the Small business conference for
entrepreneurs ready to grow in 2026
Join 200 ambitious business owners and get the proven strategies
to take back control and FIND YOUR PEOPLE
September 15-17, 2026 | milwaukee
hosted by pat miller
This Isn't Just Another Conference. It's A Turning Point.
The Pain
Tired of building your business in a room where nobody actually gets it?
Worried you're the only one Googling answers everyone else seems to already have?
Sick of generic advice from people who've never actually built a business?
The Dream
Imagine a room full of people that has your back — owners who speak your language.
You've got a group of collaborators to help you make tough decisions.
You stop guessing in isolation and start building shoulder-to-shoulder with other owners who get it.
The Fix
That's not a fantasy. It's your people.
And, #SBOC26 is where you find them.
This is a 3-day intensive designed to connect you with the information, strategies, and the community that'll carry your business — and you — forward.
Meet Your Mentors
Mike Michalowicz
Keynote Speaker & VIP Guide
Mike Michalowicz is the entrepreneur behind four multi-million-dollar companies and the author of best selling business books including Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan, and his newest book The Money Habit. He's also the host of the hit podcast Becoming Self-Made and television series 4 Minute Money Maker.
He’ll join #SBOC26 in person to lead a session packed with high‑energy, tactical content that helps businesses
How to increase profits
How to handle your profits once you bring them home from the business
He's also co-hosting our Idea Slam and leading an exclusive "Ask Me Anything" VIP Session.
Pat Miller
SBOC Founder and Host
Pat Miller is the founder of the Small Business Owners Community and the voice behind the new "Businessing with Pat Miller" show that launched in January. Pat is on a mission to end entrepreneurial loneliness and help small business owners grow without burning out. He’s coached hundreds of service-based entrepreneurs to find clarity, raise their prices, and finally get paid what they’re worth. His unique approach blends real-world strategy with a contagious belief that we're building dreams, not jobs and every small business owner can make it if they "Get Clear, Work Hard, and NEVER QUIT."
At #SBOC26, Pat will take the stage
Host the AI Super Session for the latest best practices
Co-Host the Idea Slams to solve problems live without a net
Curate the experience to connect attendees and maximize your event experience
You'll Also Learn From
Tayler Cusick Hollman
Founder, Enji
Talk: Plugging the Lead-Gen Gaps Draining Your Year
Tayler Cusick Hollman built Enji to make small-business marketing feel less like a guessing game and more like a plan you can run on a Monday. In this interactive session, she'll walk owners through where their leads are quietly slipping past them — and put you to work in groups finding the gaps in your own funnel.
You'll learn these three things:
What actually counts as a lead — and why most owners are letting them walk by unnoticed
How to generate real interest (not just traffic) without a marketing department
A simple lead-capture plan you can install as soon as you get back to the office.
Myrna Daramy
Founder, Myrna & Co.
Talk: Get Found: Organic Reach, SEO, and Content That Actually Connects
Myrna Daramy is a Strategic Growth & Brand Optimization Expert who helps service-based owners get visible in a digital landscape that keeps moving the goalposts. In this session, she'll cut through the SEO mystery and hand owners a plain-language playbook for showing up where their people are searching — on Google, on blogs, in podcasts, and inside the AI tools rewriting search itself.
You'll learn these three things:
How to build content that ranks AND connects with the right humans.
The quick-win SEO moves every owner can make this month, no agency required.
How to think about visibility in an AI-search world without losing your voice.
Steve Glynn
Founder, Experience Milwaukee
Fireside Chat: Building Relationships and Trust
Steve Glynn has spent 30 years sitting across from founders, executives, and students helping them figure out what's next — including building and selling Spreenkler and co-founding Milwaukee's first innovation district.
You'll learn these three things in the interview:
Why collaboration beats competition as the fastest growth lever for a small business.
How to spot a partnership that will actually move the needle (and skip the ones that won't).
A simple framework for nurturing the relationships that compound into your next 10 clients
Carolyn Jahnke
Founder, Athena Legal Solutions
Talk: Protect the Deal: Practical Legal Moves Every Owner Should Make This Quarter
Carolyn Jahnke is the Founding Attorney & CEO of Athena Legal Solutions and a Certified Exit Planning Advisor who's spent her career keeping small-business owners from signing their way into trouble. In this laser talk, she'll cut the legalese and hand owners the three checks every business should run on the deals, agreements, and handshakes that fuel their growth.
You'll learn these three things:
The contract clauses that quietly cost owners money — and what to write instead.
How to protect the IP, the brand, and the partnerships you're building right now.
The exit-readiness moves to start today, even if you're nowhere near selling
Cathy Trimboli
Founder, BUSINESS NAME HERE
Talk: Professional Presence Workshop - How to Own a Room
"Captain Cathy" Trimboli teaches owners that presence is a skill — not a personality trait — and that the room is already reading you before you open your mouth. Drawing on 30 years in law enforcement, where officer presence is the first move in any situation, she'll show you how stance, eye contact, and situational awareness shape first impressions and set the tone of a room.
You'll learn these three things:
Why opinions form in seconds — and how posture, eye contact, and stance decide how people respond to you.
How to use command presence (the same kind cops rely on) to lead meetings, walk into tense conversations, and own a room.
The situational awareness habits that build confidence, composure, and the kind of trust people remember.
Rebekah Bryan
Personal Stylist - Styled with a Twist
Talk: Professional Presence Workshop - The Red Shoe Theory: Style, Status, and the 90/10 Rule for Owners
Rebekah Bryan of Styled With A Twist helps owners understand that what you wear is doing some of the talking before you ever open your mouth. In her half of the Professional Presence Workshop, she'll deliver three actionable moves to eliminate visual friction, dress for any room with confidence, and add the small, intentional details that signal authority.
You'll learn these three:
How to eliminate "visual friction" so your audience focuses on your value, not your outfit.
How to research the "formality floor" of any room so you walk in calm and ready.
The Red Shoe Theory (the 90/10 Rule) — how to fit in AND stand out at the same time.
This Conference is For You If...
You're an established business owner feeling stuck and in survival mode.
You're tired of guessing what works and want proven strategies to grow.
You know you're undercharging but are afraid to raise your rates.
You value community and are ready to take action and implement what you learn.
This Conference is
NOT For You If...
You're looking for a "get rich quick" scheme.
You're not willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work in order to fight for your small business dream.
You prefer "bro-marketing" events where everyone you see is a target to sell.
You're not open to connecting with and supporting other business owners.
#SBOC Conference Testimonial
As a new business owner, it can feel overwhelming and isolating trying to figure everything out on your own. SBOC25 reminded me that I'm NOT alone. The connections I made, the encouragement I received, and the strategies I learned gave me a renewed sense of confidence and direction. I left feeling seen, supported, and excited about what's possible for my business.
- First Time Attendee, #SBOC25
#SBOC Conference Testimonial:
Everyone was welcoming and kind, event to a weird introvert like myself. PLUS: I recently got a gig with one of the attendees, who randomly called me up years after the conference and said, "We met at the SBOC Conference - do you remember?" I do not think I would have gotten that gig had it not been for meeting her at the conference. Sure, I'd met her online, but there's something different about being in the same room with people."
Erica Lovecraft
Owner & Writer
Lovecraft Creation
The plan to Find Your People and Grow Your Business at the 2026 Conference:
Pre-Con, Two Days, & Three Nights to Find Your People
Day 1: Money and How We Make It
Even if you show up alone, we'll get you immediately connected to others who get it. First time attendees will be a part of our special welcome session and we'll introduce you to your group captain so you have a trusted guide throughout. From check in to flow before the first drink is served. By the end of the first night, you'll know you're in the right place and ready to learn.
Day 2: Money and Marketing
This is the money day. Mike Michalowicz hits the stage with The Money Habit and shows you what financial freedom actually looks like at home...then we put your real money problems on stage and work them live at the Idea Slam Lunch. The afternoon hands you off to Myrna and Tayler...organic marketing, SEO, and the lead gen leaks to help you build your business. You walked in stuck. You leave with a plan.
Day 3: Build: AI + Partnerships
Now we build. The AI Super Session gets you up to speed on the latest technology to accelerate your business. Our afternoon laser talks lock in your presence, your partnerships, and your legal protection so your business can hold the weight of what you're building. Then, the 3rd Annual SBOC Awards, and our steak and champagne Celebration Dinner. You don't leave with a notebook to review. You're now locked in to a community you'll grow with for years.
#SBOC Conference Testimonial:
"I showed up. I took notes. I talked. I listened and then I started to feel the weight lift. I started to feel my energy return to ME. Energy & drive, I lost months ago. Thank You isn't enough Pat Miller. I'll make you proud - I promise."
Pam Polyak
Owner
Polyak Trucking / Polyak Logistics
Get Your Ticket for #SBOC26
HURRY - Only 115 Tickets Remain...
VIP Ticket
Everything in the base ticket PLUS:
One Hour VIP "Ask Me Anything" session
with Mike Michalowicz ($1,000)Three-hour hands-on, "Growth - What's Possible" small group workshop with Pat Miller and Matt Mundt - Founder - Hugsleep (Shark Tank appearance and $20M+ revenue THIS YEAR, founded here in Brookfield, WI) ($2,000)
Exclusive invitation to the two-hour "Implement and Integrate" virtual action session after the conference led by Pat Miller ($1,000)
Premium swag bag including an exclusive SBOC Yeti Tumbler ($100)
VIP Badge and Early VIP Check-in
Total Value: $11,030
Your Price: $1,299
MORE TESTIMONIALS!
What others are saying
Had the BEST Time!
The SBOC Conference this year was LIT 🔥 It was like a family reunion, bringing all the community members together along with so many new people who joined us this year. The speakers dropped some major knowledge...I took lots of notes, talked to as many people as humanly possible and had the BEST time!
It Will Change Your Life
This conference will change your life and this is a room you need to be in if you own a small business. You'll walk away with a year's worth of learnings in one week.
Blew Me Away
As a self-professed conference junkie, I attend events hoping to walk away with just a few golden nuggets. SBOC completely blew away all my expectations...We loved everything about it so much that we already purchased our early bird tickets for next year!
PLATINUM EVENT SPONSORS
GOLD EVENT SPONSORS
The Small Business Owners Community is proud to offer entrepreneurs something that is grossly missing: recognition. At our 6th annual conference in September, we are proud to host the 3rd Annual Awards program to give entrepreneurs the recognition so many deserve.
The awards program will held as a finale for the conference and they will be hosted by Precious L. Williams. All finalist nominees will be invited to attend the awards ceremony at no charge.
Any business owner may enter. Entries Open on Monday, July 6!
HAVE QUESTIONS? WE’VE GOT ANSWERS.
I'd be a first time guest - I know NO ONE - Will I feel out of place?
Our #1 job as an community is to welcome new guests and get you connected before we even arrive at the hotel. Before the event we have two speed networking events AND we will make sure to introduce you to longtime community members that have volunteered to introduce you to the RIGHT people so you can quickly build relationships and power partnerships. At the #SBOC26 conference, you're not just a name badge...you're the next person we can include on our mission to change how small business owners connect, collaborate and grow together.
Will the sessions be recorded?
Yes, our sessions will be recorded but they will only be available to our Small Business Owner Community members inside our premium community. If you’re not in the group, you need to be there in-person. Learn more about joining the group here.
Is there parking available at the venue?
Yes, parking is plentiful and free at the Brookfield Sheraton Hotel.
Are meals provided during the conference?
Almost all of them! We will provide lunch on Wednesday and on Thursday we will have lunch and a fancy pants dinner (Steak, champagne toast, the good stuff.) We’ll also offer coffee & soda breaks during the event.
Can I bring a friend?
Yes! Conferences are more fun when you have a “wingman.” Once you purchase your ticket, you’ll unlock a secret discount code for a second ticket with a $50 savings!
Can I join the SBOC Community?
The SBOC is a tight-knit collaborative community for small business owners. Our members quickly form deep relationships by putting collaboration over competition. If you’re ready to step into the group and be surrounded by others ready to work together, click HERE to find out more.
I have a few questions that aren't covered...
No problem at all, just CLICK HERE and send an email to Pat Miller for a prompt reply. We want to get you involved before the tickets run out!
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