Thank you for making the 6th Annual Private Markets Summit a huge success. This year was our largest event yet,  including the Inaugural Credit Forum and Inaugural Venture Forum as well as three new networking workshops.

Here are some of our favorite moments over the two days.

1. MEETING AND NETWORKING WITH ATTENDEES

We had over 500 attendees this year from 26 states, 60% attended for the first time. Our closest attendees came from Chicago and our furthest travelers came from the Netherlands.

2. LETTING LOOSE DURING THE IMPROV WORKSHOP

Over 40 attendees joined the engaging and hilarious improv workshops to warm up their communication skills. It was our first year offering this “add on” and the turnout was better than we could’ve hoped. When asked why they were attending, participants said “confidence, networking skills, fun, learning” and a whole lot more. The workshop was intended to provide networking tips through improv, and we thought it did just that.

3. HONORING OUR SUPER ALUMNAE

We ran some numbers this year and realized that there were four women who have been to our summits for six years in a row, since inception. They are now known as our “Super Alumnae”.   We are completely blown away and honored that they would choose to spend two days of every year, for the past six years, with Kayo. We are grateful for their friendship and inspiration and to watch them push themselves, win their battles and then pull other women along is what motivates our team every day.

4. SALLY POFCHER AND HOW TO “PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS”

L. Catterton’s Sally Pofcher was one of our keynote speakers and shared her story about rising to the top including her successes and failures along the way. She continued to reinforce playing to your strengths and building a team around you that can compensate for your weaknesses.

“My ‘otherness’ was something I began to feel proud of. A quote that became important to me came from CoCo Chanel, ‘In order to be irreplaceable one must be different’ and I started to celebrate that.” – Sally Pofcher

We loved so many of her quotes:

• “That otherness that was hard at the beginning was my towering strength as a CEO.”
• “I fell in love with the P&L and the balance sheet, as the song sheet of the business.”
• “Athletes of all levels make a difference.”
• “We sit in the gray area for too long… you have to move faster.”
• “Time matters.  If you don’t set milestones, you can lose months and years in private equity.”

She told us that balance sheets should always be the go-to for business decisions, but also addressed the human side of her career. She said “One of my themes became who you choose to work with, not just the people who you hire around you, but the people you spend your time with who shape your life. Some of my most meaningful mentorship moments were not about professional things at all, but how people handled it when I had personal issues.” 

She made being a CEO and being in Private Equity seem like the most fun, creative and challenging endeavor. Sally set the tone for the summit and we continued to hear our attendees speak of her stories long after she kicked off the morning. Thank you again Sally for motivating us and inspiring us.

5. PARTICIPATING IN 2 KEYNOTES, 12 PANELS, AND 22 ROUNDTABLES

This year’s programming was carefully curated to help our attendees network, advance their career, incite deals and champion their peers. Each session brought out great questions and ignited thoughtful conversations. If you walked away with new business opportunities or new insights about your own career, we’d love to hear it. Email us.

One standout was Pat Zollar, Managing Director at NB Alternatives Advisers, speaking on the topic of “I want to start my firm in five years; what should I be doing now?”

“You better have a fire in your heart. It’s not the path of least resistance.”
– Pat Zollar on Emerging Managers

6. NOT ONLY SHOPPING, BUT CAT-WALKING

Our amazing retail partners included MM.LaFleur, Dana Rebecca Designs and Dagne Dover. We not only saw you shop, but many of you wore your purchases during the summit. We loved seeing the new look and supporting our retailers.

7. HEARING YOUR OPINIONS

We exist because you exist. We hear from many of you during the show about what you love and would love to see more of, but we would appreciate your continued feedback on everything from programming to location to speakers so that we can continue to improve. Email us with your insights and suggestions.

8. CAPTURING WOMEN WHO CARE ABOUT THEIR CAREER AND THEIR PEERS

We took some great photos of our attendees on stage and off stage and hope that they will be useful to you as you continue to drive your career forward. Please feel free to tag yourselves and tag us on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.

VIEW THE ALBUM