MoxieTalk with Kirt Jacobs

Taylor Trusty loves building – be it business or digital properties. He is the guiding force for Blackstone Media, a web design and development agency with offices in Louisville, Ky. and New York City. He built and leads the company with an unconventional background. A self-proclaimed computer nerd, Trusty began computer programming at the age of 13, and was working at a web design company by 15....

James O'Connor is a former professional soccer player and is head coach of Louisville City FC. O'Connor is a former Orlando City player and coach who came to Louisville to coach the Louisville City team in 2014. In his first season with Orlando, the team broke almost every record in league history – scoring the most goals, conceding the fewest goals, and setting a new point record for the league....

Conrad Bachmann's career spans four decades and hundreds of roles. Bachmann's desire to give back to his hometown community is at the heart of founding the Louisville International Film Festival. The annual festival attracts hundreds of films from all over the world each year, and the proceeds help fund film study in the Louisville community. Bachmann's impressive career spans film, theatre and te...

Amanda Duffy's desire to break boundaries and her competitive spirit to succeed drive her every day. Named president of the Louisville City FC in November 2015, Duffy had previously served as the club's VP of operations and general manager. In those roles, she saw the club reach the Eastern Conference Final and boast the league's second highest average attendance. Her rapid promotions – she was pr...

Mitch McConnell has served as U.S. Senate majority leader since 2015. He is only the second Kentuckian to serve as majority leader in the Senate; the first, Alben Barkley, led the Democrats from 1937 to 1947. McConnell has been called "the most conservative leader of either party in the history of the Senate." He has also earned a reputation as a "master tactician" for permanently locking in criti...

Ingrid Hernandez delivers high quality design while building personalized client relationships. As president and creative director at InGrid Design since 2002, Hernandez leads her business and team, while also providing expertise as a creative director and project manager. InGrid Design is an award-winning graphic design firm offering services from concept to completion, as well as Spanish transla...

Donald M. Vowels is a psychotherapist and spiritual counselor with Body, Mind, Spirit Health and Wellness in Louisville. He has an extensive resume in psychotherapy, theology and social work. While his professional life was in full swing, a December 2011 routine colonoscopy profoundly and instantly changed Vowel's personal life when he was diagnosed with anal cancer. A May 2014, recurrence of canc...

Sterling Lapinski is an entrepreneur and angel investor. In 2012, he co-founded ClipperData, an energy market information service, where he currently serves as CEO. Lapinski is also the co-founder of Genscape, the world's leading provider of real-time energy information. The technology and intellectual property core of the business were created and managed by Lapinski. In 2006, Lapinski and his pa...

When Nina Moseley talks about her work helping those in poverty, her eyes light up with hope and her enthusiasm fills the room. Since 1988, Moseley has been the chief operating officer of Wayside Christian Mission. The organization helps Louisville's homeless population "not with a hand-out, but with a hand up." The organization has grown from an overnight shelter for the homeless, to a center for...

Mitzi Friedlander has spent much of her career bringing stories to life for the blind. After 50 years of recording books, Friedlander holds the record for most talking book titles narrated for the National Library Service. As a Louisville-native and former singer, Friedlander once performed in the Kentucky Opera Association. She sang and acted in many operas, musicals and plays in the 1950s. Fried...

Rebecca Eaves saves and protects animals suffering from abuse and neglect. A long-time animal rescuer and activist, Eaves is the founder and president of The Arrow Fund, a Kentucky based non-profit that provides medical treatment to animal victims of torture, abuse, or neglect, and then finds them loving homes. The organization takes legal possession of the animal and holds the abuser responsible...

Barry Denton is passionate about his hometown of Louisville. In 2003, he began work as a bomb squad commander and police sergeant. Currently, Denton serves in the police force, and in educating the next generation. He works as a patrol officer for Audubon Park Police, and serves as an adjunct professor with the American Military University, the University of Louisville, and Indiana Wesleyan Univer...

Joey Wagner, Owner of the J Wagner Group, has been putting on some of the biggest events in the city of Louisville and the midwest region for the past 10 years. J. Wagner Group, a full-service event planning, marketing, and promotions firm, serves many well-known and high-end clients. Wagner also owns DerbyVIP.com, a full-service concierge service providing rental houses, car service, fashion, sec...

Gale Lively always felt her job was to help people excel in their jobs. She brought this view to her leadership position as the executive vice president of the Louisville Apartment Association. She served in this position for over 37 years prior to announcing her retirement in 2014. The non-profit represents apartment owners, vendors, and apartment communities in Louisville and advocates on behalf...

Ankur Gopal's desire to make an impact has fueled his success building a technology application company. Gopal is the founder and CEO of Interapt LLC, a Google Glass partner. Interapt is an award-winning company specializing in mobile apps and wearable technology. Interapt partners with businesses in the healthcare and long-term care industries, helping them use technology more effectively to comp...

A competitive spirit drives Chris Morris in his pursuit for excellence as a master distiller. A Louisville native, Morris is only the seventh master distiller at the Brown-Forman Corporation since 1870, as well as its current spirits historian. He is responsible for maintaining the award-winning taste of the Woodford Reserve family of brands and serves as brand ambassador at trade and consumer fun...

Since Lee W. Robinson was seven years old and constructing scale models, he has had a passion for design and building beautiful homes. After a 14-year career in banking, Robinson decided to pursue his dream to open a design company that offers drafting, remodeling and design services in one location. The Lee W. Robinson Company, now in St. Matthews, fills two floors with a beautiful collection of...

Kevin Grangier is driven by his desire to create things that make people happy. Grangier began his career in marketing and communication locally, before heading to Los Angeles to start his own company. Carry On Communication Inc. is an award winning firm specializing in branding, public relations, and marketing. It expanded to five communication companies and offered services to some of the larges...

Dan McDonnell loves to compete, loves to win, and loves seeing the growth in his players as he coaches the University of Louisville baseball team. Since McDonnell's hiring in 2006, the team has accomplished amazing statistics. In his first year, McDonnell led the team to the College World Series. Then he led the Cardinals to seven more NCAA appearances in eight years, including two more to the Col...

Tom Jurich cites his motivation to do things right and see results as he leads athletic programs at the University of Louisville. Since 1997, Jurich has made a permanent mark at the University of Louisville by leading an athletic department that has enjoyed tremendous athletic and academic accomplishments. In 2003, Jurich began his run as vice president at U of L. Under Jurich, the Cardinal athlet...

Jeff Walz has a passion for excellence that drives him as the head coach of the University of Louisville Women's basketball team. Walz was hired as the head coach in 2007. Since then, he has helped the Cardinals burst into national prominence as one of the most competitive and successful teams. In his eight seasons with the team, the women Cardinals have gone to the NCAA Sweet 16 six times, had tw...

Heather Howell's desire to inspire her children and fear of failure power her in selecting her projects and in growing beverage brands. As director of innovation for Brown-Forman Corporation, Howell is responsible for developing the global portfolio expansion strategy and acts as brand leader for Collingwood, a premium blended Canadian whiskey. Howell joined Brown-Forman in 2015. She previously wo...

Driven by conscience and seeing challenges as possibilities drive Jackie Ford as she leads the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana. Tennessee-native Ford brings over 25 years of non-profit experience to the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana. Previously, Ford served as the executive director of Literacy Volunteers of America in Connecticut for 10 years. In 1988, she began her career with the Girl Scouts as directo...

Emily Cleveland has a passion for helping children see past disability through friendship. Cleveland is the Kentucky state director of Best Buddies International, providing direct support for the state's school-based programs. These programs create opportunities for youth and adults, with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities and disorders, though friendship pairings. Best Buddie...

Vickie Yates Brown brings passion to all of her projects – from shaping health care policy to the Nucleus project. Brown is an experienced health care law and finance attorney. She worked on planning, development, and finance for Nucleus: Kentucky's Research and Innovation Center alongside the University of Louisville Foundation and U of L President James Ramsey. Brown was named president and CEO...