Business leaders, executives, and professionals seeking change from around the nation will converge on Rochester this weekend for the first Culture Broker Summit.
Krystle Ellis is known as "The Culture Broker" in her role as founder of Ellis K Consulting. She's also the executive director of the Women's Foundation of Genesee Valley and has received multiple accolades, including being named among Rochester's 40 under 40 and a 2023 Woman of Distinction.
She said she decided to use the knowledge she's gained while forging her own path in business to put on a leadership conference of her own. Ellis said she's realized how stuck so many people feel.
"I've found a lot of people who are sad," she said. "Full lives, traveling the world, children going to work, living life every day, posting on social media, going to the parties. But when you really sit down with them, they're like, 'I'm not living up to my potential. I feel like the world doesn't know me. I'm wearing a mask every day.'
"You find out that the people with the serious faces on, they are so funny, or they have the strangest talents, or they're rock climbers, or all of the things that they do, and they're afraid to tell people because they don't want to get rejected," she added. "Rejection will stop you from doing a lot of things, and but what it will stop you from doing is having joy."
She said it was important to recruit attendees from diverse backgrounds and industries.
On Saturday, they will participate in all-day strategy conversations, create action plans, and hear from various experts. The goal is for them to return to their respective communities ready to effect positive development. Ellis added they should be ready to get personal and feel the love for their visions.
"I refuse to have large conferences," she said. "If someone really wants to be seen, heard, understood, I will step off of the stage. If someone has a question and they are like, 'I just can't see past this thing,' I want to be able to step off the stage — which I will if it calls for it — and sit next to them until they feel clear, they feel the transformation, and they understand what the next steps are."
Ellis said though the event is sold out, she has more events planned to make professional coaching more accessible.
