Erica Wood didn't plan to become a founder. After nearly 20 years in corporate, she was let go twice and lost her husband to cancer. What came next wasn't just a pivot. It was a purpose.

In this session, Erica shares the real story behind founding Client Journey Advisors and how those hard seasons became the foundation for her Compass Clarity Method. Because the same principle that helps founders retain clients and build sustainable businesses is the one that helped her rebuild her life. When everything feels reactive and foggy, what you need most is direction.

Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of their unique value, what's been keeping them stuck, and how to start building something intentional from exactly where they are.

Starting a business after corporate is the easy part — sustaining it is where most new ventures quietly stall. Drawing from decades of building her own practice and advising entrepreneurs through the Bet On Yourself & Win™ Business Foundation Series, this talk gives attendees the practical foundation most new business owners skip: how to build systems before you need them, price for longevity instead of survival, and create client relationships that compound instead of resetting to zero every quarter.

Thinking about leaving a job to start a business can be exhilarating, but jumping without a realistic map is dangerous. In this session, former Career Coach turned Entrepreneur, Sheryl Scott delivers a reality check for anyone thinking of making that leap. Stripping away the generic "hustle" advice, Sheryl helps you objectively evaluate whether entrepreneurship is a good path for you, consider options that don’t require you to reinvent the wheel, and narrow your focus to win your first clients. You will learn why the secret to building a business that lasts and aligns with your goals is focusing on your strengths and allowing others to assist you. This session, and the entire event is all about trading overwhelm for a clear strategy, kickstarting the practical roadmap, and launching you confidently into the next phase of your journey.

Nobody handed you a guide to the missing pieces when you started. So you figured it out as you went — and the gaps you didn't know existed quietly added up in time, money, and momentum.

Most solopreneurs don't stall because their idea is bad. They stall because they're piecing together foundational decisions alone, without anyone who's already walked that terrain to tell them what they're missing.

Vicki James, founder of Thrive Hive, shares real stories and hard-won lessons from watching solopreneurs get stuck in the same places — and get unstuck the moment they stopped building alone.

You'll leave knowing which pieces are missing from your business, what to put in place first, and what becomes possible once you have the right support at the right time.

Clarity and clients, sooner. That's what this session is about.