Carmel Magazine August 2022 by Towne Post Network, Inc.

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AUGUST 2022

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Founders of WellBridge Surgical Dr. Eric Inman, local entrepreneur Jeff Williams, and Dr. Ron Piniecki

WELLBRIDGE SURGICAL Writer / Renee Larr Photographer / Amy Payne

6300 Technology Center Dr. Zionsville, IN

317-480-4200

wellbridgesurgical.com

WellBridge Surgical is disrupting the healthcare model for surgery in Indiana. The country’s second-ever cash-pay surgery center offers Hoosiers fixed and transparent pricing for surgery. Local business owner Jeff Williams noticed the cost of health care was rising tremendously for his small business. Williams didn’t want to increase his deductible for his employees, nor did he want to increase his rates by a high margin. Instead, Williams partnered with longtime friends Dr. Ron Piniecki and Dr. Eric Inman, both anesthesiologists, to revolutionize the way patients pay for their surgical care. The fixed payment method means patients know their all-in total cost for surgery prior to the procedure and don’t receive a surprise bill in the mail. Pricing includes the facility charge, surgeon fee and anesthesiologist fee. Patients pay a one-time consultation fee of $150 that is credited to the cost of the surgical procedure.

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Not only is the pricing up-front and transparent, but patients also pay, on average, 30% to 60% less than they would at other facilities in Indianapolis. Williams says WellBridge can offer their patients 4 / CARMEL 2022 DIRECTORY MAGAZINEAND / AUGUST RELOCATION 2022 GUIDE / TownePost.com / 23

those savings by not adding hidden facility fees. For instance, the WellBridge cost for ear tubes is $2,380, while the Indianapolis average is $6,804. WellBridge Surgical offers general surgery, orthopedics, gynecology, otolaryngology, urology, podiatry, and gastroenterology procedures. Patients contact WellBridge and are paired with a surgeon based on their specific surgical needs. The prices of surgical procedures are listed on the WellBridge Surgical website. The patient will know their total cost immediately. “Dr. Piniecki and Dr. Inman have worked at some of the biggest hospital systems, so they know most of the surgeons in Indianapolis,” Williams says. “We’ve partnered with some of the best surgeons in the city.” “Our first surgical patient was a smallbusiness owner,” Williams says. “He and his wife were so thankful to find us. They have insurance but they never knew what they would pay for care. It made us feel like we were proving our theory right.” Hoosiers pay the fourth-highest surgical costs nationwide according to a 2020 RAND Corporation study. WellBridge aims to make a difference with the uninsured, individuals with high-deductible insurance plans, and those with self-funded plans.

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ABBIE GOWEN / AMY PAYNE / CHRISTY HEITGER-EWING DEIRDRE BIRD / LINDA OLDIGES / MEGAN ARSZMAN RENEE LARR / SARAH BROWNING / SETH JOHNSON

VONLEHMAN CPA & ADVISORY FIRM

SIX STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING LABOR COSTS Writer / Deirdre Bird Photography Provided

5975 Castle Creek Parkway North Drive Suite 400 Indianapolis IN

317-469-0169

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Do you ever feel like there must be a better way? That some of the things your company is doing are not as efficient as they could be? In today’s economy, when many companies are facing decreased demand for their products and services, it is critical to reduce costs and increase productivity wherever possible. And you probably know that labor is one of your largest (if not the largest) controllable costs. Here are six strategies for reducing the cost and maximizing the productivity of your labor force. 1. COMBINE VACATION AND SICK LEAVE IN ONE PAID-TIMEOFF BUCKET. By combining paid vacation and a reduced amount of sick leave, you can reduce your costs associated with absenteeism. For example, if you provide two weeks of annual paid vacation and two weeks of sick leave, then provide three weeks of paid time off instead - no questions asked about how people are using it.

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This also enables you to offer employees a more attractive paid vacation benefit, 6 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

and saves you the headache of trying to determine whether someone is really sick or just “taking a mental-health day.” Sure, employees who never use sick leave will now be getting an extra week off, but at least you are rewarding your more productive employees. And you will make it up in employees taking fewer sick days because they don’t want to use up their vacation time. 2. AUTOMATE YOUR TIME AND PAYROLL SYSTEM TO PAY EMPLOYEES ACCURATELY. Your current timekeeping and payroll system could be costing you money if it does not automate the calculation of complex pay rules. There is a lot of room for human error when calculating such factors as overtime, premium time, government regulations, company policies and collective bargaining agreements. For example, if an employee’s shift “straddles” a regular day and a holiday, such that the employee should receive four hours of regular pay and four hours of overtime, will the manager always catch that? Or will the manager, without thinking, pay it all at the same rate, which means either overpaying or underpaying the employee?

Members of VonLehman’s Nonprofit Team, including Deirdre Bird (back row, left).

3. ELIMINATE “BUDDY PUNCHING.” Buddy punching is the practice in which one employee punches the clock for another to hide the latter’s tardiness or absence. This practice has been found to inflate payroll by 2.2% on average. If you have 1,000 employees with an average salary of $40,000, this comes to $880,000. The best way to eliminate this practice is biometric verification, in which time-punch terminals match fingerprint signatures with coded badges. This system should pay for itself the first year. 4. USE OVERTIME STRATEGICALLY. Overtime should not be used for managers’ convenience, or as a perk for employees. It should be used only when it provides greater returns than it costs. Overtime can be a cost-effective tool to make your workforce more flexible. For example, overtime can be used to increase capacity temporarily without adding to head count, but it can also mask problems such as production delays that are caused by supplier problems, aging equipment or employee-induced bottlenecks. An automated time and payroll system, as mentioned above, can be configured to track how overtime is being used.

5. PUT ANSWERS TO EMPLOYEES’ ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTIONS ONLINE FOR SELF-SERVICE. Managers, supervisors and HR staff typically spend a large chunk of their time responding to repetitive questions from employees. These include questions about paychecks, vacation usage, 401(k) plans, health-care coverage and various company policies. This kind of information could be provided on your intranet at little cost, freeing management for more productive work. 6. USE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND REDUCE WASTE. Continuous improvement programs such as Six Sigma can do a lot more than they are typically used for. Use them to optimize your production processes by more precisely measuring the time employees spend on direct and indirect activities. They also can be used to identify supply-chain inefficiencies, insufficient training and a host of other sources of waste. In the short run, you may not be able to do much about lower demand for your company’s products or services, but you can make a dent in your labor costs and productivity with some innovative changes such as those described here.

DEIRDRE BIRD, PHR, SHRM-CP, IS THE DIRECTOR OF HR CONSULTING FOR VONLEHMAN CPA & ADVISORY FIRM. CONTACT HER AT 800.887.0437 OR EMAIL DBIRD@VLCPA.COM.

TownePost.com / AUGUST 2022 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / 7

BACK 2 SCHOOL BASH

COMMUNITY IS INVITED TO BACK 2 SCHOOL BASH PRESENTED BY INDIANA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

students, teachers and families to gather all their back-to-school wardrobe needs Clay Terrace will host the Back 2 School without all the stress,” says Jennifer S. Bash Presented by Indiana Army National Hillman, general manager at Clay Terrace. Guard, a celebration to add some “This year we’re adding in extra fun. Clay excitement to the shopping season for Terrace is kicking off the back-to-school families and children of all ages, on August 6 shopping season with the Back 2 School from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bash, where we’re partnering with other great community organizations like the “Clay Terrace serves as a destination for Carmel Education Foundation, the Carmel Story & Photography Provided by Clay Terrace

8 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

Fire Department and the Indiana National Guard to host many interactive and entertaining activities. We can’t wait to see everyone there.” This free event gives children the opportunity to test out bicycles from DICK’S Sporting Goods, learn bike safety tips, create back-to-school crafts, and participate in a Passport Trail to collect

Additional activities include a Touch-aTruck experience, sponsored by Republic Services, where children can climb aboard a variety of vehicles, as well as a face painting station, a Back 2 School selfie opportunity sponsored by Your Best Friend’s Closet, and more.

BACK 2 SCHOOL BASH PRESENTED BY INDIANA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

AUGUST 6, 11 A.M. TO 2 P.M.

Clay Terrace is proud to partner with the Carmel Education Foundation to host a Teacher Supply Drive benefiting Carmel Clay Schools teachers. The event will be located at Village Green, in front of DICK’S Sporting Goods and Hoosier Sister.

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Crissy Wiseman, MSN, RN, CPNP, FNP-C, Owner, Wise Aesthetics

THE WISE CHOICE DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL AESTHETICS & AN EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 10 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

2325 Pointe Parkway, Suite 110 Carmel, IN in the fall to correct sun damage,” Crissy says.

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photographer / Abbie Gowen

Wise Aesthetics’ services also include PDO Whenever anyone asks Crissy Wiseman, thread lifts, a minimally invasive alternative NP-C what she does for a living, she tells them to a surgical face and neck lift, often used in that she has the best job in the world. combination with other therapies like laser treatments, RF microneedling, dermal fillers “I get to make women feel better about and chemical peels. They also offer Kybella/ themselves so when they wake up in the deoxycholic acid to treat double chin and morning, they like what they see in the Laser Genesis, which stimulates new skin cells mirror,” Crissy says. “Nothing is better than and collagen growth. helping boost someone’s self-esteem and confidence.” Everything they do is clinical, but that doesn’t Crissy has been a registered nurse for 23 years, a nurse practitioner for 13 years and has worked in the aesthetics industry for many years alongside some of the top plastic surgeons in the nation. Now, Crissy is the proud owner of Wise Aesthetics, a premier medical spa that offers clinical facials, laser treatments, hair reduction, skin tightening, cellulite treatment, and every quality injectable on the market. “We do CO2 laser peels, chemical peels, radiofrequency microneedling, hydrafacials, HALO and photofacials with Intensed Pulsed Light (IPL) and BroadBand Light (BBL), which are great treatments for everyone to get

317-569-6448

wise-aesthetics.com

mean the atmosphere is sterile. At Wise Aesthetics, clients enjoy a luxury experience with professionally trained, friendly staff.

“There are a lot of nurses and nurse practitioners breaking into the industry, which is saturating the market, but many have very little experience,” Crissy says,“Our three aestheticians and nurse have a significant amount of experience and are highly trained.” Crissy is keen on keeping herself and her staff skilled in all the latest techniques and procedures by regularly attending training and conferences. Crissy has and continues to train with experts from all over the world.

TownePost.com / AUGUST 2022 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / 11

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The first thing Crissy does when a client comes to see her is develop a plan based on their individual concerns or frustrations. No one client is the same. No one appointment is the same. “We develop an interdisciplinary plan,” Crissy says, “We may start with skin care by prescribing medical-grade skin care products and laser resurfacing. The patient then may require injectables to treat their specific concern. Everything we do is customized to the patient with the intention to achieve the desired result.” And those results are all nonsurgical. “That’s our big focus because most people we see don’t want to have surgery,” Crissy says. What’s more, most of these treatments have little to no downtime, which is important because people want to go about their daily lives.

“jowling,” which is caused by the natural aging process that leads to volume loss and drooping skin as the lower, fleshy part of the cheek sinks lower.

knowledgeable mind,” says client Elizabeth Wyeth. “Crissy has a vision and a plan. I love the symmetry, balance and natural look that she creates.”

“You can tell how old someone is by their jowling and neck because as we age, we lose that elasticity and everything goes south,” Crissy says. “That’s the number-one complaint I hear.”

“It takes a certain eye to do what we do and be good at it,” says Crissy, who couldn’t be prouder of the team she has assembled.

Crissy sees a lot of patients with a condition called “tech neck,” a phenomenon in which a person develops static lines along their neck from looking down at their mobile devices. “We treat the condition regularly using a variety of methods all customized to the patient’s needs.”, Crissy says. Though surgery can produce effective results, many people want to avoid surgery so they seek help from Crissy, who has developed a plan that has pleased her clients.

Crissy can empathize with her clients’ needs and irritations where aging is concerned. “It’s crazy how often I hear, ‘I don’t want to look like my mom,’” says Crissy, who “I’m 45 - I know what it feels like to age, ” specializes in what she calls a “global face she says with a chuckle. “But the great thing rejuvenation.” For instance, if somebody is that there are non-surgical treatments comes to her and asks her to make their lips that we can do to help, if not turn back the bigger or fuller, Crissy knows that making clock, to at least slow down the process by that change will cause other features of their using the tools we have to stimulate collagen face to look different. Therefore, she looks at production and other techniques that the face holistically and treats the areas that complement the aging process.” need to be treated in a natural way. This is precisely why her clients call her an artist. One of the primary areas of concern Crissy sees on a regular basis involves facial “I’m so thankful for Crissy’s artistic eye and 12 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

“We’re like a family,” she says. “The fact that I’ve been able to attract these highly experienced people to come work with me is a dream come true.” Crissy is currently working with a designer to renovate their current space to add four more treatment rooms, administrative offices and a luxurious and cozy reception area for patients. Down the road she hopes to expand her practice and hire additional experienced medical professionals and aestheticians. Her clients are thrilled to get a chance to see Crissy and her team. As client Jenny Ferree says, “My face isn’t something I want to find the cheapest injector or product. I want someone who is educated, experienced and treats her clients like friends. I love my lips and love that my eyes no longer have that tired-mom look.” Wise Aesthetics is located at 2325 Pointe Parkway, Suite 110 in Carmel. For more information, call (317)569-6448, email info@wise-aesthetics.com, or visit www.wise-aesthetics.com.

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FIRE IT UP

FIREBIRDS WOOD FIRED GRILL KEEPS THINGS FRESH 14 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

Writer / Seth Johnson Photographer / Sarah Browning

from scratch, and our chefs butcher the steaks themselves.”

The team at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill knows there’s nothing like eating a dish that came fresh off the grill.

When it comes to Firebirds’ appetizers, Wilzbach says a customer favorite is the lobster spinach queso. “It’s made with claw meat and is a top-notch appetizer,” he says. As for their cocktail menu, Wilzbach recommends the Double Black Diamond martini.

“We are a wood-fired grill kitchen - there’s no gas involved at all,” says Andy Wilzbach, a Firebirds regional manager who overseas several Midwest Firebirds locations including the restaurant in Carmel. “We use hickory and oak, and cook over the coals themselves.” Firebirds’ Carmel location first opened in September of 2016 and has been serving up delicious, wood-fired fare ever since. The Carmel location offers dynamic lunch and dinner menus, with brunch served Saturdays and Sundays beginning at 11 a.m. Originally started in 2000 out of Charlotte, North Carolina, Firebirds has now expanded to 55 locations spread across 18 states in the U.S. In addition to cooking dishes over a wood fire, the business is also known for the freshness of its food. “We’re a scratch kitchen, so everything we make is handmade in the restaurant on a daily basis,” Wilzbach says. “All of our soups, our sauces and our dressings are all made

“With that, we take pineapple, dice it up and then soak vodka in it for 21 days,” Wilzbach says. “After that, we press it and it makes the pineapple martini, which is so tasty on a hot summer day.” Having served brunch since April, Firebirds puts their own spin on a traditional brunch menu. “We don’t offer waffles, pancakes or anything of that sort,” Wilzbach says. “We have a steak-and-egg bowl, where we use a tenderloin, seasoned potatoes, some veggies and a horseradish sauce. Then it gets a poached egg over top of it. We also have a salmon Benedict, which is wood-grilled salmon with a poached egg, and then we use a lobster fondu sauce that goes over top of it.” Through the course of the COVID-19 TownePost.com / AUGUST 2022 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / 15

Lindsay Watts

pandemic, Wilzbach says loyal Carmel customers showed the restaurant their support.

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“I feel like the community has rallied around us,” Wilzbach says. “They kept us afloat during COVID when we did to-go only. When we opened our doors back up, we were busier than we had been.” As Firebirds continues to thrive in Carmel, Wilzbach ultimately hopes to see more and more repeat customers at the restaurant. “When a guest leaves, we want them wowed,” he says. “We want them to be impressed with the meal they’ve just had, as well as the hospitality. Even before they’re out the front door, we want them to be thinking of their next visit with us.” Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is located at 9611 North Meridian Street in Indianapolis. For more info, call 317-5643042 or visit firebirdsrestaurants.com.

16 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

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MOTHER-DAUGHTER DUO HOSTS ANNUAL ART SHOW Writer / Megan Arszman Photographer / Linda Oldiges

TownePost.com / AUGUST 2022 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / 17

Mother-daughter duo Debbie Slack and Barb Gregory

hen you grow up with an art teacher for a mother, you grow up in a home filled with a variety of mediums you can play with. So it’s no surprise that Deb Slack grew up to be an artist, just like her mother, Barb Gregory. Slack says. “We both love focusing on color and light in our paintings, but we express it The mother-daughter artistic duo now has differently. I paint more traditionally, in a their own studio in downtown Carmel, more impressionistic and representational where the two spend a couple days each way. My passion is in landscapes and week creating art in their own ways. “You anything in nature that catches my eyes, definitely see a difference in our styles,” with flowers and still life.”

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Meanwhile, Slack says her mother paints in a more abstract way. “She’s very expressive in her painting,” she says. Each year attendees at their annual art show challenge themselves to figure out who did the paintings. However, Slack says no one guesses correctly. “My mom is very young and vibrant at heart, and it comes out in her work,” she says. This year’s show is titled “Abstracting Our

World,” and will begin on August 5 with a reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The show will remain open six days a week, located in Art on Main Gallery and Gifts. “Our show is a bit of a departure in style for me,” Slack says. “I think most people are familiar with my more traditional work, so having primarily abstract work in this show is a bit unusual for me. However, I will definitely have some abstract landscapes and lots of color and light.” A portion of the proceeds from this year’s show will benefit the Northside Food Pantry, located at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. “It’s always been important for my mom and I to give back through our art, so we’ve always tried to choose a group organization that we feel strongly about so we can share some of our proceeds,” Slack says. Slack has a personal connection to the church, as it’s been where her family has attended church for almost 30 years, and it’s where her children were baptized. “It’s just been a really special place for me and my kids for a long time,” she says. “They do wonderful things there as well.” For years Slack has been asked if her artistic talents were in her genes, thanks to her mother’s background. What people didn’t know was that Slack was actually adopted by Gregory. It wasn’t until four years ago that Slack found her birth mother. That’s when she discovered that her art influence was not only by nurture, but also nature. Her birth mother was a painter before she started decorating cakes and cookies.

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“I didn’t start painting until about 12 years ago,” Slack says. “One of the first questions my birth mother asked me was if I am artistic. So that was a cool fullcircle moment.” You can celebrate family and art during the “Abstracting Our World” gallery event through the end of August at Art on Main Gallery and Gifts, located at 111 West Main Street in Carmel. TownePost.com / AUGUST 2022 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / 19

Piece of Cake

THERON BROOKS CHANNELS HER BAKING PASSIONS WITH CAKE JOY Writer / Renee Larr Photographer / Amy Payne

baking was still in the back of her mind as her other aspirations grew.

Growing up in Indianapolis, Theron Brooks found great joy in cooking and baking, especially desserts. She would watch baking shows on Food Network and foster that love of baking. It always intrigued her, and

In April of 2020, Brooks was supposed to go on a trip to celebrate her much-anticipated 30th birthday. Unfortunately the trip was canceled, along with her birthday cake. So, Brooks decided to take matters into her own 20 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

hands and bake her own birthday cake. “I did my research, purchased all the tools and ingredients I would need, and got to work,” Brooks says. “I already had a love for baking, so I figured I could do it. I thought it turned out pretty well for the first time, so I posted it on my social media. I got so many

Owner Theron Brooks with her husband Courtney and son Athen

comments saying I should do this more often.” She made cakes for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and friends’ birthdays in the following weeks. A friend from high school asked Brooks to make her daughter’s birthday cake, and offered to pay for it. She realized

“One of the first wedding cakes I made had a she had more than enough experience to open her own bakery. By December of 2020, maple bacon filling,” Brooks says. “I actually put bacon in it. In my head I thought, ‘This Cake Joy was up and running. wedding cake has pork in it,’ but it was very well-received. I’m all about trying out Potential clients submit requests through whatever the customer wants.” Brooks’ website. She reaches out to discuss flavors, design and size to create a truly Brooks specializes in buttercream design customized creation. Brooks, a Geist resident, has clients all around Indianapolis using a Swiss meringue buttercream. It’s made by whipping egg whites with sugar to including Geist, Fishers and Carmel. make a thick meringue, and then whipping in butter. This makes the buttercream “One thing that separates Cake Joy is extraordinarily light and fluffy. these are truly one-of-a-kind cakes and completely customizable,” Brooks says. Cakes vary in price based on size, “When someone reaches out to me ingredients and detail. Brooks says inquiring about a cake, we work together she leaves pricing open at a base price, to find inspiration. Sometimes they tell me depending on the degree of work the cake they don’t care too much about the design will take. and trust me to come up with something beautiful, which is really fun.” In her short tenure, the producers of “The Good Dish” discovered Brooks and her She offers 14 different cake flavors, from classic favorites like vanilla and chocolate to custom cakes through her social media lesser-known flavors like banana, coffee and presence. She was approached to participate in their recurring segment, “The Great piña colada. She also provides 14 different American Dish Off.” cake fillings including vanilla, chocolate, mocha, strawberry, lemon buttercream, “They reached out to me to participate in caramel cream, apricot and more. a competition about sheet-pan desserts,” TownePost.com / AUGUST 2022 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / 21

“ONE THING THAT SEPARATES CAKE JOY IS THESE ARE TRULY ONE-OF-A-KIND CAKES AND COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZABLE.” — THERON BROOKS

Brooks says. “It wasn’t specifically about cakes, but I thought it would be an awesome experience because it’s national television, great marketing for Cake Joy and a good experience in general.”

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Brooks submitted her recipe for her Bourbon Peach Cinnamon Crunch Bar. The episode was filmed in March and aired in April. She saw a boost in her online traffic almost immediately. The show aired at different times in different parts of the country, and she could see when viewers in those locales would watch the show based on website clicks. “My engagement grew around 200% within a day or a few hours of the episode airing, so that was really interesting to see,” Brooks says. “I had people reaching out through Instagram, and even a few who reached out for the recipe showcased on ‘The Good Dish.’ ” For now, Cake Joy is a passion project for Brooks. She currently works at Faegre Drinker as a communications manager. She’s also a full-time wife to Courtney Brooks and mom to Athen Brooks. “I love this being more of a hobby than my full-time business,” Brooks says. “I love the flexibility of taking on cakes around what is going on with my family that particular weekend. Maybe I’ll change my mind in five years and want a storefront, but I’m not quite there yet. I am thrilled with where I’m at currently and how much Cake Joy has grown since I started.” For more information, visit cakejoybakery.com.

22 / CARMEL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2022 / TownePost.com

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