24/08/2026
What a weekend. 🤎 Still incredibly grateful for this experience, the feedback, the connections, and the opportunity to put Promise & Co. in the room.
Thank you, Radcliff Small Business Alliance, Inc., for the recognition and for creating space for local entrepreneurs to grow. 🏆
The promise is only the beginning.
Day Two of Lead, Launch & Leverage 2026 is officially in the books.
The day was packed with practical conversations around money, preparation, resources, technology, financial planning, and growing a business.
We started the day with Donovan Brent, who shared his personal story and his journey of paying off $400,000 in debt, along with lessons around investing and building a better relationship with your money.
During the Q&A, one question asked what someone should do if they have a bad relationship with their finances and want to start doing better.
His answer was simple:
Start a budget.
Sometimes improving your financial situation starts with simply knowing where your money is going.
Robert Coffey followed with valuable information about the SBA and the resources available to business owners.
Two things Robert said really stood out:
“The business needs to be inside of you.”
And when asked why he believes so many businesses fail…
Lack of preparation.
Then Dr. WandaJean Jones, AI Executive at Adobe, got the room involved with practical AI exercises and prompts that attendees could actually use with ChatGPT and other AI tools.
Cynthia Griffin brought the conversation toward building a financial legacy and the importance of planning ahead.
Cindy Mattingly, a local tax and bookkeeping professional, shared her expertise on the financial side of running a business.
Then came one of the highlights of the day…
The Pitch Competition.
Four businesses stepped up and had five minutes to make their case:
� Clippity Doo Dog
� Promise & Co.
� MFV Resources
Cosmic Golf
Congratulations to all four businesses for putting themselves out there and presenting their businesses to the judges and the room. It takes preparation, confidence, and a willingness to be evaluated to step up and make that pitch.
The day closed with a panel moderated by Holly Sexton Foy, featuring Cynthia Griffin, Cindy Mattingly, and Donovan Brent, bringing the event to a close with a conversation around business, leadership, and what comes next.
From getting control of your finances to understanding SBA resources, using AI, planning for the future, and putting your business in front of judges…
Day Two was about taking the knowledge and putting it to work.
Thank you to every speaker, panelist, judge, entrepreneur, sponsor, volunteer, attendee, and everyone who helped make Lead, Launch & Leverage 2026 possible.