2026 August NKCBC Luncheon with Justin Ricklefs

August NKCBC Luncheon
Give a Damn: How Care Becomes Your Competitive Advantage

Every business owner is searching for an edge—better technology, better processes, better hiring strategies, or the latest AI tools. But one of the most powerful competitive advantages is often overlooked: creating a culture where people genuinely care.

Join us on August 27 as Justin Ricklefs, Founder & CEO of Guild Collective and author of Give a Damn: The Catalyst for Caring Companies, shares how intentional leadership and a culture of care can strengthen teams, improve retention, and create better experiences for customers.

Whether you lead a team of three or three hundred, you'll discover practical strategies that can be implemented immediately—without increasing your budget or adding layers of management.

Attendees will receive a signed copy of Give a Damn and leave with actionable tools to strengthen their leadership and organizational culture.

Key Takeaways:
• Identify the "quiet drift" that may be costing you your best employees and learn how to address it.
• Explore the Give a Damn Fire Starter Framework—four leadership catalysts that every business owner can put into practice right away.
• Complete a personal Give a Damn Assessment to uncover your greatest opportunity for growth and leave with a clear action plan.

About Justin: Justin's career began in collegiate sports partnerships at Learfield, the industry leader in ustin: college athletics multimedia rights, where he worked from 2004 to 2008 representing the University of Missouri and the University of Memphis. It was there, under founder Clyde Lear, that he learned Learfield's culture-first philosophy — build the team, grow the company, have fun — that still anchors his work today. And it was Clyde who showed him that care can be a competitive advantage.

He then spent eight years with the Kansas City Chiefs as a Director in the front office, building and leading high-level corporate partnerships for one of the most recognizable franchises in professional sports. In 2017, he left to start Guild Collective, bringing two decades of partnership, brand, and storytelling experience to the founders and leadership teams he now serves.

If you're looking to build a stronger team, reduce turnover, and create a workplace culture that drives long-term success, this is a luncheon you won't want to miss.

Take the What Makes You Spark Assessment: https://thegiveadamnbook.com/assessment

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