If you know you need to network but dread another generic event or Zoom meeting, this episode reveals why showing up in person is your smartest growth move right now. Sandra Yancey, Kym Yancey, and Briana Dai unpack the secrets to authentic connections in a “trust recession,” the mistake that’s costing you new opportunities, and how to leave any event with strategies and relationships that actually make you millions.

Welcome back to another episode of She Means Millions! We’re thrilled to have you join us as we peel back the curtain on what’s working in business today, share personal stories, and take you behind the scenes of our 10x journey. We’re passionate about helping women entrepreneurs accelerate their growth, foster genuine connections, and build the kind of businesses that mean millions both in impact and income.

In this episode, we dive deep into the power of showing up in person, in the room, and ready to connect. We talk candidly about why, in this new era of rapid technological change and AI influence, real relationships and authentic interactions matter more than ever. We reflect on our own experiences attending and hosting live events, the unexpected opportunities that come from being present, and the game-changing moments that only in-person events can deliver. We share lessons learned from investing in ourselves, breakthroughs from our participation in high-level programs, and even the value of creating relationships at unexpected places (yes—even the grocery store!). You’ll hear behind-the-scenes stories of how our annual eWomenNetwork Conference (eWN ICON) has transformed, what makes our events truly unique, and why now is the time to get out, get connected, and grow.

Key Topics & Takeaways

The Trust Recession

We explore how digital fatigue and AI-generated personas have made authentic, face-to-face connections the ultimate competitive advantage for entrepreneurs.

The Power of Showing Up

Real business growth comes from being in the room even when you think you know your “why,” the biggest breakthroughs are often surprises born from unexpected encounters.

Why Live Events Trump Online Experiences

We share stories of how in-person events lead to authentic networking, instant feedback, and million-dollar ideas you can’t get from a webinar or Zoom call.

Building and Leveraging Relationships

Everything in business is about relationships. Whether it’s with clients, collaborators, or even your local grocer, showing up and being present opens doors you didn’t even know existed.

Intentional Networking (and Avoiding the Comfort Zone Trap)

We discuss common mistakes like sticking to your comfort zone or attending events only with a friend, and how separating and intentionally expanding your network is key.

The Audience-First Approach at eWN ICON

Discover how our conference is designed to break the “speaker after speaker” mold by centering teaching, table discussions, actionable strategies, and a high-conversion buddy system.

Exclusive Conference Insights

Learn what sets eWN ICON apart, why returning attendees rebook year after year, and how we’re pulling back the curtain on our own 10x journey with real metrics and implementation strategies.

Special Announcement: Candace Nelson as Keynote

We’re excited to share that Candace Nelson, the founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, best-selling author, and entrepreneur, will be joining our conference, bringing her inspiring story of innovation, exit, and what’s next.

Real Results, Real People

We emphasize our commitment to teaching what works (not just theory), sharing only proven strategies, and ensuring everyone walks away with a crystal-clear plan for implementation.

Are you ready to accelerate your success, unlock breakthrough ideas, and build lasting relationships with women who truly mean millions? Join us this August at eWN ICON in Dallas, Texas! Experience the energy, learning, and connection that have transformed hundreds of thousands of businesses and reserve your spot before we sell out (over 70% of attendees grab their tickets a year in advance!).

Visit ewnicon.com to secure your ticket and learn more.

Don’t just do business, make millions. And remember: Showing up is where the magic happens!

Thank you for listening to She Means Millions. Subscribe, share, and leave us a review let’s keep this community growing!

Mentioned in this episode:

She Means Millions is part of the eWomenPodcastNetwork

eWomenPodcastNetwork

Just because we were able to feel inspired. We were around other people that were also wanting to be inspired and inspired us. And before you knew it, we had our own conversation talking about that whole

event experience, which, which it's. It's changing. I mean, I know we're changing it from the standpoint of how we do things, but it is changing because of, you know, AI.

And what I love is that we really get nitty gritty and strategic and actually pull back the curtain. Really what we're actively doing. And this year specifically, Well, welcome back to she means Millions.

Abby. Why is it got to be welcome? Can't it just be welcome? And you know, great to be here with you.

So great to be here with you. I am getting coached real time, getting a lens into the family and here

I am caught in the middle. But it's all good because we have

a great show planned for you today. We're going to be talking about the importance of just showing up. We're in this thing right now called a trust recession. And I think that the most underrated thing that we could do in our business right now is be in rooms with real people and show that you are not just an AI generated figure. You're actually a person that somebody can know, like, and trust and want to work with. And so I was just curious, when was the last time you got out of your backyard and actually showed up to an event? Because not only is it important for the networking aspect, but the ideas that you get when you get out of your own backyard. Right.

There's no question about it. I. I believe that right now we have so many people have gotten all caught up in, you know, the whole, like, stay at home, what, what Covid f. And it's become a pattern that people have kind of dug into. And whether it's literal or even just metaphorical for them, it's just hard to get up and get out. And I think in today's environment, you gotta take a shower and put on some pants and get out the door. And I keep saying, the more you shake, the more you make when you're shaking hands, you're connecting with people. You're looking at them eye to eye, face to face, having conversations, heart to heart, sitting down with people, knee to knee.

And I think that's the thing that is gonna differentiate the people that are gon make the next millions is understanding how important people are craving that real interaction. They want to know that who they're speaking to is a real person. They want to know that what they're reading represents the voice of the person when they meet them and not some alter ego that's been chatgpt or Claude generated and sounds really good. And then you show up and you can't match that level, that tone, that language and polish.

You're like, oh, I sound so good.

Yeah, you don't talk that way. Exactly. And, and I think it's a way to just throw trust right through the floor. It just falls away when you're not authentic to the data that you're putting out there and how you show up. And I think people are looking for real, imperfect, authentic people today that still know their game, know what they're talking about, have great success stories, know how to solve the problem of the prospects that they're looking for.

I can't think of anything that I have shown up for that I didn't receive, you know, major benefits from.

Right.

You know, I was reflecting on this as we were, you know, planning this podcast. You know, I, I really follow the whole concept around just one thing. If you can just get one, one thing key nugget, you have to get 15, 20, or whatever gives me but one key nugget. And I'm always amazed at the things that I get out of the, even out of the room. You know, the people you meet in the hallway.

Yeah, yeah.

And you're, and you're, you're just talking and just learning about people. You know, it's always a surprise, the experience, you know, the, the aha's that are just generated.

Yeah, like, like say you see somebody that's speaking and maybe you don't get anything from the speech, but you got something by sitting at the table with other people and listening to them describe their problem. A problem that you can fix, that you can solve, but you've been using way of talking about it. You've got lame messaging, it's out of touch, it's out of date. And just by being around other people and asking them, you know, how they solve a certain issue or how they are, what they might be struggling with, most can give you some tips of some language to go back and refresh your copy. And before you know it, you didn't just get one customer. Now you've opened yourself to getting tens, if not hundreds of customers. Don't tell me that wasn't worth it and wouldn't have happened if you didn't show up. Right.

I find that the motivation for showing up for events is oftentimes different for me too. Like, I have bought tickets to show up for Events just because I want to see how the booths and the activation process works. I want to hopefully connect with the people who are putting the booths together and collaborate with them for our conference. Or I've shown up to conferences because they have a really great speaker who I'd love to hear live, that I followed, that I'd love to hear. Or I show up for conferences because I feel like the audience is the people that I want to connect with. But what I often am surprised by is the very thing that I think I'm going to a conference for doesn't always end up being the real why.

Yeah.

Once I'm through it.

Yeah.

Like the connection that I made or the nugget that I got. I mean, when we showed up to that event in Scottsdale in January, we were just showing up to understand kind of the funnel process.

For me, it was elite thinking. So what. What are the one percenters kind of doing? Yeah, you know, you were. You were attracted to their funnel process of how they reached out to you. But we walked away doing something that actually wasn't part of their program at

all, and it wasn't part of the content they were teaching either. You walked away with this clarity of we're going to 10x the business and we're going to put a timeline on it and we're going to do it in a thousand days. And that was never. That was never a concept that was talked about on the stage. It wasn't something that was taught. It wasn't why we ended up going in the first place. But it is the outcome of going and just being open to the inspiration, and it's inspiration that we wouldn't have gotten.

And you know what's interesting, Briana, is here we are. We're family number one. Secondly, our offices are right next door to each other. Literally, we could talk to each other through the wall. And we have from time to time when we're getting on a zoom or something like that. But I mean, and we see I spend the night at your house, you know, on Thursdays. So we have time there. I mean, we just have so much time together.

And it literally took getting out of Dallas and getting on a plane and sitting and taking in information in our own ways and then going out to dinner. Yeah, it was really in the going out to dinner and, you know, running back to the hotel and getting comfortable and going out to dinner and then just processing what we were feeling inspired to do and ending up changing the whole direction, literally the direction of Ewomenne Network Just because we were able to feel inspired. We were around other people that were also wanting to be inspired and inspired us. And before you knew it, we had our own conversation, totally not related to what we were at the event for, and came back with a whole new direct called you because we didn't want to walk in, and you go, like, what happened to these?

That's a common thing with us when Sandra and Brianna go to an event together. We went to ClickFunnels conference one year, and then we called dad and we said, so there's this $150,000 program, and I think we should do it. And, oh, by the way, it's for all three of us. 150 per person?

Yeah. What do you think? Well, what was interesting about it was I actually called my CFO at the time to say, hey, listen, I'm. You're going to see this ginormous charge on the credit card, and you're probably going to get flagged for it to fraud. And so please call me. And I explained it to him or whatever, and I noticed that I didn't get a call back. And I usually get a call back from my CFO pretty quickly. And I'm like, this is really strange. And they were only taking, like, 15 people into the program, so I was a little nervous that, you know, we were slacking.

We needed to get down there and fill out the paperwork. And so I called Kip and I said, hey, I'm trying to get a hold of Carrie, my cfo. And he said. He said, so I heard. I said, well, what did you hear? And he said, Kym said. Carrie said, you drank the Kool Aid.

Yeah, she drank the Kool Aid.

And I said, well, you know what I drink. I drink a lot of things. Kool Aid isn't one of them. So what do you think? And you did say, if you're that passionate about something that costs that much, it must be great.

I mean, I. When he said that, I said to him, sandra doesn't drink Kool Aid.

Okay. Yeah.

You know, so, you know, just to set it straight.

Okay, Okay.

I was in your corners.

Yes.

A problem. Problem. I understood.

Yeah.

But it was such a massive investment. You were like, it must be really good. And, you know, you wouldn't want to spend that kind of money on that if you didn't think. And interestingly enough, the reason why we got in that program is not what we ended up getting out of it. Getting out of it.

Yep. And the reason we went to the conference wasn't to sign up for a big program. Everything about it just led us down a path that ultimately made us millions.

Millions. Millions of dollars difference.

Not intend to pay for a program. We went for a completely different reason. ClickFunnels had been a sponsor. Right. And then we ended up getting into this program, and then it made us millions.

Within six months, we made our first million off of it. Off the idea of something that wasn't why we were there. You know, it was something that just got spurred by being in the room, talking to other people, going, gosh, we could do a version of that. And the next thing you know, we're going to dinner, we're talking about it, we come back and boom.

That is the power of showing.

Yes.

Because the reason you're showing up isn't necessarily the reason what. The reason that you're actually there. Yeah. And I think that being open to that possibility.

Yeah. I think people spend a lot of time going, setting the intention, making sure. And there's something to be said about that. I don't disagree. We've done that. But I think you have to come in and, you know, have your arms, your hands kind of clinched on what it is around what you want, but you gotta loosen your hands a little bit and let it go, because there might be something better. And, you know, if your hands aren't available to catch that blessing, you'll miss it. So it's a little bit of, you know, managing both of those to be true.

True.

I know I go with a student mentality. I mean, I go there with the whole point of, hey, so I'm here to learn, I'm here to meet, I'm here to serve. I'm here to, you know, just take it in, you know, just get rid of all barriers, you know, anything that's in my way. And I also, you know, I'm rather strategic when I go to these things too. And, you know, I'm thinking about everything, about how, you know, what, what am I? I think the word is mirroring back, you know, what, what am I? When people meet me and I greet other people, what are they receiving from me? What kind of energy are they getting from me? You know, is it positive? Is it upbeat? Is it engaging?

Yeah.

You know, there are a lot of signals people get. But here's the one thing. You know, anybody that's at an event is there with the same, in general, the same kind of exploration that you're there for. You know, exploring the situation, exploring the opportunities that present themselves.

You would think, Kym, I'm going to Challenge you a little bit on that, because I think they come with that intention. But I'm always amazed at how distracted people get. I see them open up their laptop, and you can walk behind them and see their work in their inbox. They're responding to emails. They're on their phone. It's one thing if you have your phone out and you're capturing some moments and you're doing social media and your documentation of all that, but just to scroll and see that they have their earbuds in and they're not really present in the room. And it's a total turnoff to me. I remember very, very early on in E.

Women Network having the chance to have lunch with a woman that was making a million dollars, and she was actually in Washington, D.C. visiting. She lived there, and she picked me up, and she was driving, and as we were going in, she literally put her cell phone at the time in her glove box, which I thought, I would never do that. And I made a comment about it. She goes, yeah. She says, we're gonna have lunch with a couple of other ladies. And I don't take my cell phone. I don't want it to disturb me.

I don't want it to vibrate in my purse. I want to be fully present. And just so that, you know, it might be a short lunch, because if they bring their cell phones out and they have it on the table, I'm not interested in doing business with them. Thought, what a qualifier. Just noticing how easy it is for people to get distracted. And the truth of the matter is, success is largely about being able to focus and not getting turned sideways because of the noise and the distractions. And just a vibration can do that. And I think there's something to be said about that.

Are you willing for an hour to be fully present with the people that are around you and trust, just fundamentally trust that you're supposed to be at that table with. With those people and. And give it your all and see what, you know, comes of it and not be distracted by your phone.

Yeah, well, I. I'm rather spoiled because I love, you know, when you go to an E. Women Network event where our culture is built around, you know, sharing and, you know, actively engaged in greeting people and talk to people and find out, you know, what do you do where you're from, that kind of thing, because it's. It's different. Not all conferen conferences are all events the same from that standpoint either.

Yeah, there's definitely a culture.

They're definitely. I mean, I leave an even network event. And if, if I don't feel that openness, which you can detect very quickly when you go to. Go to an event. You know what I mean? If there's, if, if it's got a clickish feel or whatever the case may be. And I think that's one of the things that I notice with our events and it's taken us 26 years to get there.

Do you feel like you're drowning in your business? Like you're doing everything and something has to get, but you're afraid it might be you? What if I told you there's a network of over 500,000 women entrepreneurs all dedicated to supporting each other. A network of women helping women. I'm Sandra Yancey, founder of Ewomenne Network, and I'm inviting you to join us and become a member. Ewomennetwork.com we can't wait to meet you.

People really embrace the whole culture of giving first and sharing always. I love that.

It's always part of our opening is you're here for five to ask, you know, one question. That's five words. How can I help you? And the more that we're all asking that of each other, the law of reciprocity actually gets in motion. And it does come full circle. There will be people that will ask you, how can I help you? What is it that you need most? What are you struggling with most? If you could change one thing that could change everything, what would that be? If you could wave a magic wand, change one thing that would have the greatest impact on your business, what would that be? You have those conversations. There's just so much reciprocity. So you're leading with helping others, but you're going to have so many people asking you the same thing. It just feels so good.

There's just a different vibe in the, in the overall energy of the room, don't you think?

I for sure do. So I think it's definitely having that energy of wanting to serve. But then there's the other piece too, that women especially do when they show up to events with a girlfriend and they do everything with that girlfriend.

Yeah.

Sit with the girlfriend, they go to the bathroom with the girlfriend, they go through the buffet line with their girlfriend, they sit with their girlfriend. They go to every single networking like circle with their girlfriend. And they don't actually meet anybody new because they're attached to their girlfriend the whole time.

Yeah.

And it's the worst thing that you could do. And I find that women do it so Much. And it's kind of like, you know, maybe you're intimidated to go to an event by yourself. So you want to bring a friend. That's great. Drive together, walk in the room together, but then separate.

Yeah.

You're doing yourself both a huge disservice if you're just attached to the person that you already know the whole time when you could both be working the room.

Yeah. In fact, I'll work this side of the room for you. Brianna, you work that side of the room for me. Let's come together. And now we've got double the amount of contacts that we would have if we were doing everything together.

Yes.

Right. Yes.

Women are the worst at that, man. They just stick in their little comfort zone instead of forcing themselves to actually get out there and meet new people.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, and it's so important now because it is all about the power of relationships. And the more relationships you can establish, the more successful you're going to be. It's just math.

Math.

It's simple math.

Yeah.

You know.

Yeah. I was. There was a quote I want to say it was by the Firestone guy, the guy that started the Firestone company and. Which was like a. Which Firestone was it a tire company? I could just remember this way back when. And I read, and I read, he said, you know, all business is about relationships in the end. In the end, all business is about relationships. You can't get anything done.

You can't grow without relationships. Obviously you can't run a business if you don't have customers, which are relationships. You need other people to help help you see your blind spots, which are about relationships. I mean, you just can't sit in front of a computer and figure it all out. And what you're getting from the computer is a lot of knowledge, a lot of people telling you what to do, but haven't necessarily really done it. I'm noticing that just in the succession plan that we have put together for 10 years. I mean, it is one thing for somebody to give you the checklist, it is another thing to live and breathe it every day. And I've just learned that I would not take the advice of anybody that's going to teach me how to succession plan my business if they haven't actually done it themselves.

Because it's all the nuances that really get you derailed in actually transferring your business, particularly a founder led business, to somebody else. And kind of the overlapping segue it takes to bring your audience along so that when your time has come to Transition out, that they accept the new person. And that's all about relationships, right? Everything in business is ultimately about relationships.

It's funny, as we're talking, I'm sitting here, I'm thinking about going to the grocery store. The fact is, it's a grocery store event. I know, as crazy as that sounds, but really everything is a series of events in your life when you. You know what I mean? It's all about how we interpret it and receive it. But everything is an event. I mean, you know, and you already know this. You can go through the checkout line and you can affect that cashier just with your greeting, just your attitude. And how many times have you gone through the cashier's line and you're thinking to yourself, boy, you know, she or he doesn't seem like a happy cookie.

You know what I mean? You just get like a vibe of almost like, gee, I'm sorry to disturb you, now you can change it. And I like that. I find it to be actually enjoyable to me to be the one that says, hey, hey, that's a beautiful pair of earrings you got on there. Those are very unique or whatever. Something nice about them or something great about this is a wonderful day. And it's amazing how quickly you can change someone's set point, the way they're facing something, and the same thing happens with the event.

Can I just say, to your point, I love this whole thing that you brought up with the grocery store. I wouldn't have thought about it that way, but I'm on a first name basis with Bob. Bob who is the butcher, but Bob the butcher and also Hector, who heads produce. Because every now and then I'll go, and I want to get some basil. And you can see that the basil isn't quite so. I want fresh basil.

You are literally on first name basis. I thought this was metaphorical for a second.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Bob the butcher. His name is Bob and he works in the meat department, but I call him Bob the butcher. You know what I mean? But I'm on a first name basis with them. And they say, and they know, they know my name, Mrs. Yancy, because I've ordered a number of, you know, special roasts. My crown roast, a prime rib. Oh, yeah, man.

And I always say, hi, how are you doing? Is it busy? How's it going? Have you been impacted by, you know, when we had the shortage of, you know, meat and things like that coming in, and I, I'm always talking to them and every now and Then I'll go and I'll like, look, and I'll say, how long has this been here? Do you have any better cuts? This looks. These, These, you know, what do I get? Rib eyes. Look a little small. Let me check in the back for you. They will go in the back. They will bring me. I feel like I'm getting the freshest, the best, you know, kind of thing. And he'll.

He'll look at me and say, I got it. When I. When I do my short r. A little fatty here, you want me cut off some of this fat, and I'll be able to give you a little bit more. You do that for me, you know? And so when I do my chicken, my Easter chicken, and it's cut in pieces, I don't cut that chicken. I asked Bob, Bob, would you cut my chicken, my chicken breast into little pieces? Love to do that for you, Ms. Yancy. She go.

He goes back to each other. Next thing, I got a bag of chopped chicken. It just saved me 10, 15 minutes in the cooking. You know, he's. Yeah. And same thing with my basil and my chives and all my things from Hector, who's had a produce. I've developed relation. I look for them.

I look for them and see if they're around, you know?

Wow.

I sure do. Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

Next level. See, I don't even go inside of a grocery store.

Well, you got two kids, got app

on my phone placing the order. I'm pulling up the driveway. Tatiana, you don't even have to put on shoes, honey. Let's just pick up our groceries.

Exactly.

And pull it up, load it into my car. Yeah, man, that's funny.

You know, you're. That really underscores the fact that people meeting people, talking to people. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, no, for sure. I'm definitely not doing any networking in the grocery store.

Maybe I should. I do. I mean, I look at every opportunity. I mean, you brought up grocery store Kym, and I just think, you know, I never had really thought about the fact that, you know. And I also know the checkout people, you know, And I got the one guy that always says hi to me, whatever. And sometimes I just stand in line with him for him just so that I can connect with him. I. I don't know what it is.

I'm a people person.

You.

You. You are a people person. I think it's interesting because you're like that, but you're also an introvert. I'm actually shocked by this because, like, for me, I'm kind of an extroverted introvert. So usually when I'm at the grocery store, I'm not on. You know, I'm kind of like, just give me my stuff. Don't talk to me. But.

But. But maybe that's the mistake that I'm hearing, you know? I mean, maybe that's my opportunity to grow and see what happens.

Let me tell you what happened to me at the grocery store. So I'm. I. I take my recipe, I get all my stuff, and I get home. I don't have my recipe.

Oh, yeah, yeah, you've left it.

And I left my recipe in the little tray in the cart. And I called Janet, the store manager, and I said, janet, this is Sandra Yancy. She goes, hi, Mrs. Yancy. I said, I think I left my recipe in my cart. And the cart is in the street. I mean, it's in the parking lot. She goes, oh, my gosh.

Do you know where you parked? And I said, yeah, I do know where I parked. I think I'm like, the second or third one over. I had one of the smaller carts or whatever. She goes, hold on. Have somebody go check for you. Next thing you know, I'm holding on. No problem. She comes, she goes, I've got it.

She says, this is your party chicken. And I said, it is my party chicken. She goes, is this a good recipe? I said, it's a great recipe. She says, do you mind if I take a picture of your. Of your recipe? I said, janet, yes. I said, and I'll be right there. I'm gonna come back and get my. My thing.

She says, I'll text it to you. I'll take a picture and send it to you. I said, that's okay. I really want my original recipe. It's got all my spots and all my spills and all my. I want my original one so that I. It goes into my recipe but box. And I walked up, and she had it right there for me.

She had pinned on their little bulletin board in case she was gone, that with my Name above it. Mrs. Yans. Mrs. Yancey's recipe. Yeah. I'm telling you, but I am an introvert relationship. Then I get in my car, and it's totally silent.

There's no music on. There's no podcast on. There's like, I need my quiet moment here between the parking lot of the store and home.

Yeah. You know, it makes me think about what would you tell people about our conference? Because we, you know, we. We never thought when we started the E. Women Network. We'd be doing events.

Yeah.

And, and, and, you know, it tells you just how naive we were in thinking that, you know, that women. I remember when we first launched the company, we were telling people about E Women Network, and people would say, oh, it's great. There's no more meetings. I've got to go to. To. We can just meet online. And that's, you know, where you learn the. The secret of all secrets is, you know, listen to what they say, but watch what they do.

Okay. Watch what they do. Because no sooner did people become members of the network that they wanted to meet and they were meeting and the pools, you know, in pool houses and everything else, you know, where they could pull people together. But I think what we learned from all this is that nothing, nothing, nothing compares to a live event. No, I don't care what. There isn't an email that you can write. There isn't a commercial that you can air that gets the results that you get through a live interaction.

I have to ask you. I'm going to backpedal for a second and then we'll get back to that. But you just made me think of something that I was thinking of in the car this morning on our very first podcast, we talked about the origin story and the very first conference. And now we're in the thick of planning our 2026 conference. We've just kicked off all of our weekly meetings and we're starting to talk about production and the stage and the huge LED screen. And I'm just curious if 2000 year 2000, Sandra and Kym Yancy hosting their first conference, could see the vision of the conference that it is today. Was it ever in your. No, no.

First of all, you know, we were taking what we saw happening, which was a huge dog and pony show of speaker after speaker after speaker after speaker and the next speaker and the next speaker and the next spe. And what I think is unique about our conference is that there's no. And it's very humbling for me to say because, you know, I hit that stage, you know, on Thursday and I'm on. I'm on there in, you know, four inch heels for four hours, as you know, and I don't take a break. But the truth of the matter is there's no, there's no one more significant. The spotlight that there's no spotlight more significant than you. The attention and what I think we do exceptionally well and always areas for improvement, always things we can work on for sure. But you know, you have to know where you shine.

And I think one of the things where we shine is the level of audience participation. We teach something and then we put them at their tables and then they talk about it and then we process it. What was your aha? What did you learn? What questions? Then we get off the stage, we go into the audience, and we have these mics that, that are. That you can toss, right, that we can toss around. Cause they're really light and people grab them and they can ask a question or share a revelation or whatever. And I think the audience participation is what keeps people not only coming back, which is close to 70% of our audience before they leave in 2025, 70% of them sign up for 2026 before they leave, which is kind of unheard of in the event business to say, yes, I'm coming in advance. But I think it's what creates the line when we close the main conference room and they go to lunch and that kind of thing. And then we have the doors open up at a certain time and everybody's clamoring to get in.

And it's because I think people want to get back because they know it's not just the typical, you know, see a speaker, you know, over and over and over again. It's really the learning and the audience engagement. And I think. And that we did not do that in the beginning. Brianna.

I know.

Because there was. We didn't have. The only models that were out there was one speaker and then the next speaker and then the next speaker, and they weren't invested. They often didn't stay. You know, they came in, they, you know, snuck behind stage, they did their shtick on the stage, and then they left. There wasn't. And for us, if we bring somebody in from the outside, which is rare, we want them there for the duration, you know, and it's fun to see them. And Ken Cragan humbled me when he would come to our conference and he would, when he wasn't on stage, he would show up and get a front row seat with his notebook and take notes.

Here's like a Hollywood legend.

And that's rare, honestly, because, you know, we bring in other VIP speakers and they'll at least do a dinner, you

know what I mean?

They'll be present. But I mean that, that, that he was such a gen.

He surely was. Laura Herring. The exact same thing I was going

to say, not knowing when a person is listening to this. If you're hearing Ken Cragan for the first time, he is the guy that is the organizer of We Are the World put that whole piece together. He did Hands Across America and at one time his office on Sunset Boulevard, 48% of all the number one selling artists in the world were under his management. So just, yeah, he was a context,

just a legend, Hollywood legend, a brand builder. I mean, so much, I would say of my backbone that I have today as a CEO was from what I learned and invested in him. And may he now rest in peace

as a result of what.

Yes, exactly, Brianna, duh. Moment here. So how I met him was. Brianna was 19 years old, she had moved to LA. You wanted to be an actress and I wanted to come and visit you. And you were at that age bright, where you're like, no, mom, don't come. You know, parents don't come and check on their kids kind of thing. You had it all together kind of thing.

And so I was trying to figure out, how do I get out to see you have an excuse to see, I'm already in la, so can I take you out to dinner kind of thing. And I said, okay, I know how I'm going to do this. I'm going to accept every speaking engagement that I can in la. And I got a call from a guy, Larry Benet, who's a dear friend of ours to this day, who was running a networking group that unfortunately no longer exists. Great networking group called Singh Speakers Authors Networking Group. And he had found out about us for something and called you, I think, Kym, to see if you could. He could book me to be a speaker. And when you came in as like 95, 96% men, blah, blah, I'm like, I don't know, where is it? It's in Hollywood.

There, I'm there, I'm booked, I'm going, I can get there, I can see Brianna. And I got there the day before, around 3, 3 or 3:30, called Brianna, she wasn't ready, she was working. And. And so I was taking her out to dinner. And so I went downstairs because I was speaking the next day. So I thought, let me just go down there and get a feel for the room. I walk in and I see, I make eye contact with a guy that's got an empty seat next to him and we start doing charades, looking at, can I come over there and sit down? Cause I didn't know if somebody had just stepped away and gone to the bathroom and they were coming back or not. And he waved me over and ended up being Ken Craghan and I didn't know him.

At the time, I remember talking to you. You asked me if I'd met anybody interesting. I said, yeah, I met this guy with this really great voice. I bet you he's a Hollywood D. And you said, did you get his name? I said, yeah, I got his card, and his name is Ken Cragan. You were like, the Ken Cragan? And ended up opening up my laptop and putting in his name and clicking on images. You were like, is that the guy you sat next to? And I said, yeah, because you had the. You were experience, you know, with six albums on Capitol Records and one that went gold, you knew in the music industry, his name.

And you were like, sandra, you have no idea who you were sitting next to. And that became the Journey because he had a. I asked him why he was there. He said he had just launched his book Life as a Contact Sport. I said, I'll go and. I'll go and buy it. He goes, you don't have to buy it. I live here, and I'll bring you one tomorrow.

And so, you know, he saw me in the morning, and we ended up sitting next to each other, and we just started this relationship. And, you know, he became so critically important in my life on so many levels, personally and professionally. Uh, it's just. And one of my greatest honors. We were just talking not too long ago, last story of, you know, what have been some of the, you know, most poignant moments in your life. And one of them for me was when Ken's wife Kathy, you know, asked me to be the closing speaker and the only woman, you know, at his. At his funeral. It was such a huge honor for me knowing that this is.

Man. I mean, I was with Ken when his phone rang, and it was Lionel Richie or Quincy Jones or, you know, if you. If you. If you have Netflix, you need to go see the documentary called the Greatest Night in Pop, because it is a. Is so entertaining. It's about the entire we are the making of the We Are the World song. And in the first five minutes, Lionel Richie, who kicks it off, mentions Ken. I mean, he was the thread, the through line as.

As you like to say, Briana, that, you know, really pulled the whole thing. Whole thing together. And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't come to that event. Yeah.

In the room. Yeah.

Yes.

It. It. It is the epitome. You know, I remember, you know, talking about that whole event experience, which. Which it's. It's changing. I mean, I know we're changing it from the standpoint of how we do things, but it is changing because of, you know, AI and what it. What it said.

There are a lot of people who aren't doing events anymore. You know, big mistake. Yeah, Big, big mistake.

Big mistake.

But they're also struggling to try to figure, you know, people try to figure out the easy, quick way, the fast way, you know, and all of this takes time.

Yeah.

You know, cultivating a relationship, you know, building that trust takes time.

And you have to be in it to win it. You do. You have to feed it every day. You have to be consistent and persistent.

Well, I was thinking, what I was going to say is that maybe our last Ken Kraken story for the day, but when he spoke at the conference and he said, you can't do anything without getting someone's attention. So think about that. First of all, you can't do anything. I don't care what it is. You've got to get someone's attention. And he said that. And all of a sudden, a marching band comes marching through the conference. Through the conference, right down through all the tables is a marching band through the back doors.

I remember him saying, did I get your attention?

Yeah.

It was so poignant, wasn't it? And think about all he had to do. I mean, he lives in Hollywood. He had to find a band, a local band, and Dallas, because he was speaking at our conference, marching band in Dallas. He had to talk to them, organize it. Of course, he leveraged who he was and all of that and probably got a high school band so excited to walk in and perform for him, but nonetheless. And then he had to orchestrate getting them all shipped. You know, not shipped literally, but, you know, bust, transported, you know, to the conference and keep it a secret because he didn't want people to see anything. So they all had to come once we were in session and line up very quietly in the back.

I mean, it was just. I mean, he really proved to me that it's, you know, he used to say, it's easier to do the impossible than the ordinary. And the truth of the matter is, it wasn't impossible for him to do that, but it was so, like, it was an impossible thing to think about, and he would allow himself to go and think of impossible types of things. And then he made it happen and made it unforgettable as a result.

So let me ask you guys something. With our conference coming up, in terms of the experience, what would be your. Your, let's call it commercial. Doesn't have to be a commercial. What would be your commercial? And I think each of us should do it in terms of why they should be there, why, why, why they don't want to miss the E Women.

So this is definitely not pre planned, put us on the spot moment. Okay, you go first, Bri.

Okay. I don't fail.

So I got a quiz.

It's just, you know, I think what I love about our conference because I've gone to several conferences, obviously, and I think what's really unique about the E Women Network Conference, EW and Icon is that it's not just a B12 shot. Like I go to conferences and I just leave energized, you know, and you're going to leave energized. But what I love is that we really get nitty gritty and strategic and actually pull back the curtain and what we're actively doing and this year specifically to be able to pull back the curtain on this whole 10x journey, even for the people that don't want to tax their business, even just to double their business, even just to make more money, period, you know, what we're doing and pulling back the curtain on this year I think is going to be phenomenal. So it's not just the B12. It's also the actionable strategies that you walk away with and then the people like me. Like you said, there's a lot of baked in interaction.

Yeah.

And so I don't. I've never been to another event where they really facilitate intentional connection and networking.

Yeah.

Like who's a seasoned pro veteran that's been coming to. To the conference and who's brand new and setting up a buddy system. Yeah. You know, just to make sure that you don't have to do everything with that person. But you're exchanging phone numbers so you can text. Are you good? Do you need a seat? Do you know where dinner. Do you have dinner plans tonight or. You know what I mean?

Making sure that they're feeling included.

Yeah.

They're maximizing the experience because there is so much. I mean, we have the full, you know, program happening on the stage. We have exhibitors, we have connection time. There's lunches, there's dinners. There's all of these different things that you can take advantage of. And yeah, our community is really welcoming in that way.

Yeah. So I'm so excited for August. And we've started. We every just, you know, we start in April. Two hours every single Monday. In planning, every member, every member is on the, on the team, is on the call so that everybody understands what everybody's doing has an appreciation for what everybody's doing, sees how all the pieces come together. Because it's almost like a watch. You kind of see it on the surface, but you kind of lift the surface back to kind of see all the moving integrated parts.

And so what is it, the 12th through the 15th? Yeah. I mean, shameless plug here. I mean, honestly, I mean, if you are in a place where you really want to accelerate your success, what I love about what we're doing is we are 10xing our business and we haven't had even a chance to tell our team yet, but here we are in middle of April, and we've already done the production, the business that we did last year to July 1st, you know what I mean? So we really are having this mammoth amount of growth. We're learning a lot of lessons and what I love, implemented a ton and

shown up very differently to get these results.

And we teach, we share. There's enough for everyone. So we only teach what we have positive results on. We've got the metrics, the analytics, everything to show the progress and then literally peeling back exactly what we've done. And then you can say, okay, so, all right, that worked for you and your business model, Kym, Sandra and Briana. But what about me? What about me as a coach? Or what about me as a restaurant owner? Or what about me as a lawn care company owner? No matter what it is that you do, then the opportunity is how do you adapt? How do you adapt so that you have the knowledge to know exactly how you go about applying what we've done in your business? Because the fundamentals in the foundation are all the same. And you get the opportunity to process that and ask questions and get the clarity that you need, and you walk out with the. A plan.

You literally walk out with a plan. I have written an entire experience about how you take all your notes and identify what are the things that when you get back home, you know exactly what it is you want to start implementing, and so you literally leave with an action plan. Not a I wonder where I start kind of thing with all of these great juicy nuggets, but I haven't a clue where I begin.

That's great. A of lot love that I tell people. Here's what I. I say to people. First of all, how many conferences are you aware of where 75 to 80% of the audience buys their ticket the next year's conference a year in advance?

It's 70%. 70%? Yep.

You know, buy their tickets.

Yeah.

Let me tell you why you want to be there. Not only are you going to find incredible ideas, you're. You're going to be stimulated, emotionally stimulated in ways that you've never been before. Right. There is a level of camaraderie and kindness that permeates the entire conference unlike anything you've ever seen. You know, and I would tell people you want to come here because it's gonna give you what you need to help you take your business to places that you've only dreamed about.

I mean, honestly, or maybe not even been able to dream about yet. I mean, just the possibilities that crack open.

Exactly, exactly. But, you know, it. I love the way. I love the way it unfolds. I love the short content segments that we do. We have a whole section where people speak for 10 minutes. And it's incredible. It's so energizing because, you know, in 10 minutes you're getting like the best that someone has to offer.

The best.

The best. And they're all pros, you know, variety of. Of topics and those kinds of things. The teaching you do, Sandra, is unbelievable. I mean, it's just how you do it. It's just incredible. It's.

Well, all of us. I mean, Briana, you have. I mean, we all three are. Because it's taking all three of us to 10x the business.

So you're supposed to say something nice about me first. I kind of let and say something nice about you.

Just talking about your brilliance, honey. Yeah, just your brilliance.

Give you more time. No, but you know what it is? What do we learn, too? I remember going to conferences where it had all kinds of celebrity names and brands and lots of people. No real connections are being made. No. No depth is being created. No camaraderie is being created. I've seen it. I mean, I've watched it, you know,

too, like some of the content, even from these celebrities that have since launched brands, their launch strategy looks a lot different than the average entrepreneur solopreneur because of their access, because of their reach. And so. So their journey to bringing a brand to market is kind of unrelatable for majority of women in business. Just to be. Just to be real about it. And so I think that having real people come in, we have a phenomenal.

So excited. Yeah.

By the time this podcast launches, the news will definitely be out. So can I just share?

Share?

So this year we're bringing a phenomenal woman entrepreneur. Her name is Candace Nelson. If you've ever heard of Sprinkles Cupcake, she was the founder of Sprinkles Cupcake. She was the pioneer and created the cupcake industry in terms of a brick and mortar cupcake. She was the inventor of the cupcake atm. She has been a co producer and a guest judge on Cupcake wars on the Food Network. She's been a guest shark on Shark Tank. She has a new concept that she's launching and she's just.

She's got a New York Times best selling, but she's just a power hat.

And on top of that, she sold this amazing, profitable company.

Yeah.

And then they didn't know how to manage it and they had to close all of them.

Yeah.

And I can't wait to

new news. She's been on a stage since this has happened.

Yeah.

You know, so we'll be able to have that conversation first, which is so exciting. I cannot wait to have her at our conference.

Yeah. But somebody that, you know, started just making cupcakes.

Yeah.

You know, and had an idea and grew it into franchises and, you know, all of the things. And then sold it and then watched it run into the ground and what that had to feel like. And then, you know, moving into her next new thing. It's gonna be so great.

It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great.

So August 12th through the 15th, my shameless plug. I'm Dallas, Texas.

The Fairmont Hotel.

Yep. We own 100% of the meeting space. Everything is gonna be all E Women network. We got an amazing room rate for our ladies and gentlemen that are

I.

I want you there ewnicon.com EWN for E Women Network. ICON stands for International conference. But the play is that we really do attract iconic women. So it's ewnicon.com.

yeah.

Have you done this before?

I think I have. I think I have.

I guess she doesn't just mean business.

She means millions.

This one and that one.