

“I started out as a helper doing tear out of heating and cooling systems on buildings we were renovating,” reminisced Hunsicker. “I actually did a lot of the demolition side of it, out in the trenches, getting dirty on my hands and knees. Being a family member, you don’t get the respect unless the workers actually see you out there doing the work.”

After many years of paying his dues and learning the business, Hunsicker worked his way up through the ranks to now manage McElroy’s residential division, which consists of heating and air conditioning, new installation, and service and repair.

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“That is what is near and dear to me here,” Hunsicker said of his division. “We provide the repair of homes’ heating and cooling systems. We’re talking gas services and heat pumps, hot water and steam boiler systems, humidification and dehumidification, air cleaning, and everything to do with indoor environment comfort and the quality of the air within the structure.”

Hunsicker is emphatic in his belief that quality work and quality products are irreplaceable.

However, as far as Hunsicker is concerned, quality isn’t limited to the products or labor. Customer service, in particular the ability to educate customers and enlighten them with industry knowledge, is a key element of providing a holistic quality solution.

“Our customers look to us for advice on what is available,” Hunsicker said. “We educate them on the quality and operating differences. We are always going to promote the product we know will get the best results because then our customers will go and promote our company to their friends and family.”

Tantamount with his commitment to customer satisfaction is Hunsicker’s dedication to his staff, their well-being and their growth.

He has found that McElroy’s is uniquely positioned to provide great opportunity and flexibility to its staff because of its size and

TK Business Magazine

complementary commercial and residential divisions.

“There might be times when one department is slow and another has plenty of work and we can move people around instead of having people out of work or waiting around,” Hunsicker explained. “Our business operates in cycles and a lot of it is weather dependent. When it’s really hot or really cold is when our business is the busiest.”

Taking a step back, Hunsicker is able to see the long-range, positive impact such a focus on team member success can have.

“In our 70 years of business, we’ve had over 25 employees who have retired from this company with over 25 years of continuous employment. We continue to be a company where employees want to spend their entire career. Our success is just not our customers but it’s our employees who are great craftsmen and love what they do,” he said.

And as it relates to the overall company prosperity, Hunsicker points to strong leadership and family values.

“I’d attribute our company’s success to three generations of great leadership. From May of 1951 to present, we’ve had Homer McElroy, the founder, and then Jerry McElroy, Homer’s son and my uncle, and now Dan Beal running the company. We also have a fourth generation coming up in the business at this time with Dan’s son, my son and my nephew learning the business.”

Photo by JOHN BURNS

Dan Beal, Wade Jueneman and Luke Dumler of McElroy’s, review plans for an upcoming project.

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McElroy’s is honored to serve generations of customers since 1951. We thank our outstanding team – providing excellent service with innovation, thoughtfulness and craftmanship.

MCELROYS.COM

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785.266.4870

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DAN BEAL President McElroy’s

Photo by JOHN BURNS

“Technology is driving our world and our business.”

—Dan Beal President McElroy’s

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Born and raised in Topeka, Dan Beal started working at his father-in-law’s business in 1991 following his graduation from college.

“I was an engineer from KU, so I started out in engineering and project management,” said Beal, recalling his start in the business.

“When I got out of school, I went out on the job sites and worked with welders and sheet metal workers and technicians. It was invaluable to learn the trade from the ground up out on the job sites. I then moved into the office and did engineering work and project management work and started dealing with other owners and architects across town. Then about 15 years ago, I became the third-generation president of the company.”

As the president of the company, Beal’s attention is often dedicated to improving processes, assessing technology and market trends, and shoring up the company’s future. Over the past year in particular, Beal focused on improving processes and keeping people safe while simultaneously ensuring the company’s essential services always remained available to the community.

As communities and economies begin to recover post pandemic, Beal’s mind remains on the future, albeit one that is now perhaps more uncertain.

TK Business Magazine

Beal sees innovative product offerings such as the new UV light bacterial control systems as a mission-critical step in adapting to the ever-evolving needs of the market.

“Our industry is constantly changing and innovating, and we want to stay at the forefront of innovation so we can explain these things to our customers,” Beal said.

The key to adaptation, Beal says, is listening to what their clients need.

At the same time, he’s well aware that there are larger societal changes in progress, and if the company is to remain an effective solution provider, it must get ahead of those changes.

The first way to stay a step ahead is with processes.

“Technology is driving our world and our business,” Beal said. “We’re dealing with a retiring workforce and not a lot of the younger generation coming into that workforce, so we have to do the same amount of work with less people. The way we do that is with technology—computer modeling and prefabrication of our systems.”

The second adaptation comes on the customer side.

“Customers are used to communicating through what I’ll call the ‘Amazon model.’ They not only want to talk to you, but they want notifications on whatever device they’re carrying,” Beal said. “Being flexible in communicating with our clients is vital.”

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WHEATFIELD VILLAGE -SpringHill Suites by Marriott “Schwerdt Design Group has been a trusted partner of ours for many years thanks to their exceptional service and impeccable work. That’s why we selected SDG to be our partner on SpringHill Suites by Marriott and the Wheatfield Village shops. We look forward to working with them on future projects and are lucky to have such remarkable talent in Topeka.”

Jim Klausman Co-Developer of Wheatfield Village at 29th & Fairlawn

785.273.7540

sdgarch.com

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WADE JUENEMAN Vice President McElroy’s

Photo by JOHN BURNS

“Being able to do things quickly—get on them quickly and turn them around quickly— is so important...that is what we focus on.”

—Wade Jueneman Vice President of Engineering McElroy’s

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For Wade Jueneman, the ability to tackle a new problem quickly is perhaps the most critical component to what his team provides. When a client has invested millions or tens of millions of dollars into a structure, the only way that client can begin recouping their investment is by opening the building for business, and that can’t happen until his team completes its work. Time is money, and Jueneman—a former project manager turned VP—understands that better than most.

As McElroy’s Vice President of Engineering, Jueneman oversees commercial and industrial construction, a team of project managers and the company’s estimators. With such a skilled and diverse team under his leadership, Jueneman often finds himself working on complex and highprofile projects, the Cyrus Hotel and the USD 497 schools being two of the more recent jobs.

Jueneman’s domain of expertise encompasses mechanical systems, HVAC, sanitary systems, water, refrigerant and piping, and domestic plumbing—all for commercial or industrial buildings.

But to ensure quality results today, Jueneman must always keep one eye on tomorrow. To that end, he’s embraced innovation as a key pillar of his role.

“With COVID and our environment now, we are offering

TK Business Magazine

bacterial control devices, one of them being ultraviolet light,” Jueneman said of a trending product he was largely responsible for championing at McElroy’s. “If a system is designed with the right ultraviolet ray of light, it’s very effective at killing bacteria quickly.

You can put them in an apartment unit all the way up to a large institutional building.”

In addition to bacterial control devices, Jueneman is also seeing growing demand for ductless air systems, or variable refrigerant flow systems, as they’re known in the industry. Such units are better equipped at cooling or heating only the rooms that need it, as opposed to an all-or-nothing approach that a conventional HVAC system provides. But new technology and gadgets aside, Jueneman holds firm in his belief that the fundamentals make the difference.

“Being able to do things quickly—get on them quickly and turn them around quickly—is so important. From my standpoint, that is what we focus on. We learn a lot every day, just by being in the industry, about what does and doesn’t work, what requires a lot of maintenance versus what requires less maintenance,” he said. “Between that and having a staff of engineers, McElroy’s is a viable option for clients looking for a turnkey solution.”

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PHOTO SUBMITTED

THE BASICS OF STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS

Meredith Snepp Business Librarian Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library

Following these nine steps to start a small business may feel like a lot of information but it will ensure that you are building the most solid foundation possible for your vision while completing the legal, fiscal and government requirements to be in compliance.

Your library is here to help connect you to resources that will help answer any questions or comments about the process.

STEP

1

Answer targeted questions to produce accurate information. You need to focus on demand, market size, various economic indicators, location, market saturation and pricing. Brainstorm what your ideal things would be: no competition around you, how popular your idea is, where is the next closest competitor, etc. Stay on top of current trends and investigate emerging ones.

Use your Library card to access databases: • Data Axle can help you conduct research to identify competitors and market saturation within any area.

• EBSCO Small Business Reference Center has research material for every facet of Small Business, and full-text PDF NOLO Books to help you answer your legal questions.

Information, resources and guidance pulled from SBA.gov, Kansas Department of Revenue, Greater Topeka Partnership and Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library resources.

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BEGIN WITH RESEARCH

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STEP

3

STEP

2

CREATE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN

A business plan is crucial and serves as the solid foundation you’ll build your future business from. You’ll need to include information related to things like: what is your small business going to offer as a product or service, who would be your target market, and is there a demand for that product or service? Additionally, it’s important to include where the money is going to be coming from and used, how your small business will be legally structured, what are the financial projections for the first 3-5 years, and what type of marketing plan you will use.

• A lean startup plan: shorter, focuses on the more important parts of the key parts of your plan.

• A traditional style plan: more comprehensive and focuses on the details about your plan.

In Topeka and Shawnee County, an excellent resource to help with this step is the Washburn Small Business Development Center. Statewide, there is a program called NetWork Kansas that helps entrepreneurs and small business owners start and grow their businesses.

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FIGURE OUT YOUR FUNDING

The first step is to calculate a realistic estimate of your startup costs. You want to give yourself and any funding sources a full financial picture. Topeka and Shawnee County have many organizations who want to help small business owners be successful and financially stable: GOTopeka has several Small Business Incentive Programs: • Topeka and Shawnee County First Opportunity Fund (T/SC FOF) • Topeka and Shawnee County Small Business Incentive Program • Small Business Employee Training Grant: for small businesses to “enhance employee skillset” for two employees per company.

• Small Business Equipment Purchase: for purchase of new/used equipment needed for day-to-day operation of the small business.

• Small Business Construction and Renovation Incentive: for enhancing an existing business or construction of new property.

• Marketing Incentive: for development or enhanced marketing programs for small business.

Other great funding resources include: • Venturize: resource to learn about various financial obligations for small businesses owners such as loans, retirement and healthcare.

• Connect2Capital: resource to connect small business owners with mission-driven lending partners.

• Start Up Kansas: a funding program through NetWork Kansas designed to provide gap financing to help small business owners start or grow their business.

• Kansas Capital Multiplier Fund: NetWork Kansas partners with the Kansas Department of Commerce to offer a matching loan fund program for businesses raising capital.

• E-Community Loan Funding: a program through NetWork Kansas that administers a local loan fund to help small business owners with capital, increase connection to resources and to initiate relationships and partnerships to foster entrepreneurial development.

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STEP

4

CHOOSE YOUR LOCATION

Decide if you want to have a physical location, a digital location, or both. The type of space will determine how you are taxed, what zoning laws are in place where you will be located, and various regulations your business could be subject to.

STEP

5

CREATE YOUR BUSINESS STRUCTURE

Structuring your business is a key step to make sure you’re setting yourself up to succeed and build a solid foundation.

• Sole Proprietorship: gives you complete control of your small business but makes you personally liable for any debts and obligations your small business incurs.

• Partnership: a structure appealing for two or more people who will own a small business together.

• Limited Partnership (LP): One general partner with unlimited liability, and the other partner(s) have limited liability. This can also mean that the limited partners have limited control over the company, per documented agreement.

• Limited Liability Partnership (LLP): in this arrangement, all partners have limited liability. This structure also protects all involved partners from debs made against the partnership and partners aren’t held responsible for actions of other partners.

• Limited Liability Company (LLC): this structure protects business owners from losing their personal assets (such as a vehicle, house or financial accounts) in case of lawsuits or bankruptcy.

• Corporation: a legal entity that is created separate from an individual, that is made of three separate groups of people-shareholders, directors and officers. This setup can shield business owners from personal liability.

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STEP

6

NAME, REGISTER AND ID YOUR BUSINESS

The name of your business is more than just a logo or how people will refer to your small business. Small business owners must also consider the legal aspects of their chosen name. The biggest thing is to make sure the name you’ve selected is available; this can be checked through the Kansas Business Filing Center Name Availability Status.

In the state of Kansas, you cannot register DBA, Assumed Name, Trade Name, Fictitious Name or Sole Proprietorships. The state of Kansas also requires a small business to list a resident agent on business form documents. This person is designated to accept services of process for the business. They are required to be either an individual in Kansas, the business entity itself, or a corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company or a business trust.

Make sure to register for an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which is also your federal tax ID. This is required to pay your federal taxes, hire any employees, open a banking account or apply for any required licenses or permits. It is free to apply for.

Once you have your EIN, you can submit a Kansas Business Tax Application. After submitting this, you’ll need to visit the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Business Registration page to set up an account with the Department of Revenue. This process will let you know which additional business taxes you need to register for.

In Kansas, the minimum requirements to register a business with the state are: • Kansas business location (and not a PO Box) • Business name • Business type and structure • Resident agent

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STEP

7

REQUIRED LICENSES OR PERMITS

Your business will encounter fewer road bumps if you make sure you’ve obtained the right licenses and/or permits before you begin operations. The State of Kansas Business Center is the best place to locate the right forms for your small business.

Visiting the Kansas Business One Stop, you can also check if your industry has any special license requirements and contact information for the appropriate agency to obtain the license.

To make sure you are following Shawnee County guidelines, visit their website to determine if there are any permits, filings or reporting requirements necessary to operate in that county.

STEP

8

BUSINESS BANK ACCOUNTS

A business bank account can be opened once you’ve received your EIN. These accounts differ from a personal banking account and offer additional perks.

• By using a business bank account, you get protection. It keeps your personal funds and accounts separate from those used by your small business.

• You also show your customers your professional side. Their transactions will interact with the business account, not you personally. This also lets you authorize employees to handle assorted tasks on behalf of the business.

• A business bank account lets you be prepared. No one wants or expects an emergency to happen, but an optional line of credit can literally be a business lifesaver. It also lets you handle those unexpected moments like replacing equipment or handling repairs with more confidence.

• Finally, a business bank account lets you build a solid credit history tied to your small business, not your personal credit history. It can be very important to keep those separate, and a business credit card can help you make bigger purchases to help your small business off the ground.

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STEP

9

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Small business insurance can help cover damage and lawsuits from accidents, natural disasters, professional errors, and workers compensation claims. It can also fill in the gaps to make sure your personal and business assets are fully protected. If you have employees, you are required by the federal government to have workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability insurance.

Four steps to buying business insurance: 1. Assess your risks. Think about what kind of natural disasters, accidents or lawsuits could happen to your business.

Check with the National Federation of Independent Businesses to get assistance with risk assessment.

2. Locate a reputable and licensed commercial insurance agent to match a policy to your needs. Make sure you find an agent who is interested in matching your needs with the right coverage.

3. Shop around. Don’t just go with the first agent or company you come across.

Make sure what they are offering makes sense, fits your needs and is something you can rely on.

4. Annually re-assess your coverage. As your business grows, expands and changes, it is likely that your coverage needs will also. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your agent and discuss changes in your policy to make sure you are still getting the right type of coverage and protection for your small business.

TOGETHER WE MAKE YOUR SPACE THE BEST PLACE TO BE schendellawn.com

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GET IN TOUCH Meredith Snepp, Business Librarian Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library 1515 SW 10th Ave | Topeka, KS 66604-1374 (785) 580-4647 | tscpl.org • Small Business Administration: www.sba.gov | https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf (Table of standards across industries) • Data Axle, Ebsco Small Business Reference Center: find at www.tscpl.org under Databases (will need Library card to get into database, but is free to use) • Washburn University Small Business Development Center: www.washburnsmallbusiness.com | 785-215-8375 ext. 114 | 719 S Kansas Ave STE 100, Topeka KS 66603 (inside the US Bank Branch building) • NetWork Kansas: www.networkkansas.com | 877-521-8600 | 550 North 159th St E Unit 208, Wichita KS 67230 • GOTopeka: www.gotopeka.com | 785-234-2644 | 719 S Kansas Ave STE 100, Topeka KS 66603 (inside the US Bank Branch building) • Venturize: www.venturize.org • Connect2Capital: www.connect2capital.com | www.connect2capital.com/business-loans/ • StartUp Kansas: www.networkkansas.com/capital | 877-521-8600 (this information covers StartUp Kansas, Kansas Capital Multiplier Fund, and the E-Community Loan Fund) • Kansas Business Filing Center Name Availability Status: https://www.kansas.gov/businesscenter/index.html?appid=2&submit=Search • Kansas Department of Revenue Business Registration: www.ksrevenue.org/busregistration.html • Kansas Business Center: https://www.kansas.gov/businesscenter/ • Kansas Business One Stop: www.ksbiz.kansas.gov • National Federation of Independent Businesses: https://www.nfib.com/ • Kansas Procurement Technical Assistance Center (Kansas PTAC): assists businesses with exploring the government marketplace for local, state and federal contracting opportunities | 316-978-6788 | 238 N Mead, Wichita, KS 67202

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LAST WORD

MICHELLE DE LA ISLA Mayor City of Topeka

Earlier this year Michelle De La Isla announced she would not seek re-election as mayor of the city of Topeka. As she prepares to move on, TK Business Magazine asked her to share her thoughts as mayor and what the future holds.

What have you learned from your experience as Mayor?

I’ve learned that all government is local and that it’s beautiful that—for the most part—the process of governing at the local level is nonpartisan. As a mayor, you live with your constituents, you shop with your constituents, and you run into them in the grocery store.

When your city is hurting, you are right there with them, sharing in their pain. In the same manner, you also get to celebrate the victories and have fun when great things are happening in the city. There is a level of ownership and pride that comes when you are Mayor that is unlike any other form of government.

I’ve also learned that collaboration was even more important than I initially imagined it to be. Nothing can be achieved in our community without radical inclusion of ideas and experiences. Serving as Mayor has both broken my heart and given me hope in ways that are very close to the emotions you would feel as a parent.

What are you most proud of from your time as Mayor?

I’m extremely proud that all levels of our community have truly embraced inclusiveness over the last few years. When I first took office, our community’s strategic plan, Momentum 2022, seemed like a lofty, complicated mess—not because of the daunting tasks that it involved, but because of the culture change that it aimed for. I’ve learned over the years that the idea of developing a culture of hope, where all boats rise and re-igniting a sense of pride in our community, is radical and can be difficult to achieve.

If you would have asked me, do you think we can make this happen? Five years ago, I probably would have said that we would give it a good try and work hard at it.

Today, wow! Here we are: • We have a transportation program to help families without cars get to better paying jobs with benefits.

• We have a city flag we are proud to wear and display.

• We have a tech school in the middle of a neighborhood that had little access to education and had not seen development in many years.

• We have worked on our economic incentive strategies to ensure we are bringing organizations to our community that pay a decent wage for our families.

• We built the plaza, redeveloped Downtown, and are working on a new housing strategy because we are selling houses at an extremely fast rate.

• We established and funded a housing trust fund.

• We survived the pandemic, and the city budget had a surplus at the end of 2020.

• We haven’t raised the mil levy in over three years.

• We have over 12 individuals in our community who received training through Harvard to help our community communicate with the same voice and have the support of national organizations who look at Topeka as a model and example.

• Topeka is a Silver Level What Works City, which means we are one of few communities nationwide that has demonstrated excellence in our use of data for city management.

• Our river finally has the weir redone so that people can kayak safely on the Kansas River.

I could keep going. If these successes sound like they are not mine, it’s because they are not. They represent a collaboration of work by many, many individuals who care about the success of our community and working together for the good of all. I have had the privilege of seeing these and more successes during my term, and I look forward to seeing many more.

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LAST WORD What do we as a community need to work on? Or that you hope we continue to work on?

The quest for inclusivity and inclusive prosperity is one we must continue forging. Topeka has a big responsibility as the home of Brown v. Board to continue its legacy as the home of desegregation, as the place where the Constitution of the State of Kansas was brought to ensure our state is a free state, and as the homestead where the Exodusters came to settle as free individuals. These things didn’t happen in Topeka coincidentally, they happened in our community because Topekans are exceptional individuals with an internal rudder for doing the right thing, even when it’s difficult.

Today, in a time where we are all so divided over petty things like political parties or basic differences in values and beliefs, we have lost the courage to question. We must take a deep look as a community at who we are as individuals and continue learning from each other in a humble and vulnerable way. We need to ask more of our leaders. We need to expect honesty, integrity and humility from every one of us. We must be hungry for curiosity rather than allow fear or the media to dictate our world view. Topeka has been having difficult conversations about race since 2017 and the challenges different sectors in our community are facing that many don’t see or understand.

Topeka can be an example for our country on how to come together and love each other radically with compassion to help our community prosper—ALL of our community.

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What are three things you will remember most about your time as Mayor?

• The fatal shooting of Dominique White, and realizing that—even as a woman of color—how little I understood about the challenges minorities face in our communities.

The level of stress in learning, listening, and leaning into the issue and the challenging balance of acknowledging the pain our community was feeling while supporting and working with our police department to find ways that we can all learn and become better as a community.

• Being selected by the Bloomberg Harvard City leadership programs as one of 40 mayors across the globe, and how much it has enriched Topeka in resources and support.

• The pandemic; working with one of the best teams I have ever had the privilege of serving with in conjunction with Shawnee County and many sectors of the community.

When things got darkest, there would always be a ray of hope from the amazing leaders in this community.

You all know who you are.

What advice do you have for Topeka?

Don’t settle! Have you ever talked to a good friend whose life hasn’t been great but they are one of the best people you’ve known, and you see the potential they have before they do? Yep, that is our community. I think that we used to have a pride problem and that is finally changing; we need to realize the gem that we are in the Midwest, and in the country. Our cost of living is spectacular, the opportunity for individuals to succeed and become involved at a leadership level in our community are nearly limitless.

Our arts scene is enviable, we have global employers in our back yard, and

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a bio-agro industry about to boom.

We are a community with so much to offer, and each citizen has to own that pride. Don’t stop at Momentum 2022, keep improving and don’t settle. This community is a treasure.

What is next for you, what do you hope to achieve?

When my term is finished, I will have been married to this community for over nine years. I have been investing in this city heavily since 2006/2007 when I became involved with GO Topeka and started working on supporting womenowned businesses, established the first Spanish First Step Fast Track program in our community, and co-hosted a mentorship conference for minority girls alongside my sister and MANA de Topeka that is 12 years strong.

My heart has always leaned towards understanding root causes and diving into the heart of an issue to find solutions. To do this in a systemic, solution-oriented, and sustainable way, you need to understand the public, private and nonprofit sectors. I have been blessed to find the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, where our goal is to impact 300 million lives in positive ways through supporting social entrepreneurs doing good works across the world.

As Managing Director, I will have the privilege of sourcing, advocating for funding, and sitting on the Boards of organizations who are working to eliminate inequity across all three sectors and make a better world for all.

Finally, I had always dreamed of going back to academia. With both of my girls out of the house next year, I will be going to college, just like them. I am attending Harvard University in 2022 to earn my Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration while I continue my work with the DRK Foundation. I could not be more excited to continue the lifelong process of learning!

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