Power Table LIVE 2026 Conference Recap with Whitney Robinson

In this episode of The Power Table Podcast, Taylor Smith and Whitney Robinson sit down for a full recap of Power Table LIVE 2026 — pulling back the curtain on what actually went into building the event, why the results have been extraordinary, and what is already in the works for Power Table LIVE 2027.

This episode is a behind-the-scenes conversation about intentionality, community, and what happens when the right women get in the right room together. Whitney was both behind the scenes and in the room at PTL 2026, which makes this one of the most honest and complete recaps Taylor has ever done of the event. Nothing about what happened at Power Table LIVE was accidental — and this episode proves it.

Listeners will hear why content marketing alone will always have a ceiling when it comes to building real relationships, how attendees are already signing five-figure retainer clients and landing speaking opportunities just weeks after the event, what Taylor thinks about when designing the experience and why every detail is intentional, why trust and collaboration build so quickly when women get face to face, and what Taylor is already dreaming up to make Power Table LIVE 2027 even more impactful.

If you are a female entrepreneur who has been thinking about attending Power Table LIVE, wondering what actually makes it different from other events, or simply curious about what it looks like to build a community-driven business that creates real results for the women inside it — this episode was made for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why content will always be limited in a way that in-person connection never is
• The real results PTL 2026 attendees are already experiencing just three weeks out
• How Taylor designs intentional networking and collaboration into every part of the event
• Why Power Table LIVE attracts the right people and what that actually means in practice
• The moment at PTL 2026 that took Taylor's breath away
• What Taylor is already planning to do differently at Power Table LIVE 2027
• Why this event has become more of a movement than just an annual conference

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Power Table. If you are leading your business with a big vision and you're ready for your visibility to match your ambition, you are in the right place. I'm your host, Taylor Smith, founder of the Power Table, serial entrepreneur, and international keynote speaker. I've generated millions in my business through speaking, personal branding, and community building, and I'm here to teach you how to do the same as a founder-led brand. Each week we dive into the business strategies, identity, and leadership work required to become the woman people recognize, trust, and choose again and again. Because your next level isn't just about what you do, it's about who you become in the process. This is your seat at the table. Our table.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Okay, so Taylor, a while back, I asked you if I could interview you for your podcast. I wanted to let people kind of see how your brain works when it comes to creating your event and how like you think about all of these different things, these different pieces, also selfishly. I just thought it'd be fun to record another one. But then we actually got in the room in Power Table. And there were a few things I kept hearing over and over and over from different people, like throughout the entire event. This isn't like other events. Every little detail feels so intentional. And the one that I heard, I think the most was something just feels different. They couldn't quite put their finger on it, but like something just felt different. And I've gotten to be behind the scenes in this event. I know how much goes into it. I know what you do in your process. I think, you know, hearing those statements from the people that were there after seeing all of that just really kind of hits different. So I knew there was a lot more that we were gonna need to talk about for this, for this episode, and really let your audience see that none of none of that was by accident. Like you were very, very intentional with every piece of Power Table Live. So I'm excited. We're just gonna dive in because we gotta get to the Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

I mean, let's just get straight into the recap.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Something you specifically talk about a lot in your content is the power of getting in the room. So, Taylor, why do you think that in-person events are working so well to get results for small business owners like us right now?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

I think the most important and obvious point is that we have been conditioned to believe that content should generate all of the results in your business. And the reality is that content is actually extremely limited. And you should create content, you should market your business, do that all day long. That's not what I'm saying. But it's that it will always be constrained and limited and lack in depth in a way that in-person conversations and connections won't. And I actually don't even know that we can solve this problem with content. And what I mean is that we we have to think about the way that people consume content. They're distracted, they're scrolling, they're looking at 15 different things. You maybe have their attention divided for like 15 to 20 seconds. That is not enough time for them to make a buying decision about you. It is also not enough time for you to build any kind of real relationship or real depth with that person. And so when we're marketing solely online, every single potential relationship we have is incredibly fragmented. Like there are just bits and pieces, and you're never really gonna get that kind of depth. On the other hand, in person, you have that opportunity. You get to see someone's physical presence and their vibe and begin to establish, you know, what are things you have in common much, much faster. You have the time and space to build those in-depth connections, and you have people's undivided attention, which is never gonna be the case with content. And also online, you know, we we've been taught to silo all of our conversations, right? Ask them this question to get them to talk about this pain point, to then get them into our funnel, to then put people down this path. And so while that works from a sales perspective, we've actually created these silos with every single interaction we have online. And then our thinking becomes limited, right? Our our ideas become limited, our conversations and connections, they all become so constrained as a result. And in order to get out of that bubble, you've got to get in person in the room.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah. You really like can't. There's no way to duplicate or replicate, I guess, the conversations. It's such a different. I love what you said about like it's always gonna lack that depth. I mean, I love a I love a good Zoom call, but you're still not gonna get that like true undivided attention until you're like face-to-face. I know one of the things that we talk about a lot with Power Table Live specifically is collaboration. We have already, I I know I have in just following a lot, all of the attendees, but we have already seen a ton of collaborations, connections, sales, all of this happening between the women who were in the room this year with us. I know yesterday I saw one of our attendees actually posted that she'd had five connection calls in the last three weeks and 10 more scheduled for the rest of this month. So I and I and I know that you have even more people like reaching out, telling you, you know, about all of the connections and everything that they're making. So can you speak a little bit more to that? So why do you think that trust and really just relationships in general are built so quickly inside of Power Table Live?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah, I made some notes actually on a few other like attendee things that I've heard. And like we haven't even, for like full transparency, uh, we haven't even sent out like our survey yet to collect results and data because we like to do that. I like to wait like 30 days. And so you're listening to this basically like three weeks after Power Table, if you're listening in real time. But I have like seen the whispers and people are talking to me in their DMs. Someone I know that we have multiple attendees who have already signed anywhere between $20,000 to $50,000 worth of retainer clients in the last three weeks. Attendees, not speakers, not people who got stage time, just attendees. We had people who said I got as an attendee four or five different speaking opportunities or podcast opportunities. And my goal, I think, the long that Power Table has gone on, is to really deliver when you choose to attend. My goal is to deliver an entire year's worth of connections. Like you shouldn't go to other events, yes, but also like in theory, you should walk away with enough connections that you almost don't even need to because you're gonna have those coffee chats and those podcast invites and speaking invites enough for an entire year. And the ones that you make and the the time you put in to build those relationships will just become a snowball effect until you come to Power Table Live the next year. It's very cool to like hear those stories already and see the results and the things that are happening behind the scenes, even when other people don't publicly know about them yet. So this is also, you know, maybe a plug. If you were in the room of PTL and you have had great results, please DM me and tell me. Whitney and I want to hear about them. But the reason that I think that we have such extraordinary results for Power Table Live through collaboration and the connections, why this becomes the catalyst for so many women who attend Power Table Live, the short answer is that we just attract the right people. Like I was trying to think, what do I bring this down to? We have the right people in the room. And not a lot of events can say that. But from a strategy point of view, how my brain works, as you said, you were like, I just want access to your brain. A lot of people tell me that. And I'm like, okay, should I like charge by the hour for that? Like, I don't know. How do I do that? Um, but the breakdown of that to me is like we emphasize in order to attract the right people who are gonna see the value in the work that relationships and collaborations take, because they are work that we actually emphasize work. Um, a lot of coaches and events tend to package the transformation and their offers and the process it takes is as self-belief, right? If you just shift your internal let go of the doubts and believe in yourself and trust in yourself, manifest this and amazing things will happen. And I'm all for self-belief. Like, you gotta have that at the end of the day, or you're not gonna follow through on action. But at the same time, like we actually emphasize the hard work. We talk about, you know, we're not even gonna try to give you shortcuts because you know shortcuts don't exist. You were playing the long game, you understand there are many, many steps. And in emphasizing that, I think that's actually a big part of attracting the right people is people who understand what it's gonna take to get the results out of those connections. Um, and then I think like we also in attracting that person, we speak to the person who is very like detail-oriented, who is able to execute on connections and collaborations. Like they're at a level of their business where they're prepared and ready to do that. And the way that we speak to that person is by being that ourselves. So, you know, we are um we release the agenda months in advance. We collect data on our, you know, attendees, we are super organized with our speakers and our back end. And it's kind of like be the person that you want also to come to you. And I think that it just makes everything so much easier. If you're operating to that standard, the people in the room are gonna be to that standard too. I have more thoughts, but I'm gonna stop, Whitney. Like, if you think there are like things you would add to this.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Well, there's just yeah, there's there's a couple of things, and I'm glad you said that about like attracting the really detailed-oriented person who knows that like relationships don't happen just because they're manifested. Like you have to put in the work, have the conversations, like actually see how good of a fit you guys are to to work together. And I think one thing, and I I heard this on a podcast I was listening to yesterday, but she said, you know, when you intake, when you're when you're doing like internal work, the journaling, you know, things that aren't really they're important, they're just not actively building anything in your business at that moment. You have to output just as much as you intake to really move the needle and move your business. And that I think is something that is a really good balance in the people that that are there. And I think that's part of what makes those statistics so great. And that's that was my part too, was like the fact that you collect this data and you you know just how how much all of your attendees are getting out of the experience is a really cool as a numbers nerd, really need to see um actual like objective data in that. Go right ahead. If you have anything else to add there.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

I mean, being just very transparent with a lot of things also speak to that person when it comes to choosing speakers. I think the guide I built was like 17 pages. And not that I expect everyone to read 17 pages, but like if you truly want to see our exact process for applications, rubrics, how we choose, why we make the decisions we we did when it comes to speaker selection. Like, like I'm not hiding any of it. Here it is, right? Because we have that data, we are so dialed into exactly who we want in the room. We don't speak to the day one beginner unless it's somebody who's like, I might be new in business, but I've got 15 years of experience in corporate and I'm ready to hit the gas pedal. Like, yeah, be in the room with us. But like we have so much data we've collected and we've been so intentional about exactly who we want in the room with us at Power Table Live. It's also a big part of it. Whereas many events are like, I'll sell a ticket to anybody who wants to come. And I feel you, girlfriend. Like, if that's you in your event, like I feel you because I know the work it takes to sell tickets, but at the same time, it actually produces so much better of an event and therefore the results on the back end when you're really, really dialed into that person. Um, and then a couple other things that I'll say, because I think people are really interested in this and fascinated on like how do you have this event with these kind of results is one, as an attendee, you don't realize it, but you actually go through basically what is like an eight to 12 week onboarding before you even get to power table live. So most events, you'll get a confirmation email and then that's it. And they're like, we'll get a hotel room block. We'll see you there. And that is not the approach we take to Power Table Live because in order to get those results, you need to be prepared. So we have a group chat that opens 60 days out where you get to start talking to other people, making connections. We encourage people, set up dinner, set up coffee chats, like make the most of your time while you're in person. We release a whole series of podcasts so that, you know, you get to hear from some of the speakers and you get to hear from people on our team and you get to really get prepared for the event through the podcast. Um, we also have Experience Week. We have pre-event networking calls leading up to it. My goal is for everyone to be as prepared as possible to work when they walk in. And that's not a very passive thing at all, right? You've got to put in the work to show up to all of those things. But I can tell you without a doubt, the people who are signing the multiple five figures in retainer clients within three weeks of Power Toby Live, it's the people who came to all of those things, people who posted in the group chat, the people who took the time to get to know other people and be fully involved. And not a lot of events give you that opportunity. And so that's how I view it as like I'm gonna give you an eight to 12 week onboarding before you get to the event so that you can be prepared to get those results.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

The next question I have is about how power table is different. Do you have more answers to that outside of what we're talking about right now?

SPEAKER_01 13:16

The final thing that I'll say that maybe is a bit more controversial, but is like higher pricing for event tickets. And I think that I struggled to be able to be bold enough to say this for a long time because I've also gotten so much value out of free rooms or rooms where a ticket didn't cost very much. Like it's not those things are not always a correlation. However, there is that next level of people who are prepared to deliver, to have you on their podcast, who are prepared to execute a collaboration, who are prepared to, you know, sign as a multiple four-figure or five-figure retainer client with you. And that person is not coming to a $200 event to then make that multiple four or five-figure investment or that big speaking decision or make those kind of invitations. Like they're just not. And so in setting our prices and therefore our standards higher to attract that exact person we have in mind, that also plays a very large role in how down the line these kind of results happen. And if you're listening to this, this is the first time I'm saying this out loud to anyone except Whitney, but prices are going up for Power Table Live as a result because we have so much data that we have proven that if you are in the room and you put in the work, these are this is your exact ROI that you can expect.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Yeah. And it's it's been proven not just this year, but last year too. We I know that there were crazy numbers attached to last year too, but I think we've already blown those out of the water just from what DMs you've gotten. But speaking of last year, I was one of your volunteers last year and had the privilege of being on your team this year for Power Table Live. And so I've got a kind of gotten this front row seat through the whole thing. Not the whole thing. There were a couple of events before I came into your community. You know, getting to watch not just the community, but the event itself grow so much over two, you know, the span of this last year has been insane. Recently, you posted, I I know I saw it on threads. It might have been, if I think it's on Instagram too, but you you posted your top 10 thoughts of from this event this year. And number one, I don't really know how we're gonna top this year. So, Taylor, when you think about Power Table Live as it continues to grow and evolve, how do you see Power Table Live being different from other events? I know we you've talked on a couple of things, but is there anything else specifically that you see different about Power Table Live?

SPEAKER_01 15:49

I think there's kind of two immediate things that come to mind. And one is that we're really attuned to the community all year long. And this is a strategy called social listening that a lot of corporations use that entrepreneurs don't really know about or utilize effectively. And that is like, I watch all the threads. I listen to all the podcasts of my attendees. I read their blogs, I read their LinkedIn posts. I am so dialed in to where they are with growth, challenges, goals that it makes a huge difference in our programming and the choices that we make and the overall strategy when we're that dialed in, not just the day I'm you know creating the sales page, but the entire year. And then the second part of that I'll say is that I'm doing exactly what my attendees are doing. We have a visibility and personal branding conference. So throughout the year, the difference I think, as I think about how Power Table Live continues to be different and how we have a higher standard across the women's entrepreneur event industry, is that we're not just teaching people how do you get speaking gigs, how do you get brand deals, how do you increase your sales, but I'm actively doing those things. I literally, even though my schedule is packed this week catching up with people from PTL, I made the time I blocked off two hours on my calendar at the beginning of this week where I pitched myself to two speaking opportunities that they don't know me. Like I am somebody completely unknown to their world. It's not a personal relationship that I'm leveraging. You know, I'm still actively working on new brand partners and new opportunities because I think that it is my job as a leader to continue to still be actively doing the thing that our attendees are as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Well, and I think that's a big difference between, and this is my corporate coming into play, but that's a difference between a leader and a manager, right? Like you being out there, giving us the example, um, especially those of us who are now a part of your leader's program, like seeing you put in that work does nothing more than or does nothing less than encourage us to know that, like, okay, she's still in it. So that I mean, I do think that that makes a big, big difference for for our experience to you. Okay, this is speaking of numbers nerd. At the time that we're recording this, you have pre-sold 55 tickets to Power Table Live in 2027, which has blown pre-sales from last year. I mean, I when I say blown out of the water, that's not even close to accurate anymore. So, first, Taylor, how does it make you feel to even hear that? And I'm also curious, like, what do you think people can expect from Power Table Live next year? I know it's it's gonna be a hard one to talk, but what do what do you think about next year?

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Well, I think we just gotta start with 55 pre-sales. Like, what? I I mean, I remember texting you. This is really cool. We doubled last year. We tripled it. I have no idea even what is happening. Like, I think it's like a lot of people. What is happening? And it's just like, I and it I went on vacation, like as the pre-sale was wrapping up, and I had made this commitment to myself, you know, no work, you know, I'm gonna like completely unplug. And then right before I was like, we were about to leave to the airport, this is really funny. But I was like, I'm just gonna sneak my laptop in my bag just in case something goes wrong, and I've got to like tech support something, you know. My team, I mean, we have Slack, but I was like, just in case there's just anything I need to do, which nothing went wrong. But then I had that laptop. And so then I once I was, you know, on vacation, I was like, I'm just gonna check. Because what most people would do is look at their email on their phone, but I actually have all notifications turned off on my phone. Good for sales, for social media, for anything except certain team channels and Slack. Nothing else goes to my phone. So if I have my phone only, I am just completely oblivious. And it's actually just good for my nervous system and mental health, is like I don't actually see when sales come in. So then I was like every morning at the resort, like getting my coffee and like logging in, and my job would just drop every day, and I'd go tell my husband, like, I cannot believe I'm telling you this. But so my initial response was just like overwhelming gratitude because I'm like, okay, I've like me and along with you and everybody on the team, like we have literally poured our entire like heart and soul into this event. And it's so cool to see so many people getting the results that we have like engineered, but then also really enjoying the experience and like seeing them bet on themselves. And I'm just so grateful and honored to be able to hold that and facilitate that. But then, second, I'm like, like, okay, I guess Power Table Live 2027 is gonna be way different because of how many people are going to be coming. And over half of those pre-sale tickets we've already sold were people who weren't there this year. That's wild that are not even in our community at all. They've just been watching and waiting, or somebody sent it to them. Someone said, You have to come with me next year. So that that's my reaction. If anyone needed that in real time, I'm gonna be doing a lot of breath work, a lot of walks, getting ready for next year. Oh, do you? Yeah, yeah. If you're listening to this or if you experience Taylor doing breath work, just so you know, like I do breath work with her all year round, but we're gonna have to go ahead and get that on the calendar. Yeah, and then that's just like the perfect segue into like what is to come, right? And I think something that you should know about me if you're listening to this or you're just curious about Power Table Live is that nothing is random. Nothing is by accident. If you see me talking about something on social media, there's a six-month plan down the road for on that topic. If you see me like starting to work in certain symbols or something like that, it's got some kind of meaning for me. And it probably is a subtle hint to something happening at Power Table Live. If you see like certain content in certain locations, like none of that is random. And it is what I think we do really well, and that's anticipation marketing and dropping these breadcrumbs and like building hype and excitement. And so if I were to pull out the crystal ball of what is coming next year, and I feel like it's also very hard to make Those predictions a year out because we have so much social listening to do and data to collect. But that being said, I'm interested in having a big portion of our educational components in our workshops being kind of like pulling back the curtain to the back end of visibility and personal branding. So, what does that look like on the system side, on the email marketing side, on the you know, relationship building side? Like, how do you warm someone up to get a yes out of them? You know, like what are the things that we talk about? Like, how do you build those relationships? What are, you know, some of the things that people at a very high level are doing that you probably weren't taught in the like digital marketing courses that you that you've taken. So really thinking about can we pull back the curtain and say this is what a six-figure, multi-six figure personal brand, this is what a seven-figure founder led business is actually doing on the back end that you don't see that makes it into their content. And then the other really cool thing that I'm thinking about for 2027 is like inviting more of our brand partners to come in and to be the people, you know, on the stage doing like live fireside chat styles, like asking them, hey, if someone wanted to get started with affiliate marketing with you, if they wanted to work with you as a brand, like what are the things you look for? What gets an automatic rejection? How do they get on a call? How do they like stand out? Because they get pictures all the time, right? Like it's three, four, thirty a day asking for money or partnerships. So, like, what actually makes the difference? So I'm I'm actually very excited to bring in that component and bring in many of the people that I built relationships with and bring them onto the stage. Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

I that has my uh my gears turning as you say that. I one of the things that I really enjoyed this year, and and I think it was mutually beneficial, mutually enjoyable, was having Dub Sato on site. Like that, having them on site as a sponsor and seeing them interact with everybody. That was such a cool experience. So I think that would be a really fun, really fun thing to have for next year. Yeah, I'm excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

I think overall, if like looking towards next year, we will, I think, have fewer speakers in general. We went, I love to experiment every year. This year we cast a very broad net. We had a lot of breakouts, a lot of speakers, a lot of different choices, and people actually loved that. That's feedback we really got, is they love being able to choose the breakouts and workshops. But I want to go deeper and have more hands-on conversations, more live coaching, live feedback, like audit style. And that is gonna require more time. So we will have, I think, maybe this is too early to say this, but I think fewer speakers next year so that we can spend more time on those topics.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

I know one thing, once these uh once we actually send the the official feedback forms out and start getting those, like I cannot wait to see what your your mind does because you come up with these brilliant ideas and I love it. I can't wait. Is there anything else that you think we need to touch on about either the process or like the room itself? Like, what was there one thing that you were really, really proud of looking back? I'm I'm kind of catching you off guard with this.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

Yeah, I just was not prepared for this. You know, I said this last year, but I'll say it again. I did not get to talk to everyone. I didn't get to meet everyone in the room. And last year was a kind of the first time, and that was really hard for me. And so then again, this year it was just like there were people who like I'm seeing their content and they came and I actually don't know who they were, or I didn't get to maybe I know them online and I didn't get to talk to them in person. And that it still feels very personal to me because I want to make sure that everyone, you know, gets what they came for and has a great experience. But the cool thing is that the way we've built Power Table Live is that it's not about me. And the reality is that I might not be the person that they need in the room, right? They might need a different coach, they might need a service, they might need ideas, they might need community, and it might come from somebody else in the room, but we've built such an incredible community of, you know, women who I trust with my business and my services, with, you know, people who have a history of credibility and delivering on their services and being able to get results. And it's really cool to bring people together and help meet their needs in person that way. And I know that as the event continues to grow, we will see more and more of that. And that's really like it's become more of a movement and less a, you know, um, this is Taylor's event every every year. And it never has been, but like it's more and more evident every year that this is a movement that exists far outside of me. And the moment that I kind of realized that what this year at Power Table Live, somebody actually caught it on video. I think I'm a real coming out this week with it, but like I was standing at the back of the room on GA Day when we had like the intro video, and I was hearing my own voice on the intro video, and I was like looking at this whole sea of people, and it just like took my breath away. Like I almost cried in full makeup right there on the spot. Yeah, yeah. It was, and if you were there, it probably was like a really cool opening. But for those of us on the team who had poured these like hundreds of hours into this, it was like, wow, like this is real, and we are delivering those connections, those conversations that will change the trajectory of people's businesses for the next five, 10, 15 years right here in this room. And I I just like often think about that moment where I stood back in the back of the room, just took this big deep breath, and I was like, this is it. Like we've created something really special.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Well, and it's not just like the buzzword community. It's not just like you show up to a network and call once a month, and that's like considered your community. Like you've truly built. I don't even know of a better word for it. Like it's it's a it's a network, it's a family, it's a like it's we're we're really close and very like supportive group that I love seeing everybody show up year after year. Thank you so much for this. This was so good. I loved hearing. I loved hearing because there's some things that I hadn't heard from you yet. So that was good.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Yeah. And I actually love that you approached me about this interview because I was like, sometimes you just need somebody else to ask you the questions to like put it into perspective in a way that you know you often can't in your own head. And that, you know, that's actually why Power Table Live exists because like we do our best work when it's not done in isolation. 100%. So thank you so much, Whitney, for coming on the podcast. And for those of you listening, if you have not grabbed your ticket to Power Table Live, it will sell out long before April 2027, probably before the end of 2026. So if you are unsure, you want to send us some DMs, we will be more than happy to answer your questions. Or you can just go to powertable.co slash conference. The link will be in the show notes below this episode. If you want to go ahead and grab your ticket to Power Table Live 2027. Bye, everyone.