Championing Women and Building Confidence Through Experience: A Great Events & Dare to Interrupt Podcast Mashup

Courtney Stanley: For me personally, my confidence has been a journey. There have been many... Which sounds so cheesy, and I know, but it's true. I've had life chapters where I haven't had great confidence at all and maybe didn't even realize it in those moments. And it took stepping away from environments that were tearing down my confidence to be able to recognize, "Holy shit, who am I? Why am I feeling insecure? Why am I second-guessing my value, my worth? Why am I not speaking up? Why am I not myself?" It took moments like that to be able to recognize that there was work to be done.

Alyssa Peltier: Great Events create great brands, but pulling off an event that engages, excites, and connects audiences, well, that takes a village. And we're that village. My name is Alyssa.

Paulina Giusti: I'm Paulina.

Rachel Andrews: I'm Rachel.

Felicia Asiedu: And I'm Felicia.

Alyssa Peltier: And you are listening to Great Events, the podcast for all event enthusiasts, creators, and innovators in the world of events and marketing.

Rachel Andrews: Hello everyone. What is going on in this wide, wide world of events? My name is Rachel, and I am your host for this week's Great Events podcast episode. This month is all about celebrating women. Can I get a hell yeah for women? In celebration of also International Women's Day, coming up in March and in International Women's History Month, we are doing a series of women's podcasts. And this podcast, I am very excited to have my dear friend and industry badass Courtney Stanley, who is a renowned Keynote Speaker, leadership coach, host of Dare to Interrupt podcasts, amongst a lot of other things that she does for the industry. Welcome, Courtney.

Courtney Stanley: Thanks, girl. How are you?

Rachel Andrews: Oh my gosh, so good. So busy, but making time for Great Events. 

Courtney Stanley: I mean, always. Don't we always? 

Rachel Andrews: We sat down on our podcast team for Great Events, and we were brainstorming amazing women to talk to, and your name was brought up months and months ago just for how inspirational you've been through the industry.

And I'd be remiss we would if I didn't mention that Courtney also helps us with Cvent CONNECT TV during Cvent CONNECT. So we have a long-standing partnership there, but we have been talking about doing a crossover special edition podcast between Great Events and Courtney's and Meetings Today's Dare to Interrupt podcast. He's also the main host there, so we are finally doing it.

Courtney Stanley: Yeah, I'm excited. And I mean, thank you for having me here, and that means a lot to me that I was part of your vetting process because I have had the opportunity to work with your team so many times now and I love the women on your team, and also outside of your team, so that means a lot that you guys chose me, so thank you. I'm excited.

Rachel Andrews: Well, welcome. So yeah, very excited, special edition. Dare to Interrupt plus Great Events podcast. Let's get into it. So, Courtney Stanley, I feel like your career journey, you've talked about it on main stage as a keynote speaker, you've talked about it in coaching sessions with other up-and-comers or even women in leadership across the industry. Why don't you just take a few minutes and tell our listeners, your listeners, your listeners probably already know, you have a cult following, but our listeners about your experience and a little bit about your career journey?

Courtney Stanley: Sure. Well, shout out to my cult. Love you guys. Thanks for tuning in. And so I actually find this question hard to make concise as an entrepreneur because I think most entrepreneurs' stories, their career journeys are really zig-zaggy and all over the place and mine has some dots that connect, but it's a little bit of a path. So I studied hospitality and event management at Central Michigan University, fire up Chips, and went into our industry really thinking that I was going to be an event planner for life.

And I started working for an agency based out of Boston for about two years and realized it just maybe didn't check the boxes that I wanted it to check or maybe I didn't check the boxes that were needed to check to be a really excellent planner. So I left that company, I started working for an event technology company where I was able to dive more into the PR media relations event marketing industry relations world. And I felt like I really got into my groove there in just learning more about that marketing strategy, but also identity, brand identity. And I think that's really, that was the first time where I started to get on stage consistently. And then after that, I worked in politics for a few years too, which not many people know since it is a bit outside of our industry, but I worked for an environmental nonprofit based in Michigan and that's really where I learned more about community building.

And I think that was one of the best opportunities to learn that skill there. And so all along the way throughout this journey, I was raising my hand to speak at industry conferences. I loved it. It was so much fun. I was doing a little bit of coaching and mentoring on the side and had just launched this podcast in, well, really the beginning of 2020, which is when I decided to go full-time as a speaker, as an MC, and also as a coach. So that's what takes me to today. Fast-forward to four years later. So, this is my fifth year of business, which is nuts. Absolutely insane. Yeah, so that's the long sort of short version of what my career history looks like.

Rachel Andrews: That's amazing. I mean, talk about the hustle.

Courtney Stanley: Yeah, it's definitely a hustle for sure.

Rachel Andrews: And following your dreams a little bit, I feel like this probably resonates with a lot of people in events. Events can be a grind, and if you don't love, I mean you love the events industry, but if you don't love the exact function of events that you're doing, you're just like... What was that pivotal moment for you of being like, you know what, I'm going to work for myself, and I'm going to, maybe it wasn't one, right? Sometimes it's multiple.

Courtney Stanley: I think it was multiple moments, but they all followed the same theme. And I am not shy in saying that I am a very hard worker. I'm a very ambitious person. So I think in all three of the career experiences that I had working for three different companies, I just always wanted to do more. And in a company, you can only do so much in the role that you're in even if you're in an environment that's more flexible. So for me, I think the launchpad for taking my side hustle of speaking and turning it full time came when I was working for this former employer, I asked for an opportunity to grow my leadership skills, and I was told no.

And it was just the last time I wanted to be told no. It was one of those moments where I was like, I don't want to be told no anymore. I want to actually see what could happen with my career if I were to remove any of those barriers that are holding me back from my growth within my career journey. And if I'm in full control of my own ambitions and my growth, what can I accomplish? And I really wanted to explore that question. So that really was the moment where I was like, let's go, let's try and let's see.

Rachel Andrews: Yeah, that's really inspirational, and I'm sure other people feel that way too. Just watching you on LinkedIn and watching you at any keynote that you have ever given or breakout session that you've done at many, many industry events, you've been super involved in the industry.

I just want to hear from you, I know this episode is all about women and some of the empowerment that you've done in the industry has been pretty inspirational to me as a leader in the industry. It's like people are looking to you to provide that inspiration, but what I love about you is that you are rising and lifting your peeps around you and singing those unsung heroes. Tell me about what inspired you to kind of empower the women in our industry, because you do a lot of it.

Courtney Stanley: Well, thanks Rachel. I appreciate your kind words. And honestly, I think the servant leadership aspect of the work that I do really is the driving force behind what motivates me to keep on this path, to stay on this path of entrepreneurship. I love the opportunity not only to teach other people about information that I've learned, knowledge that I can share, but also to give other people a chance to step on stage or to step behind a microphone and be interviewed.

And I think that comes from just my experience and understanding that visibility and being seen within our industry or really within any industry truly is one of the most critical factors to climbing the ladder to success. So experiencing that myself and raising my hand, taking the stage, doing these things where I was creating my own visibility, I was able to create a brand and build relationships and elevate my career. And so in an effort to also share that knowledge with others, there are a couple projects that I have built and have become really passionate about where there is an effort to shine that light on other people and give them that stage time. So one of those is Dare to Interrupt, and I know we're doing this super cool crossover today and I love that. Dare To Interrupt is a podcast that essentially is a series of interviews with women in our industry and it's giving them time and space to share their stories and their knowledge uninterrupted.

And the play on words, the Dare to Interrupt comes from the idea or the fact that oftentimes women when they're sitting around decision-making tables are interrupted. And there's a lot of research that shows that women are interrupted much more frequently than men in those types of decision-making rooms and conversations. So knowing that our industry is clearly filled with mostly women, but we're not seeing that same level of representation at the top in c-suite positions, the podcast serves as an opportunity to create visibility and really amplify women. So that's one thing. And then I want to talk to you a little bit about the Women to Watch awards as well, which you actually were a recipient of last year, which was super special. So, Rachel, I'm going to flip this around actually. What is your understanding of the Women to Watch awards in the events industry?

Rachel Andrews: I think you all do, especially you having this platform of being able to nominate others in the industry for someone to watch is a special thing. And I feel like you've created this micro-community of women that have won this award. This is the third, your third year, it just went live. For those that don't know on the listener side, Courtney launches a Women to Watch list every year going on her third year here, and I feel very humbled to be an alumni of the Women to Watch list from last year. She had hosted a couple meetups last year for these amazing people and they are transforming. So my understanding of it is that being recognized on this list is not just women in leadership, it's women that are innovative, challenging the status quo, doing amazing things for their organization or the events industry or in life.

I feel like... For a long time I felt like if I wasn't on a status list or I didn't have a title or I didn't have this, then I wasn't doing great things. And what this list does is breaks that down a little bit, right? You don't have to be the SVP of a world domination, you can be running a really meaningful or impactful event for the American Cancer Society or doing something for environmental events or just doing something with personal brand development or helping other leaders through a mentorship program. There are a lot of ways to lead that don't fit normal standard box of women and leadership criteria. And so that's why I love about your list is that when you look around and look at that list, you see entrepreneurs, you see people that are leading with empathy or leading the charge in sustainability or DEI.

So I felt like it's really well-rounded because people that are being nominated are helping each other, helping the industry. I don't know. That's the best way I can describe it. And that's the feeling that I felt when I met other people and I was like damn, these people are doing some awesome badass stuff and I'm glad that they're getting recognized on this list and I'm glad that we're here and celebrating each other because sometimes companies don't celebrate those unsung heroes or those people that are actually really doing great shit.

Courtney Stanley: Well said. So I'm actually really glad that I flipped the question over to you because I don't think that I've ever asked anybody to explain to me what the Women to Watch Awards program looks like from their perspective. And the one thing that I really loved that you said was that you see a mix of leadership experiences in this group of women who end up on this list. And it's very true, and I do believe that there are leaders at all levels. And I will say that I think one of the more frustrating things for me as a young leader growing up in this industry was that I think that... This isn't just the industry, this is the world of business. The more experience you have and the more accolades you have, I think the more opportunity you're given for these awards programs and whatever they may be.

But there are so many people that are younger that are coming in with different experiences and backgrounds that would deliver just as much value as somebody who has maybe 20, 30 years of experience. It just would look different. But that's what we want at the end of the day. We want a room or a list full of people who are bringing different things to the table. So I love that you brought that up in terms of what this list actually is. And for me, it was important to create this International Women's Day Awards program for our industry, not only just to create visibility again for these women who are doing incredible things, but to do it in a way where it's peer-nominated. I don't handpick these people that are on the list. These aren't people who have to check certain boxes to get on this list.

They're based on stories and they're stories that come in from other people in our industry who are talking about how this individual has made an impact on their life, has changed their team for the better, their company for the better, their events for the better. And so I love having the opportunity to not just read through these stories that are submitted, but to also share the why behind this person ending up on this list of incredible women. So I'm really excited. We're going to announce the 2024 Women to Watch awardees on International Women's Day this year, and it's a really, really wonderful list of people. So I'm excited to celebrate them.

Rachel Andrews: Which this episode is going live the day before. So if you're listening, stay tuned for that. If you're listening after March 8th, then congratulations to the winners and take a look at that list because there's some really impressive people on it year over year, and kudos to you. How do you plan, I know you've done some fun things in the past. How do you plan on celebrating these women?

Courtney Stanley: That's such a good question.

Rachel Andrews: Other than being celebrated on the list, I know.

Courtney Stanley: Which is cool. But I do think something that you've mentioned, or you'd alluded to, Rachel, was being part of this community of women, and I think what's been really cool is that this list doesn't just become a list that lives online or on social media, but it's turned into a community, a true virtual and in-person community of women that if we're at industry conferences that are happening, we get together and we try to plan something special for this group and celebrate them and also give them an opportunity to get to know each other better. So my plan is to do something special at MPIWEC this year, which is happening in Louisville for any women who are attending that are part of this list from this year or in years past.

And then we'll also do some virtual celebrations throughout the year. And we've done breathwork sessions in the past. We get a tarot card reading. We've done just some fun virtual ways for the women to get to know each other as well.

Rachel Andrews: Some fun bonding.

Courtney Stanley: Who doesn't like a tarot card reading? Right?

Rachel Andrews: Hopefully, it's a good one.

Courtney Stanley: Yeah, only good news.

Rachel Andrews: Or then it becomes trauma bonding, I guess.

Courtney Stanley: But that's true, and there is a little bit of that that happens, but in a really good way. It's like people have some space to just kind of talk about what's up and what's going on in their world, and it's real stuff that's happening. And that actually did happen in one of our virtual gatherings last year where it was, I think it was the tarot card reading, and people just got really vulnerable and were talking about what they wanted to release from their life and what they wanted to add into their life, and it was beautiful. It was really cool.

Rachel Andrews: Love that.

Courtney Stanley: Yeah, it's fun. It's a great group.

Rachel Andrews: Okay, I think one of the last questions I'll ask you and then we can kind of take it wherever we want, but I feel like you exude confidence and maybe you have talked on, I've been to a couple of your breakouts, you talked about how you gain this confidence, and again, whether you're at any level and just your story, even hearing about whatever leader told you no when you ask for more is just the worst kind of leader. Those people that don't encourage you or don't talk about what you actually want in your career and don't care about it are the worst. But before we get to that, I want to talk about how did you end up gaining this confidence? Is this a daily affirmations in the mirror thing? Is this a listen to Beyonce kick in the door kind of thing?

What gives you that confidence and how can others get that?

Courtney Stanley: That's a beautiful question. For me personally, my confidence has been a journey. There have been many... Which sounds so cheesy and I know, but it's true. I've had life chapters where I haven't had great confidence at all and maybe didn't even realize it in those moments. And it took stepping away from environments that were tearing down my confidence to be able to recognize holy shit, who am I? This isn't, why am I feeling insecure? Why am I second-guessing my value, my worth? Why am I not speaking up? Why am I not myself? It took moments like that to be able to recognize that there was work to be done. And I will say, I think one of the greatest confidence-building opportunities that I've had in my life was starting a business. I think when you work for yourself and you have no choice but to represent the company and sell yourself essentially to people all day every day, it requires self-belief.

And for those who don't know, I started my business literally a couple months before the pandemic hit. So that was a whole other situation where I felt like it required so much self-belief in order for me to think that I could even do something like build a business for the first time in an industry that was totally crushed during 2020. So I think it's a combination of things. One is it's going through experiences that challenge your confidence and maybe knock you back a few steps or more, and then learning to rebuild it. But I think it's also putting yourself in positions to do things that you're not sure you can do. The way that I like to define confidence is knowing that when you get knocked down, you are capable and will get back up. That's that self-belief that I think just comes with failing, and it comes with being in bad relationships, and it comes with being in toxic leadership situations where you're then forced to learn how to redevelop and regrow.

So tactically what that looks like is definitely Beyonce for sure. Give me all my queens. If I'm having a moment where I'm just like, I just want to hype myself up. For me, that's really emotional. I want to feel fierce. I want to feel powerful, so I am going to put on some really badass music. I am going to put on a really hot outfit, and I'm going to surround myself with people that love me and support me. And it's very environmental for me to actually feel like I can step into my power in that way. So I do think that there are some mental emotional hacks that you can do to try to not fake it till you make it, but embrace the strongest parts of you and then walk in that direction. No, confidently go forward and that you have made it and that you are valuable.

Rachel Andrews: Yeah, for sure.

Courtney Stanley: But I think I would say one of the things that I care most about in this world are supporting people and specifically women in their own competence journey. Because I think I know as a woman that our world is so critical of women, and there are so many double standards for women, whether it's in beauty or it's in business, and it's not easy to be a woman, and it's not easy to be a woman who is self-assured and confident in a world that is always asking her to be smaller and not take up as much space. So for me, a lot of the work that I do is in an effort to give women the space to breathe, to be themselves and to step into the world authentically.

Rachel Andrews: That was really well said. Now whoever's working this is cracking after this episode on Spotify, I need you to go immediately to Beyonce and just write down all the things that you want to do or ask your boss or whatever you want to do next, and just channel this energy. This is really great.

Courtney Stanley: I agree. I agree. And Rach, I have to ask you too, when do you feel your best? When do you feel most confident?

Rachel Andrews: It's hard. I still think as a leader, the more senior you get, the more you have to look inward for some of your strengths because you're leading a team or you're leading a thing, you're leading a budget or you're leading a global strategy, whatever that is. And there aren't people that you can vent to, right? There aren't people that you can look around. So you have to look for strength from those around you, those on your team.

I take a lot of strength from the badass women on my team and men on my team. We have such amazing upcoming leaders that are just stepping into their own, and they are the next generation in driving this event profession forward beyond just order takers. They're true business developers and production experts and project managers, and I just see that, and I hope that I'm forging this path forward for them and for the industry. And the more senior I become, the more I can see that taking shape, the more I can see other companies coming into that. And that gives me a lot of hope because it hasn't always been like that. I look to people that have been my mentors above me, and they've had to fight tooth and nail to get where they are, and they're so strong in their own ways, but I love that we have evolved as business owners or as colleagues and teammates to help each other rise together and not fight with each other.

And so I see a lot of hope in that for the future, not just the events industry, but just if you're a woman anywhere, working in a business where less fighting amongst each other and more helping each other out is, I've always said from day one, you catch more flies with honey. Not that I really want to catch flies, but I do think that you do get ahead more quickly if you are a nice leader, an empathetic leader, you know your team, you know their goals, their aspirations, and not just like, "Hey, I want to complete this project by X date", or "This is my KPI I want to hit". Know them deeper than that because if you don't have people that are happy in all aspects of their life or you're not there to support them, I'm not talking about being their therapist, but I'm talking about being really truly open to being their mentor and understanding their wants and needs.

If you don't have that empathy to understand those things about your own team, then how can you really lead a great team and how can you really lead at all?

Courtney Stanley: Yeah, I agree completely.

Rachel Andrews: Yeah. And well said. And I have to ask you one more question. Is there a leader in our industry who you feel embodies those characteristics that you really look up to?

Courtney Stanley: There are a lot, and there's actually been a lot of industry mentors over the years, both female and male. I will say there are a lot of, and I don't think we talk about this a lot on women-specific podcasts, but I think we need to talk about our allies a lot, right? There have been people in my life and my career journey that have early on said, just keep harnessing this. Keep harnessing that. Keep speaking, keep speaking up.

Your voice is impactful. There are just so many that I want to list. God, it's really hard. I feel like I can list it.

Rachel Andrews: I know. Don't leave anyone out either.

Courtney Stanley: That's the tough part. It's like there are so many, so you want to list them all. But I will agree with you, Rachel and I have also been very fortunate to have both male and female mentors that have been absolutely incredible and really influential. And I would say from my own journey that the mentor that has made the greatest impact on me has been a man. I think that there have been so many doors that have been opened, and there have been rooms that I have gained access to because of a lot of the men in my life who have so generously and selflessly offered their resources to me. So yeah, I know we're talking all about the ladies on this podcast, and I talk about the ladies a lot because I love my girls, but there are some incredible men in our industry that really, truly have helped to also amplify and empower the women in our world too.

Rachel Andrews: I know we actually brought up Lisa Messina earlier. She's like a-

Courtney Stanley: I know. Queen.

Rachel Andrews: She's such a good person. And you can see that emulated around her. She's a huge one. I don't know if we have time to call out all the people that have inspired me at Cvent, but there's a really long list of people including our CEO that have been mentors and in their own ways, in their own right, and just spending a lot of additional time teaching business goals and objectives to me. But people like Mike Dominguez, right? He's such an inspirational guy and he takes the time to actually get to know you and understand what you're doing. Recently, Richard Stein has become a little bit of a confidant and mentor to me, the new CMO of PCMA, Tracy Depuise, she's amazing and has been a little bit of a confidant. Tracy Judge, I can literally name so many of amazing men and women in the industry that reach down and bring up and don't just sit at this top, what do we want to call it? They sit at this ring at the top and they don't really grow with the people in the industry coming up in the world. And I think that don't lose sight of that because then I don't ever want to get to the place in my career where I'm being called an industry, this is the word I want to say here, dinosaur.

Courtney Stanley: Dinosaur. I was like, she's going to go dinosaur for sure.

Rachel Andrews: Yeah. When you're not connected to really what's going on at all levels of the industry, you got to remain current with that.

Courtney Stanley: Yeah, I agree. Don't be a dinosaur. That's the number one takeaway from this conversation.

Rachel Andrews: All right, so where do we want to go next? I think for our listeners, I think we want to give them some final words of wisdom or just maybe one takeaway for maybe how to build confidence or a one way to celebrate women in your life potentially or in the industry.

Well, I'll start with you and then I'll give mine.

Courtney Stanley: I'm going to speak to imposter syndrome a bit here because I think with a lot of the coaching clients that I work with, this is a big question that I get. How do I overcome this fear that I'm not good enough or that I don't belong in this place? And I often say to these wonderful people who are absolutely qualified to be in all of these spaces that the best way from my experience to overcome imposter syndrome is to do the things that you don't think you're good enough to do and keep doing those things until you've recognized that you actually are doing those things and then you can level up to the next thing that you don't think that you can do. So prove yourself wrong. That is the most active and productive way to objectively determine that you are good enough to be in that room.

So I'll say that for anybody who's struggling with imposter syndrome. And then just some broad advice is you are so valuable, you are so worthy. And so if you're struggling with any of the inner critic bullshit that comes from all corners of the world into all corners of our minds, know that that inner critic deserves to be challenged. So you are absolutely worthy of your job, of your relationship, of being in a good relationship. So don't sell yourself short. Don't settle. Know your worth and take up space.

Rachel Andrews: I love that. Okay. Mine would be, I have a Jekyll and Hyde mindset right now. So on one side of my brain, it's the pedal to the metal. Do everything, say yes, take chances, and I live and embody that into my personal life and professional life for sure. But I also think on the flip side of that, it's okay to say no for things that aren't serving you.

And I want to call that out because I think that a lot of times, and I hear this sometimes on LinkedIn because I've been posting a lot lately about podcasts and things that are just happening in general in the industry or in my life, and I hear this sometimes from friends and the sentiment is, you're just doing so many great things. How do you keep up? How do this and that? And it's not that I've made that a priority in my life to do that because something I want to do. And if that's something that you want to do, I say go for it. Pedal. That's the left side saying what the devil and the angel and the shoulders saying, go for it. Do it. But the other side is saying, do it unless you don't want to, if this isn't going to serve your joy in the future.

One of my colleagues, Robin Clark, just gave a really inspirational talk at our company-wide event, and one of the quotes that she said is, comparison is the thief of joy. And I was just like, I wrote that down. I do it too. Even though I'm doing all these great things and I have friends that are like, "Wow, you're doing amazing things." I still do that too. I still say, well, they're doing something great too. And don't do that to yourself. Just focus on you and lifting those up around you. And like you said earlier, Courtney, do things that are going to serve you and be around people that love you and embrace the amazing leader that's definitely within you. I don't care if your title is associate, you could still be a leader at that level. And so I think that that's kind of my closing thought is to not compare yourself all the time and just do the best you can while saying either hell yeah or hell no.

I don't want to do those things. So that's where I kind of go.

Courtney Stanley: Well, I think that's great. I think that's great advice to share and I definitely am with you. I love that quote about comparison and we all do it. So it's not anything to beat yourself up about, but it's also an opportunity to acknowledge that it's not doing you any favors either, unless it's inspiring you. If it's not inspiring you to do something differently for yourself, like let it go.

Rachel Andrews: Right, let it go. Okay, Courtney, one final thing. Where can our listeners find you?

Courtney Stanley: Well, of course, they can find me by listening to any episodes of Dare to Interrupt on any major podcast platform or meetingstoday.com. But you can also find me on social media @courtneyonstage, and you can go to my website, courtneystanley.com to learn all about my keynotes and coaching services.

Rachel Andrews: Amazing. Well, you are so inspirational, and thank you for doing all that you do for the industry, for women in general. I loved doing this crossover podcast.

Courtney Stanley: This was so fun.

Rachel Andrews: Thank you. Shout out to Meetings Today and Courtney's amazing Dare to Interrupt podcast and of course our Great Events podcast. So thank you, Courtney, and thanks to our listeners for tuning in. We'll see you next time.

Courtney Stanley: Thanks, Rach.

Rachel Andrews: See you.

Alyssa Peltier: Thanks for hanging out with us on Great Events, a podcast by Cvent.

Paulina Giusti: If you've been enjoying our podcast, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.

Rachel Andrews: And you can also help fellow event professionals and marketers just like you discover Great Events by leaving us a rating on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.

Felicia Asiedu: Stay connected with us on all your socials for behind the scenes content updates and some extra doses of inspiration.

Paulina Giusti: Got a burning question or an epic story to share? We want to hear from you, find us on LinkedIn and send us a DM or drop us a note at greatevents@cvent.com.

Rachel Andrews: And a big thanks to our amazing listeners, our guest speakers, and the incredible team behind the scenes. Remember, every great event includes great people.

Alyssa Peltier: And that's a wrap. Keep creating, keep innovating, and keep joining us as we redefine how to make events great.