Category: Better Know a Member

A true “type A” with passion about life, people and entertainment, Ramona Adams grew up in Carmel, IN with her brother and parents citing a true Midwest upbringing.

She attended Carmel High School and went to college at University of Dayton with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

She feels her parents are the people that influenced her the most in life and enjoys spending time with them today.

As a career woman, her path has taken her to several different positions – notable locations such as the Indianapolis Star, Pacers and she is currently in private dining sales for the downtown Ruth’s Chris Steak House location. She loves working and interacting with people who enjoy fine dining, wines and culinary excellence which is why the position at Ruth’s Chris is a perfect fit for her. In our discussion, she noted that her father became a personal chef after a career in Medical Technology and that cooking is a big part of their family. They don’t do anything simply when it comes to food and family gatherings!

She came to Rotary after several friends recommended the downtown club as a great place to be involved. And after one meeting, she recognized several people she knew, became enamored with our group and knew immediately it was the place she wanted to spend her time giving back. She is chair of the Social Committee, is a member of the Membership Committee, Co-chairs the Riley Event, is overseeing the Centennial Gala Committee for 2012.

She and her husband John, a freelance writer and marketing researcher, live in Indianapolis and have been married for five years after a longer courtship. Although they don’t have children, they are “thinking about a dog”. They love to travel and hike and they are definitely “word” people as they enjoy games like Scrabble as well as crossword puzzles that they can do together. She has a goal of making sure she visits all fifty states along the way. Her hobbies include working out, scrapbooking and entertaining! She and John would love to live downtown at some point.

When asked about her favorite quote she cited a bumper sticker that she has seen several times – MEAN PEOPLE SUCK. She feels that life is too short to spend it being mean, sad or unhappy!

Her words to live by are to “Live in the moment and don’t put life off!”

Written by Dene Dresch Nidiffer

Evan grew up here in Indy with his parents and one older brother. He had a very active childhood as his parents kept him and his brother incredibly busy. Between basketball, baseball, soccer, cross country, or track practice, there wasn’t much time for sitting around or being lazy! Weekends he had out of town tournaments which kept the whole family very active, too.

After graduating from Brebeuf, Evan was off to Wittenberg University where he was recruited to play basketball. He quickly learned that there are not many professional basketball opportunities for a slow, Division 3 basketball player so he stopped playing and joined a fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi. Evan graduated in 2005 with a Business Management degree. Upon graduation, he sought the answer to this question from his mother: “What’s the best financial planning school in the country?” Elaine quickly replied “Texas Tech” and he said “Where!???” Next thing he knew, he was off to Lubbock, Texas where he graduated with a Master’s degree in Personal Financial Planning in 2008. He feels he made some lifelong connections in Texas and enjoyed his time there very much.

His first Financial Planning position was with Clarus Financial, in Cincinnati, OH. The firm was owned by a single owner with Evan and a part time administrative assistant only. With the onset of the financial recession at the start of his career, he indicated that he was certainly “baptized by fire” as a new financial planner and it was great experience to kicking off his career. Today, he truly enjoys helping young families reach their financial goals at Bedel Financial Consulting. He can remember as a teen working at the firm, he and Elaine may have not always seen eye to eye, probably because he was a teenager. However, today he feels he and Elaine work incredibly well together. He sees her as a great mentor to him and she has certainly given him lots of advice, yet at the same time is very determined to allow him to fend for himself and provides him the opportunity to make his own path along the way.

His decision to join Rotary was based on wanting to join a world class organization outside of his profession which has the goal of helping community prosper. He has visited some groups within Rotary to get his feet wet, but believes that he is probably best suited for a budgeting role with Rotary and is planning to seek this type of role as soon as he can.

Personally, Evan is married to Abbe, a mental health counselor for St. Vincent New Hope. She is a home based therapist working with families that are in need or at risk. These are often families who have lost children due to neglect or other unfortunate circumstances. One exciting piece of news for Evan and Abbe is that they are expecting their first child in January 2012. The whole family is thrilled at the prospect of having this new little member of the family join them. Evan is very excited to be the best Dad that he can possibly be and to start his family.

As to the most exciting thing that ever happened to him… he and his teammates won an Indiana State Basketball Championship in 2000! (Not everyone can say that!) As to the most interesting place he has ever been… he traveled to China with his college basketball team for two weeks to play Shanghai and Beijing Universities. While there, he experienced some culture shock as to the level of poverty and lifestyle of many people living in China. It made him appreciate life in the US. As to his free time… Evan hangs out with his “virtual friends” through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (isn’t this how we communicate today when we have busy lives?) and loves to be with his wife, dogs, play a little basketball and exercise when he can.

As to his community involvement…he is involved as a Board Member, Financial Planning Association of Greater Indiana; Investment Committee, Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame; Member, Indianapolis Alumni Association of Phi Kappa Psi and Member, Young Professionals of Central Indiana.

As to favorite quotes and words to live by…

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. – John Wooden

From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere. – Dr. Seuss

As to what is next for Evan… for the long term he is looking forward to raising a family, staying connected with the community and helping his clients. For the short term, he will be participating in a 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces in November, it’s called Tough Mudder. He has never done anything like this, so he feels it could be the worst idea ever!

(He claims that his true motivation for doing this is the “free beer” at the end of the event that he will enjoy!) Good luck Evan!
Written by Dene Dresch Nidiffer, IIDA, RID of Lohr Design, Inc.

“Help others when the opportunity arises!” That was the message that was evident during a visit with Rotarian, Sheila Carlson, after a Tuesday Rotary meeting in early April.

Also, check out the “Better Know a Member” on Sheila created by Rotarian Brien Richmond in our Videos section.

Sheila Carlson is a very active mom, wife and career driven lady with a full agenda every day, but ‘life’ does not get in the way of her love for the spirit of volunteerism in her busy schedule. While chatting with her about family, career goals and future endeavors, it was clear that this is a lady who can juggle what life hands her and still keep a positive attitude of serving others at every juncture of her life. In fact, service is one of the main reasons she decided to get involved with Rotary back in 2007 when she was pursued by Rita Steinberg and Janet Harris at Habitat for Humanity, her current workplace where she serves as Communications and Community Relations Coordinator.

“I appreciate the 4-Way Test model of Rotary,” Sheila mentioned as one of the things she respects about Rotary. “My interest grew out of meeting new friends on my visits to the club and I was surprised at how many friends and acquaintances I already knew that were involved in the organization.” Sheila feels that the Indianapolis Rotary is a place for her to put her skills and abilities to work and it didn’t take long for her to find several avenues of service as she joined four committees immediately after becoming a member. Currently Sheila is finishing up a term as Sergeant of Arms and looks forward to future opportunities in Rotary.

A native of Dundee, Illinois, Sheila married Keith Carlson at a young age and they located in Virginia Beach, VA. In 1998, she moved with her family to Brownsburg, IN. Along with holding down a full time career, Sheila and Keith have raised two accomplished children. Caprice is a freshman at Roosevelt University in Chicago studying pharmacy and Spencer is a sophomore at Brownsburg High School planning to attend Purdue University with a focus on graphic engineering. Education is not only a priority for her children, but for Sheila as well. She began her higher education at a Community College in Illinois and finished at Indiana Tech in 2004 earning Suma Cum Laude status while managing her family, a job at Bank One and of course always looking for that opportunity to serve others.

Since becoming a Rotarian, Sheila has been blessed with some incredible memories. Her favorite memory related to Rotary is her trip to Grissom Air Force Base with some fellow Rotarians. She recalls that they had the thrill of going up in a KC 135 Strato Tanker and watch the refueling of a B-1 bomber. “I really got to know a couple of those seasoned Rotarians when we were trapped up in the air all that time.” It was an experience she says she will never forget. Another memory of Sheila’s life that will never fade was her 29th birthday. She jumped out of a plane! She says that skydiving is one of life’s greatest moments and coming in second would be her ‘once in a lifetime’ trip to Bora Bora vacation that she was able to experience.

Despite great adventures around the world, Sheila remains grounded with her work at Habitat for Humanity where she sees creating more awareness for the organization and its mission as a huge focus of her life right now. With her responsibilities moving more toward involvement with social media and her message to strive to be more consistent in reaching the public to share the need, she is still very involved in creating relationships that fit well with the organization.

Sheila recharges and stays grounded by relaxing by the pool, walking, biking and working out in her spare time. She considers her favorite Indianapolis “downtown spot” to be an Indian’s game and when those occasional snow days come along, you will find Sheila nestled on the sofa with a great movie perhaps from the 90’s. “I like the decade of the 90’s because it seemed to be just before we lost the ‘people element’ when technology seemed to take over our lives,” she commented.

Whether you see Sheila at a Rotary meeting or out in the field helping others, she somehow finds a way to give a hug and a smile to those she meets. There doesn’t seem to be much that gets in Sheila’s way to volunteer and participate in life. Whether she is challenging herself in The Race for the Cure this year to honor her aunt who is a cancer survivor, walking in the American Heart Association Walk in honor of her dad who passed away in December or helping out at Gleaner’s, Meals on Wheels, participating in the annual Race for the Cure or Riley Children’s hospital, Sheila exudes the spirit of outreach to others. This Paul Harris Fellow lives by her motto of “Let Go and Let God” and chooses to look at helping others as her mission in life. Don’t miss an opportunity at the next Rotary meeting to meet Sheila Carlson and get to know her and be prepared to be blessed by a hug and her contagious smile.

I first met Danny during our New Member Orientation sessions at Rotary last year. He hit the ground running with the club when he teamed up with Debbie Hyde to co-chair our new member meeting—if you recall it was a lively panel presentation on immigration that was moderated by Abdul-Hakim Shabazz of the “Abdul in the Morning” radio show.

It was my pleasure to sit down with him recently for this Member Profile. I first wanted to know about Danny’s career as a customer service trainer and professional keynote speaker. When Danny’s in the customer service training role, he works with all types of companies to train their staff. In his keynote speaking role, he brings entertainment, motivation and great storytelling to large company meetings, professional associations and many other types of organizations.

Danny’s role in customer service began when he was about eight years old working for his dad, Joe O’Malia, in the mid-1950s. Joe bought Roth’s store in Broad Ripple. It was a very small store with one cash register and five employees—and one was an eight-year old kid. Danny’s job at the store included breaking down 100 pound bags of potatoes into 5 and 10 pound bags and carrying out groceries all over Broad Ripple. The part of the job that made the biggest impression on Danny was the couple of times per day his dad would see a particular customer come in the store and knew they would want something special that he didn’t have room to stock, so he’d send Danny to run down the street to the Kroger, buy that item and get back before the customer was ready to check out.

Joe’s stores and partnerships changed over time, and as Danny became a teenager, he started watching his father in business closer and was learning more. He found that his dad had a great penchant for getting his employees on the team and the whole team dedicated to taking care of the customers.

The first O’Malia’s was opened when Danny was a freshman at Xavier University in Cincinnati. Danny received a lot of mail that year from his dad telling him all about how he was going to open that store—how he found the ground at 106th and College and who he wanted to hire from all his previous stores. He said he only wanted those that gave the best service to work for him.

Upon graduating from Xavier, Danny taught high school English for six years here in Indianapolis—at St. Andrews at 38th & Sherman and then freshman through seniors at Cathedral High School (when it was boys only). During this time, Danny worked nights and weekends at O’Malia’s and also received a master’s degree at Butler University.

Danny is married with three daughters and now five grandchildren. While his girls were still very young, he decided to talk to his dad about working in the family business full time. When he did, he found that his dad already had a list of stuff for him to do. At that time there were three stores that turned into nine by 1986.

Danny is the oldest of his siblings—two brothers and one sister. One brother became a lawyer, and practiced corporate law for quite a few years before he came into the business. His sister became a housewife, and her husband worked for the business as the deli manager. The other brother inherited their dad’s merchandising and operational flair. Danny inherited his dad’s “people thing.” After assembling the family team, the key to success they were taught was the importance of teamwork.

One example Danny told me about was “Management by Wandering Around”—make the rounds through the store and office and find somebody doing something right and give them praise for it. You’ll find plenty of mistakes being made too while you’re doing this, but if you’ve given your people praise along the way, they will be more open to fixing those mistakes and doing better next time.

Danny eventually was managing customer service, employee relationships, marketing and public relations at O’Malia’s. He was named President in 1986 and became CEO in 1991. After selling to Marsh in 2001, Danny served as President of the O’Malia division of Marsh and in 2006 was named chief customer service officer for the entire Marsh chain.

All this experience led Danny to his current career as customer service trainer/keynote speaker with the goal of spreading the concept of “doing the right thing.” His dedication to the Indianapolis community and philosophy of taking care of people makes him such a great addition to the Rotary Club of Indianapolis.