Stories You’ll Actually Talk About

Your bite-sized newsletter breaking down Louisville trends, talent and treasures.

Author

Todd Earwood
April 18, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Presented by:

Last week I went to the Masters with my Dad and brother. My first time. Yes, it was awesome—and the gift shop? Wild. I read a state they pull in $100M during the week (over $1M/hour). I did my part: $1,200 to outfit the whole fam. #WorthIt

This week, I attended two great events: Business Women First packed the Convention Center. Great keynote, but the 25 honorees’ stories were the real jelly! 🤌

Then VC @ Night with Venture Connectors: bourbon, tech, Derby hat swaps, and Peake Ties ⧓ (I bought a pocket square) kicked off the Derby vibes for me!

Hot job 💼: Consumer and Market Insights Specialist at Midea ($125k base + bonus). In person. Leading consumer research for home cooking appliances division. My friend and UofL grad Adam Schultz runs Midea locally. Great culture and team.

Shout-out 📣: Johnetta Roberts has been named FUSE’s Executive Fellow for Louisville. This national fellowship will help our business and broader community working alongside Metro Government to support and strengthen key programs.

Birthday Cheers 🎉: A big year ahead for Dr. Meredith Sweeney! A physician-turned-founder of Sano Longevity (more on that soon) is celebrating a birthday today!

Only 15 days until Derby!

-Todd

💰 China’s Overlooked Bet On Louisville

Photo credit: Coyne PR

Last Summer, Midea America announced it was expanding locally with a $35 million investment including 100+ jobs.

If you don’t know Midea, they’re an enormous $50+ billion (B, not M) Chinese home appliance company with 150k employees globally.

Locally, they’re building out the North American R&D team right here in Louisville.

I’ve personally spent time with the leaders of this group and my friend, Adam Schultz is building a dream team of talented people.  It’s no surprise, Adam was named a 2024 Most Admired CEO by Business First.

Midea is literally removing jobs from other markets (China!) and adding them in Louisville.  Six-figure jobs where people are clamoring to move to Louisville isn’t the story we hear everyday, but they exist and we’re going to tell you all about them.

Have a story idea you think should be covered?  Reply to this email and let us know.

🗓️ Presented by: Volare Italian Ristorante

Best of Louisville’s Restaurant Offers Easter Brunch

Don’t have Easter plans this weekend or prefer not to cook?

Do yourself a favor and reserve your spot now for their Easter brunch.

Chef Josh Moore and the Volare staff never miss and I promise you won’t regret it.

Choose from one of three seatings: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Call (502) 894-4446 or click to reserve

Side Gig Spotlight

Creative Hustles. Real People. Extra Income.

Doza Housing is a marketplace for students to find safe, student friendly properties and landlords to find great tenants for their empty inventory. Co-founded by Iziah Washington, a UofL business student and former realtor created this business to help others find alternatives to on-campus housing.

🤫 Confess & Tell

Real Opinions. No Filters. No Names.

❝

I don’t hate Derby—I love that we have it. But Derby Day? Overrated. Props to Churchill for convincing folks every day that week is worth dressing up for, but what’s next, Monday Millinery? And don’t get me started on expensive bourbon—if Old Grand-Dad was good enough for Truman, it’s better than half the bottles people camp out for.

🏢 Louisville Spark Job Board

Who’s hiring in Louisville? 5 Trending jobs

📅 Louisville Spark Live

Front row L-R: Keren Benabou, Jenn Callahan, Todd Earwood
Back row L-R: Sam Stone, Deryl Sweeney, Barry Dunn

What’s better than a bite-sized newsletter on Louisville trends, talent, and treasures? Hearing directly from the folks building it all, live and in person.

Last week at The Royal Room, these great people joined me and you need to know them!

Keren Benabou - Realtor - RE/MAX Properties East
Jenn Callahan - Chief Vision Officer - Amplify (🏅 S/O to Jenn - 1 of 25 women honored as an Enterprising Woman!)
Barry Dunn - CEO - Kosair for Kids
Sam Stone - Realtor - Lenihan Sotheby’s
Deryl Sweeney - Sweeney Coaching Group

We swapped stories on must-see spots for visitors, great job openings, and overlooked Louisville charities. One hilarious moment—when Jenn waited for me to read the full list, then called me out: “Todd, you didn’t publish my answer: “I’d Rather Be Reading.” She was right… I thought she was dodging the question and I deleted it. The group all had a big laugh at my expense. Rightfully roasted! 🤦‍♂️

Presented by: The Royal Room

Louisville’s best event venue for parties and corporate meetings.

🤑 Buy, Buy, Bye

Fun, bizarre local finds you might’ve missed—and they probably won’t stick around!

Want to put the top down this summer? Our Secretary of State, Michael Adams is selling his Jag convertible for $3k on Facebook marketplace. No this isn’t a joke. Yes, it’s wacky. 🤪

1999 UofL Calendar - $10,000

Joann is selling this UofL Sports wall calendar for 10 Gs. I’m as die hard Cards fan as they come and I can’t figure out if this is real or not! 😳

Hate the spring pollen, but want to get in shape? Buy one of these 18 used Peloton bikes online starting at $500.🚲

Got a little jingle in your pocket and ready to splurge? Check out this 6-bed, 11-bath, 15k sq ft stunner—just under $7M. Brandon’s the listing agent (great dude), and let’s be honest… you’d love that pool. 😍

🥃 Final Sip

What’s next: More side hustles, more confessions, and even more creative ways Louisvillians are earning, spending, and stacking their cash. We’ve got stories that’ll make you laugh, ideas that might inspire your next move, and hot takes you won’t hear anywhere else.

And yes—buckle up, because the Derby train is just starting to pick up steam. Hats will get bigger, parties wilder, and you'll soon find yourself debating whether seersucker counts as business casual (it doesn’t lol).

Thanks for riding along this far—we’ve got so much more coming, and it’s going to be a blast.

Happy Easter Weekend!

-Todd

Money Poll

Would you take a 5% paycut to work from home?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.