To kick off 2025, we invited seven people we admire to speak about a single word. This simple ask led to inspiring conversations and so much learning for our team! We are grateful to our star-studded speakers who gave us their time and wisdom.

 A few highlights:

Chef and Restaurateur Ford Fry spoke about humility. He realized recently his managers were telling him what he wanted to hear, but servers were telling him the truth. “Listen to the youth,” he said. “Listen to who’s coming up.”

Eliza Lynch, director of PR for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, chose the word compassion. She encouraged us to think about the word selfless as less self. After all, who wants to be less of themselves? Being selfless should not be the goal; we must take care of ourselves so we can show up for others.

Libby Wanamaker, vice president of talent experience at Chick-fil-A, shared her journey to professional contentment. When asked if contentment and ambition can coexist, Libby said yes. “Staying still is not contentment to me. I am not happy if I am not growing. It is about being okay with the pace of it.”

Speaking to the word inclusion, Travis Townsend, co-founding partner at Townsend & Lockett, talked about remembering that people at work are people with families, interests, histories and things they care about. Sometimes we are all so focused on getting things done, on executing, that we forget to take time to know individuals.

Bruce Deel, founder and CEO of City of Refuge, talked about the power of trust. At City of Refuge, that sometimes means extending trust to convicted murderers. It means getting to know people for who they are instead of what they’ve done. “When you trust people on the front end, they begin to trust themselves.” 

Jeff Small, co-founder and CEO of MDH Partners, focused on the word curiosity. In a theme that echoed through several talks, he spoke about making mistakes as part of being successful. “We need freedom to make mistakes; they are learning opportunities.”

Eric Weatherholtz, founder and managing partner at Healey Weatherholtz Properties and co-founder of Automatic Meetup, chose the word relationships and shared examples of how authentic relationships led to commercial real estate deals and successes. “If you think of anything you’ve accomplished that was worthwhile, it was a result of a relationship you had with another person.”

Warrick Dunn, founder of Warrick Dunn Charities and former NFL running back, chose the word perseverance. He talked about overcoming the odds to become an NFL running back despite his small stature, as well as overcoming challenges in his personal life after his mother died when he was 18, leaving him to help raise younger siblings. He said he developed good habits, including a grueling training schedule. “I had the mindset: If they call my number, I want to be ready.”