LIVE BOLD: LATE ENTREPRENEUR LINDSEY HIVELY’S LEGACY LIVES ON IN EVERY POP

Contributed by: Poptique Popcorn

If there’s anything we’ve learned here at Poptique Popcorn, it’s that dreams do come true. In honor of Indiana Entrepreneurship Week, Poptique Popcorn would like to celebrate our own late founder and entrepreneur Lindsey Hively.

What began as a young woman’s love of popcorn and, in her words, “a dose of blind determination with a little courage,” has since flourished into a successful and continually growing gourmet popcorn business. Despite her passing in April 2015, Lindsey’s legacy lives on through her ever-popping business and the community she was so actively involved in on a daily basis.

Lindsey started her business, originally called Kernel Coladas, in 2008 while studying business at IPFW. In 2013 she rebranded it to Poptique Popcorn and opened her second store at Jefferson Pointe.

Despite being younger than most of her peers, Lindsey was passionate about getting involved in the business community. She was part of the Columbia City Downtown Redevelopment Commission and served on the Regional Opportunities Council as the Millennial Representative. She was also a member of the Millennial Leaders Alliance, Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana, Whitley County Chamber Board of Directors, served as the Economic Restructuring Committee Chair for the Columbia City Main Street Association Board of Directors, and was an alumnus of Leadership Whitley County.

Looking at this list might beg the question: how did she have time for all this?

Lindsey’s motto was “work hard, play hard.” With such passion for her business, there were times when she would fall asleep on a bag of kernels in the store after a long day, but she also made time for fun. She even kept a snowboard in her office as a reminder to not “take life and business too seriously.” In 2013, Lindsey was recognized as a 40 Under 40 recipient by Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly and in 2015 she was posthumously honored with the Whitley County Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame recognition.

Thanks to her entrepreneurial spirit and zest for success, Lindsey’s story still inspires young men and women to follow their dreams and remind people that the best way to live is to LIVE BOLD.