Cost: $65
Buckle up! This day is for every woman in business who took off before the runway was finished and is building her business at full altitude. Our speakers will share how they kept climbing through the turbulence.
This is the finale of the 2026 She Means Business series, brought to you by vcfo. A high impact day on leading, growing, and reinventing your business in real time, with an opening fireside chat, an afternoon keynote, a hands-on EOS workshop, expert roundtables, a panel produced with the Austin Business Journal, and a Delta Air Lines travel grand prize awarded live.
The Flight Plan
- An opening fireside chat and an afternoon keynote
- A hands-on EOS workshop with a drafted operating rhythm to take home
- Ignite Essentials breakouts: choose the track your business needs right now
- Ask Me Anything roundtables with practitioners from the Ignite Expert Collective
- The Power of Better Business panel, produced with the Austin Business Journal
- A Delta Air Lines travel voucher drawing
- Networking luncheon
- Closing happy hour reception to follow
The Lineup
Opening Fireside: Janice Omadeke
The Company You Have Isn't the Company You're Building
Janice is an Austin entrepreneur, author, and TEDx speaker who built and exited a venture-backed technology company, The Mentor Method. Recognized as one of the first 100 Black women to raise more than $1M in seed funding and as Austin’s first Black woman to secure a venture-backed tech exit, she has been featured in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Inc., and is the author of Mentorship Unlocked. As the opening keynote she sets the theme for the entire day: the modern reinvention story of building in real time, knowing when to make the next move, and becoming the CEO of your own career.
Afternoon Keynote: Becky Taylor, KASAMA
Seeing Your Business From Multiple Sides of the Table
You are building the business and running it at the same time, with no pause to step back and see it clearly. Meanwhile the who can fund it, buy it, partner with it, or govern it are sizing it up from the outside, right now, while you fly. A buyer sees opportunity. A lender sees risk. A board sees long-term value. An investor sees return. Becky Taylor, Austin technology strategist, investor, entrepreneur, and Partner at KASAMA, has spent decades across technology, startups, venture investing, and corporate innovation. She closes the afternoon with a practical look at how sophisticated decision-makers read a business mid-flight, and what founders, owners, and corporate leaders learn by turning that lens on their own. She unpacks the signals that build confidence and the traits that create real strategic value, whether you are chasing growth, capital, partnerships, an exit, or simply a stronger company. Then she flips it, giving the many in the room who evaluate businesses themselves a framework for sizing up partners, vendors, and opportunities of their own. You will leave knowing how decision-makers see your business while you build it, where your greatest value sits, and what earns confidence across the relationships that shape your future.
EOS Workshop: Elizabeth Davis, Authentic Impact LLC
Elizabeth is a Certified EOS Implementer with EOS Worldwide, the provider of the Entrepreneurial Operating System, a set of simple concepts and practical tools that help entrepreneurs get what they want from their businesses. After years of delivering EOS to growth-oriented companies, she helps leaders clarify their vision, build healthy leadership teams, and gain traction through clear accountability. She is the founder of Authentic Impact LLC, chapter chair of the Women Presidents Organization, and a recipient of the ABJ Profile in Power 2020 Award. This is a hands-on plenary session, not a lecture. Attendees work through how to structure their time and priorities and leave with a drafted operating rhythm they can put to use immediately. EOS answers the exact question the theme asks: how do I bring order to the business while it is still moving?
The Power of Better Business Panel
Produced with the Austin Business Journal and featured in a six-page article after the event. Panelists:
- Moderated by Donna Zinsmeyer, vcfo
- Danette LaCosta, Delta Air Lines
- Amber Nolan, HOK
- Bhakti Patel, CLA
- Emily LaRusch, Back Office Betties
Ignite Essentials Breakouts (choose one)
Two Ignite Essentials courses run concurrently, and together they cover the full customer journey, winning the customer and keeping her. Both are built to deliver whether you are landing your first clients as a solopreneur or leading a team that serves thousands. Attendees pick the track that fits where their business is right now.
Pitch Perfect: Crafting and Delivering a Winning Sales Pitch - taught by Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications
- Developing a compelling sales pitch
- Understanding customer pain points and objections
- Closing deals with confidence
Objective: Help business owners and leaders refine their sales pitch to communicate value clearly and close more deals, whether they are selling to their first customer or their biggest account yet.
Beyond the Sale: Creating Unforgettable Customer Experiences and Turning Complaints into Connections - taught by Skip Balch, Saleshandicapper LLC
- Understanding customer expectations
- Creating memorable customer experiences
- Engaging customers post-sale
- Handling complaints and negative feedback
- Effective communication and problem-solving strategies
- Using feedback to improve customer satisfaction
Objective: Teach businesses of every size how to exceed customer expectations, build lasting relationships through exceptional service, and turn challenges into opportunities by managing complaints and strengthening customer trust.
Ask Me Anything Roundtables (pick two)
- Leading Through Constant Change Without Losing Your Team
Keeping people steady, informed, and bought in while everything around you shifts.
Host: Lyda Creus Molanfy, Esq., Creus Counsel
- Strategic Pivots: How Do You Know When It's Time to Change Direction?
Businesses don't always need a new strategy. Sometimes they need better execution. Sometimes they need to stop doing things that no longer create value. And sometimes the strategy itself needs to change.
Host: Laura Patterson, VisionEdge Marketing
- Making Fast Decisions With Incomplete Information
Practical frameworks for moving when you cannot wait for perfect data.
Host: Jeanette Pineiro, Novus Global
- From Solo to a Real Team: Your First (or Next) Hires
Letting go, defining roles, and building the crew that keeps the plane flying.
Host: Shanon Holley, Sr. People Operations / HR Consultant, vcfo
- Delegating When You Built It All Yourself
How founders hand off the work they are closest to without losing quality or control.
Host: Lauren Goldstein, Golden Key Partnership
- Practical AI: Put It to Work for You
Real, doable ways small businesses are using AI right now, and where to start.
Host: Jacqueline Karlin, Agentic Commerce Advisory
- Funding the Next Stage of the Climb
Weighing loans, lines of credit, and outside capital as you scale.
Host: Taunya Conte, vcfo
- Protecting Your Energy
Sustainable leadership habits that keep you effective without burning out.
Host: Carrie Kass, Impact Flow Advisors
- Building Your Personal Brand While You’re Building the Business
How to intentionally shape what you’re known for while your business, leadership, and opportunities are still evolving.
Host: Erin Hoy, Her Digital Legacy
- Staying True While You Scale
Protecting the culture, brand, and values that made you special as the business gets bigger.
Host: Laura Gisborne, Limitless Women & Legacy Leaders Global
- Presence Under Pressure
Breathwork fundamentals for pitching and high-stakes moments.
Host: Marina Kay, Women Who Breathe
Tickets are limited. Register today!
The 2026 series sold out three times. This is the one that ties the whole year together, and the only one where Delta Air Lines awards the grand prize travel voucher. Reserve your spot before the room fills.
