Kentucky Executive Summit
Hosted in Louisville Thursday, August 28, 2025 7:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. EDT
Beyond Limits
You’re not just a CEO. You’re a visionary, driven to grow faster, scale smarter and lead with purpose. To climb higher, you dig deeper and tap into collective wisdom.
The climb isn’t a solo journey. It thrives on the strength of a global network – from your Chair, to your group, to peak-performing peers. The Vistage Executive Summit is your launchpad: a moment to elevate your vision, expand your impact and explore new vistas.
Key Takeaways:
- Access Expertise & Build Relationships: Tap into diverse perspectives to solve challenges with innovative solutions, strengthen your network, and find motivation through shared experiences.
- Unlock Business Opportunities: Build meaningful connections that lead to new partnerships and strategic referrals for long-term growth.
- Gain Cutting-Edge Insights: Stay ahead of economic shifts, identify growth opportunities, and enhance business resilience with actionable advice.
- Sharpen Leadership Vision & Wellbeing: Gain strategies to make confident decisions, boost productivity, avoid burnout, and build emotional resilience to navigate stress and uncertainty.
This is more than an event; it’s a community where leaders inspire new perspectives and forge meaningful connections. Boundaries are not just challenged – they’re transcended. You shape the future of business and innovation. Let’s redefine what’s possible.
Event Speakers
Connor Lokar
Senior Forecaster and Economist, ITR EconomicsPlan for Rise Ahead
2025 will be a year of macroeconomic economic growth, but the fact of rise or the rate of growth will vary by industry. We will look at the various industries so each can plan accordingly. There will also be factors that are universally applicable. We will examine those factors and discuss how to plan most effectively for 2025 and beyond. International trade, interest rates, inflation, consumer strength and business-to-business activity and more will be part of the discussion. This outlook will require a change in perspective so that you can successfully plan and change to maximize your profits in both the near and longer term.
Joe Roberts
Author, HumanitarianFrom Skid Row to CEO: Building Mental Resilience One Step at a Time
In this powerful keynote, Joe shares his transformative journey through mental health challenges and personal setbacks, revealing how the combination of community support and individual resilience became the cornerstone of his extraordinary success. Through his compelling story of overcoming substance use and catastrophic failure, you will discover that everyone has the capacity to rebuild, grow, and thrive when given the right tools and support system.
You will leave with:
- A toolkit for building personal resilience and supporting others' mental health.
- Practical techniques for taking small, consistent actions that compound over time to create meaningful change in both personal growth and organizational culture.
- Leadership strategies that balance empathy and accountability, enabling teams to support struggling individuals while maintaining high-performance standards.
- Methods for reframing limiting beliefs and stigma around mental health, and embracing vulnerability as a pathway to strength.
- Actionable steps for building support networks and fostering community connections that enhance both personal resilience and collective well-being.
Anne Petrik
VP of Research at Vistage Worldwide, Inc. | Summit EmceeInflection Point: Growth at the Speed of Now
To navigate through inflection points in the business cycle, Vistage Research reveals that CEOs must focus on growth, talent, infrastructure and technology. Learn insights and sentiment from your peers as well as expert perspectives from trusted Vistage community experts in this presentation featuring the latest Vistage CEO Confidence Index data.
Paul Humphrey
Chief of Police for LouisvillePaul Humphrey was sworn-in as chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department on September 27, 2024. A lifelong Louisville resident, Chief Humphrey joined LMPD as a patrol officer in 2006 following his graduation from the University of Louisville. Early in his career, Humphrey served as a patrol officer and patrol supervisor in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th divisions. A longtime member of the LMPD SWAT Team, Chief Humphrey was promoted to SWAT Team Commander in 2017. He is credited with restructuring the SWAT Team, creating a new culture of improvement and accountability while managing the team’s training, tactical planning, and operating budget. In 2019, Humphrey was chosen to lead the LMPD training division before being promoted to Assistant Chief in 2021.
Breakfast buffet served
A deep dive into the economic forecast facing your market.
Buffet lunch served in the Marketplace.
Lunch buffet served
From Skid Row to CEO: Building Mental Resilience One Step at a Time.
Celebrate your community's Vistage Member Excellence Award winners and finalists and connect with fellow peers. Refreshments to be served in the Marketplace.
Breakout sessions
7:45 - 8:45 a.m.
Grow Profits Through Process Automation
Presenter: JJ Russell, Director of Sales | Vsimple
Generative AI is transforming how businesses scale and operate - but most leaders lack a clear path forward. In this session, you’ll get an executive playbook to drive immediate ROI with AI-powered automation. Learn how to cut manual work, reduce costly errors, and gain real-time visibility to grow faster.
You’ll walk away with:
- A CEO-level understanding of why clean, connected data matters
- Real-world examples of AI unlocking efficiency and capacity
- A tactical roadmap to implement automation - fast, without disrupting your team
Topic: Business Operations - Productivity & Execution
7:45 - 8:45 a.m.
The CEO's Guide to Strategically Scaling Sales
Presenter: David Mullins, Strategic Sales Coach | SalesStar
Unlock the secret to scalable, measurable, and predictable sales growth in this exclusive session designed for CEOs. Learn how to build a strategic sales system that drives consistent results and empowers your sales force. Attendees will leave with actionable takeaways:
- Proven methodologies to streamline sales processes and drive consistent results.
- Strategies to leverage data for better decision-making and measurable outcomes.
- Insights to achieve sustainable growth and elevate your company's performance.
This session is for CEO's who want a clear path to building a strategic sales system that is scalable, measurable, and predictable.
Topic: Customer Engagement - Sales & Marketing
7:45 - 8:45 a.m.
From Founder to Future: Strategic Succession Through Internal Transition
Presenter: Kellie Sheryak, CEPA, Managing Director | UBS Private Wealth Management
100% of owners exit their business and the vast majority prefer an intentional exit. There are many factors that go into a successful business transition beyond the economics of a deal:
- How much control do you want to have?
- What do you want your timeline to look like?
- What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
When weighing non-financial factors of an exit, many of our clients have opted for an internal transition rather than selling their business externally. We will discuss our experience with such transitions, ideas to consider, best practices, and potential mistakes to avoid.
Topic: Personal Development - Asset & Estate Planning
7:45 - 8:45 a.m.
All In on Sales Hiring: Bet Smart, Win Big, Build a Dream Team
Presenter: Steve Heroux, Founder | The Sales Collective
Tired of hiring “rockstar” salespeople who flop fast? You’re not alone. The average bad sales hire costs $1.3 million in lost revenue, and traditional hiring methods only work 23% of the time. In this no-fluff session, you’ll learn how to spot bluffers before they get through the door. By combining sales analytics with the psychological tactics of elite poker players, you’ll walk away with a smart, predictive, and nearly bluff-proof hiring process.
- Attract and retain elite sales talent (not professional interviewers).
- Use the Sales DNA Test to decode the invisible traits of great salespeople.
- Triple your hiring accuracy and make confident, data-driven decisions.
Topic: Customer Engagement - Sales
12:25 - 1:25 p.m.
Building Sustainable and Transferable Business Value: A 4-Stage Process
Presenter: David Tramontana, Integrator and Area President | FocusCFO
Join FocusCFO's David Tramontana as he shares his journey of building sustainable and transferable business value in this presentation. He highlights the four essential steps — foundation, health, growth, and value — and shares the lessons he learned and the pitfalls he encountered on his entrepreneurial journey, eventually leading to a successful exit with a $40 million payout.
Attendees will discover the importance of identifying their "hedgehog," having trusted advisors, and how a fractional CFO can help align strategy with numbers. This presentation provides valuable insights for businesses to increase their value and build a solid foundation for future success.
Topic: Financials - Capital/Cash Management
12:25 - 1:25 p.m.
The Dark Side of Private Equity: Missteps that Could Cost You Millions
Presenter: Zane Tarence, Partner and Managing Director | Founders Advisors
With more PE firms targeting private companies, business owners must be equipped to navigate this complex world successfully. Using case studies, data-driven insights, and over two decades of M&A experience, we’ll discuss the PE investor ecosystem, how they exploit inexperienced business owners, and strategies to help you protect your equity. You’ll learn:
- 7 reasons your business is not qualified for PE investment (and what to do)
- Essential questions to answer before engaging PE
- The truth about “Minority Investors” and “Founder Aligned” PE
- Why 90% of founders lose in PE negotiations
- Enterprise Value Coaching through Industry Driven Valuation Scorecards
Topic: Financials: Mergers - Acquisitions
12:25 - 1:25 p.m.
CEO's Candid Guide to Right People, Right Job, Right Fit To Scale the Business
Presenter: Mike Hall, Executive Advisor | Culture Index
Join the Culture Index team to reveal the true fit of your executive team and leaders- who is in the right seat and who is not? Do you have the right team in place to scale your business? Not getting the top and bottom line growth by not hiring and obtaining the right team? In this session, you will be prepped to utilize data to make more objective human decisions in securing the right talent in order to drive sustainable growth. Walk away with new insights, tips, and practices to implement into your business and better align your people.
Topic: Leadership - Retention & Engagement
12:25 - 1:25 p.m.
Artificial Intelligence For Every Department – Moving Past ChatGPT
Presenter: Chris Tamm, Managing Partner & Founder [Vistage Member] | CAST Services
Do you know how to use machine vision, machine learning, robotic process automation, and large language models to gain efficiencies across departments?
Join Chris Tamm, Vistage member, seven-time founder and CEO, and highly sought-after speaker on AI and automation, to explore the transformative power of AI. (This is not about ChatGPT!)
Equip yourself with the knowledge to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape:
- The latest advancements in AI usage, applications, and robotics *Practical implementation examples with ROI
- Guardrails and discussing these tools with your teams
- Don't wait on your vendors to roll out an AI feature or two
Topic: Business Operations - Technology
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