Small business owners may be looking to brighter days ahead with a new sense of mission and understanding on what it takes to grow a business—from navigating inflation and labor shortages to new ways to secure funding.
The CNBC Small Business Playbook virtual summit will offer expert advice on how to manage businesses in this new landscape and examine lessons in leadership and case studies in crisis management to help small business owners thrive in 2022.
For CNBC Small Business Playbook editorial coverage, stories and video, visit www.cnbc.com/small-business-playbook/.
Stacey Abrams is the three-time New York Times bestselling author of While Justice Sleeps, Our Time is Now, and Lead from the Outside, an entrepreneur; and a political leader. A tax attorney by training, she served eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives and seven as Minority Leader. Abrams has launched multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at the state, national, and international levels. She is the founder of Fair Fight, Fair Count, and the Southern Economic Advancement Project. A small business owner, Abrams co-founded the financial services firm NOW Corp. and Sage Works Productions, Inc., a media company. She has received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and Yale Law School.
Ramiro A. Cavazos is President and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), America’s largest business advocacy organization for Hispanics. He is a trusted economic development expert and champion for bipartisan solutions that generate wealth to advance economic opportunity for the Hispanic community. Prior to his role at the USHCC, Ramiro was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SAHCC), the nation’s first Hispanic Chamber of Commerce founded in 1929. During his time at the SAHCC, he fought for the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), was recognized as a 5 Star Accredited chamber, and also led numerous annual trade missions to Spain, Israel, Mexico, Canada, Cuba and Italy.
Ramiro previously served as the Director of Research and Economic Development at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he advanced public-private projects promoting entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. He was also the past Director of Economic Development for the City of San Antonio, where he oversaw projects that focused on business expansion, retention and trade that led to the creation of more than 20,000 higher paying jobs for the seventh largest city in America. Cavazos also taught Economic Development at the Institute of Law and Public Affairs for The University of Texas at San Antonio.
His global perspective was honed by his experience working in the private sector for the Levi Strauss Company and Levi Strauss Foundation as Manager of Global Public Affairs & Contributions, where he was responsible for the Texas, Mexico, and Latin American regions. Additionally, he spent 15 years as a Bank Director at InterContinental Bank Shares Corporation (InterCon). His passion for small business is also fueled by his experience running his own public affairs business for 3 years serving clients such as AT&T, Valero Energy and H-E-B. Ramiro began his career in public service, where he worked in city management for the cities of San Antonio and Helotes, served as a Special Assistant to former U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas and as a legislative researcher for State Representative Irma Rangel, the first Hispanic woman elected to the Texas Legislature.
Today, Ramiro proudly serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for Fortune 500 companies to invest in more equity and fair representation for Hispanics on corporate boards and publicly traded companies.
Ramiro has shared his views on Latino entrepreneurship, small business growth, trade, and commerce on: Fortune, Forbes, Time, Newsweek, CNN, the Associated Press, The Economist, The Washington Post, El País, El Heraldo, and many other media outlets. He has also been recognized by Latino Leaders Magazine as one of America’s “101 Most Influential Latinos” for the last four years. In 2015, the Kingdom of Spain named Ramiro the Honorary Consul of Spain for San Antonio and South Texas. His efforts brought His Majesty King Felipe VI and Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain to San Antonio’s Tricentennial events celebrating its founding by Canary Islanders in 1718. The King of Spain bestowed upon Ramiro the Order of Isabel the Catholic (Orden de Isabel la Católica), its highest honor given to a non-Spanish citizen for his service as a business advocate to expand the binational economic relationship between the United States and Spain.
Ramiro earned his master’s degree in Public Administration from St. Mary’s University, where he received the honor of Distinguished Alumnus, and served as a member of the Board of Trustees. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Government from The University of Texas at Austin in three years. A native of Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley, he is a 7th generation Texan. He and his wife Christa are the proud parents of two boys.
Barbara Corcoran’s credits include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country: She borrowed $1,000 and quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City. Over the next 25 years Barbara would parlay that $1,000 loan into a $5 billion real estate business, building the largest and best-known brand in the business.
Corcoran is the author of the best seller “Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business!” and host of top podcasts “Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran”.
Corcoran is a motivational and inspirational speaker. She is a frequent small business and real estate contributor on every major network. Corcoran has been an investor/Shark for the past twelve seasons on ABC’s four-time Emmy award winning show, Shark Tank, investing in over 80 businesses to date. Follow Barbara on Twitter and Instagram @BarbaraCorcoran.
Joe De Sena is the founder and CEO of Spartan, the world’s leading endurance sports and wellness brand. De Sena has demonstrated his entrepreneurial drive since his pre-teens. After building a multimillion-dollar pool and construction business in college and creating a Wall Street trading firm, De Sena set his sights on transforming 100 million people through the Spartan lifestyle.
Following a successful career on Wall Street, De Sena moved his family to Pittsfield, Vermont to operate an organic farm, a bed and breakfast, and a general store for hikers. It was here that his passion for ultramarathons, adventure races, and endurance events grew, and thus the idea for Spartan was born.
De Sena has grown Spartan into a global experiential sport and wellness brand encompassing all things “tough fitness.” With its 10 million+ strong community, Spartan creates transformational experiences, products, and content to help people, companies, and teams tear down boundaries and expand what they believe is possible. Spartan’s portfolio of tough fitness brands has expanded beyond its signature obstacle racing events into Spartan Training, Spartan Trail, DEKA, La Ruta, Tough Mudder, and HIGHLANDER.
De Sena is a New York Times Best Selling author with three books, Spartan Up, Spartan Fit, and The Spartan Way. His fourth book, 10 Rules for Resilience: Mental Toughness for Families, hit bookstores in October. He also hosts the Spartan Up! podcast, which features weekly interviews with some of the world’s greatest minds in business, sports, and leadership. Joe is a founder of the Spartan Kids Foundation, that supports better fitness and healthy lifestyles for children in underserved communities. The Spartan Foundation has contributed over $250,000 to local schools and youth organizations to support its mission. (spartankidsfoundation.org)
Throughout his lifetime, Joe has competed in any and every extreme sports adventure that he could find, testing his mental and physical endurance against nature. Joe turned an interest in endurance racing into a passion. His racing resume is the stuff of legend, with 50 ultra events overall and 14 Ironman events in one year alone.
Tyler Mathisen, CNBC “Power Lunch” Co-Anchor & Vice President, Events Strategy
Inflation is hitting small businesses particularly hard, and it ranks as the top concern for owners in every sector. We’ll breakdown the latest numbers, and examine the road ahead.
Roger Ferguson, Former Fed Vice Chairman
Interviewer: Tyler Mathisen, CNBC “Power Lunch” Co-Anchor & Vice President, Events Strategy
With the small business landscape continuing to shift, how do you navigate problems like inflation and labor, and transform challenges into new opportunities?
One Shark is here to offer tips, and answer your questions on all things small business.
Barbara Corcoran, Shark Tank Investor & Shark
Interviewer: Jane Wells, CNBC Special Correspondent
A growing number of small businesses are turning to robotics and automated technology to help ease the burden of the ongoing labor crisis, particularly when it comes to streamlining inefficient tasks. We’ll examine the pro’s and cons of this movement, and what it means for the future of work.
Ravin Jesuthasan, Mercer Senior Partner & Global Leader for Transformation Services
Interviewer: Kate Rogers, CNBC Restaurant and Small Business Correspondent
The three most pressing challenges small businesses face are sustainable growth, hiring, and staying ahead of the competition, according to two successful entrepreneurs. They’ll share their stories of conquering the obstacles that held their businesses back, and offer tips for others to do the same.
Stacey Abrams, NOW Corp. Co-founder & GA Governor Candidate
Lara Hodgson, NOW Corp. CEO
Moderator: Sharon Epperson, CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent
A new report examines a range of bi-partisan solutions to meet the needs of today’s small businesses. We’ll discuss the findings, strategies, and a program that provides support services and a pathway for growth for small business owners.
Asahi Pompey, Goldman Sachs Global Head of Corporate Engagement
Victoria Thomas, JOURNEY FIT Owner
Dave Simnick, Impact Driven Brands Managing Partner
Moderator: Ylan Mui, CNBC Senior Congressional Correspondent
SPONSORED AND PROGRAMMED BY STAPLES, INC.
Businesses have had to adapt to new ways of working since the start of the pandemic. Leaders, employees, and customers have had to be flexible with when, where, and how work has gotten done, navigating increasing complexities along the way. Small businesses continue to search for unique solutions as they work to overcome the ongoing challenges this hybrid work model has thrown their way. This session explores how, as we emerge from the pandemic into a new way of working, businesses can ensure maximum employee productivity and capture new business growth opportunities in the face of adversity.
Amy Steel Vanden-Eykel, Staples, Inc. Chief Marketing Officer
Interviewer: Jen Rogers, Financial Reporter
TODAY Show Lifestyle & Commerce Contributor Jill Martin brings us the inspiring story of one business owner who beat the odds and is now bringing about change to her community.
Jill Martin, TODAY Show Lifestyle & Commerce Contributor
There are three critical elements that are at the core of successful businesses: teamwork, communication, and leadership skills. A former Wall Street broker turned entrepreneur will discuss how to improve all three to create meaningful change for your organization and boost the bottom line.
Joe De Sena, Spartan Founder & CEO
Interviewer: Tyler Mathisen, CNBC “Power Lunch” Co-Anchor & Vice President, Events Strategy
Here’s your chance to engage with fellow business owners and share ideas on overcoming the obstacles that are holding you back. Plus, we’ll answer your questions, and offer up pro-active steps you should take to navigate the challenges of today, and successfully plan for tomorrow.
Ramiro Cavazos, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President & CEO
Bridget Weston, SCORE Association CEO
Moderator: Sharon Epperson, CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent
If you missed this event, you can watch all videos on demand now. Join us in December for our end of year CNBC Small Business Playbook — register here.
Staples, Inc. Company Bio
With over 30 years in the game, Staples is here to help organizations feel confident navigating the ever-changing world of work. With a wide selection of quality products and services specifically designed for how you work, and a knowledgeable team dedicated to our customers, our mission is to ensure you can get the job done and done right wherever and however you work.
Staples.com
Get your favorite products through our effortless site, with most orders delivered next day to businesses and homes.
StaplesAdvantage.com (for business)
Purchasing programs tailored for business needs with customized pricing and member-only features and services.
Kevin O’Leary was born in Montreal, Canada on July 9th, 1954. As the son of a United Nations ILO official, he had the opportunity to live and be educated in Cambodia, Cyprus, Tunisia, Ethiopia, France and Switzerland.
Kevin attended the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada where in 1977 he received an Honors bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and Psychology. He attended the University of Western Ontario where he received his MBA in 1980.
After working briefly as an assistant product manager at Nabisco Brands, he left to pursue a career in television production and became a founding partner in Special Event Television, an independent production company that produced original sports programming such as “The Original Six”, “Don Cherry’s Grapevine” and “Bobby Orr and the Hockey Legends”.
Kevin co-founded SoftKey Software Products in Toronto, Canada in 1986. SoftKey was the first software company to apply the principles of consumer goods marketing to the software industry. SoftKey grew quickly as the price of personal computers declined and millions of North American families began to buy software for family education and entertainment.
In January of 1994, SoftKey became a catalyst of consolidation in the software industry, raising over $ 1 billion in a series of debt and equity financings and completing the first trans-border three-way pooling, merging with Spinnaker Software and WordStar International. As a result of this merger the company moved its headquarters to Boston, Massachusetts. In late 1995, SoftKey acquired Compton’s New Media and The Learning Company. In early 1996, SoftKey completed the acquisition of the Minnesota Educational Computer Company. In late 1997 and early 1998, the company acquired three more of its competitors, Creative Wonders, Mindscape and Broderbund making SoftKey the world leader in the development of educational, reference and home productivity software and the world’s second largest consumer software company with annual sales over $800 million, two thousand employees and subsidiaries in 15 countries. In 1996 SoftKey changed its name to The Learning Company. In early May 1999, The Mattel Toy Company acquired The Learning Company for $4.2 billion.
In 2003 he became co-investor and a director in Storage Now, a leading developer of climate-controlled storage facilities. Through a series of development projects and acquisitions, Storage Now became one of Canada’s largest owner/operator of storage services with facilities located in eleven cities serving such companies as Merck and Pfizer when it was acquired by the In Storage REIT in March 2007 for $110 million.
In July of 2007 Kevin became a founding investor and Director of Stream Global Services Inc., focused on the growing outsourcing business services market.
Kevin O’Leary is the Chairman of O’Leary Funds the Manager of the publically traded family of O’Leary Global Equity and Income Funds. He also serves on the board of The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He is a member of Boston’s 107 year old Hamilton Trust. Kevin O’Leary is a contributing columnist to CTV, BNN and the Bell Media Radio Network. He is a contributor to CNBC, ABC News and Good Morning America and an entrepreneur/investor co-host for the Discovery Channels Project Earth series that explores innovative ways man could reverse global warming implementing large scale geo-engineering infrastructure projects. He is also an investor/host of ABC Television’s Emmy Award winning venture capital reality program “Shark Tank” produced my Mark Burnet/Sony/ABC.
Kevin O’Leary is an active photographer, guitarist and author of three number #1 best selling books “Cold Hard Truth”, “Men, Women and Money” and “Family Kids and Money”.
Isabella Casillas Guzman serves as the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and was sworn in on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Administrator Guzman represents the more than 30 million U.S. small businesses and is committed to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs start, grow and be resilient.
A lifelong proponent of small businesses, Guzman grew up as the daughter of a small business owner and learned at a young age how important small businesses are to the communities they serve, the people they employ, and the economies they help power.
Administrator Guzman previously served as Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, a position she held after being appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in April 2019. In that role, she served as the voice of small businesses and innovative startups in the 5th largest economy in the world. She administered and advocated for programs and initiatives to help small businesses access capital, markets, and networks for stronger outcomes. She and her team helped connect entrepreneurs in every community with the resources needed. As the economic recovery support function coordinator for the state, she focused on resilience and most recently worked to help small businesses access relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In California, Administrator Guzman oversaw a network of small business centers focused on expanding assistance to underserved business groups. She launched new public private partnerships and collaborated to deliver cutting edge resources to small businesses, including through initiatives like Get Digital CA to increase technology and e-commerce adoption and Source Diverse Source Local to strengthen supply chain readiness. She advocated fiercely for financial relief for small businesses, leading to the expansion of state supported lending and the largest COVID-19 grant relief program in the nation at over $2.5 billion. Guzman's office launched the Entrepreneurship Task Force to serve as a bridge to small businesses and create content and programs to help strengthen the competitiveness of startup and small firms.
Administrator Guzman has previously served in leadership at the SBA as the agency’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor during the Obama-Biden Administration, where she oversaw policy and new program implementation. She was a small business entrepreneur herself, and an advisor to fellow founders including in accelerating technology commercialization and in helping small business contractors leverage the federal marketplace. Administrator Guzman earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
Sheryl Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.
Gary Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, a modern-day media and communications holding company and the active CEO of VaynerMedia, a full-service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients across the company’s 4 locations.
In addition to VaynerMedia, VaynerX also includes Gallery Media Group, which houses women’s lifestyle brand PureWow and men’s lifestyle brand ONE37pm. In addition to running VaynerMedia, Gary also serves as a partner in the athlete representation agency VaynerSports, cannabis-focused branding and marketing agency Green Street and restaurant reservations app Resy.
Gary is a board/advisory member of Ad Council and Pencils of Promise, and is a longtime Well Member of Charity:Water.
Gary is a highly sought after public speaker, a 5-time New York Times bestselling author, as well as a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, and Uber.
Gary is currently the subject of DailyVee, an online documentary series highlighting what it’s like to be a CEO and public figure in today’s digital world, as well the host of The GaryVee Audio Experience, a top 100 global podcast, and host of #AskGaryVee, a business and advice Q&A show which can be found on both YouTube and Facebook.
Gary also appeared as judge in Apple’s first original series “Planet of the Apps” alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Will.i.am.