Small Business Summit

Small Business Summit

Whether you were considering starting a business or aiming to take your existing business to new heights, this event was designed to provide you with valuable insights and connections.

Throughout the summit, attendees had the opportunity to connect with like-minded business owners who were eager to share ideas and information to support your success. The sessions covered a wide range of topics crucial to business growth and success, including:

  • Building a Foundation for Business Growth and Success
  • Knowing Your Numbers: A Guide to Understanding Your Business Financials
  • Digital Marketing: Growing Your Business Using Social Media
  • Maximizing Your Biggest Asset – Your People
  • Small Business Summit Happy Hour – Interactive Q&A Panel

Our expert speakers shared their knowledge and expertise, and participants had the chance to ask their burning business questions. The event provided proven, simple strategies to increase sales, generate more leads, and improve bottom-line profits.

We hope you found the summit to be an invaluable learning experience and an opportunity to connect with fellow entrepreneurs. Stay tuned for future events that will continue to empower you on your business journey.

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Jacqueline Peña| Business Consultant​

Jacqueline  teaches us how to build a foundation for business growth and long-term success. Then she teaches us how to use that foundation to establish a clear three-year strategic growth plan. 

Jacqueline Peña is the President and CEO of Empowerment Through Education, LLC, a national consulting firm that empowers small businesses, higher education institutions, and non-profits to succeed in meeting their mission-driven goals. She has been working in both the higher education and small business spaces for over 25 years. She became a solopreneur in 2020, growing her business to six figures in less than a year, and has now transformed her solopreneurship into a firm that embraces multi-hyphenates and neurodiversity in a 100% remote and flex schedule workplace.

Rob Aquino | Chief Financial Officer

Rob Aquino teaches us a stress-free way of understanding our business financials and using that information to grow our businesses. Rob breaks down the sometimes stressful world of business finance in a manner that is easy for any new small business owner to understand and use for continued small business growth. cation, a 501(c)3.

Rob Aquino is the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Controller Services at JBS Corp, a family-owned tax and accounting firm. Rob studied accounting and finance at Providence College, and, in 2014, began his own financial planning practice, as a financial advisor, with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. Six years later, Rob joined JBS as the CFO. His mission is to provide financial services normally reserved for ultra-high net worth individuals.

Lindsay Hanson| Digital Marketer

Lindsay Hanson teaches us how to use organic social media strategies to reach our target audience and grow our businesses online. 

Lindsay Hanson is an online business coach and social media manager at Lindsay Hanson Consulting. She helps small businesses to grow using organic digital marketing strategies. After building her own online coaching business using social media, she became passionate about helping other business owners to grow their brands and reach their target audience online using social media as the main marketing platform.

Igor Rodrigues | Business Performance Advisor

Igor Rodrigues teaches us how to grow our small businesses by focusing on the organization’s team members, the people who work together to grow the business together with you. 

Igor is a Larger Enterprise Account Executive with Gartner TalentNeuron. In this role, his goal is to focus on actionable, objective insight, expert guidance, and practice tools that empower HR leaders to make the right decision and execute quickly to achieve their top priorities. At the time of the original Small Business Summit, Igor worked with Insperity as a Business Performance Advisor. In that role, Igor guided leaders and partners in most industries to create an extra layer of resources for small business success with Insperity, a best-in-class solution that provides administrative relief, better benefits, reduced liabilities, and a systemic way to improve productivity, resulting in enhanced topline growth and improved operating margin.

Jacqueline Peña| Business Consultant​

Jacqueline  teaches us how to build a foundation for business growth and long-term success. Then she teaches us how to use that foundation to establish a clear three-year strategic growth plan. 

Jacqueline Peña is the President and CEO of Empowerment Through Education, LLC, a national consulting firm that empowers small businesses, higher education institutions, and non-profits to succeed in meeting their mission-driven goals. She has been working in both the higher education and small business spaces for over 25 years. She became a solopreneur in 2020, growing her business to six figures in less than a year, and has now transformed her solopreneurship into a firm that embraces multi-hyphenates and neurodiversity in a 100% remote and flex schedule workplace.

Rob Aquino | Chief Financial Officer

Rob Aquino teaches us a stress-free way of understanding our business financials and using that information to grow our businesses. Rob breaks down the sometimes stressful world of business finance in a manner that is easy for any new small business owner to understand and use for continued small business growth. cation, a 501(c)3.

Rob Aquino is the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Controller Services at JBS Corp, a family-owned tax and accounting firm. Rob studied accounting and finance at Providence College, and, in 2014, began his own financial planning practice, as a financial advisor, with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. Six years later, Rob joined JBS as the CFO. His mission is to provide financial services normally reserved for ultra-high net worth individuals.

Lindsay Hanson| Digital Marketer

Lindsay Hanson teaches us how to use organic social media strategies to reach our target audience and grow our businesses online. 

Lindsay Hanson is an online business coach and social media manager at Lindsay Hanson Consulting. She helps small businesses to grow using organic digital marketing strategies. After building her own online coaching business using social media, she became passionate about helping other business owners to grow their brands and reach their target audience online using social media as the main marketing platform.

Igor Rodrigues | Business Performance Advisor

Igor Rodrigues teaches us how to grow our small businesses by focusing on the organization’s team members, the people who work together to grow the business together with you. 

Igor is a Larger Enterprise Account Executive with Gartner TalentNeuron. In this role, his goal is to focus on actionable, objective insight, expert guidance, and practice tools that empower HR leaders to make the right decision and execute quickly to achieve their top priorities. At the time of the original Small Business Summit, Igor worked with Insperity as a Business Performance Advisor. In that role, Igor guided leaders and partners in most industries to create an extra layer of resources for small business success with Insperity, a best-in-class solution that provides administrative relief, better benefits, reduced liabilities, and a systemic way to improve productivity, resulting in enhanced topline growth and improved operating margin.