Emily is praised as a next-level motivator and inspiring leader who lives by her motto, “Be so good they won’t forget you!” Her TEDx talk, “Six Tips for Building Your Confidence,” amassed an impressive 3 million views within a year and ranked #12 among the 16,000 TEDx talks uploaded to the YouTube channel in 2022. Renowned Fortune 500 companies, sports organizations, and national conferences frequently call upon her to speak and consult on creating more confident and goal-driven employees. Emily shares strategies that empower individuals with confidence, reducing fear and anxiety while fostering motivation, resilience, improved relationships, and authenticity in the workplace. 

Emily’s debut book, Let’s Go! A Guide to Increasing Your Confidence is a #1 best-seller on Amazon. As a pioneer in the sports industry, she made history as the first female General Manager of a Triple-A baseball team in nearly two decades. Additionally, she served on the DE&I committee alongside Major and Minor League Baseball, actively participating in inclusion efforts. Her highly-ranked podcast, “Leadership is Female,” features interviews with female executives, aiming to guide the future generation of female leadership. This podcast ranks among the top 2.5% globally and is listed in the top 200 in the business podcast category worldwide.

With nearly three decades of global executive coaching experience, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer is a leading expert in purpose development.

At the Next Generation Conference, Dr. Bentzen-Mercer will take the main stage to inspire emerging beverage distribution leaders and lead two breakout sessions. These sessions will provide hands-on coaching and action plan development tailored to both industry newcomers and those from ownership families.

Through her coaching, attendees will work to identify their personal mission, vision and values, enabling them to make a meaningful impact within and outside their distributorship.

Don’t miss the chance to become the architect of your career in beer and beverage distribution

Jake Thompson is a leadership performance coach and the Chief Encouragement Officer at Compete Every Day, a brand he started in 2011 by first selling t-shirts out of the trunk of his car.

Jake has spent more than a decade working with leaders and organizations worldwide on how to get better results for themselves and their teams.

He has been featured in Forbes, hosts a weekly podcast closing in on one million downloads, and has directly impacted over 80,000 ambitious leaders.

Through his entrepreneurial sales experience, client work, and research, Jake has built a proven C.E.D. framework that helps leaders improve their grit, productive habits, and leadership influence to create a more positive impact as leaders within their organizations.

Jake lives in Dallas/Fort Worth with his wife, Elena and their rescue dogs, Sugar, Donut, & Snacks.