Innovate or Evaporate with Toph Day

Katie Lucas built her credibility in a hyper-traditional industry from scratch, starting as an outside marketing consultant before rising to president of Lucas Oil Products, one of America's most iconic industrial brands. The company ships more than 300 products across 48 countries, holds a multi-year NFL global partnership, and recently completed a historic headquarters relocation from California...

David Becker saw friction where others saw stability, and in 1998 he built the first fully online bank in the United States with no branches, no tellers, and a safe full of candy bars to satisfy regulators. Becker, founder and CEO of First Internet Bank, traces the entire arc of his entrepreneurial career, from a childhood newspaper route in Indianapolis to five Inc. 500 companies spanning financi...

Craig Gunckel took a receipt paper company no one believed in and delivered a 15X return for investors. Now he's doing it again as CEO of ODP, the parent company of Office Depot and OfficeMax, after Atlas Holdings completed its acquisition in December 2025. Gunckel, speaking with host Toph Day at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis, explains how he thinks about innovation in traditional industries...

David Meltzer lost over $100 million, his mother's home, and nearly his marriage before rebuilding his life around faith, gratitude, and intentional living. The chairman of the Napoleon Hill Institute and former CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, the agency that inspired the film "Jerry Maguire," Meltzer joins host Toph Day at the Rally conference to discuss the turning points that res...

In this episode of Innovate or Evaporate, host Toph Day sits down with Dave Neff, CEO of the 500 Festival, to explore how relationships, trust, and innovation shape one of Indiana’s most iconic civic traditions. Dave shares his journey from the Indiana Pacers to EDGE Mentoring, the Boilermaker Alliance, and now the 500 Festival, revealing how leadership, mentorship, and community engagement create...

Ed Carpenter has spent more than two decades competing in the Indianapolis 500 while simultaneously running the team that fields his car. The owner-driver of Ed Carpenter Racing discusses what it takes to survive and compete as an independent team in a sport increasingly dominated by manufacturer programs and private equity. Carpenter traces his path from quarter midgets at age 8 to three Indy 500...

Mark Miles, President and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp., built a career out of pulling off events that other cities couldn't. From negotiating with Fidel Castro to land Cuba's athletes at the 1987 Pan American Games to restructuring global television rights for the ATP Tour to chairing Indianapolis's 2012 Super Bowl bid, Miles has spent four decades turning civic ambition into international sp...

Mariah Ivey, Director of Programs & Artistic Development, Madam Walker Legacy Center, and Founder of That Peace Open Mic, has spent her career building stages where none existed. Honored with a "Keeper of Culture" mural in Indianapolis by visual artist Ashley Nora in partnership with GangGang, Ivey speaks with host Toph Day about what it actually takes to earn that designation. The conversation co...

Pacers Sports & Entertainment is building far more than a basketball team. Under CEO Mel Raines and Chief Commercial Officer Joey Graziano, the organization is reimagining what a modern franchise can be: part sports business, part real estate developer, part performance company, part media brand, and part civic engine. In this conversation, Toph Day sits down with Raines and Graziano to explore ho...

Julie Roe Lach spent 15 years at the NCAA running enforcement before becoming Horizon League commissioner. Now she's joining Pacers Sports & Entertainment as executive vice president, and her career arc explains as much about where college sports is headed as any single conversation can. Roe Lach breaks down the three distinct layers of the NIL landscape: direct athlete deals, booster-funded colle...

Kimberly Storin, chief marketing officer at Zoom, joins Innovate or Evaporate at Rally to discuss how Zoom evolved from an enterprise video platform to a household name during COVID and what comes next. Storin shares how more than 50% of people now start discovery through large language models, why earned media and brand building are having a renaissance, and how marketers have pivoted too hard in...

Mike Clem, CEO of Sweetwater, joins Toph Day for a candid conversation about what it really takes to scale innovation inside an established company without losing the culture that made it special in the first place. Mike shares his journey from small-town Indiana to Purdue to building early e-commerce systems, then joining Sweetwater in 2003 when the website was a $4M channel and helping grow it i...

Innovate or Evaporate, an IBJ Media podcast, explores the relentless pace of change and the innovators who drive it! In each episode, we dive deep into the personal stories and sharp insights behind breakthrough ideas, cutting-edge technologies, and fearless pioneers reshaping our world, from billion-dollar startups to transformative social impact.

 Innovate or Evaporate host Toph Day talks with Indiana Sen. Todd Young about the CHIPS and Science Act and the push to strengthen U.S. semiconductor supply chains, compete with China and support advanced manufacturing across the heartland. Young also discusses rare earth and critical mineral supply, the Ships for America Act and why rebuilding shipbuilding matters for economic and national securi...

What happens when you choose curiosity over credentials—early? Toph Day sits down with Ashton Gleckman, director and composer of the History Channel docuseries Kennedy, to unpack a journey that started with dropping out of high school, learning the craft of film scoring, and turning bold bets into feature documentaries and an eight-part series. They get into the real work behind “epic” storytellin...

Big news: Innovate or Evaporate has a new home on the IBJ Media Podcast Network. In this special episode, Mitch Frazier (President, IBJ Media) sits down with Toph Day to mark the partnership and unpack what’s ahead for the show in 2026 and beyond. They talk about why innovation isn’t just for entrepreneurs or investors, why silos are disappearing, and why the next era belongs to leaders who can mo...

What does it take to pull off the impossible—on time, on budget, and at full creative ambition? In Episode 30 of Innovate or Evaporate, Toph Day sits down with Gregg Fienberg, Emmy-winning executive producer and director, to unpack the real engine behind film and television: logistics, leadership, and high-performance teams. From unexpected disasters on set to the craft of building “family-level”...

What does it take to break into the world of elite sports representation — and do it differently? Jeanine Ogbonnaya joins Toph to share her journey from Alabama press boxes to representing top athletes like Angel Reese. From teaching herself football to launching her own agency during a pandemic, Jeanine breaks down how the NIL era is reshaping athlete branding, ownership, and influence. This conv...

Chris Yeh — investor, entrepreneur, and co-author of the NYT bestseller Blitzscaling — joins Toph live at Rally to unpack what it really takes to scale in a winner-take-most world. In this fast-paced, wide-ranging conversation, Chris shares hard-earned insights from three decades of startup experience: the missed opportunity that still haunts him, what angel investors still get wrong, how storytel...

Today’s guest is Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, whose team analyzes data from tens of thousands of startups to reveal what’s actually happening in venture capital — not just what makes headlines. Recorded live at Rally, this conversation digs into the real state of venture in 2025: the AI haves vs. have-nots, why down rounds aren’t a death sentence, the misunderstood power law driving VC...

What does it take to build a creative career—from scratch—twice? In this episode of Innovate or Evaporate, actress, producer, and entrepreneur Lisa Varga joins Toph Day for an unfiltered conversation about the realities of the entertainment industry, the evolution of storytelling, and the business behind the camera. Lisa opens up about her early dreams, her Hollywood breakthrough, and the personal...

Kylen Granson is a tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles—but his impact extends far beyond the end zone. After being under-recruited in high school, breaking nearly every bone possible, and walking away from a Division I scholarship, Kylen fought his way into the NFL through sheer discipline and self-belief. Now, he’s using his platform to tackle one of the country’s biggest silent crises: childho...

From Olympic hopeful to underground poker queen to federal felony charges — Molly Bloom has lived more lives than most. In this episode of Innovate or Evaporate, Molly sits down with Toph Day to talk about the epic highs and brutal lows of her journey. They dive deep into personal transformation, reinvention, high-stakes risk, and how to recover your identity after public failure. From mindset shi...

What does it really take to build an AI-native company before AI was cool? In this episode of Innovate or Evaporate, host Toph Day sits down with Amy Brown, CEO and founder of Authenticx—a healthcare-focused customer insights platform—to unpack how she turned personal conviction into a multi-million dollar startup. From walking away from a stable corporate career to building machine learning model...

In this conversation, Kevin O'Leary shares his entrepreneurial journey, insights from Shark Tank, and thoughts on geopolitics and technology. He emphasizes the importance of storytelling in business, the American Dream, and the need for innovation in various sectors. O'Leary also discusses productivity strategies, particularly the significance of focusing on key tasks to maximize efficiency. Takea...