Alumni Lives

Alumnus brings sports technology “home” with AU partnership

By Marissa Johnson

What if you could spend your days supporting sports teams like the one at your alma mater with the help of technology? This is exactly what Seth Daniels BA ’11 MBA ’13 gets to do every day in his work as Director of Sales and Product Development with Rapsodo, a sports technology company that has grown rapidly over the past few years. He explained, “We have a baseball and softball product for both hitting and pitching that show ball flight information, spin, velocity, and video analysis for thrown and batted balls.” The company now works with thousands of colleges, high schools, and academies all over the world. “We will likely go into the 2019 season with hundreds of monitors in the MLB,” said Seth. “And possibly working with every team in the league.”

Seth was the first Rapsodo hire in the United States. He especially appreciates that his team, which includes fellow AU alum Brian Page BA ’16, works with athletes of all levels, not just top-tier professional teams.

“It was a cool moment for Brian and me when we got to work with baseball coach Mathew Bair BA ’01 and help get AU set up as one of the few DIII teams in the country to have both of the monitors as a part of their program,” Seth said.

His time at AU as a marketing major and baseball player has helped shape the person he is today. “I was lucky enough to play baseball at Anderson with a great group of guys,” he said. “I learned a lot about the game while there, and that has been the starting point for the baseball knowledge I came into this role with.” He also earned his MBA at AU, where he learned a lot about technology through an internship with a Cloud Communications company that turned into a full-time position. “It started a five-year technology crash course into so many capacities I use in my current position. Without that opportunity, I’m not sure I would have the ability or technical capacity to perform my role at Rapsodo.”

Seth also met his wife Catherine (Staley) Daniels BA ’14 at AU and he seeks to live out a “life of faith and service” by being a good husband and father. “The past few years have been a whirlwind of international and domestic travel, demos and meetings at MLB stadiums, and meeting with individuals that were idols to me growing up,” he said. “But the best part has been doing that with her by my side and building our own family in the process. No matter how successful I or the company become, if I can live out a Godly example for them I’d count that as a win.”

Alumni Family Embody Work, Faith, and Service

By Tammy Tilley

It’s not unusual for AU graduates to live out AU’s mission of a “life of faith and service” to their church and society, especially in their vocations. What’s more unusual is when an entire family purposefully pursue service in their work. The Carroll family is one such example. When David Carroll BA ’00 was a kid, people would ring his home’s doorbell at 3 a.m. for his dad’s signature. Or the family might be dining out and a former criminal might stop and talk to his dad.

That’s because his dad, Dennis Carroll BA ’69 was a Madison County Circuit Court judge for 35 years until his retirement in 2015. “But that’s just how I grew up,” said David. Law officials often needed his dad’s signature for warrants that couldn’t wait until the morning. Former criminals thanked the judge for helping them turn their lives around, the son said.

“He helped a lot of people. Not only that, Mom was a social worker for many years, and together they were foster parents to a lot of kids who needed them.” Now Dennis serves on the executive committee of AU’s board of trustees. He and his wife, Emily BA ’70 continue to serve the university through an endowment in their name: The Judge Dennis D. Carroll and Emily Govan Carroll Leadership Lecture Series.

Said Dennis, “The Leadership Lecture Series Endowed Fund was really Emily’s idea. We wanted to find ways to invite members of the community to campus to hear lectures from outstanding leaders in government, the world of religion and ethics, and the arts and sciences.”

While the parents have spent their lives serving others, it’s also safe to say the entire Carroll family is in the helping profession. David chose law enforcement, and he continues to serve the public as a patrolman in Anderson. Two of his three sisters are AU graduates who combine their business savvy with helping others in their retail vocations.

Elizabeth “Libby” Carroll Jones BA ’07 owns and runs Gathered Roots, a smalltown boutique in Fortville, Ind. While she enjoys running her shop and serving her community, she credits both her family and AU for learning how to care for others.

Shares Jones, “After graduating from AU, I became a victim’s advocate in which I used my degree until I became a stay-at-home mom and now businesswoman. I value that degree, as I am knowledgeable of my surroundings and safety for my family.” Lori Carroll Chandler BA ’98 owns Indy Kids Sale, a twice-yearly children’s consignment event in Noblesville, Ind., where she helps over 400 families set up and sell their gently used kids’ items. Thousands of people attend each three-day sale. “When I think of my AU experience, working at the radio station and being a part of the broadcasting department is what stands out to me,” said Chandler.

“There were so many wonderful life lessons learned there. I learned to work under a hard deadline. I learned that others depend on me to do what I said I would do. I learned that it takes a team to pull off great things. I learned that every little job matters.”

Alumni Profile: LifeShare Technologies

By Kylie Osborne

LifeShare Technologies, a fairly new and successful business, provides a communication system for senior living communities. The concept took root in Shelbyville, Ind. in 2011 with three entrepreneurs that were struggling to communicate with their grandparents. LifeShare is a software that enables residents at senior communities to communicate with their loved ones by using their own TV. They can now receive pictures and messages, engage with family, and follow community events, which they may not have been able to do without LifeShare.

LifeShare’s product and service is not the only thing that makes it a unique company; four of the organization’s 16 employees are, in fact, Anderson University alumni.

• Miles McCollum BA ’14 - Account Executive, started part-time and joined full time in 2014

• Brad Rusche BA ’14 - Director of Client Experience joined in 2015

• Hayden Wood BA ’15 - Client Experience Specialist, started part-time in 2016 and joined full time 2017

• Nick Butcher BA ’18 - Client Experience Specialist, joined in 2018

Rusche notes that it is very unique to be able to work with multiple people from AU, saying, “It’s wonderful to work with alumni and actual friends, and to make up a quarter of the business gives us a sort of pride. It is like we have a special Raven bond.”

All four agreed that the fact that multiple AU alumni ended up working in the same business was no coincidence. McCollum says, “LifeShare Technologies is a company that hires character and personality over skill, and when you hire someone from AU you know their character and ethics.”

Not only do they feel that AU helped form them into the type of people that LifeShare — and any company — would want to hire, but they also learned many valuable skills that prepared them to be professionals. Some of the important experiences they had while at AU include lessons learned in the classroom, reaching outside of your comfort zone, communicating and building relationships with others, and understanding and respecting different people’s viewpoints. The alumni agreed that these AU experiences really prepared them for life after college.

McCollum says they are also able to carry their faith over into their work, “We are all believers, we have a lot of opportunities within our company to share our faith, and have a faith-based lens in the work that we do. Every day we get to pray with others and share the joy and love of Christ.”

All four men take pride in what it means to be an Anderson University Raven and continue to carry that over into their daily professional lives. They remain connected with AU by playing in alumni games and staying in contact with their professors, coaches, mentors, and friends they met while in school.

Alumni Profile: Vibenomics

By Maria Neathery

Four alumni, Deven Bridges BA ’17, Austin Crecelius BA ’15, Matt Lurton BA ’95, and Robert Weatherly BA ’16 MBA ’17, work together at a technology software company called Vibenomics. Although these four graduated with different majors and some within different years, they all share the same connection of their alma mater in the work field.

Vibenomics is an Audio Experience Software (AES) that not only provides businesses with music but also allows business owners to communicate through custom messaging. “A business owner can create their own messages to talk about their own events, promotions, sales, and brand, or they can also open up their Vibenomics ‘VibeOn’ network for outside businesses to advertise,” says Crecelius, a customer experience manager. “Business owners have 100 percent control of what goes on their network, from music to messages, and can use the VibeOn network for additional revenue generation.”

Crecelius first heard about Vibenomics from selling videography services to Fuzic (the name before Vibenomics’ rebrand). “I was fascinated by the product idea,” says Crecelius. “I left my position and joined the team to start our Customer Experience and Tech support teams.”

Bridges heard about Vibenomics through two peers in his graduating class who were currently working at Vibenomics. Bridges was personally told to reach out for employment due to his strong background in customer service.

“Robert Weatherly was a fellow music business student, and therefore we had taken many classes together, we even roomed together, and worked on extracurricular activities in music together,” says Bridges, a tech support specialist at Vibenomics. “Austin Crecelius and I had also worked together briefly in an on-campus project.”

Being roommates and close friends, Weatherly and Bridges shared similar interests that led them to work together at Vibenomics. Weatherly’s position is also a customer experience manager. “The position directly incorporates both my degrees in music business through the music aspect of the company and uses my brand management by helping craft messages to build my customers’ in-store brand,” says Weatherly. “I heard about Vibenomics through the residential MBA director Anna Stumpf, as well as through fellow alumnus and current Vibenomics employee, Austin.”

Lurton graduated from AU in ’95 but enjoys working with fellow Ravens, even though they never had classes together. “While I did not go to AU with any of the guys I work with, our AU experience shows that we have shared values and background,” says Lurton, a technical support lead for Vibenomics. “This has made learning to work together as a team much easier and more natural.”

“The incredible dedication of the Vibenomics team to persevere in face of sometimes long work hours, unique problems, and growing pains is an incredible story to tell and continue to develop,” says Crecelius. “I am excited for the challenge and the adventure ahead.”