As the chief marketing officer for OneAmerica Financial, Kelley Gay leads the company’s marketing, communications and stakeholder experience strategies—including executive, internal, and external communications; brand management; customer relationship management; reputation management; and other functions. As part of her duties, she was involved with the company’s rebranding to the doing-business-as name of OneAmerica Financial, from the OneAmerica name it had previously used. She has served in various leadership roles at OneAmerica Financial for more than a decade and has nearly 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Gay earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Connecticut, where she also earned Big East All-Academic Team awards as a member of the university’s basketball team from 1994-1998. Her passions include youth charities, women’s issues, diversity and inclusion advocacy, and business and leadership coaching.
Archives: Profiles
Larry Garatoni
Larry Garatoni is the chief executive of the Garatoni Family Office and the Garatoni Smith Family Foundation, which were established after he sold his business assets and are now primarily used for philanthropic efforts in economic development and education. Garatoni got his start in entrepreneurship in his 20s, buying an accounting franchise and adding clients in the nursing home industry. The move was a springboard to building and operating long-term care facilities and other health care services. He is one of the founders of the Career Academy Network of Public Schools, which are Indiana charter schools.
A change for Indiana: “Place more emphasis and demands on K12 education. A high percentage of our K12 schools are poorly managed. We could achieve much better student outcomes.”
A flub: “I bought a technology company in Minneapolis that I thought had a good management team. Do a much better job of due diligence and don’t buy such a complex company that far from home.”
Ellen Swisher Crabb
When Ellen Swisher Crabb started in the business world, she was one of two female sales engineers out of 100. Now she leads a business in an industry that she says is at an inflection point. United Animal Health, a wholesale distributor of animal feeds, fertilizers, agricultural chemicals and other farm supplies, was founded in Sheridan in 1956. In recent years, the company funded a grant program for store owners in Sheridan to improve their facades facing Main Street and as a way to create a pathway to growth and economic vigor.
Favorite gadget: “My hearing aids are my favorite device because they are my superpower! I can take discreet phone calls and listen to my favorite music while working or exercising.”
Advice for a young person: “Do something that scares you every single day. Keep pushing yourself.”
Juan Gonzalez
Juan Gonzalez is Cleveland-based KeyBank’s market president for central Indiana, a job he assumed in 2018. He has more than 20 years of experience in the banking and financial industry and serves as the external executive face of KeyBank in Indianapolis and oversees the central Indiana team that includes four lines of business: commercial banking, private bank, business banking and retail. Gonzalez, who joined the bank in 2010, is responsible for KeyBank growing its market share, partnering with local not-for-profit organizations and encouraging employees to engage in the community. He manages KeyBank’s operations in Indiana, Michigan, and northwest Ohio. Gonzalez grew up in Colombia and moved to Indianapolis when he attended graduate school at Butler University and earned an MBA. He served on the board of the NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee and as co-chair on the event’s operations committee. He has been chair of the Indiana Latino Scholarship Fund and served on the boards of the Indy Chamber, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, the Gennesaret Free Clinic, the 500 Festival, and the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership.
Aaron Gillum
Aaron Gillum is a senior vice president in 50 South Capital’s private equity group, where he is responsible for sourcing and analyzing investment opportunities, fundraising activities and portfolio management. Gillum also serves as the president of the Venture Club of Indiana, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and investors succeed. Previously, he was co-founder and managing partner of an early-stage venture fund focused on technology companies in the Midwest and New York City.
Job swap: “I would probably own a bed & breakfast someplace on a beach and warm.”
On leadership: “I learned early in my career from a boss who was a Navy veteran to ‘learn the job of the person above you and to teach your job to the person below you.’ I carry this principle in mentoring our junior staff to ensure they are prepared for the next stages of their career.”
Mark Hardwick
Mark Hardwick was named CEO of Muncie-based First Merchants Bank in 2021 after more than two decades as an executive at the institution. During his tenure at First Merchants, the bank’s assets have jumped from $1 billion to $18 billion, and its employee base has grown from 200 to 2,100. Last year, First Merchants Corp. announced a growing presence in Indianapolis with a regional headquarters on the city’s north side. Established in 1893, First Merchants entered the Indianapolis market in 1998. First Merchants has regional headquarters in Fort Wayne, Lafayette and Munster in Indiana, as well as Columbus, Ohio, and Farmington Hills and Monroe in Michigan. Hardwick was a member of the 1990 Ball State University basketball team that is enshrined in the school’s hall of fame. He serves on the university’s board of trustees and previously worked as a senior accountant with BKD LLP in Indianapolis.
Scott Brand
Scott Brand was promoted to president and chief operating officer of Subaru in February, becoming the company’s first American president in company history. Brand, a self-proclaimed “car guy” who has been with Subaru for 35 years, is responsible for all operations of the Subaru vehicle assembly plant in Lafayette, where the company produces four models: the Ascent, Crosstrek, Legacy and Outback. He held various leadership roles with Subaru, from materials manager to executive vice president, before being named president.
First job: Newspaper delivery at age 13. “This job taught me that if I wanted the reward—money—there are no shortcuts to doing the work.”
Advice for a young person: “Never miss an opportunity to learn a new skill or ability in the workplace. … Those that are anxious to learn new things frequently evolve into better problem solvers due to their developed ability to quickly understandunfamiliar things and adapt to them.”
Michael Berghoff
Michael Berghoff is founder and president of Indianapolis-based Lenex Steel Co. and chair of the Purdue University board. Lenex has grown into the largest design and build fabricator of its kind in the Midwest, with plants in Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Vincennes. Its portfolio includes work on projects such as the expansion of Wrigley Field, the construction of Music City Center in Nashville and the extension of the Notre Dame football stadium. Since Berghoff became Purdue chair in 2015, the board has voted to keep tuition flat while growing the university’s startup and commercialization efforts.
Walkup music: “Lose Yourself” by Eminen
Advice: “Don’t be afraid of risk.”
Bryan Bedford
Bryan Bedford has worked in the airline industry for more than 35 years. He joined Republic in July 1999 as president and CEO. Previously, he served as president and CEO of Mesaba Holdings Inc. in Minneapolis, as well as Business Express Airlines Inc. in Boston. During his years at the helm of Republic, the airline has grown from $85 million in revenue and 36 turboprop aircraft to more than $1.3 billion in revenue and an operating fleet of over 230 E-Jet aircraft.
First job: Busing tables at a local IHOP during his sophomore year of high school. “The owner spent the first week showing me how to do everything from bus tables to clean the bathrooms. He impressed upon me that no job is too small to do well and that a real leader will get their hands dirty because they can make a difference. I still think about how formative that was for me as I became a leader in my own right.”
Marisol Sanchez
Marisol Sanchez is responsible for legal procurement; commercial contract management; facilities; and quality, safety and compliance at Endress+Hauser USA, which makes measurement devices for the oil and gas, chemical, and food and beverage industries. She serves as strategic legal and business adviser from a local and global perspective for the company operations in North America, and she founded a Women’s Integrated Network at Endress+Hauser that is now active in over 40 countries. Previously, she was a partner with Bose McKinney & Evans (Indianapolis) and before that served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard of the Indiana Supreme Court.
First job: Pumping gas, working in the parts and convenience store, changing batteries and helping with oil changes at a full-service gas station at age 17.
Something surprising: She played volleyball in high school. “I say this is surprising because I’m not tall at all.”
Advice: “Be curious—a life-long learner.”