“How-To” – Growth & Visibility – Getting Clear on Your Story—and What Actually Helps You Grow

“How-To” 🛠️📈 — Growth & Visibility: Getting Clear on Your Story—and What Actually Helps You Grow ✨🚀

How To’s for the Family Business
A series of practical conversations about the real work of running a family business—how you lead, communicate, and make decisions along the way.

Each conversation focuses on a different part of the work—how your business grows, how your people experience it, how decisions get made, and how things actually run day to day.

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For many family businesses, growth doesn’t come from doing more—it comes from getting clearer. Clear on who you are, how you talk about your business, and what’s actually worth your time. You might already be feeling that—doing more, but not always seeing it translate.

You’ll hear from a mix of perspectives, including family business leaders who have lived through changes in how customers find and choose them over time. We’ll talk about how to describe what makes your business distinct, how that shows up in the way you communicate day to day, and how to make steady, practical decisions about where to focus—without feeling like you have to chase every new platform or trend.

The goal isn’t to overhaul your approach, but to help you step back, make sense of what’s working, and move forward with more clarity.

Speakers: Allison McCann, Maine Trust for Local News; Angela Marcolini, Pulse Marketing Agency / Bangor Daily News; Becky McKinnell, iBec Creative; Kes Lavoie, iBec Creative; Sam Novick, Hub Furniture; and a representative from Gallant Funeral Home

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Midday Conversations

Continue the conversation (online) with Live Zoom Videocast:  12 noon – 1 p.m.

Short online conversations that continue the How To Series, offering practical ways to go a bit deeper on specific topics.

Sponsored by: The Breakwater Group at Morgan Stanley and Mainebiz

• Building a simple AI assistant to support your marketing (Marketing & AI)

– Wednesday, November 4

Speaker: Rich Brooks, flyte new media

For many businesses, AI feels interesting—but also difficult to translate into practical day-to-day use. Continuing the conversation on growth and visibility, this session focuses on approachable ways AI can support your marketing efforts without adding unnecessary complexity. Rich Brooks will walk through how to build a simple AI assistant that understands your business, brand voice, and audience, helping reduce repetitive work while supporting clearer, more consistent communication. Designed for busy business leaders looking for practical tools rather than hype.

• How to advocate for your business in a changing landscape (Advocacy & Voice)

– Wednesday, December 2

Speaker: John Gugliada, Family Enterprise USA (FEUSA)

As the business landscape shifts, many family business leaders are trying to understand how to stay informed, speak up, and represent their businesses in meaningful ways. Continuing our discussion on growth and visibility, this conversation explores practical ways to engage in advocacy without feeling like you need to become a policy expert. We’ll talk through simple, effective ways to communicate with lawmakers, prepare for conversations around policy issues, and help make sure the perspective of family-owned businesses is part of the conversation.