Our Story
September 2025. Premier Group, Carmel, Indiana.
The plan was a room. What showed up was a movement.
More than 125 young professionals packed into HIVE’s first event — founders, salespeople, agents, creatives, operators. People who had spent years being told that networking meant a stale breakfast, a name tag, and a room full of their own competition. That night looked nothing like that. People stayed late. They swapped numbers instead of business cards. They asked when the next one was before the first one had even ended.
Nick Ireland and Dillon Baker stood in the back of that room and saw the same thing at the same time.
There was a gap in Indiana. The existing networking world was too expensive for people still building, too crowded with competition to actually refer business, or too transactional to build anything that lasted. Young professionals in this state didn’t have a room that was built for them. They had rooms they were allowed into.
So Nick and Dillon started asking questions.
Not pitching. Asking. Over the months that followed, they sat down with members, prospects, and anyone who would give them an honest hour. What would make you show up every month? What has every other group gotten wrong? What would it take for this to be worth real money to you? They took the answers seriously, and the answers kept pointing at the same three things: protect people’s industries, make the room genuinely worth being in, and hold members to a standard.
That became the model.
January 2026: the first HIVE contract went out.
Membership stopped being a vibe and became a commitment — an application, an interview, and a signature. Not everyone who wanted in got in, and that was the point. Each Colony protects its members’ industries: no two members in the same field sit in the same circle. Competition stays out. Referrals flow freely. Trust becomes the operating system instead of a nice idea.
In less than six months, HIVE had 75 active members across the city.
Not 75 names on an email list. Seventy-five young professionals paying to be in the room, showing up to their Colony every month, and passing business to each other between meetings.
The rest built fast from there. Monthly Colony Meetings across Indianapolis. Monthly Speaker Events open to the public, pulling 100 to 150 people at a time. Panels that put real operators in front of the room instead of hired keynotes. Nearly 50 events a year. A member portal. A podcast. HIVE of HER, built for the women in the community. An Impact Board that turns the network’s momentum outward, into the city itself.
And it kept growing because the model kept working. A member closes a deal because of an introduction made over a drink at a Speaker Event. A founder finds their marketing person, their lender, their attorney, their first ten clients — inside the room. That’s not a testimonial. That’s just Tuesday.
Our mission is simple: to empower young professionals by fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and growth-driven community. We provide opportunities to build meaningful connections, grow businesses, and inspire one another to achieve both personal and professional success. Through trust, innovation, and mutual support, we aim to shape the leaders of tomorrow.
Our vision is to be the premier networking community for young professionals, a place built on collaboration, integrity, and forward-thinking leadership. Here, members actively connect, share resources, and champion each other’s growth, creating a ripple effect of success across industries and communities.
Our purpose goes beyond networking. We’re building a foundation for leadership and excellence, a community that drives positive change while empowering the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers.
From that modest beginning, HIVE has grown into a thriving community where collaboration and opportunity take center stage. What makes HIVE unique? Each group protects its members’ industries, meaning no two members in the same field join the same circle. This ensures competition is kept at bay and referrals flow freely, creating an environment where trust, growth, and support flourish.
Our mission is simple: to empower young professionals by fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and growth-driven community. We provide opportunities to build meaningful connections, grow businesses, and inspire one another to achieve both personal and professional success. Through trust, innovation, and mutual support, we aim to shape the leaders of tomorrow.
Our vision is to be the premier networking community for young professionals, a place built on collaboration, integrity, and forward-thinking leadership. Here, members actively connect, share resources, and champion each other’s growth, creating a ripple effect of success across industries and communities.
Our purpose goes beyond networking. We’re building a foundation for leadership and excellence, a community that drives positive change while empowering the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers.
The rest built fast from there. Monthly Colony Meetings across Indianapolis. Monthly Speaker Events open to the public, pulling 100 to 150 people at a time. Panels that put real operators in front of the room instead of hired keynotes. Nearly 50 events a year. A member portal. A podcast. HIVE of HER, built for the women in the community. An Impact Board that turns the network’s momentum outward, into the city itself.
And it kept growing because the model kept working. A member closes a deal because of an introduction made over a drink at a Speaker Event. A founder finds their marketing person, their lender, their attorney, their first ten clients — inside the room. That’s not a testimonial. That’s just Tuesday.
Our mission is simple: to empower young professionals by fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and growth-driven community. We provide opportunities to build meaningful connections, grow businesses, and inspire one another to achieve both personal and professional success. Through trust, innovation, and mutual support, we aim to shape the leaders of tomorrow.
Our vision is to be the premier networking community for young professionals, a place built on collaboration, integrity, and forward-thinking leadership. Here, members actively connect, share resources, and champion each other’s growth, creating a ripple effect of success across industries and communities.
Our purpose goes beyond networking. We’re building a foundation for leadership and excellence, a community that drives positive change while empowering the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers.
From that modest beginning, HIVE has grown into a thriving community where collaboration and opportunity take center stage. What makes HIVE unique? Each group protects its members’ industries, meaning no two members in the same field join the same circle. This ensures competition is kept at bay and referrals flow freely, creating an environment where trust, growth, and support flourish.
Our mission is simple: to empower young professionals by fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and growth-driven community. We provide opportunities to build meaningful connections, grow businesses, and inspire one another to achieve both personal and professional success. Through trust, innovation, and mutual support, we aim to shape the leaders of tomorrow.
Our vision is to be the premier networking community for young professionals, a place built on collaboration, integrity, and forward-thinking leadership. Here, members actively connect, share resources, and champion each other’s growth, creating a ripple effect of success across industries and communities.
Our purpose goes beyond networking. We’re building a foundation for leadership and excellence, a community that drives positive change while empowering the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers.