Companies

Ladies Who Launch Was Just the Beginning

Biz 417 hosted its ninth annual Ladies Who Launch women’s leadership conference on August 13–14 at Branson Convention Center. The two-day regional event ended with an exciting announcement you need to know about!

By Katie Pollock Estes

Aug 2026

Kristin Sharp PhotographyPublisher Logan Aguirre closed the event with a big announcement: Ladies Who Launch has officially changed its name to Pretty Brilliant.

What happens when 800 brilliant, courageous, supportive women get together in one room? We call it a little bit of magic. On August 13–14, 2026, Biz 417’s annual Ladies Who Launch regional women’s leadership conference was the most exciting one yet because Publisher Logan Aguirre closed the event with a big announcement: After nine years of bringing inspiring keynote speakers, engaging panel discussions and the most uplifting community to 417-land businesswomen, Ladies Who Launch has officially changed its name to Pretty Brilliant. Read about why in our official announcement, and keep scrolling for a recap of the event’s other highlights.

Oh, one more thing before we dive in: Tickets go on sale in November for the first-ever Pretty Brilliant women’s leadership conference, scheduled for July 21–22, 2027.

Courage is a Team Sport

The theme for this year’s conference was Courage Grows Here—courage to connect, to bet on yourself, to ask for what you need, to take action and make it happen. Courage showed up in the Ladies Who Launch’s little moments of personal connection and its big “ah-ha!” moments from the stage.

One of those moments came in Biz 417 Publisher Logan Aguirre’s opening speech, where she talked about how handwritten notes can be a powerful way to care for others, and a courageous act that uplifts. She says the root cause of burnout for women leaders and entrepreneurs isn’t about money, workload or imposter syndrome. It’s loneliness. The act of caring for someone helps loneliness start to dissipate, she said. It can manifest as something as simple as a handwritten note, but to craft a note filled with sincerity you have to pay attention, take action and amplify someone else.

“The truth is, caring for others takes courage,” Aguirre said. “The courage to put your heart somewhere visible. The courage to take something personal and make it universal. And you almost always are going to spend time that you were pretty sure you did not have.”

To encourage guests to take the spirit of “caring for” and the gift of handwritten notes home with them, Aguirre handed out custom stationery printed with the phrase “I think you’re pretty brilliant” to all attendees.

Kristin Sharp PhotographyJenny Wood

Let Yourself Go Wild

In her keynote speech “Wild Courage: The Confidence to Ask, Act and Lead,” presenter Jenny Wood flipped the script on nine negative traits that “create the bars of the invisible cage that keeps you quiet and keeps you following instead of leading.” Have you been described as weird? That’s authenticity, baby! What about nosy? We can call it curiosity. She dug deeply into two of the nine traits: brutal and shameless. Reframed, those two words equate to prioritization and confidence.

Wood is The New York Times bestselling author of Wild Courage and a former Google executive who rose through the ranks of the organization during her tenure of nearly two decades, and she says that to be brutal in the best way, you need three things: Ruthless focus (don’t let multi-tasking steal your time), the ability to “pull it and bullet” (aka reduce the word count of your emails and present info in bullets for clarity) and the art of taming the octopus (which is the verbal communication equivalent of Pull it and Bullet, designed to avoid rambling).

To turn shamelessness into confidence, present your pitches using her GRAB framework to clearly, concisely outline these four things: Goal, Request, Action and Benefit. And you also have to differentiate between Truths & Tales—or verifiable facts versus the stories you tell yourself that fuel doubt and worry. She had to do this when she was considering leaving her job at Google. The tale she told herself was, “I’ll lose my entire identity.” But the truth was, “I simply won’t be employed by Google anymore.”

Wood ended with an empowering message: “No matter whether you succeed or fail in any one given thing, you will never feel as purposeful, powerful and alive as when you’re pushing past that fear to the joy and success on the other side. Everything you’ve ever wanted is right there waiting for you on the other side of fear. Reach for it.”

Mic Drop

In the Remarkable Voices session, three graduates of Biz 417’s Remarkable speaker training program shared their signature speeches on the Ladies Who Launch stage.

First up was Ettie Berneking, Media Relations & Communications Manager at Mercy Springfield Communities. Her talk entitled “Party of One” dove into her personal story about embracing solo travel—and learning how to withstand a little boredom and small moments of loneliness as you learn to enjoy spending time with yourself. But in addition to being an empowering endeavor and a chance to embrace your own company, solo travel is also a great way to meet new people. She said: “Just get out of your comfort zone and say hi to a stranger, because that’s what solo travel is all about. It’s about personal growth. It’s about discovering your inner strength and your inner best friend.”

Kylie Jackson, Learning and Development Manager at The Great Game of Business presented “Grow Through It: Why You’re Already a Change Leader.” Jackson made a career out of seeing potential in other people, working in casting in Chicago and ultimately booking for the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child before moving back home to Springfield. She said change leadership is a hot topic right now, with changes happening rapidly in the workplace. And change has three steps: The before, the messy middle and the after. Change leadership is helping people move from where they’ve been to where they’ve never been before, and Jackson says women are uniquely suited to guiding that process. Data shows that 8% of leaders are strong at change management. 92% are not strong at emotional engagement, empathy, communication and influence. Jackson says: “Wait, so you’re telling me to outperform 92% of executives, I have to be good at communicating and listening and trusting and showing empathy? And how many of you guys have been doing that all day today? This sounds a lot like women.”

She goes on: “The data shows that we are 1.3 times more confident than men in our effectiveness at managing change. I am convinced if we were speaking the same language that we actually could get that number a little bit higher. Because you might call it keeping everyone together. Corporations call it stakeholder management. You might call it reading the room. They call it organizational awareness. You might call it getting everyone on board or in the same band, going in the same direction. That’s coalition building. I’m just doing what I gotta do. That’s leadership.”

And finally, we heard from Sarah Hough, Senior Manager, Community and Outfitter Engagement at Bass Pro Shops. In “Ready Enough: Owning Your Leadership Moment,” she talked about the moment she was approached and asked to run for the Springfield Public Schools School Board. She hesitated, asking herself if she was qualified, if she had time and if there wasn’t someone better for the job. She’d helped others run for office before, digging deeply into their campaigns and doing everything but put her own name on the ballot. “I was reminded of a question that someone once asked me,” Hough said. “What would it look like if you invested as much time and energy in your own success as you’ve invested in the success of others? Deep down, I knew it was my turn to thrive.”

Still, Hough had to identify her why. “Your why is rarely something you invent. It’s something you uncover,” she said. “When you find your why, it’s like turning on a light in a dark room. Suddenly the next step is just easier to see.”

Biz 417 is committed to helping more women tell their stories through public speaking. If you need a little nudge to find your own voice, registration is still open for the Fall 2026 Remarkable cohort. Apply online by midnight August 17.

Kristin Sharp PhotographyDr. Meg Myers Morgan.

Ask Like You Mean It

The second keynote speaker of the day was Dr. Meg Myers Morgan, a negotiation expert, professor at University of Oklahoma and The New York Times bestselling author of Everything is Negotiable. In her talk “Know Your Worth: How to Negotiate for Everything You Want in Life and Work,” she dove into the three things you need to get anything you want (confidence, clarity and a willingness to withstand conflict) and how those play out in a successful negotiation.

Morgan says there are three reasons women often don’t negotiate: They didn’t know they could, they weren’t clear on their ask, and they were afraid of what others would think of them. “People are the least sure about what they want when they are the most concerned with what others will think,” she says. Her advice: Cull the members of your mental boardroom. Fill it with a small table that holds only the few most important opinions in your life. She said: “Give the keys. Assign the seats. Lock the door. These are the only opinions you worry about from now on.”

In her session—which was both hilarious and wonderfully tactical—Morgan points out that there is value in simply asking for what you want, regardless of the outcome. “Your top demand becomes your bottom line,” she says, relaying the story of a client who had worked two years to try and get a specific role at a specific company. It was her dream job. But when the offer came, it was not a good one. Morgan helped her prepare a counteroffer. When the company refused, she turned down the job. “She knew the minute she sent the counter offer that that’s what she had to have,” Morgan said.

Katy St. ClairWomen Who Mean Business Panel at Ladies Who Launch.

Turns Out, You Can be a Boss and be Delightful

Each year, Biz 417 chooses five powerful women leaders from the Ozarks to feature in our March edition’s "Women Who Mean Business" cover story. The 2026 honorees joined each other on stage at Ladies Who Launch for a candid conversation with Biz 417 Editor Dori Grinder.

On the stage:

• Amber English, Co-Owner and Founder of Pixie
• Paige Tuck, Executive Director of Synergy Recovery Center, Synergy Counseling Center and Synergy Executive
• Angie Jackson, President of Justice Furniture & Mattress
• Dr. Sadaf Sohrab, Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Springfield Communities
• Brandei Clifton, Senior Publicity Manager at Silver Dollar City Parks & Resorts

Throughout the session, these powerful and compassionate leaders answered questions that came from an audience poll. We learned a lot, but the best part was: These women are a delightful crew, proving that you can be genuine, warm and even hilarious as you lead your team.

Here are some of our favorite quotes.

• “Courage is really trusting in the moment that I have what I need in place to do the tasks at hand.”—Amber English on the practical act of courage
• “Have the courage to be weird, wacky, wonderful you.”—Brandei Clifton on finding her own way after stepping into the role of a legendary predecessor
• “What she taught me was honest is the most important thing. Transparency is the most important thing. Knowing where you want to go and what you want to achieve and who you want to serve is the most important thing. And always doing the right thing and doing it every single time. She said, ‘If you’re doing the right thing in your mind, you will automatically lead with courage.’”—Dr. Sadaf Sohrab on words of wisdom from the grandmother who raised her
• “No matter what you do, if you’re not pouring into yourself and taking care of yourself, you cannot show up for others the way that you need to show up.”—Paige Tuck on being your best for the people who depend on you
• “I had been at Southwestern Bell long enough to know that climbing that corporate ladder was going to be very challenging, especially in a big organization. And I thought, once they sell Justice, then I will more than likely never have that opportunity. It’s something my grandfather had poured everything into for our family. So the next morning I got up, and I called my dad.”—Angie Jackson on choosing to move home and take over the family business that her grandfather and father had built

If you know a powerful female leader in the Ozarks who you think should be a future Women Who Mean Business honoree, nominate them now.

The Group Chat Could Never

Ladies Who Launch started—and ended—with opportunities for true connection with other attendees. The kind of connection and energy you can only have in-person. Attendees connected through the Welcome Reception and Coffee Chicks Hustle Hour for Fully Loaded ticket holders and the engaging sponsor integrations and Friday afternoon happy hour for all ticket levels. Fully Loaded guests also got to enjoy a centering moment to begin the day on Friday with a Morning Movement session, and they were able to attend one of the two Rise & Shine Workshops with keynote speakers Jenny Wood and Dr. Meg Myers Morgan. The workshops gave them valuable small-group access to these engaging speakers prior to their mainstage presentations.

And finally, don’t forget: Tickets go on sale in November for the first-ever Pretty Brilliant women’s leadership conference on July 21–22, 2027.