Lori isn't sure what she expected from her first season with the Colts Cheerleaders.

But she does know one thing.

"It's beyond any expectation I could have had," she says. "I just wanted to dance and I wanted to be involved in something. And once I became a part of this team, I realized that it was so much bigger than myself."

The Colts are bigger than football. And Colts Cheer is about more than cheering on game day.

"I feel like I'm able to be in the community in so many different ways that I never would have been before."

One of those places is Riley Hospital for Children, where she also works as a nurse.

"It's been so great to be there as a nurse, be there as a cheerleader, I've been there as a patient. So I've seen so many different aspects of how kids can be helped and what that means to the kids."

Along with working and cheering, she's also studying to become a nurse practitioner. It's a three and a half year program she'll complete next December.

"I wanted the knowledge aspect of being a physician, but I wanted the bedside manner of being a nurse. So, it'll be great to have both of those together."

And in the meantime, she and her husband, Alex, just became business owners.

"We went to this brewery called Books & Brews and he fell in love with it. And he fell in love with the concept because it's so different from any other place he had been to."

They saw on social media that the owner was interested in franchising. They met, talked it over, and seven weeks ago, they opened the doors on their own Books & Brews location in Carmel.

It may be a franchise, but it's home grown.

"It's a local business. We're the very first franchise. We're very lucky to start out with this type of family. It's all about the community, which is something we really enjoy."

And giving back to the community is all part of it.

"We've got local food. All of our furniture is handmade. All of our books are donated. They're all three dollars, no matter how new or old they are. And ten percent of that goes back to charity," she says. "Every month, we host an event for a not-for-profit organization. It's something the other location does and I'm glad we get to too."

Just like everything else she does, when Lori opened a business, her cheer sisters were there to support her.

"They came to opening night. They come even when I'm not there. We're having our Colts Cheer Christmas party at Books & Brews. Kelly went there with her husband. So, it's great to see our coach supporting our dreams. It just makes you feel good when your family is supporting you."

Working, cheering, going to school, and running a business – for Lori, life is all about time management.

"It sounds like a lot. We make it work though. I don't know how we make it work, but we do," she says. "My planner is color coded because I would forget what color scrubs to wear every day."

But she never forgets what color to wear on game day.