I'm at a level where I need leadership skills that can take me to the next level. And after being at Elite Retreat, what I realized is that I need to get back to some of the basics that I've just gotten away from, and that's going to help be step ahead and realize my tenure plan.

Elite Retreat was very different than what I've been accustomed to because it was not centered around my industry or my business. It was centered around being a leader and being a business owner. I really loved spending time in the breakout sessions with folks that were struggling with some of the same issues and concerns that I had as a business owner. I took seven pages of notes and I have so much to process and prioritize.

Elite Retreat has been an opportunity to network and dialogue with other business owners, CEO, executives. I know what happens in my business, I know what I do, but I don't know what everybody else does, so it's nice to just spitball a little bit and see what else is going on out there in the world. The presentations have been full of so much good information. I've got notes after notes. But I really think the breakout sessions were my favorite part because we could really dive into the nitty gritty with other attendees.

I really wanted to take that next step of commitment of having a coach, so when I heard about the opportunity for us to really immerse ourselves with Southwestern Consulting, come to Nashville, see this beautiful city, I was all in. My favorite part is really the perspective shift that I've had. Being able to listen to other business owners and the hardships that they're going through has really allowed me to humble myself and be more understanding of the challenges that I'm seeing. Community, networking, are all things I love to do, and it was just really great.