Wow, what a day. After two years, Business Class LIVE returned to its free in-person format last Wednesday at the Javits Center in New York City – celebrating its 10th year helping small-business owners connect and thrive.
Small-business owners networked, noshed, and learned novel ways of navigating their next ‘new normal’ in an ever-evolving, challenging business climate that’s also full of growth opportunities.
“We built Business Class to answer the most pressing questions small-business owners had,” said Clayton F. Ruebensaal, executive vice president of Global B2B Marketing at American Express. “We will always adjust the content to make sure it’s of the moment, entertaining, and most importantly, useful, but our mission stays the same: we want to help businesses do more business.”
At the event, small-business owners learned from a variety of experts, with entrepreneur, actress, and producer Issa Rae as the keynote panelist. Adam Grant, Jay Shetty, Lo Bosworth, and many more insightful, savvy speakers and panelists shared tips on everything from self-care to seeking investment partners.
My best business advice is to ‘do you.’ Be authentic and most of all, be true to yourself.
—Issa Rae, entrepreneur, actress, producer, and New York Times best-selling author
Away from the stage, attendees explored a dynamic ‘marketplace,’ featuring an interactive quiz to learn your leadership styles and strengths – complete with a matching baseball cap to showcase your strength and kick off conversations. There were also resources for Black and women-owned business owners, plus plenty of cold brew and ice cream to cool down on the balmy summer day.
“It’s redefining what business education means, bringing lifestyle-like content and experiences to small-business owners, all available at no cost, aiming to democratize the information needed most,” Ruebensaal explained.
The cherry on top? Lin-Manuel Miranda shared an introduction and closing speech, and his improv hip-hop group, Freestyle Love Supreme, hit the stage with creative words and melodies, incorporating brand slogans, ice cream tales, and more into their performance. Miranda, a Pulitzer Prize-Grammy-Emmy-Tony-Award-winning composer-lyricist-actor-director, also co-owns Drama Book Shop, a small business in New York City. Like any small-business owner, Miranda has plenty more stories and insights to help support fellow small businesses.
Other speakers, panelists, and small-business owners themselves shared so much illuminating information to absorb and keep learning from. Trusting your voice, honing your communication skills, finding balance, and being flexible were all key themes throughout the day.
Here are 8 key insights from the event to inspire small-business owners to fuel forward – whether you’re just starting out or looking for the next big leap.
Issa Rae, entrepreneur, actress, producer, and New York Times best-selling author:
1. “My best business advice is to ‘do you.’ Be authentic and most of all, be true to yourself.”
2. “Finding balance takes hard work just like anything else. I have to be extremely intentional about my breaks and schedule them. My Mondays and Fridays are scheduled for creativity. There is always a blueprint. I have been working heads down for ten years just so I can breathe.”
3. “Managing is like a marriage and understanding how to do so is an essential tool. You have to clearly state your expectations, be transparent, and constantly communicate.”
Adam Grant, organizational psychologist at Wharton, best-selling author of “Think Again,” & host of the “Worklife” podcast:
1. “Feeling like an impostor can motivate you to work harder and smarter. You know you don’t have all the answers, so you learn more from the people around you.”
2. “When small-business owners learn to think like scientists, they make better decisions. They recognize that their strategy is a hypothesis and their decisions are experiments, which makes it easier to pivot.”
3. “Intuition is just subconscious pattern recognition. The question is whether the patterns you’ve recognized in the past apply to the future. Instead of trusting your gut, you’re better off testing your gut.”
Lo Bosworth, founder and CEO of Love Wellness:
7. “As a leader, it's important to recognize and separate stress from anxiety and properly process both in the right ways.”
8. “Allowing employees to create time for themselves is the only way to create and sustain momentum.”
Missed this year’s Business Class LIVE? For videos and resources from the event, visit our event page.
Photo: Momentum / Getty Images