Good morning awardees and congratulations. I’m honored to be here, thank you for having me. Moments like this are important. If you haven’t already, take a deep breath, take it in, enjoy the acknowledgement, the fact that this has come together and the fact that we are moving Indianapolis forward.
This room is filled with leaders. Emerging and established, confused and not, confident and not – this room is filled with leaders. And I’m here to share perspective with you. To thank you, first, for your leadership in our city. And to offer thought prompts. Questions that can linger. Thoughts that can help to shape your influence on our shared place.
I am proud to have also been recognized by the IBJ for my work in Indianapolis and beyond. Me, you, and the IBJ, we share in the responsibility to care for our city by way of truth-telling, civic leadership and the accountability for Indianapolis’ trajectory. We are the leaders.
And we’re the leaders of an arts city. My work for 20 years in Indy has been to bring that narrative to the forefront and to make it undeniable. That work has happened in the last 5 years in my life by way of GANGGANG, a cultural development firm proposing to center beauty equity and culture in cities. I laid the groundwork for this arts startup in my 20’s, co-founded it in my 30’s and am scaling it in my 40’s. I’ll talk a little about it but then I’m going to let you in on a very recent discovery. One that I hadn’t articulated until now but that has been key and that will be critical moving forward for me and for you.
About GANGGANG, 5 years ago, we were in 2020. You all remember how intense that time felt, kind of similar to now but different and maybe more hopeful. We were experiencing 2 pandemics, together all of us, a health pandemic and racial pandemic and while many of us didn’t know what to do, my now husband Alan and I did. We knew inherently to turn to the arts, where I’d already been working, and the way Alan has always been living, the arts as the way forward. As the unifier, the reviver, the opportunity, the storyteller, the galvanizer and the economic driver. The arts. We created GANGGANG to be a creative advocate for the centrality of artists for a stronger, more equitable city. We are the voice and the body that is saying it, programming it and articulating the impact.
Thank you to everyone who has supported GANGGANG in any way and thank you to those who’ve gotten tickets to BUTTER 2025 already. Creating and maintaining GANGGANG for 5 years has been tons of work. More than anything, it is a dream job. I’m able to cheerlead on behalf of my city, create and broker opportunities for those who make our city where we want to be, and I get to create what you want so that you continue to live here. Since GANGGANG, we’ve seen more positive, international arts coverage of our city than we have in a very long time. We’ve seen talent retained and attracted to Indianapolis. We’ve created a nationwide leisure destination during Labor Day weekend. And in doing so have shown how culture moves urban development and leases buildings. We launched a campaign about rock and roll in the middle of Indiana at a war memorial. And we’ve produced, promoted and protected culture in new, innovative ways just as we set out to 5 years ago.
It’s been a lot. It’s been good. Thrilling, really. I talked about the journey at Creative Mornings not long ago and during the Q&A I was asked a question that has stuck with me for months and months. It’s as if I answered for the moment but the question wasn’t satiated, it did not go away.
What have you had to give up?
That’s what someone asked after listening to all the impact GANGGANG has made in the last 5 years. What have you had to lose? They asked. It was a good question, it stuck out and it was personal. It forced me to think about the other side of this work, the other side of entrepreneurship and the sacrifice of leadership.
I answered quickly – maybe too easily – saying ‘time, money and food.’ Yikes. 3 pretty big things. Important things. Time, money and food. Those things were top of mind when I consider the pace of leadership like this. Entrepreneurship and pioneering, like this. I don’t get to bake cookies for my daughters like I always wanted to. I don’t have time, is something I hear myself saying more than I’m comfortable with. And I don’t have money, more than I’m comfortable with. Lol.
What does it take to be a young leader?
If you’re like me, you didn’t want to be in charge of anything really, you just wanted things to work well. Your acknowledgement and these awards are coming your way because you’ve put in the work and have gone after ideas and gaps that you knew you could fill. Me too. For those of us who are leading and filling the gaps, there’s so much that you’re going to encounter and so many thoughts and perspectives that you’ll be invited to prescribe to. There will be moments when you won’t have any clue what to do and others when you’ll act with total instinct.
If you’re wanting to go well, with authenticity and with commitment, then there is one thing you’re going to have to lose because the work of leadership is too heavy if you don’t.
No matter your sector, whether you’re in education, sports, philanthropy, finance, legal, healthcare, culture, engineering – whatever – I’ve learned that to keep going at all, I’d have to give up fear. That’s the thing I realized that I’d have to lose, that I would need to release. To do leadership from a position of vulnerability and compassion, and to do it over and over, when its cool and when it’s not, when there’s funding and not, when its dangerous and not – I’ve had to give up fear.
And I’m inviting you to try the same. Fear is tiring, its draining, its expensive, it’s a barrier to creativity and it hinders the connecting of people. Yes, fear can also act as a guide, a vehicle for honoring our creator and even a natural protectant. But I’m talking about the fear that prevents collective progress. The fear where love can’t exist. Fear of being the only one. Fear of saying or not saying the thing. Fear of doing good. The fear of leadership. We established at the beginning that this is a room full of leaders. What kind of leadership are we full of?
It’s been a requirement of my leadership to walk through fear. To do it anyway. To commit to lead well. If it’s helpful, jot down or keep in mind the question for you, “how would I lead if I wasn’t afraid?”
Thank you for what you’ve already done to support the progress of our city. We are in this together, I am in your corner. Don’t give up on Indianapolis. This is a special place that holds stories and memories, secrets and plans. She’s a worthy city! Congratulations, go forth in peace and fortitude, losing fear and nothing else.