Tom Douglas's Think Summit 2025 Takeaways

On Friday, April 11, I had the privilege of attending and speaking at Biz 417's 2025 Think Summit, which was held at the amazing Convoy of Hope facility. As always, Biz 417 delivered an incredible day!

Here are a few of my biggest takeaways:

Mental Health and Self-Care in the Spotlight

I was absolutely impressed by the candor and raw nature with which so many of our local leaders discussed the challenges of having a healthy mind. David Cameron, city manager of Republic, shared that when you take away the executive role, there is just David, and he needs to be able to take a break from the challenges of the executive role. Logan Aguirre, publisher of Biz 417, David, Andy Hedgpeth with CoxHealth, and Linda Daugherty with the Academy of Hair Design had an incredible conversation about the power of a sabbatical. It certainly brought this topic to the forefront of our team's mind for discussion and work. They shared how it is not only good for the person taking the sabbatical, but like day-to-day delegation, it is also good for the person stepping up to help fill in.

Ashleigh Bentz, prosthethic/orthotic technician at CoxHealth, shared an incredible story about how life's challenges can become our superpower. While none of us choose to have struggles, if we take those lessons and pay them forward, we can lessen the load on others and help them to have a better path.

Zach Troutman, founder of Follow the Leader, shared a touching and tough story about how it is important to be real and honest with others about the challenges we’re dealing with. Sharing how you feel about the challenges of life is critical, so others know they are not alone. He shared that it is also critical to check in on everyone—even those who appear to be doing well. It is often people who seem to be doing awesome who are struggling within. I was proud of the speakers and the conversations as we fight to make sure people don’t feel ashamed about challenges with mental health.

Jason Hynson with Victory Mission carried this message forward in talking about personal rebranding and the struggles of climbing out of a bad history. To be different, we have to first think differently, which often means that we have to rebrand ourselves in our own minds and in the minds of others. It was awesome to see his passion for lifting others who want a different future that is not forged by a tough past.

The messages were clear: We all have head trash. We all have to work together to build a better future.

Place Has Purpose

The pride in 417-land was palpable in the room. From Springfield’s new Mayor, Jeff Schrag (congrats, Jeff!) and David Cameron kicking off the day through to the end of the day with the President of Silver Dollar City, Brad Thomas, it was clear that people are proud! Jesse Tyler, partner at All True, shared how even the quirky parts of the city and history have meaning and can pull people together. It was awesome to see and hear that place has a purpose in a person’s life. The sense of belonging and joy that comes from “home” helps to center us. It doesn’t matter if your home is 417-land or Texas, Alaska or Australia—place has purpose, and having that foundation of belonging is fundamental to who we are. Personally, I love the direction of our community and the intentionality with which we are forging a better future.

Company Culture is Rooted in Family

It was great to hear from Julie Gray and Kari Hamra with O’Reilly Auto Parts about how their culture is stronger today than ever. With thousands of employees around the world, they are focused on engagement, promoting from within and making sure their teammates know they are constantly working for a better tomorrow for them and their families. I loved hearing how intentional they are about their culture and trying their best to make sure everyone belongs and is appreciated, which is extra hard when there are more than 6,000 locations. It was awesome to hear that a company that is trading on the Nasdaq and has to deal with all those pressures can still maintain its identity.

Attitude Matters

Coach John Perry from Nixa shared how having a winning attitude changes the outcome of a game. It doesn’t matter if the last play, or the last half of a game, or the last day in business was tough, the next play’s outcomes are dependent on our ability to adapt, learn from what works, and have the determination to win against all odds. I love underdog stories! It is an excellent reminder that the world may be against us, but we have to decide if we’re going to let it beat us down or if we’re going to keep fighting until we get the win.

Dwayne Fulk with City Utilities also shared that when we negotiate in business, we must the perspective that losing is not an option. He provided some powerful questions and tactics for winning a negotiation ethically. By knowing the details of what really matters, we can navigate through the issues to get to an outcome that is good for all involved. He shared that calling out the obvious can make a big difference in the outcome by saying things like, “You may think I’m being a jerk right now…” or asking, “Have you given up on this?” we can force people to face an emotion that may be in the way of getting to the root of an issue.

Knowing and Respecting Your Audience

The amount of work that Logan and the 417 team put into this event is incredible. They focus on ensuring each section of the event—from the moment you enter to finding ways to tie the sponsors into the day, to the time to network—is a meaningful investment for guests. Joey Thorsen, director of content & PR at Silver Dollar City, shared that the same is true in social media. It was a great reminder that, as businesses, we shouldn’t just post things to sell or put random things up that don’t create value; we need to have a tangible respect for our audience’s time and attention and focus on value. Joey’s message centered on entertaining the audience and saying that it’s totally okay to be silly and make the experience memorable. If we respect our audience and provide value through entertainment, then we will actually engage people rather than give them something to scroll through. I think there is a lesson for our day-to-day lives in there as well.

It was an awesome day to listen, learn and hear incredible messages from amazing people.

We all need days to get out of the day-to-day and charge our batteries from the energy of others.