Bet On Yourself Summit 3.0 Rundown

Taylor Bowler

By 8:30 a.m., the parking lot at The Casey by Beau Monde is nearly full. Balloon arches frame the entrance as volunteers in blue shirts greet guests and keep things moving inside. The space is equal parts industrial and elegant, with exposed brick, crystal chandeliers, and long wooden tables. 

Four hundred and fifty attendees filter in, grab a cup of coffee and a pastry at the breakfast bar, and find their tables. Each place is set with a “Bet On Yourself” notebook, pen, and program. No detail feels overlooked.

There’s an easy warmth to the crowd. Some women snap selfies in front of the signage, others take panoramic videos of the room. Overhead, screens cycle through photos from past summits alongside quotes that hint at the day’s theme: This chapter is called make room. Remember why it will work. Stick with women who pull the magic out of you.

At 9:12, just a few minutes behind schedule, Molly Grantham takes the stage to Sara Bareilles’s “Brave.”

“We sold out in less than three minutes,” she says. “I’m bubbling over with what we have ahead for you.”

She introduces the day, thanks her sponsors and partners, and spotlights a live sketch artist who will capture each talk in real time. By the end of the day, those pieces will line the hallway—a visual record of what’s about to unfold.

Bet On Yourself 3.0 is underway.

BET ON YOURSELF SUCCESS STORY #1

The program opens with the first of four “Bet On Yourself” success stories, shown on screens throughout the day. In it, Stephanie Elliott captures the spirit of the summit. After attending Bet On Yourself 1.0, the paralegal experienced a shift in perspective. Now, she shares, she’s given herself permission to want more. She dares everyone in the audience to say, This is what I want.

THE JUGGLE IS REAL

The first panelist is Emily Cole, co-founder of the Savannah Bananas. In a pre-recorded video, her husband and co-founder Jesse Cole introduces her, offering a glimpse into the thinking behind their unconventional approach.

“Baseball games were slow and boring,” Emily says. “The average MLB fan is a 60-something man. The sport was aging out, and we wanted to make it more exciting, so we added entertainment.” What began as a reimagining of the game has grown into a full-blown ecosystem with additional teams like the Firefighters, Texas Tailgaters, and the Loco Beach Coconuts. “My favorite thing,” she adds, “is seeing three generations sitting together.”

Off the field, Emily’s life is just as full. The mother of three is in a different city nearly every week. One of her biggest lessons, she says, has been learning to accept help. For the past five years, an au pair has traveled with their family, supported by what she describes as a strong village.

After welcoming their now 7-year-old son, Emily and Jesse learned that roughly 400,000 children in the U.S. need homes. In 2020, they became licensed foster parents through Gaston County. Their daughter joined their family at age two, just three months younger than their son, giving them two toddlers at once. After three years, they adopted her.

Nine months later came a call about another baby girl, who was in the NICU detoxing. “We just need someone for the weekend,” they were told. But on Mother’s Day 2022, the child’s biological mother made a different request: She wanted the Coles to raise her daughter. The adoption was finalized in 2024. Today, Emily is raising two 7-year-olds and a 4-year-old.

Their nonprofit, Bananas Foster, grew from that experience, with a mission to support the foster care community while encouraging others to get involved.

Emily closes with a few reminders: Things fail every night, but something good or funny always comes out of it, too. You have to move through the messy to get to the great. And perhaps most importantly, be intentional about who you bring into your life. “We hire really, really carefully,” she says. “We have almost zero turnover, and that’s what I’m most proud of. We never want to be the smartest people in the room.”

THE ART OF COFFEE?

Next up is Sherry Deutschmann, founder of BrainTrust, and Christine Motherwell, senior vice president of Human Resources at Coca-Cola Consolidated. Their theme: Death by a million coffees—and the line between being accessible and being consumed.

“Come ready. Come prepared. Be intentional,” Christine says. “Show up on purpose.” An early-morning coffee isn’t casual if you want it to count. Preparation signals respect and builds trust quickly. “My guard comes down,” she says. “I’m more willing to invest in the conversation.”

The flip side is just as clear: When you don’t show up well, the conversation can stall before it starts. Time, they stress, is the most valuable currency in the room.

“Respect it,” Sherry adds. “Have a specific ask.” She offers a simple framework: Here’s why I’m reaching out. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

What earns an automatic no? Lack of intention. “No agenda, no attend-a,” she says. And one of the most common missteps: Failing to follow up. A handwritten thank-you note, she adds, still carries weight.

They close on a broader reminder: “I hope you aren’t just reaching out to a mentor,” Christine says. “I hope you’re mentoring others.”

CONFIDENCE THAT COUNTS

Lisa Medley, founder of Lisa Medley Executive Coaching, takes the stage to “I’m Every Woman.”

Her focus: How to bet on yourself when you get the meeting.

“What does confidence look like?” she asks. Calm. Clarity. Conviction. Commanding the room you’re in.

Then she pushes deeper: What’s your “confidence default”? Do you over-explain? Stay quiet to avoid saying the wrong thing? Try to manage everyone else’s reactions? None of these, she says, are confidence. They’re coping strategies.

“How many of you have been in an important moment and didn’t show up as your best self?”

Silence, she explains, isn’t passivity. It’s intention. It’s the difference between reacting and responding.

She finishes with this guidance: Know your ask. Own your truth. Be clear on what you stand for. “Conviction is a decision, not a feeling,” she says. “Decide who you are before the room confirms it.”

I’MPOSSIBLE

Cassidy Hooper takes the stage to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” At 30, she embodies that message: Nothing is impossible. Born without eyes or a nose, she leads with both resilience and humor.

Molly opens with, “It’s been a few years since I’ve seen you.”

“Well, I guess I’ve never seen you,” Cassidy replies. The room erupts in laughter.

Cassidy speaks about independence and what it means to move through the world without sight. Living with four other people who are blind or visually impaired, she’s learned to rely on listening, intuition, and repetition. “I’ve made tacos, pancakes, and barbecue spaghetti,” she says with a smile.

Molly first met Cassidy at age 11, when she was one of the original “Molly’s Kids.” Since then, Cassidy has undergone a complex surgery to create a functioning nose. But she learned early how to navigate the world on her own. At 10, she began attending school in Raleigh, boarding a train each Sunday night for the week ahead. Her parents made sure she could board a plane, move through security, and operate independently. Today, Cassidy stays active through a number of activities including curling, singing, and bowling.

“I hope you feel how much we appreciate you,” Molly says. “What you’re showing is the power of betting on yourself.”

And, she adds, nodding to Cassidy’s humor: Let the uncertainty guide you.

BET ON YOURSELF SUCCESS STORY #2

Kenitra Huey-Hopkins, owner of Pose It Up CLT, took headshots at the inaugural Bet On Yourself summit. Now, she’s part of the program. “I love bringing people to the camera and hyping them up,” she says. She remembers what it felt like to sit behind a desk, working for someone else. “Betting on yourself isn’t the end,” she says, “It’s the beginning of something beautiful.”

AUTHENTICALLY YOU

After lunch, the program resumes with a recording of “Rise Up” as guests settle back into their seats. But midway through, something shifts. The voice sounds closer. It isn’t a recording. From the back corner of the room, LaRhonda Carlton emerges, delivering the song live with such power that it brings audience members to tears.

Molly first discovered LaRhonda in the early days of COVID, when a TikTok video of her singing in a restaurant kitchen began circulating. At the time, LaRhonda was plating meals during a long shift, singing to keep herself grounded, when a coworker unknowingly filmed her. The video quickly gained traction and caught the attention of The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December 2020.

Back then, she was working 19-hour days, using music as a way to manage her stress. On the day she was recorded, she was short-staffed, overwhelmed, and fielding difficult customers. “I had to come through, even though my life was falling apart,” she says. “So I started singing.”

The next day, she got a call from her corporate office; they’d received a complaint that LaRhonda wasn’t wearing a mask while singing. But while she was driving home, the video had already been posted. Within minutes, it went viral. 

When Ellen producers began reaching out, LaRhonda assumed it was a scam. It wasn’t. A producer eventually connected with her on Facebook, sent her equipment, and arranged for her to appear from her kitchen table. That’s when Ellen DeGeneres surprised her live on air.

Today, LaRhonda works in manufacturing and continues to sing when she can, still chasing the possibility of doing it full-time—maybe one day on a cruise ship.

“I want you to be bold,” Molly tells her. “You’ve got a mic and a whole stage.”

LaRhonda closes with a simple message: “If I bet on others, they might let me down. But if I bet on myself, I win—no matter what. My children and grandchildren are betting on me, so I have to bet on myself.”

Molly leaves her with a final call to action: When you have the mic, and something to say—say it. Don’t talk around it. Say it.

DIFFERENT STRENGTHS

Next up is Meghan Huffman, Vice President of Digital Health at Novant Health, and Dr. Claire Bowles, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist with the system. Their walk-out song is “This Girl Is on Fire.”

Their conversation centers on a shared goal: Building a space where women feel seen, supported, and informed through menopause.

Dr. Bowles had spent 25 years at Novant running a menopause-focused practice, often managing complex cases alone, one patient at a time. “Menopause is a safe topic for me,” she says, “but for many patients, I was seeing women who had already been to multiple doctors and clinics—dealing with insomnia, depression, rashes, heart palpitations. The list is long.”

When Huffman reached out about expanding care, she immediately saw the potential.

Together, they launched the Novant Health Virtual Care Network and a Virtual Menopause Wellness Clinic. Within two hours of opening, every appointment was booked. “I think the pilot is over,” Huffman says to laughter. “We’re going to need more doctors.”

What they found, Dr. Bowles explains, was that menopause is rarely the only issue—just the one finally being named. “Women take care of everyone around them and put their own health last, until they’re far down the path.”

The virtual model was designed to change that, improving access for women everywhere, including those in smaller towns. Now, the model is expanding beyond virtual care, with a new brick-and-mortar location opening in SouthPark.

“People are turning to the internet for answers,” Bowles says. “We want to be a lighthouse—offering education and guidance during this stage of life.”

She notes that women can spend 30 to 40 years in menopause. Huffman closes the session with a final reminder: “Don’t just bet on yourself. Take care of yourself.”

BET ON YOURSELF SUCCESS STORY #3

Anna Lucke has been a pilot for 26 years, which is an especially notable achievement in a field where women make up just 5% of the world’s airline pilots. The mother of two recently became captain at American Airlines. “I thought, What are you waiting on? You can do this. Just jump,” she recalls.

That mindset carried her through training. “I bet on myself and upgraded to captain last summer,” Lucke says. “I wore my Bet On Yourself bracelets every day of training. I called it, ‘The Summer I Turned Captain.’”

MEN.

“This is not just for women,” Molly begins.

While nearly 98% of her events are attended by women, she emphasizes they are for everyone. “When it’s predominantly women in the room, we can ask why women are treated the way they are, but we risk talking in an echo chamber,” she says. Today, the conversation expands: What do men in senior leadership roles observe about the differences in how male and female employees are perceived and supported?

To the tune of “It’s Raining Men,” three panelists take the stage: Mike O’Leary, managing partner at Ernst & Young; Cedric Thomas, vice president and general manager at Cox Media Group; and Wes Hyland, vice president of sales at Devoted Health.

Molly opens the discussion by naming a quiet but common barrier: the internal voice that asks, Why should I be here? For many women, she notes, that doubt can lead to self-selection out of opportunities they’ve already earned.

Their discussion touches on voice and timing, the confidence gap, humility, and how differently it can show up across genders.  

Wes shares an example of a female colleague who disagreed with leadership but chose not to speak up in the meeting. Instead, she followed up with a detailed, five-point email. That approach ultimately led her boss to respond, “You’re absolutely right.” Sometimes, he notes, impact is about choosing the right format, not silence. 

Drawing on hiring experiences, Mike notes a pattern: Women often arrive more prepared, more thoughtful, and more attuned to listening, while men tend to lead with confidence and self-promotion.

Cedric agrees, adding that confidence is often over-indexed in how men are perceived. “Men come in with confidence,” he says. “Women deserve to be in that room, too.”

“We want them to like us,” Molly adds, naming another dynamic at play.

She then poses the question: What do women believe matters at work that leaders say doesn’t?

Mike points to flexibility and the importance of acknowledging full lives outside of work. “I’d like to see women stop apologizing for having outside responsibilities,” he says.

Wes adds: Let go of office politics and the need for approval. “Stop getting caught up in gossip. The minutiae doesn’t matter in the long run.”

Mike urges leaders to take responsibility for culture: “Men need to call out the nonsense when they see it—and make it clear it’s not acceptable.”

Wes offers another practical takeaway: “Have a mentor of the opposite sex.”

Later, Morgan Fogarty and Janine Davis step in to moderate audience questions, which quickly turn candid.

What about women who do speak up and are labeled difficult or arrogant? Cedric acknowledges the double standard. “The traits we celebrate in a man, we often criticize in a woman,” he says.

More questions follow. Why does feedback so often come only when it’s requested? What do men say about women when they’re not in the room? And are leaders actively mentoring women—especially women of color?

By the end, it’s clear the panel is composed of allies who are willing to reflect and speak honestly. But, as all three suggest in closing, real change will depend on whether those values are carried beyond the stage and into the rooms where decisions are actually made.

MOLLY: BET ON YOURSELF

After a brief break, the audience returns for closing remarks from Molly, who promises to keep things honest.

“The truth is, I sometimes wonder what my current life looks like from the outside,” she says. “I imagine it looks like I’m killing it. But from the inside, I can tell you, it’s not always clear, and it’s not always confident.”

She explains that the reality is far less polished. It comes with long days, real risk, and no guarantees. “I’m working harder than I’ve ever worked in my life, which is saying something, because I’ve always liked to work,” she says. “But I’m also happier than I’ve ever been. Everything in the last two years fits better.”

She describes the trade-off after a 20-year run at WBTV and daring to build a new career outside of media. “I left a very structured life with a set role, a steady paycheck, and clear definitions of success,” she says. “I traded that for building something I have to define every day. Before, success was visible and my identity felt fixed. Now, if I have an idea, I have to figure out how to make it happen. I traded certainty for control.”

She notes that the first Bet On Yourself summit was the hardest, and each one since has gotten a little easier. “Betting on yourself is a practice,” she says. “The more you do it, the more you learn how to do it again.”

She adds that about 25% of the day’s attendees had been to a previous summit, a sign of that momentum building. “You all are the point,” she says, gesturing outward. “And there were 750 people on the waitlist today. They’re the point too.”

She recalls a recent conversation with a friend who told her, “You made a splash, and from that splash, all those ripples started forming.”

“Look at this room,” Molly says. “People here are in every stage of life, from every walk of life. The most tangible measure of Bet On Yourself is ticket sales. The first summit sold out in an hour, today in under three minutes. Summit 3.0 is yours. These are the ripples.”

BET ON YOURSELF SUCCESS STORY #4

After 30 years in local news, Paige Tatum began to worry she had become too comfortable, and too stuck in the “what ifs” to make a big leap. Then she was laid off.

“What can I do?” she remembers thinking. “I’ve only ever done this.” 

She says there’s no room for nostalgia when you’re forced to rebuild a career. “You can’t pine for the old days,” she says.

A turning point came when her friend, illustrator Dale Stephanos, reached out after designing the Betty White stamp. Despite the high-profile work, few people knew his name. He asked for help getting visibility, and she helped secure him a segment on The Today Show. From there, her own work began to expand. She went on to launch Paige Tatum Media, a media consulting business.

“Bet on yourself isn’t a mantra,” she says. “It’s a mindset.”

THE WAVE

Molly’s closing remarks seamlessly transition into the unveiling of the project she’s been building. Over the past few months, she says, a community has been taking shape. Now it has a name: The Wave.

“Because waves are constant—big, small, always moving,” she explains. “They create momentum. They carry us forward. The question is: How do we keep it going?”

She pauses, then adds: “There wasn’t a community like this before, but in the back of my mind I knew there would be. We’ve swung for the fences.”

The Wave, she explains, is a custom-built platform and monthly membership for the Bet On Yourself community. It includes a member directory, a business hub, and a way to stay connected long after the summit ends. Have a question? Go on The Wave. Need a graphic designer, a tutor, a divorce attorney? Go on The Wave.

“It came from what I needed myself,” she says. “When I was betting on myself and thinking about what came next, there wasn’t a one-stop shop. So I built it.”

Members can join for $24 a month to connect with summit attendees, find collaborators, and access curated content. Each month, The Wave will feature a “Monthly Swell” with longform conversations and minimal editing. The first features Cathy Bessant and Andrea Smith, who focus on collaboration over competition.

In a preview clip, Smith reflects, “People always tried to make them competitive.” Bessant adds, “It’s having the confidence to say, ‘I’ve never done it—but I believe I can.’”

New Swells will drop the first Tuesday of each month. The next installment explores finding yourself through grief. Alongside that, Molly introduces “Weekly Ripples,” shorter, ongoing stories designed to keep the momentum going. The platform will also include in-person events, virtual gatherings, and an elevated retreat planned for Charleston next January.

As the session opens back up for audience questions, Morgan Fogarty and Janine Davis return. Then, at 3:07 p.m., Morgan shares an update: 200 people have already signed up for The Wave.

The afternoon concludes with a champagne toast and one final invitation to show up on purpose. Command the room you’re in. Know your worth. 

Bet on yourself.