Survival Skills

By Megan S. Willman In 1935, the Shapira family opened a small distillery called “Old Heavenhill Springs.” Known today as Heaven Hill Brands, the 82-year-old business has become the nation’s sixth largest distilled spirits supplier. Three generations of Shapira family members have worked to see Heaven Hill expand in the U.S. and into 40 countries worldwide. Kate Shapira Latts joined the family business in 2001, and today serves as the vice president for marketing. The diversity of Heaven Hill’s brand portfolio means that there is no such thing as a regular work day for Kate. [...]

By Megan S. Willman When I walked into DBS Interactive, a Louisville company specializing in web design and programming, to meet with CEO and Founder Cyndi Masters, I was greeted by both Cyndi Masters and her dog Super Cooper Masters. This warm welcome set the tone for an engaging conversation about the ups and downs of business and life, as well as Cyndi’s unfailing efforts to live out her values in all she does. It sounds like a tall order, but Cyndi is up to the challenge. A survivor of a traumatic brain injury from [...]

By Marie BradbyThe walls inside of Paula's office were painted using her chalk paint. Most of us shirk away from change, but not Paula Blankenship, an entrepreneur whose paint business headquartered in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, is gathering world-wide attention after only three years in existence.For 25 years, Paula had been operating a furniture and floor covering business in her native Oneida, Tennessee. When the Great Recession hit in 2008, she closed her longstanding businesses and began commuting from Oneida to New York City as a designer for commercial projects.“The economy had died,” Paula says. “Then, one day [...]

By Marie BradbySergeant Brittney Garrett, a nine-year veteran officer with the Jeffersontown Police Department, had seen enough — the rising number of drug overdoses and overdose deaths in Jefferson County, the climbing rates of crime, and the overwhelming number of drug addicts detoxing in jail cells.“I was talking with a friend about the war on drugs,” says Brittney, 31, “and he told me about a program in Gloucester, Massachusetts. I said, ‘It’s either groundbreaking or crazy.’ ”In 2015, the Gloucester Police Department created the “Angel Program,” a new policing effort aimed at getting addicts treatment [...]

By Marie Bradby Every day, Dr. Donna Wilcock and her team of researchers at the University of Kentucky (UK) move by milliliters toward the fundamental understanding of and treatment for one of the world’s most debilitating conditions — Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). It’s a progressive condition that destroys brain cells and eventually will wipe out the cognitive function of millions of people, leaving them unable to even dress or feed themselves.Donna is not daunted by trials and studies that have not worked. She is on a mission. She hopes her work and that of others will [...]

By Marie BradbyMy friends and I attended several weddings across the country this summer. It was the stuff of dreams: misty-eyed fathers proudly ushering brides in confectionery gowns down the aisle; grooms playfully wearing Star Wars cufflinks; and sharply dressed guests tossing lavender buds and plumeria petals on the amorous couples as they head to their reception and honeymoon.But instead of a toaster, I wanted my gift to be a guide for how to stay married after the fairy tale wears off. Because...well, because the honeymoon will wear off. And conflicts will ensue. It’s normal. [...]