Personal Invite to an “Invite Only(?)” Leadership Luncheon
Disclaimer: Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy.
Ratings: Venue (4/5), Food (4/5), Speaker Content (2/5), Networking (3/5), Likeliness to Return (3/5)
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Ratings: Venue (4/5), Food (4/5), Speaker Content (2/5), Networking (3/5), Likeliness to Return (3/5) 〰️
A random guy on LinkedIn invited me to this event, almost like a recruiter for this event. It was strange cause its a well-established group here in Seattle, the tickets were over $160/peson for a 4-hour event (expensive/not cheap if you ask me)… and it doesn’t quite relate to what I’m doing. But he reached out to me and offered me a free ticket. So… I’m going to attend, but I’m confused why they want me there. I’m not a CEO of Google or anything, just a random bootstrapping (SUPER AMBITIOUS) founder… So, this is also a test if I should ever give up time on the weekends with my daughter again (her grandma is watching her extra so I can go to this) since last night was such a disaster (previous blog)… but I’ll give it a try. It has been so long since I wrote a quality blog - and, idk… I’m curious about this event yet confused why I was recruited and given a free ticket to this prestigiously marketed event.
Why Attend: Like I said, it’s a group with a strong reputation. It is in a nice venue… and probably it’ll be quality content, so I wanna give it a try. Plus, I’m very curious what is going on here. Have I reached a point where I stand out, and people invite me to things, seeking me out? Like professional conferences? I don’t think so. Maybe post-MOASS/Teddy stuff - of course… but idk about this right now. hahaha But maybe? Let’s go find out.
PHOTO COLLAGE + COMMENTARY
NOTES FROM THE EVENT
When I sit down, I can see that lots here from the start is inviting memberships, people to join. To pay $2,500 and they have a book you can purchase too.
So, I’m starting to think this is a commercial that I’ve been invited to.
But the woman in charge assured me I was going to have a fabulous time with extreme enthusiasm ahahah
The breakfast wasn’t healthy, all sugar (pastries and fruit) but… at least there is food.
A woman will give a presentation soon who looks like my late partner - my former business partner who passed away. Very fashionable, a fashionista as she would say.
But the projector isn’t working. They’re up on stage troubleshooting for like 35 minutes - wild amount of time for a 4 hour event with lunch, too. That’s kinda only a 3 hour event… and then the first 35 minutes you’re fixing things.
Some women at my table are introducing themselves and talking about experiences in these big corporations and all their successes. Casual flexing. It makes me think of Larry Cheng. Humility is so essential for successful people.
A woman spoke asking if we can wait on late people to arrive.
To me, this is WILD. Waiting on people who are late to get started??? Its disrepectful to the people who showed up on time…
But I think its just an excuse and they want to save face since so many technical issues are happening.
The mic was so loud, and I asked them to turn it down after hahah.
She says, “good morning” (people say good morning) then she says, “GOOD MORNING, I can’t hear you” then everyone says good morning earlier.
Like I always say, this is one of the worst ways to start a speech/event… it puts all the pressure on the audience to bring the energy. So i’m like uh oh.
Now they’re saying there was a partner luncheon before, a breakfast, an awards ceremony, all sorts of things.
So this is part of an ongoing event?
She’s asking how many of us have her sent a thank you card to icons? (Not me. Idk what they’re talking about)
She’s talking a lot about random things and just clapping, and everyone is talking about how wonderful and fun everyone is and how fun last night was. And today they’ll focus on the iconic leadership workshop. The first of its kind framework unleashed for us. We ae the first few to provide feedback on how the framework works. So they can shape the movement. Early supporters.
They’re not going to provide us with any answers; we need to find the answer.
By the end of the day, have amazing conversations.
Think about collaborative leadership: how do you elevate it?
They have dozens of sponsors for this.
They have lots of costumes you can wear. And they want to get a group picture cause that’s important for them. To me, I don’t like that. I don’t like to be in pictures unless it feels so authentic (which is so rare). But, I get it.
There are about… 30 people here at most- I’m a bit surprised. If they were giving me a free ticket? How many were free? What is this event?
I also think I attended a documentary filming about these woman/this group one time a year or two ago.
Each one of us have to look at the shift of AI. Trade will be powered by marketplaces.
How are you automating? How are you participating in this shift?
Shifting from petrol dollar to silicon dollar? Nigeria is leading, then India, us, and Canada.
Are you participating in currency shifts?
Previous economies were powered by labor, capital, and information
Now its powered by intelligence: trade powered by marketplaces, entrepreneurship and leadership is merging, digital currencies, hybrid workforce, supply chains automated, and economic mobility
They wrote out a 2026 state of economic access report. What’s open? What’s opssible? What’s next?
Most organizations focus on skills, technology, and growth - few foucs on economic access.
Each one of you has the power to be an early innovator in how you think of AI transforming and creating opportunity.
What will you learn today?
Let’s dive into each other’s worlds.
Present you with the ICONIC LEADERSHIP long game gameplay
Leadership simulation and discussion
Pitch & Showcase Ideas to WOW Us
Munch and Mingle to meet five new faces
Group photoshoot and call to action: Jump on the bandwagon!
If you don’t make 5 friends walking out the door, you’ve failed. (Everyone laughs)
this doesn’t make me laugh though hahah. Just cause like. “Friends” is a strong term - and studies show it takes 70+ hours to truly feel friends with someone. How can you make friends at this, unless its so much talking? This is a big promise and ask. Feels like it’s not true friends- and FIVE. Lets see. I feel I’m gonna fail so , low expectations on myself.
A woman gets invited on stage - a woman who looks just like my passed away business partner. It’s wild how much they look alike.
She said she had a drink in a can this morning, putting stuff in the car; she put the drink on the hood and it tipped right into where the wipers are. She was like, NICE. And then laughs.
Random story hahah.
But, okay, here’s the deal you guys. You have to be much more awake alive and engaged in this conversation. This is a conversation. Okay/
I, again, am not a fan of putting the pressure on the audience to be “more energetic” and “more awake” - its the role of the presenter to inspire and lead.
We’re taking questions throughout. You have something to ask, to say? Raise your hand. Even if it’s just a “ditto” or wahtever. Right? So. I want a lot of engagement, no sleeping. Ahahahah she says.
This is a moment of transformation. One of those few moments in your lifetime where everything changes, the world changes on multiple levels.
I’m thinking, No, I think this is the new normal. I think everything will keep changing.
You’ll look back on this and remember when, what you did. You’re part of that.
So make this moment yours. Make it memorable. You are each innovators, entrepreneurs, change makers. You are leaders of this next generation. OF this generational shift that we are in. The kids who are growing up in this will never know anything different. Right?
So be the leaders to help the kids shape that future.
This is literally waht I’m doing hahaha. My entire business and life mission.
And what is really transforming isn’t the AI, it’s the people. It’s the way the people behave. It’s the thing the people do. Think about the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The things the people did that now you think of as hobbies. You go back to relearn it.
What do you do every day today that’ll be hobbies for people. Writing with a pen. Writing a poem. That will not be the way things are done in the future.
What really changes for everyone in this room is your leadership, your leadership style.
The fear is real; disruption is real.
Millions of jobs could be automated sooner than expected
The majority of workers worry AI will replace them. Companies turn to AI to cut costs and rolls
Automation investments surge as employers seek efficiency over headcount
AI tools replace routine tasks once done by entry-level employees
Younger workers most concerned about AI threat to career stability
The leaders who will rise are not those who have been through it, know the most, or have seen it all. IT will be the people to rally other people, help them, scale them, build systems, build capability, help them get in touch with their humanity. That’s what you need to bring forth from yourself. You have it.
This is an opportunity. You need to make this your leadership style.
Why is expertise not enough?
Her PPT is probably written by ai with sentences like “AI Isn’t a threat, it is a catalyst” and words like “real” and “actually,” which I feel AI uses all the time.
I jumped around so much that I was purposefully never because of what I’d already done but what I knew I could do. That’s why I was asked to talk about this. That’s more of what we need. Leaders who lead with curiosity, desire to learn, and try new things. Not get stuck in what they know and what they’ve done. I’m good at this because I’ve done it this way? No. What capabilities do you bring to the table? How can we make the most of that? What is needed in this moment? How do we think differently about solving this problem?
I may leave this event early cause I want to go pick up my daughter at a reasonable time. After lunch - let’s see.
Just feels like so far its not anything concrete… and I miss my daughter.
Your humanity, your relationships are building trust. Your ability to paint a picture and build a vision or create an arc that other people can start to fill in.
Thank God we don’t have to know facts and figures anymore.
Hm. Idk if I agree with this.
We don’t have to put people on the spot to know all of that - they can find all of that.
We need people who can find answers, ask the right questions, so then the answers they find help them move forward. Bring you closer to your vision.
You have to be great at helping people cultivate that. We can not bank on our current education system. It still teaches facts, figures, and things to memorize. Now how to think, relate, connect, bring people along. That’s what we’re going to have to teach people. They’re not; we’re just not able to rely on old systems to teach them that. Unless you live in Oslo (? What's Oslo?) - I looked it up - it’s the capital of Norway.
AI can’t replace empathy, courage, accountability, influence-inspiring action, creativity, ethical judgement
AI can’t read your face and figure out what you need to help you move fowl. That’s the leadership piece you need to pull out and reconnect with.
A woman sitting next to me is shaking so much. Just shaking her leg and bouncing nonstop. It’s so distressing. Shaking her legs and wobbling side to side. She said she’ll be speaking in a bit - then leaving early to go to a music festival. And that she didn’t prepare her speech. She has no idea what she’ll talk about.
Build an ecosystem around you, support. All of that requires you to connect with people, find people, bring people together. Create hte “what’s in it for me” with everyone your network. So they know why to help you and why they should care.
What do you want to get out of it? How can I help you get that out of it?
This is a good question to ask people coming to MY events next week at tech week. I’m hosting 5 events.
The Kickstarter event, they want you to help fund.
This audience, they’re trying to raise 20k from this audience and the community. lol. I see. Is this why I was invited? To invest 1k into this company?
OMG this other woman next to me keeps holding her phone as if she’s discretely filming everyone.
You can donate your talks as a fundraiser to the Kickstarter campaign.
This event is running 35 minutes late to begin, and now this woman on stage has been talking forever hahah. I just went to the restroom and came back, and it feels like she’s just rambling to an answer of a question
I mean she has value, but it’s like, “what can you do, what’s your mental model? What’s your framework? What can you teach? What can you show? What landscapes can you bring your ecosystem into? Bring others into? Help them find their place? Help them find their place. Don’t tell them their place. Let it start to organically happen. Don’t push, don’t lead, let it grow. Let it happen.”
What is happening that you can celebrate? And make others think they can do the same. Show people some of those things. Celebrate those moments. That’s what gets you to start going where you want to go.
Invite others into your mission, make it a shared mission, building coalition, shared language, align around shared commitments, shared goals, vision, then mobilizing collective action. Mobilizing people.
Change cultures, build movements, thats what enables you in this economy. That’s what we need from leaders.
The next woman jokes she got kicked off stage. Last night?
Now we need to find a new face, share our name, role, favorite movie, a movie that made your cry. And if you attended last night’s gala, your takeaway
I don’t like that we have to talk about things that make us sad :(
What does iconic leadership mean?
- someone who opens doors, lifts others, and creates opportunities that continue long after they’re gone
Creativity opportunities that outlive their presence
Lifting peopel higher than they could have gone by themselves
Turning influence into economic opportunity for others
Leading with the qualities technology can never replace
Got any iconic leaders highlighting up your life? What epic moves did they make that left a mark on their life or career quest?
People who step back from the limelight and let others take the lead.
I was paired with a woman literally plaanning/leading this event - and that woman doesn’t like Paris Hilton lol.
Cause I told her the word “iconic” reminds me of Paris Hilton. I told her the last movie that made me cry, well one, was Team America World Police. I had just been talking about that movie with someone this morning.
It’s funny I was paired with her too, she like came up to me. All while I was trying to be invisible/conquested. That’s so my goal lately.
This girl says that woman, my partner, when you start to withdraw, she helps to find yourself, be seen. And also see those you’re leading. See their story, waht matters to them.
LOL this event is sorta dorky but amazing if it were a week long. But there’s not a lot of time rightnow.
And the projector IS finally working, but there’s not color red.
The photographers and videographers are all in your face. But it’s cause there are only three and a half tables of conversations hahah. It’s really obnoxious and annoying. I hate when photographers and videographers are so intrusive.
Now we’re supposed to give postcards to our iconic leaders. Mail them. But my iconic role model passed away a few years ago. Maybe I’ll send this one to the GameStop HQ - to RC. He’s my role model. LOL - written. So sweet.
They said you can join the podcast, host workshops. Any workshops?
How? They’ll email instructions later? I’d lke to have some of my workshops maybe? idk.
Now a woman is on stage just talking bout how she was awkward as a kid, etc. The woman who was shaking next to me + didn’t have a speech prepared.
This woman is talking about how she is having a worldwide impact cause of this group.
She’s trying to sell the benefit of this group and how/why you should join.
Just going on and on about how people give even if they have so little and it changes the world (brah but their starting price is $1,000)
Each one of you can influence; you already have. So I’m asking and begging you to sign up for the kickstarter with wahtever you have. Money or whatever you’d like.
Give money, give time. Give what you can, your skill, wahtever. Sign up. She’s given $20,000 so far and will match any money anyone gives her 100%.
Then she said she autographed a book with her picture on it. I don’t get it.
Anyone to pledge anything, something, a bit of money, your skill.
And she said she’ll have to leave early - so another woman says we all need to go on stage, take a group pic before she leaves. SO we pause the event, go on stage to take a pic, then go back and sit down.
Each pic they ask us to take with poses like, “KPOP”, “electricity”, idk.
I just stood there and smiled. but I don’t want to force myself to do that. To fake enthusiasm just for a picture.
One woman at my table is trying to move here and find a job. She said she’s manifesting to get a job.
I mean, really. Not to be rude, but to be realistic. There are hundreds of thousands of people in this city looking for work with her same skills. I gave a speech on this two weeks ago - about how when you say “i’m looking for a job” its a huge turn off. You need to provide value, have strong opinions. Don’t mention you’re looking for work so openly. It doesn’t shine your best light.
She says she’s a coder and said she’s unique because “lots of peopel can’t build app with AI”. But idk. And she’s here on a working visa. Let’s see….
Later a woman came and sat next to her. Turns out she’s also looking for a job. But she’s a recent graduate so I offered her my card and told her I’m looking for interns.
I still feel like I have no idea what has actually happened in this event. We still didn’t even open up this 6 page workbook that we’re “not allowed to look at yet” - and we’re supposed to finish in 55 minutes but I feel like we did nothing yet.
Okay - I’m officially not skipping time with my daughter ever again.
She’s saying now we’re going to do hard work with the workbook -
But the food is out and ready to be eaten… so we will jsut let the for get cold? Hahah and wait? I’m so confused by this event. Why do they make us wait to EATTTTT. The breakfast was just pastries. Not even healthy. I’m, again, not trying to be rude - but why do you have food out - it’s past noon - yet we need to do work? I don’t get it.
So we need to do this workbook? And then we can have lunch?
SO she’s saying “Congrats, you were chosen - you’re a few - this was an invite only event, not open to the general public… (But it was $160 on eventbrite… ??? Why did she says its invite only?)
Any dollar you invest, they promise you’ll get 2x results within 24 months.
Don’t forget to spill the beans at the end of the day with your feedback and invite others to jump on this epic journey.
Craft a legacy that outlives you and all of us. It’s a breeze to wave into your daily routine. Help grow leaders around you, and ensure you and your AI pals work like a dream team.
Don’t only inspire, but also elevate everyone and build a legacy.
Some frameworks you can integrate into daily life.
Now here is the leadership simulation we’re going to do. A fake woman named Maya - she’s been driven to drive AI transformation and leadership transformation for her whole organization. Iconic leadership will determine if she can transform teh company.
The company is APEX Global, a Fortune 100 industrial tech company with 80k employees. 40 years successful, products are trusted, loyal customers, but growth has stalled, and margins are shrinking and three AI-native competitors have interest he market
The CEO returns from Davos saying they have a problem. He asks about how to make us impossible to replace. Tech won’t become our moat, leadership will. Let’s create one bold initiative.
Why is man leading the company? Well thats how it is. Our goal is to take that role.
Maya is a director for digital transformation. A high performer, trusted, delivers every project, customers are satisfied, strong technical expertise.
I’m literally like - what is she talking about even? This is so complicated of a setup and scenario.
This woman loves the number 7… every time we had a break it was for seven minutes, there are seven problems.
Ad advances faster than the workforce
Teams operate in silos
Innovation isn’t scaling
Employees dont’ feel included - demoralized
Partnerships are fragmented, no GTM is place
Customers want deeper collaboration and responsible AI innovation
Competitors are winning through ecosystems and AI-native companies
One woman from the audience says the first 4 are no-brainers; everyone is feeling it acutely.
For me, I’m like uh… huh? hahahah
For the next hour, your table will become her leadership advisor. You’ll use the iconic leadership framework. You have to come up with decisions as we go through it. She only has 6 months to do this and the CEO mandate: don’t improve the organization, transform how we lead.
She asks if we have questions now. I do - what are we doing?
She said now we will go through lunch then do the exercise a paradigm shift to work on?
I dont’ get this hahahah. I’mlike WHAT is this event. Chaotic.
All while asking for money? $1k minimum or … idk?
The woman next to me is looking at a video message her friends sent her with them cheering and drinking. But she’s watching it on mute with no captions. Of course. Cause video messages don’t have captions.
But this woman next to me was bragging about how she opened up offices of a famous company all over the globe.
Bragging isn’t cute. But of course you want to receive credit for your hard work… but I realize its just not the time - in the first few minutes or even first time of meeting someone, let those things reveal themselves.
And then she was telling them she won an award last night. But there are like so few people here. So, idk. Was it even a big awards ceremony or just a small pool? Or what?
I have no clue what we are doing. They said to have lunch, discuss things, then find out which level you’re operating and what you bring to the table. I’m so confused. I will eat lunch and leave. Just not even participate and leave my workbook behind. I’m over this.
She said now we have 12 minutes to eat lunch and do the first part. Lol.
then her staff calls her over, they talk, then she says - okay my staff says that’s not enugh time for everyone, but I want us to be done by 1:00 (so what? Are we doing 6 pages of this workbook over 42 minutes? And eating??)
I left early. I just want to hang out with my daughter. This was a waste of time.
I wrote that feedback - very directly- to the recruiter who gave me the free ticket. I wrote to him:
“That event was a complete waste of my time. Nothing new. Nothing learned. I left early. It was very meaningless. Just generic talk about being inspiring etc. and then they started 35 minutes late, cut conversations short. Just tried to get everyone to donate $1000+ and/or “time”. But the ask was so confusing.
Absolutely confusing event. No idea what the point was? Except they’re trying to raise money? And it was tied to other events everyone else had attended there? No idea.
Anyway. That’s my feedback. I left early and regret trading that for spending time with my daughter.If it had been on a weekday, better preparedness, more focus, less promotional and asking for money- maybe valuable. But they also embellished the audience saying it was an invite only event, yet you all were selling tickets for $160 on Eventbrite? No idea.
Anyway. Now I’ve learned my lesson. Not to waste my time on weekend events and/or vague things like this. Was unoriginal, disorganized, confusing, and kinda unbelievable hahah.And they cut the event short by an hour. So if I had paid, I’d have been frustrated that they started late and then cut it short.
So. Thanks for the free ticket. I’m glad I didn’t put money into it, and I regret putting time into it. Hope that feedback helps your team.(I attend hundreds of events a year, I am a blogger and write blogs on events. I’ll write one on this one too. So, it’s not like I am just a random attendee.) Anyway. Take care
He replied: Thank you for the feedback. I will relay this to the founder. We take every feedback seriously and based on your feedback this sounds like this community is not a good fit for you.
Have a good day.
I wrote back:
I actually want to clarify one thing: I don't think it's the community that's the issue.
I attend Women in Cloud events regularly, recognized many people in the room, and that's actually one of the reasons I accepted the invitation. I trust the organization and enjoy connecting with women founders and leaders.
My feedback was specifically about this workshop. For me, it felt disorganized, unclear in its purpose, and not particularly substantive, especially given the expectations that were set. That's very different from saying the community isn't a good fit.
I hope that distinction is helpful when you share the feedback.
I walked away with no inspiration, nothing iconic, and really the only takeaway was two things:
When you cut everything short, you don’t allow enough time to get into anything. Like you can’t even get deep into anything - it’s all surface level (if that’s acceptable, okay)
I don’t want to sacrifice time with my daughter for questionable events EVER again.
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
