Play to Thrive: Leading When the Game is Changing
You can’t out-hustle what’s coming. The businesses that thrive over the next two years won’t be the ones playing harder — they’ll be the ones playing differently. In this opening session, we’ll frame the three shifts that matter most for how you lead yourself, your team, and your business, and set up the two days ahead.

Joni Fedders
President and CEO at Aileron

Dustin Shell
Chief Operating Officer at Aileron
From the Community: Stories of Impact
Hear authentic stories of transformation from your peers in these community-led breakout sessions:
- Christy Fox, CEO of Dayton-Phoenix Group shares how to build resilience through the hardest times.
- Matt Hoying, President of Choice One Engineering on successful successions through unique org rhythms
- Chad Kuhns, Owner of Kuhns Group on unlocking potential by looking in the mirror and getting on a whiteboard
- Greg Riley, President of Schaefer on how to make the shift from a paper board to a source of meaningful growth
In Good Company: Pop-up Peer Groups
The executive seat is heavier than most people around you know. This is a room where you don’t have to translate. Bring the thing you’ve been carrying and spend the session with a small group of presidents wrestling the same weight — grouped live, based on what’s actually on your mind the week of Summit.

Luke Sargent
Business Coach and Facilitator at Aileron

Eric Wiechart
Business Coach and Leadership Coach
The Cost of Waiting: How Fear Quietly Stalls Your Business
There’s a hidden cost in your business, and you won’t find it on your P&L. The cost of chronic pressure and overcommitment is more expensive than you think. This interactive session exposes how fear is keeping your business dependent on you. Then we get to work on changing it.

Erika Alessandrini
Business Coach, Facilitator and Leadership Coach at Aileron
LEAD YOURSELF
Pressure Isn’t the Problem: Exposing the Pattern That Keeps You Stuck
You have a pattern. Under pressure, it kicks in — quietly undermining your success, your satisfaction, and your relationships. This session helps you name it, understand what it’s costing you, and experience what becomes possible when you interrupt it.

Erika Alessandrini
Business Coach, Facilitator and Leadership Coach at Aileron
LEAD YOUR TEAM
From Managing to Coaching: Developing a Coaching Mindset as a People Leader
Leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about creating the conditions for others to discover their own. In this session, you’ll learn what it means to think like a coach, shifting from solving problems for your people to developing their confidence, ownership, and capability through powerful coaching conversations.

Wendy Roop
Facilitator and Leadership Coach at Aileron
LEAD YOUR BUSINESS
Map it to Manage it: A Systems Thinking Approach for Business Leaders
This hands-on working session introduces the core principles of systems thinking and walks through how to map systems and processes. You’ll leave with a practical framework for identifying, documenting, and improving the workflows that drive day-to-day operations.

Dave Allison
Business Coach and Facilitator at Aileron
Leading in Conflict: How to Show Up for Yourself and Your Team in Hard Conversations
Your team needs healthy disagreement to make good decisions—but many teams struggle to debate productively. In this session, you’ll explore your relationship with conflict and learn how to show up more effectively in the moments that matter most. Leave with practical tools for your next conflict and greater confidence in how you’ll navigate it.

Joni Fedders
President and CEO at Aileron
LEAD YOURSELF
Why Your Business Depends on You More Than it Should
You built this business, but if you’re honest, it still runs through you. That dependency didn’t happen by accident — and it doesn’t have to be permanent. In this breakout, you’ll unpack how your own choices created it, and learn one shift that offers instant relief.

Luke Sargent
Business Coach and Facilitator at Aileron
LEAD YOUR TEAM
Accountability That Sticks: What Great Leaders Do Differently
Accountability isn’t about calling people out—it’s about creating an environment where commitments mean something. In this session, you’ll explore why accountability breaks down, assess both your leadership and your organization’s systems, and leave with concrete actions to build trust, ownership, and follow-through.

Erika Alessandrini
Business Coach, Facilitator and Leadership Coach at Aileron
LEAD YOUR BUSINESS
Big B Brand: Seeing Your Brand as a Strategic Advantage
When most leaders think of brand, they think of logos, colors, and fonts —but that’s your little b brand. Your Big B Brand is the collection of thoughts and feelings people carry with them after every interaction with your business. In this session, you’ll explore how a strong brand attracts the right customers, strengthens your team, and sets your business apart.

Grace Jones
Chief Marketing Officer at Aileron