

Hope Follmer/Payne-Corley House
A Knot Magazine Hall of Fame winner, The Payne-Corley House offers timeless beauty, southern charm and modern elegance for any special occasion. The historic estate boasts almost four acres of lushly landscaped gardens, beautifully appointed ballrooms and exceptional cuisine made on site. Guests will feel captivated by the warmth of the grand estate while the gracious service, outstanding food presentation and attention to detail will make a lasting impression. For weddings, along with amazing wedding inclusions to take the worry out of the planning process and a wedding specialist to direct the day, couples may choose from three outdoor ceremony sites. From intimate gatherings of 40 guests to corporate events for 250 guests, the award winning Payne-Corley House is the perfect place to host any event.


An advocate for social justice. A tireless volunteer. A wannabe hacker. An honest and thoughtful friend. A weekend karaoke singer. A serial entrepreneur. One thing that can’t be said about Kimberly Barnes is that she’s one dimensional.
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. Learn more at 

Tiffany Krumins

Jennifer Rusz has a long career working for both corporations and as an entrepreneur. Rusz began her career, in the 90’s in market intelligence, business operations and management for companies such as Mid America Research/Fact in Focus, Lucent Technologies, Kyocera Wireless, ARS/ Current Analysis and Websense Software Solutions before starting her first company in 2004. She has since been a business consultant now Founder and CEO of Sterling Rose Consulting Corp. Sterling Rose Consulting Corp is an award winning full service business consulting firm, with three divisions, which include business consulting, marketing consulting and strategic technology consulting. For more information about Jennifer Rusz or Sterling Rose Consulting Corp please visit 


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Gene Hammett works with companies to discover new strategies for growth. From small businesses to large corporations, he presents his ideas on becoming THE choice, not A choice, and unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit by activating internal brand ambassadors for companies. Gene’s podcast, Leaders in the Trenches, has been recognized by Inc. and Entrepreneur for its insight on marketing and sales leadership.


Brock Kolls is a serial entrepreneur who develops market-changing technology by identifying and capturing intellectual property around breakthrough innovation. He is a prolific inventor and U.S. Patent Agent. He took a FinTech startup to a successful NASDAQ exit. He was a member of Coca-Cola R&D and started Coca-Cola’s global open innovation program, scouting for technologies worldwide. Now his focus is
Dr. Ed Getty has over 28 years of R&D Technology Management & Strategy experience gained over twenty years while creating and managing world-class open/external innovation business models, processes and capabilities for:
Kacie Lett Gordon is the VP of Client Engagement at 

Homestar Financial Corporation
Sonesta

The team at 














