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Barbara Zach

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Barbara Zach didn’t grow up in a music-saturated house.

Her parents didn’t have a favorite band or music genre that they played for her and her five siblings, and they also didn’t own a TV.

It’s not that her parents were opposed to music or entertainment, it just wasn’t something that was ever emphasized.

But the Zach house wasn’t quiet either, Barbara said. There were six kids running around at any given time and as they got older the noise only intensified.

Music filtered into the house via piano lessons and a Christian rock band that her four brothers started. It was loud and a little chaotic.

So, just how did Barbara end up as the Executive Director of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra? Now, that’s a good story.

Barbara said a future in music was never on her radar as a child. Sure, she was in choir during high school, but a career in music? No way.

She was a highly focused and driven child, which led her to be a math major when she attended UNL. She loved the precise nature of all things math-related – it just made sense to her. While in school, she auditioned for the choir as another way to get involved. Barbara said she was surprised at how much she loved the experience and enjoyed being part of a musical group.

It was during her choir experience that she heard a song that dramatically altered her trajectory – Bach’s St. John Passion. Her choir practiced and performed the 18th century piece and Barbara remembers being overwhelmed by the emotion behind the composition. It was a feeling that she’d never experienced, and one she didn’t want to ever lose.

She became a Bach addict, letting her math-geared brain obsess over the musical perfection of his work and getting lost in the beauty and intricacy of each of his compositions.

Up until this point, Barbara was convinced she’d graduate and work as a high-level math teacher. She was a calculus TA, but decided to also join the School of Music and double major in math and piano performance.

Shortly after graduating, a job at the Lincoln symphony opened up and she jumped at the chance to be a part of something music-related. The actual position was basically three jobs rolled into one, and for a high-achieving and focused person like Barbara, it was the perfect fit.

After being in a secluded piano practice room for the past few years of college, she was suddenly flung into the music community. She loved the way 70 unique musicians could come together and create music that highlighted their collective skills, merging their individual talents into something that was greater than any one musician.

A few years later the executive director position at the symphony opened up, and Barbara was ready to take on a new challenge. It’s a role that involves a great knowledge of music, but also a lot of community interaction.

Some days are filled with meetings and community collaboration, others are more logistical in nature, but no two days of work are the same. The days are full and the hours are long, but Barbara said she loves it all. She loves how music is such a big part of her life, how she gets the privilege of intimately knowing the Lincoln music community and that she can see the work of the musicians and donors come together in a way that celebrates and impacts the city.

But it’s not a job without stress, and while she shuts off her work email when she leaves the office, she can’t shut down her brain. She’ll wake up in the middle of the night thinking about an upcoming event or trying to solve a work-related problem, because running a nonprofit takes a certain amount of personal investment.

After being in this role for the past 12 years, Barbara has learned a thing or two about herself and her work.

She’s learned the importance of rest, how to take her job seriously, but also take time to recharge.

She’s come to understand the power of music, the way it can unify a community and a city.

And she’s started to understand how her own story plays into all of her work. Sure, she didn’t grow up with music, but she thinks maybe that’s why it is so special to her.

She came to music on her own, with no preconceived notions about what was ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ She found what she loved, what made her think and feel and she went after it.

She still thinks about that moment when she heard Bach’s St. John Passion for the first time and her whole world opened up. There’s something about that moment that Barbara said she carries with her now and always will.

Her story is about finding herself through music. It wasn’t where she expected to find her story, or where she thought she’d be investing in her community, but that element of surprise has made it all the more special.

Allie Luedtke

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Before Allie Luedtke was the owner of Crafthouse, she was a Lincoln resident who was frustrated – frustrated about fabric options.

Yes, fabric, as in fabric for sewing.

It might not sound like a big deal, but to Allie it was a problem. See, in college, she had the same issue. As a textile, apparel and design student at UNL, there were numerous occasions when she couldn’t find the kind of fabric she was looking for. There were no big, modern prints, no classic and soft cottons – her options were limited.

She thought to herself, ‘Someone really should fix this problem and open a more modern fabric store…’ never considering the fact that the ‘someone’ she was referring to could be herself.

Years passed and Allie found herself in another set of frustrating circumstances, this time, it was about her job. She was working in retail and really questioning her career path. She considered going back to school, switching careers… and then thought about the whole fabric store situation.

She realized that even though she didn’t consistently need fabric for school projects, nothing had changed. No one had filled the fabric void, and so the question in Allie’s head became, “What if I opened a shop?”

The idea was a nice hybrid between her degree and her retail experience, plus, she had a clear vision of her dream shop. But according to Allie she wasn’t a “business brain,” so even entertaining the idea seemed ridiculous.

As her discontent with work grew stronger, Allie said her ideas started to make their way out of her head. She pitched the idea to her husband, parents, siblings and close friends, and soon she needed to do something other than just talk about her idea.

So, Allied decided she might as well just try opening up her own shop. She and her husband worked out the business details, she had family members help design her logo and shop space and six months later she was opening the door to Crafthouse in October 2013.

At that point the shop was located on north 48th street. It was small, but overflowing with just what Allie knew had been absent from the Lincoln fabric scene. Bolts of bold and modern patterns lined the shelves, rolls of yarn were stacked in the corners and everything was a visual and textural treat for customers. It was just what Allie had envisioned.

A year later, she expanded the shop, knocking out a wall and giving herself more retail space as well as room to grow their increasing number of sewing classes.

Allie joked that while the shop expanded, she expanded as well, as she and her husband prepared for the birth of their first child. She said it was fun to have customers come in and see how she was growing and ask about her due date. Allie even went into labor while she was at her shop and had to leave to go to the hospital.

Having a new baby and owning a shop brought about a bigger shift in Allie than she anticipated. She was a full-time owner and mom who had her baby in the shop with her nearly every day.

Allie said she used to be a very private person, she kept to herself and wasn’t someone to let her personal and work life overlap too much. But that all changed when she had Calvin in the shop with her. Customers would “ooo!” and “ahh!” over her sweet newborn, but then there were the times he was fussy or stunk up the shop with a whopper of a dirty diaper.  

She’d ask customers to hold her baby while she cut fabric or to wait a few minutes while she finished feeding him. It was an overwhelming season, but also a very telling one, Allie said. She learned so much about herself and her customers.

“I’m like the hot mess mom,” Allie said with a laugh. “But it’s been cool to form friendships through that and realize that people aren’t ridiculously perfect.”

Being a full time mom and shop owner opened the door to real conversations about more than just fabric at Crafthouse. Allie said friendships come to life in her shop as people learned basic sewing techniques or just connected over a particular pattern or style.

At the end of 2015, Allie had to be honest with herself as well. Things with the shop were going well, but they could have been better. She liked the cozy neighborhood where the shop was located, but it wasn’t always easy for people to find.

Allie needed to move Crafthouse, and that seemed like a major undertaking. What if it failed? What if a new location didn’t help her sales? Could she even afford to move?

The questions came with a wave of anxiety and stress, but Allie knew she needed to pull the plug on her beloved shop and make the move.

Earlier this fall, Allie celebrated the three-year anniversary of Crafthouse and their recent move to a new location. She said 2016 has been hard, full of change and days when she didn’t know if she could keep going. But it was also when she realized the Crafthouse chapter of her story wasn’t over, it just needed a new start.

Allie never pictured herself opening a fabric store. She didn’t imagine herself dreaming about new bolts of fabric, designing her own line of custom patterns or even bouncing her baby on her hip while chatting with customers, but that’s where she’s at, and she loves it.

Not everything is perfect, her story, her shop, her life, and that’s just fine by Allie. She’s not about perfection, because she’s convinced the best stories in life are far from perfect.

Levi Nelson

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Levi Nelson has lived his entire life in Lancaster County – and he has no plans of moving anytime soon.

It’s the place he grew up, where he learned, met his wife, works and is raising his kids. It’s also the place where his story has taken shape. In small bits and pieces Levi has learned what he likes, what he’s good at and why all of that matters.

He’s learned to be content, and that’s no small thing for a 28-year-old to claim.

Growing up, Levi said he was always tinkering with something tech-related. In high school it was programs like Photoshop and After Effects. He and his friends would goof around with the programs, until he realized he was actually pretty good at coming up with creative solutions. He’d never actually considered himself creative, because he couldn’t draw or paint, but the computer gave him the tools to express himself creatively.

Fast forward 5+ years and Levi is graduating from UNL with a Marketing degree and starting a job at Anderson Auto Group.

He described his job as being the one-man, in-house ad agency. Levi was responsible for anything under the marketing umbrella, including media buying, filming commercials and managing the budget. He learned a lot and really put his degree to work.

After leaving Anderson, he had a short stint as the Creative Director at Reliant Studios before doing freelance work full time.

Doing freelance work gave Levi the freedom to pursue projects that he loved. He built websites, shot videos and worked his creativity into every project he touched. He was constantly reading up on the latest gear and digging into more technical aspects of coding than ever before. The challenge of creating something useful was addictive and he loved finding the best solutions for his clients.

But as he did more work, his client list grew and the amount of work became overwhelming. Levi had a decision to make – he either needed to hire someone to help him or cut back on the number of projects he took on. He also had a third option – quit freelancing – which was exactly what he did.

Levi said he wanted to move out of advertising work and start building products, so he joined the best digital product company in town – Hudl.

He was launched into the world of product design where he was surrounded by experts and submerged in the startup scene. Soon he was one of the growing number of young people around town sporting a bright colored Hudl shirt and sneakers, and it was a perfect spot for him to grow in his skills.

Less than two years later, Levi took another risk with a new startup and joined the team at Travefy, a company that makes group and corporate travel simple.

It’s been a good move for him, and it’s made him appreciate the unique atmosphere that working in a startup brings. He’s part of a team that’s full of humble experts who are passionate about solving problems and maximizing their combined skills.

But Levi’s story isn’t just about work. It’s about doing things well.

Working at two local startups has made Levi think about starting his own business. He’s a self-described pessimist who sees problem after problem and he started to wonder if it was wrong for him to be solving ‘first world problems’ when there were bigger problems in the world. He’s consistently asking himself how to fix so many of the problems he sees.

But here’s the thing, Levi said he won’t be starting a company anytime soon.

He’s not lazy or lacking in ideas, but it’s just not the right time.

Levi said he’s seen how much time and energy it takes to get a company up and running. And for him, this is just the wrong season in his life.

Right now he’s working on being a trusted employee, an available husband and a good dad. That might sound simple or humble, but over the past few years Levi said he’s learned how to be content in where he’s at in life. He’s learned how to prioritize and not get ahead of himself.

He’s a guy who works hard and digs into his community. He invites his neighbors over, plays with his kids and also loves reading up on the latest coding techniques out there.

Just because he isn’t starting the next Hudl doesn’t mean his story is any less important. Levi gets that, and it shows.

His story is about living in the now, focusing on the present and doing what matters most in the simple and everyday moments.

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