Sessions Overview

The Sunrise Table Talk will take place on Tuesday morning. Attendees can sign up for special topics featured in these Table Talks and collaboratively discuss these topics in a small group setting.

Aaron Stremick with REAG
Title: More Information To Come
Session Description: More Information To Come

Amy Wirtz with Family Business Consulting Group
Title: Legacy & Logic: Exploring and Navigating Your Own Family Succession
Session Description: More CEPAs than ever are bringing their family into their businesses. But how do we shift client perception from "the founder's child/niece/ grandchild" to "the future successor"? Join us to discuss strategies for professionalizing the transition and successfully onboarding the next generation into your advisory firm. We will discuss client and staff perceptions, professionalizing onboarding, and mitigating risks in the practice. Join us for an engaging conversation about a dynamic and exciting transition.

Vivek Sarin with Juvo Company, LLC
Title: Earning the Right to the Deal: How Trust-Based Owner Conversations Lead to Real Exit Readiness
Session Description: Most advisors want to help business owners achieve successful exits, yet many exit conversations stall not because of valuation, financial strategy, or deal structure, but because trust has not yet been earned. Business owners who have devoted decades to building their companies are often tired, anxious, and wary of pressure. They are not looking for urgency or salesmanship. They are looking for sincerity, listening, candor, empathy, and at the right moment, a trusted, experienced voice willing to challenge them to prepare well and finish strong. In this Sunrise Table Talk, CEPA and business owner Vivek Sarin explores how trust-based conversations become the gateway to real exit readiness and why skipping this step leads to avoidance, false starts, and poorly prepared exits. Drawing on his experience as a second-generation owner who exited his family business to launch another, and his current work guiding owners through value acceleration and M&A, Vivek shares how patient, owner-centric dialogue builds confidence over time, helps advisors distinguish readiness from curiosity, balances empathy with accountability, and positions advisors as long-term trusted partners who guide owners toward thoughtful preparation and stronger outcomes when they are truly ready to move forward.

Mark Russell with SES ESOP Strategies
Title: Unlocking the Power of ESOPs: A Smart Exit Strategy for Business Owners
Session Description: Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) offer a compelling and often overlooked exit strategy for business owners seeking liquidity, legacy preservation, and continued company success. At this session, we will discuss how ESOPs work, their tax advantages, and the strategic benefits they provide for both owners and employees. Whether your clients are planning retirement, succession, or just exploring their options, we can discuss real-world examples and whether an ESOP is the right path for your client’s business exit.

Laura Malone with Charitable Solutions, LLC
Title: From Fear to Advantage: Using Charitable Planning to Enhance Business ExitsSession Description: Charitable planning can be one of the most rewarding—and misunderstood—elements of an exit strategy. Owners can unlock significant tax and financial benefits—but it often comes with perceived risks and misconceptions that stall or derail great opportunities. In this interactive Sunrise Table Talk, we’ll explore the most common fears and unexpected twists that arise when integrating charitable strategies into exit planning.

Mark Osborne with Modern Revenue Strategies
Title: The Next Frontier for Value Accelerators: How Commercial Systems Help You Win More Clients and Deliver Bigger Exits
Session Description: Marketing and sales systems are the next big opportunity for value accelerators to win more clients and deliver bigger exits. Financial and operational levers are already optimized, and sophisticated buyers now expect companies to have commercial systems that create predictable pipeline, reduce customer concentration, lift recurring revenue, and lower owner dependence. These KPIs drive transferability and reduce buyer risk, pulling in more offers at higher multiples, yet advisors have lacked a clear path to improve them without becoming marketing and sales experts. This session shows how to add commercial readiness through outsourced specialists, the same way you already use legal or tax experts. You will get access to free tools and resources that help you grow and differentiate your practice before your competition locks you out. Come learn why Scott Snider says, “This is the Future.”

Chuck Mohler with Eagle Corporate Advisors
Title: Value Acceleration vs. Value Growth: How Advisors Build Teams That Drive Both
Session Description: This Sunrise Table Talk goes beyond theory and into the real world of orchestrating measurable increases in company value. While most CEPAs understand the importance of collaboration, few know how to do it. We’ll move past frameworks and dive into what it really takes. Although value acceleration is widely discussed, the path to actual value growth is often misunderstood. Join this interactive session to explore how wealth advisors can align with value growth advisors, clarify roles, and build a unified strategy to transform outcomes for owners.

Michael Brady with Vanilla
Title: The AUM Growth Formula: Valuation + Estate Planning
Session Description: Vanilla helps advisors move from valuation work into the estate planning strategies that drive successful exit outcomes. In this Sunrise Table Talk, Michael Brady, CEPA shares a real client story where a valuation engagement quickly evolved into complex gifting and succession decisions as a business owner prepared to transition the company to his two sons. Michael will show how Vanilla supports advisors through education and scenario modeling tools that make estate and legacy planning conversations easier to explain, easier for clients to understand, and easier to execute alongside attorneys and other professionals. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for using Vanilla to create clarity across planning strategies and build stronger multi-generational client relationships.