Events & Information

Jesse Cole, Keynote Speaker

Owner of the Savannah Bananas and Creator of Banana Ball

Jesse Cole, also known as “the guy in the yellow tuxedo” is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and the owner of the world-famous Savannah Bananas as well as the Party Animals, Firefighters and Texas Tailgaters. With the mantra “Fans First. Entertain Always”, the Bananas are on a mission to Make Baseball Fun by creating the Greatest Show in Sports.

The team has sold out every game since their inaugural season in Savannah and has since grown a ticket waitlist of more than 3 million fans from all over the world.

With more than 20 million social media followers and features on such outlets as The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, HBO Real Sports and Access Hollywood in addition to Bananaland, a five-part documentary original series on ESPN+, the Savannah Bananas are just getting started.

Jesse is the proud inventor of the fastest and most entertaining game of baseball, Banana Ball. Banana Ball puts a fun twist on traditional baseball with new rules featuring a two-hour time limit, no walks, no bunting, no stepping out of the box, no mound visits and best of all, if a fan catches a foul ball – it’s an out.

He is the not-so-proud promoter of the Grandma Beauty Pageant, the Human Horse Race, the Living Pinata, and Flatulence Fun Night.

In addition to the wildly successful Banana Ball, Jesse continues to create raving fans all over the world as a best-selling author of “Fans First, and Find Your Yellow Tux”, and as a highly sought-after international keynote speaker for some of the world’s largest and most respected organizations.

Most of all, Jesse is a raving fan of his wife, Emily, his 3 kids, and peerless promoters like Walt Disney and PT Barnum.

Mike Michalowicz, Keynote Speaker

Author | Entrepreneurial Advocate

By his 35th birthday, Mike Michalowicz (pronounced mi-‘kal-o-wits) had founded and sold two multi-million-dollar companies. Convinced he had cracked the code to success, he became a small business angel investor, and promptly lost his entire fortune. Forced to start over, Mike set out on a mission: to find better, more sustainable ways to grow healthy, profitable companies.

Today, Mike is best known for turning struggling businesses into thriving enterprises. He’s the host of the upcoming TV show The 4 Minute Money Makeover and the founder of The Prosper Group, a business revitalization initiative where he partners directly with entrepreneurs to stabilize, strengthen, and scale their companies, often in record time. He’s also the creator of Profit First, a cash management system that has helped hundreds of thousands of business owners escape the grind of survival and build lasting profitability.

Mike currently leads two multi-million-dollar ventures, where he actively tests and sharpens the strategies he teaches. He’s a sought-after guest and host on top-ranked podcasts, and a mainstage keynote speaker at entrepreneurial events and conferences around the world. Whether on camera, on stage, or working side-by-side with business owners, Mike is a trusted voice for those serious about building smart, scalable, and seriously profitable businesses.

A former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a business makeover expert on MSNBC, Mike is also the author of All In, Get Different, Fix This Next, Clockwork, Profit First, Surge, The Pumpkin Plan, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, and My Money Bunnies.

Author and thought leader Simon Sinek calls him “the top contender for the patron saint of entrepreneurs.”

Shep Hyken

Customer Experience Expert | Bestselling Author | Hall of Fame Speaker

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession.

Shep works with companies and organizations that want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. His articles have been read in hundreds of publications, and he is the author of Moments of Magic®, The Loyal Customer, The Cult of the Customer, The Amazement Revolution, Amaze Every Customer Every Time, Be Amazing or Go Home, The Convenience Revolution, and I’ll Be Back. He is also the creator of The Customer Focus™, a customer service training program that helps clients develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset. (Now available live or as an online/on-demand/web-based training program!)

In 1983 Shep founded Shepard Presentations and since then has worked with hundreds of clients ranging from Fortune 100 size organizations to companies with less than 50 employees. Some of his clients include Amazon, American Airlines, AAA, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, AETNA, Abbott Laboratories, American Express - and that’s just a few of the A’s!

Shep Hyken’s most requested speaking programs focus on customer service, customer loyalty, internal service, customer-focused culture and the customer experience. He is known for his high-energy presentations, which combine important information with entertainment to create exciting programs for his audiences.

Brittany Hodak

Author of Creating Superfans | Shark Tank Alum | Experience Strategist

Brittany Hodak is an award-winning author, entrepreneur, and customer experience expert who helps businesses turn customers into superfans. Her SUPER Model™ framework has empowered thousands of organizations’ employees to transform customers’ apathy into advocacy. 

When her debut book, Creating Superfans, was released, Forbes declared: “If you have customers, you need this book. Period.” A recognized authority on customer experience, Brittany has authored more than 350 articles for top media outlets, including Success, Adweek, and Inc. 

As an entrepreneur, Brittany founded and scaled an entertainment agency to eight figures, collaborating with global icons including KISS, Taylor Swift, and Dolly Parton. She created 250 unique collectibles, which collectively sold over 10 million copies worldwide and won dozens of awards. Her work even landed her on Shark Tank, where she received four investment offers. 

Brittany’s agency clients included Walmart, Disney, Amazon, and Johnson & Johnson, among other Fortune 100 brands. She was the first Chief Experience Officer at Experience.com and previously led marketing initiatives at Sony Music.

Brittany’s high-energy keynotes blend research-backed insights, compelling storytelling, and real-world applications to inspire attendees at every level of an organization to leverage customer experience as their ultimate competitive advantage. 

Her deep pre-event customization and interactive delivery ensure that no two keynotes are alike—yet every one is memorable, actionable, and fun. That’s why organizations including American Express, Keller Williams, Mathnasium, PURE Insurance, and PrimeLending have invited her back to speak time and time again. 

Design Your Life

Speaker: Luke Stanton

The Design Your Life program has been in the Neighborly family for several years and is a hallmark of how we live out our mission... seeking to enrich the lives of those we serve. Led by Luke Stanton, President of ProTradeNet (PTN), come ready to focus on YOU! This will be a time for you to create a vision, goals, and purpose in your life.

Luke Stanton has been deeply impacted by the Design Your Life program. Over the course of five years, him and his wife worked tirelessly to pay down debts and take control of their own future. The principles and lessons learned through Design Your Life completely transformed the way they view the world and have had a profound impact on the trajectory of their lives. Luke is incredibly passionate about sharing these same principles with others, so they too, can take control of their lives and live by design. It is his greatest hope to help others achieve their own transformative journey through Design Your Life.

Childcare Services

Nannies of Green Hills
Phone: 615-673-1150

Sitters & More - Elderly Care
127 Franklin Road, Ste. 300
Brentwood, TN 37029
Phone: 615-309-9368

Grocery, Convenience, & Liquor Stores Located near the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center

Dollar General
3234 Blackwood Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
Phone: 615-601-3300

Publix Super Market at The Crossings
2324 Lebanon Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
Phone: 615-884-2665

Kroger
143 McGavock Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
Phone: 615-883-0121

Music City Liquors
2282 Lebanon Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
Phone: 615-712-8273

Music Valley Wine & Spirit
2421 Music Valley Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
Phone: 615-885-8286

Walgreens
518 Donelson Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
Phone: 615-883-5108

Walmart Supercenter
3458 Dickerson Pike
Nashville, TN 37207
Phone: 615-873-2222

Walmart Neighborhood Market
109 Gallatin Pike
Madison, TN 37115
Phone: 615-865-6119

Aldi
615 Gallatin Avenue
Nashville, TN 37206
Phone: 855-955-2534