Main Street Summit Recap

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve talked about Main Street Summit, so I wanted to share a quick recap for those who may wonder what in TF it was!

This was the second year of the Main Street Summit, which was put on by Brent Beshore and his team at Permanent Equity. The summit was a festival type—multiple different classes/workshops, and you pick which one best fits your needs. There were also Main Stage sessions that included keynotes and 1:1 or 1:2 interviews with Brent or his team. 

This was geared towards Small and medium-sized businesses, which I’ll say feels a little intimidating for me as I’m definitely a micro business owner. But my goal was to go and learn for my business growth. Because my client load has grown from only start-up solopreneurs to include seasoned business owners and teams, I wanted to be able to help further my clients. 

It was super exciting to know I’d be surrounded by business owners from around the world, VCs, season owners, billion-dollar-generating companies, micro businesses like mine, and everything in between.

When I dropped off both kids and headed downtown, I said aloud, “I belong here,” because, as I said above, there were many people on a whole other level! 

I double-checked the times of the sessions I had signed up for, texted Kristen, and we met up outside the Main Stage and headed in. 

When we hear of VCs, million-dollar companies, tech, etc., we tend to think of money, power, and how to get to the top. I’m here to tell you that wasn’t the case…for any of it…at least in my opinion, but I heard that from many others. 

Overall, we heard about building companies with a strong mission, giving back to the community, faith, and the grit they’ve all grown through. 

The breakout sessions were a mix of skim-the-surface info and here are all the details you need to know—the latter was just incredible. I went to a session titled "To Franchise or Not to Franchise," and they legit broke down the numbers you would expect to pay if you’re looking to become a Franchisee or a Franchisee. 

My favorite breakout was Avantages in Analog. We heard from Peter Ostapko - Analog Advantages: Community Hospitality The Supports Your Company, who talked about the importance of human connection in a digital world (think, sending a handwritten thank you note instead of an email). We also heard from Jeff Schulte - The Emotional Aware Leader who talked about getting to the root of our performance (money won’t buy you happiness, and you or your leadership can’t grow past your deep feelings)

I’ll call it out because I know a good number of attendees (or those who didn’t attend) mentioned it—it was male-dominated, both in terms of speakers and attendees. I will say this year, there were more women in both sections. Some feel it’s always done on purpose - to keep things like this male-dominated - I deep down don’t feel that’s true. I feel it’s harder to find for many reasons - some are building a business AND raising a family, and they don’t want to be pulled from that time at home. Some don’t feel they’re worthy of the stage (yet!). Some are building quietly. 

I truly feel that more women are growing incredible companies AND taking the opportunity to share about them more broadly. We can all benefit from hearing a woman's perspective and sharing her story while also continuing to hear about the men who have been building and leading.

This is my perspective, and I would love to hear other attendees' thoughts and perspectives—both those who attended for the first time and those who also went last year. 

Throughout the two days, I met those from out of town and a handful from in town that I hadn’t had the chance to meet. 

Other sessions I attended to give you an idea of what they cover: 

  • Main Stage: 

    • Sovereign Capital

    • Worthwhile Tradeoffs: Going Off-Trend to Win

    • 1000x Leaders

    • What do you get if you give it all away 

  • Idea to Product to Revenue

  • Main Stage: 

    • Building a High-growth, Mission-driven business

    • Investing & Building in Healthcare

  • The Family’s Value (running a family-owned business)

  • Main Stage: 

    • “From $200K to $200M: The Bootstrapped Journey of Building a Consumer Brand”

    • “SMB Transformation Through Care”

    • “Good Energy” (my fav, and if you follow me on Insta, you saw the podcast I shared with Calle Means!)

  • Show Her The Money 

  • Main Stage: 

    • “Managing Controversy While Building”

    • “Demystifying Fitness & Weightloss”

    • “Family, Fatherhood, and Building Companies”

    • “Living Life Backward”

  • When Plans Implode

Overall, I feel like it was an amazing event and so great to see familiar faces and new faces! If you’re looking to expand your perspectives and meet new people I encourage you to find events that do that and include this one in your 2025 plans!

Amanda Quick