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Sessions

Elevate Your Business
Tips for small business owners, location managers and entrepreneurs


How to Make Artificial Intelligence Your Unfair Business Advantage 

Gunnar Hood
WSI Summit

In an era where business competition is fiercer than ever, AI offers a unique opportunity to gain a competitive edge. This is a must-attend session for business owners and entrepreneurs looking to outpace their competitors. This session will provide you with practical, easy-to-implement AI strategies that can streamline operations, enhance decision-making, reduce costs and provide deeper insights into customer behavior, giving you a clear edge over the competition. Discover how to make AI work for you, not just as a tool, but as a strategic ally in your business's growth and success.

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Why Storytelling in Business Matters

Matt Payne

Prairie Surf Creative

In a world where content creation is paramount, this breakout session will focus on how to refine both your business and personal story in a way that ensures success!

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Party With Your Data: Market Research for Small Business Success 

Monique Walker & Lily Terry
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber

Who says research has to be dull? Step into our virtual dance floor, where business growth is the life of the party. Let's ditch the stress, break out the disco balls and groove while discovering the secret weapons the Chamber's Economic Development team uses to recruit and amplify businesses in our market! In this session, we will embark on an exciting journey through the realm of market research tailored specifically for small businesses. You may often find yourself asking: What is Market Research? Why is it important? How can it help me? How can I generate leads for my company? What is my target market and what role does it play in my business strategy? Join us as we unlock the power of market research, equipping you with the tools and knowledge necessary to navigate the complexities of the business world and propel your small business towards success.

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Elevate Your Future
Geared toward college students, interns and new professionals


Relationships Matter 

Sunny Cearley
Allied Arts

Everything good that has ever happened in my personal life or my professional life has happened because of an investment that I made in a relationship. Spending time cultivating meaningful relationships isn't always easy, but I believe that it's always worth it. Attend this session for real-life examples of the power of relationships along with tried and true tactics for how to develop and sustain them.

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So You Want to Do This: Steps to Help You Succeed

Samantha Divine Jallah
Geisinger Health Plan

Congratulations! You've committed to something -- attending college, a major, a profession or a job. Now what? This session covers strategies for building the career you want.

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Navigating Your Career Journey

Jessica Mollica
The Hertz Corporation

You've got the job, now what? This session is geared towards internal mobility with topics related to building an internal talent profile and network, setting development goals and navigating your career journey. Connect the dots of performance, development, image and exposure, to help you build a unique roadmap for personal success.

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Fail Until You Don't

Michael Shellabarger
Love's Travel Stops, Inc.

This session will explore a fresh perspective on how to navigate failure when it's at your doorstep. During the session, we will revisit classic examples and real stories that deal with failure and identify strategies to overcome it.

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Elevate Your Influence
Geared toward people of all experience levels who want to grow as leaders


Energize with Working Genius 

Teresa Atkinson
Express Employment International

Do you know what types of work bring you the most energy? Do you know what part of your day drains you? Unlock increased production and fulfillment with Patrick Lencioni's new Working Genius model. This straightforward and applicable framework empowers individuals and teams to recognize their energizing strengths and minimize frustrations. By understanding and aligning with each team member's unique working geniuses, you can create a workplace where everyone thrives. Utilizing this model not only enhances individual joy and energy but also aids in organizing projects and meetings for maximum productivity. Come learn about each Genius: Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement and Tenacity.

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Code-Switch or Switch the Culture Code?

Shalynne Jackson
City of Oklahoma City

Explore the impact of assimilation and code-switching and how it hinders the authenticity and psychological safety of marginalized employees. From unconscious bias and stereotypes to microaggressions, discover practical insights and strategies to overcome such barriers and empower all to be the best version of themselves in the workplace.

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Public Speaking: Walk Confidently into the Terror

Shannon Lockwood
Allied Arts

It's one of the most common fears, but it can propel your career to the next level if you can learn how to master it. Public speaking isn't a magical power -- it's a learned skill, just like any other. Hear from a former band director turned professional presenter about how to overcome stage fright and harness the power of your own life experiences to tell authentic stories and command a room.

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The Emotionally Intelligent Leader

David McLaughlin, M.Ed, SHRM-SCP, CWMF
Pendulum Coaching LLC

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is one of the core essentials of great leadership. In this session, participants will learn what emotional intelligence is, how to develop it and how to excel as a leader using EI.

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Beyond the Title

Rhonda Thompson
WM

During the pandemic, many companies dealt with the need to fill positions due to the Great Resignation. Now, there are people back in the job market due to company layoffs. With the rapid changes occurring, a flexible skills-based system is needed to ensure people have and maintain the skills required in current roles and for potential future roles. The key takeaway will be to change an applicant's mindset from focusing on job opportunities based on the title of the position and focus instead on the skills associated with the role. This is to show the significance of valuing employee skills and potential.

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Elevate Your Mindset

Sessions to help both employees and managers boost their mental
well-being and stress management skills


Fact or Story?

Tammy Betts, MBA, SHRM-SCP
American Fidelity

Are you telling yourself stories that are affecting your relationships personally and professionally? In this session, we will dive into the stories we tell ourselves and how distinguishing fact from story can save us from jumping to unnecessary conclusions, can help build credibility with ourselves and others, and help build more effective trusting relationships.

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Mindful Self-Compassion: An Experiential Workshop

Lauree Dash, MMTCP, MSC, E-RYT
Meditation Revbound, LLC

In this introductory workshop, Lauree will explain the basics of self-compassion and the common misgivings or misconceptions people often have, as well as the physiology behind self-compassion. There will be pen and paper exercises, meditation and informal practices. Self-compassion can be learned by anyone, even those who didn't receive enough affection in childhood or who feel uncomfortable when they are good to themselves. Self-compassion provides emotional strength and resilience, allowing us to admit our shortcomings, motivate ourselves with kindness, forgive ourselves when needed, relate wholeheartedly to others and be more authentically ourselves. Participants will leave with an understanding of how to resource themselves with the basic components of Mindful Self-Compassion.

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Cultivating a Flourishing Workforce: 5 Strategies for Enhancing Employee
Well-being 

Michael Dickerson
Dickerson Consulting Group

Discover the key strategies and insights that empower organizations to create a positive and thriving workplace environment. We will delve into the importance employee mental health, explore practical approaches to well-being, and how to invest in your team's growth to achieve organizational results. In addition, you will also learn how to cultivate a workplace culture that attracts top talent but also enhances productivity and employee satisfaction.

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Elevate Your Sales/Business Development

Geared toward people who are in sales and focused on
growing their business


Accelerate Your LinkedIn Impact: Quick Wins and Long-Term Strategies 

Gunnar Hood
WSI Summit

 

This session offers business leaders, individual professionals and business owners three key strategies for immediate LinkedIn success: profile optimization, strategic networking and thought leadership through content creation. This concise workshop is designed to impart actionable tactics for rapid profile enhancement, forging valuable connections and establishing authoritative voices in their industries. Participants will leave with the ability to (1) craft standout profiles that attract the right opportunities, (2) connect with influencers and decision-makers effectively and (3) position themselves as industry thought leaders through engaging content. This session is your fast track to leveraging LinkedIn's power for professional advancement and business growth.

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Leading Teams to Success - Celebrate & Elevate

Michele Leeper, BA, MA, MSCE/MCDBA
Topgolf

We have a landscape we look at and usually can see the many things we want or need to tackle. If we try to attack all of them, we usually end up with multiple areas left just slightly better than when we started. In this session, learn how to focus your efforts and raise the bar to achieve a high performing sales teams with incremental gains.

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Elevate Your Team
Geared toward people who manage others


Lighting the Fire and Passing the Torch 

Bryan Estabrooks
Leidos

This interactive session will guide you through both helping individuals find their leadership style to ignite their passion and how to keep succession planning in front of you as you build and maintain your teams. The session will focus on identifying tools to make these processes repeatable and engaging.

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Navigating Team Dysfunction

Jacqueline Hirlinger
Love's Travel Sto
ps, Inc.

It can be challenging to work with people on a task or project, especially working as a team in a fast-paced environment to meet goals and reach objectives. This session discusses the dysfunctions that are on every team and provide participants with tools to identify and overcome those challenges.

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Being an Authentic Leader

Matt Palmer
Heartland

In this session, we will talk through the keys to being an authentic leader, vulnerable yet lead well. We will discuss how to not let general leadership jargon scrub out the uniqueness you bring and how to be an epic leader that is worth following. The session will be interactive, high energy and certainly authentic.

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Creating an Inclusive Work Culture

Angela Russell
Express Employment International

Cracking the code for building a diverse, inclusive and positive work environment is difficult. Leaders want to hire the right people and retain good talent, while maintaining a culture that is welcoming, collaborative and productive. This workshop provides leaders with tools to build and maintain a place where individuals want to belong and thrive. 

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