TREY BOWEN

Carrying on the legacy of a 68-year-old family business and helping move it into its next phase is one focus for Trey Bowen, vice president of Superior Bowen Asphalt Company. He knows his asphalt firm was built on the notion that doing the right thing is always the right thing to do, and says the company operates with the same mantra today, “because when you have a long-term commitment to the growth of Kansas City, you cannot ever afford to jeopardize your reputation.” And he’s moved beyond the confines of his current business model to lead the launch of a subsidiary company that is focused in the recycling/sustainability space—so he is involved in two different worlds—creating a new organization along with long-standing family tradition. Active in the Heavy Constructors’ Association, a Centurions member of the K.C. Chamber, and on the board of his country club, Bowen embraces a philosophy that reaches beyond business. He clearly states, “I always measure my success based on the healthiness of my personal life. Any professional successes I have that come at the expense of my personal success are not true successes. The ultimate measure is the health and happiness of my wife and three children.”

TARIQ ABDULLAH

If you’d like to meet one of Ingram’s honorees at a most unusual place, try Café Chai Shai in Brookside on the weekend. You’ll find Tariq there at his family’s café which he helped to open, serving up mango shakes. Uncommon? Yes. Out of character? No. This young man believes in family first, citing their contributions they have made to his own successes. Since earning his Juris Doctorate from UMKC in 1998, he has clerked at a local boutique law firm, then went to work as an attorney for Sprint (in two separate gigs), as negotiator and attorney for his own firm in Olathe, and as assistant general counsel/chief compliance officer for the Kansas Health Policy Authority in Topeka. For the past three quarters, he has served in a similar capacity for the Kansas Bioscience Authority, a $581 million bioscience venture capital fund. He is proud of being able to forge a career that focuses on finding common ground. “I view every one of my colleagues as a partner in the creation of a deal—even those who sit on the other side of the table,” he says. His outside activities reflect his belief that bringing people of varying backgrounds together is a good thing. He is president of the Crescent Peace Society, which fosters understanding among people of different faiths.

FRED COULSON

Returning after several years to his hometown, Fred Coulson took a leap. After graduating from KU’s business school, where he currently serves on the Finance Board of Advisers, he began his financial career in investing at Citigroup Asset Management in London. In 1998, he moved to New York to work in Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division, working on public offerings as well as mergers and acquisitions. From there, a hop to T.H. Lee Putnam, a private equity firm investing in service businesses. While he was there, Coulson realized a gap existed in the growth equity marketplace for emerging businesses; capital needs of less than $10 million were largely ignored. In late 2006, still just 31 years old, Coulson returned to KC to found Five Elms Capital and fill that need, with his first fund closing on $21 million in 2008 and producing excellent returns for investors to date. Five Elms allows him to fulfill two of his three major priorities: to help emerging businesses grow and to invest in the community—in the last quarter, for instance, his firm invested in three companies, one of which relocated from Pennsylvania to Kansas City. The third priority? That’s all about his family. With one daughter and twin sons, all under 25 months, he and wife Lucy are also having “a lot of fun along the way.”

ANGELA AUSTIN DAKE

As a young girl, Angela Austin Dake adopted the motto, “If it is to be, it is up to me.” Her career path, philanthropic endeavors, and family life all indicate she has indeed walked that talk. Her background in integrated marketing, with its myriad branches, began with the firm she co-founded with her sister. She moved eventually to a vice presidency at Weber Shandwick, the world’s largest communications firm, where she led engagements for clients such as ExxonMobil, Verizon and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. That last client was typical of another passion, serving her community. She currently is a Board of Trustees member at Oakhill Day School, where her daughters and nephew attend. She is co-chair for this year’s Harvest Ball and an active supporter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She was executive director and board member for the Touched by Cancer Foundation, a long-time volunteer for the American Red Cross and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. There are several others as well. She is very clear: “My main goal in life is to use my voice for a greater good, whether that’s the way we serve our customers at Bank Midwest (where today she serves as senior vice president for public affairs), elevating important causes and issues in Kansas City, or the way I raise my daughters.”