Unbridled Spirit

Famous for college basketball, horse racing, bourbon, coal, and bluegrass music, the Commonwealth of Kentucky is also home to industries and opportunities not normally associated with it. Compiled by the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, Unbridled Spirit shares the success stories of twenty of its members—business leaders who dared to think beyond the region’s best known institutions—to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs from the Bluegrass State.

Kentucky’s history of being a small impoverished state didn’t stop entrepreneurial Kentuckians like tech inventor and DataBeam founder Lee Todd and former Milwaukee-Bucks-superstar-turned-restaurant-franchiser Junior Bridgeman from overcoming adversity, pursuing their dreams, and achieving their goals. These Hall of Famers, and the others profiled in this book, have built prosperous careers that have redefined what it means to be Kentuckian, inspiring others in communities throughout the Commonwealth to step outside the box and create their own business legacies in twenty-first century America.