Oct 2026 Raleigh Durham | Women's Programs | The Visible Leader

The Visible Leader: Positioning Yourself Before You Position the Deal

Join us for our Women's Program event targeting visibility in the M&A environment.

Silence is not a strategy. It only feels like one.

Accomplished women stay quieter than their male peers, and they do it deliberately. Stanford researchers named the pattern "intentional invisibility," and they are careful to point out that it is rational: speak up and get called aggressive, publish a point of view and hear from compliance. The self-promotion gap starts in middle school and never fully closes. It is widest among the highest performers.

In a room of dealmakers, that quiet has a number attached to it. Ask a woman running a company what she wants to be remembered for at the exit of her business and the answer arrives immediately. Nearly none have said it out loud to the market. That gap comes off the price in diligence as founder dependency, and the window to fix it opens three to five years before a transaction, not ninety days.

Attendees draft a differentiated way to describe themselves using three patterns, test it on the person sitting next to them, and leave with the four questions that tell them whether any version of it is working. Learn what to say when compliance owns your voice, which matters for the bankers and accountants in the room.

Those who own companies get something actionable in the window where it still moves the number. The private equity and corporate development members get the other side of it: understanding which sellers are underpricing themselves and why. 

Speaker: Beth Carr

About: Beth Carr is a pre-acquisition positioning strategist and the founder of Fortified Branding. She spent 25 years building brands for Nestlé, FICO, LA Fitness, Booksy, and Vendini before turning the same work on the leaders behind them. Companies she has positioned have raised $325 million and sold for north of $125 million, including one that went from $10.2M to $50M in two years before exiting for over $70 million. She and her team work with companies, founders, and executives who are three to five years out from a raise, a merger, or an exit so they get the most valuation out of the deal.

LOCATION

Alfred Williams and Company

October 14, 2026

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

PRICING

Registration - Deadline OCTOBER 12
Member $50
Non-Member $70

Procrastination Price - Onsite (if space is available)
Member and Non-Member $100

Refund Policy
Due to the nature of ACG events and the guarantees that need to be given prior to the event, refunds will not be processed in the two weeks directly preceding the event, including weather-related events.

CODE OF CONDUCT

All event participants must follow the ACG Code of Conduct and adhere to chapter policies found here.