A one-day founding cohort · Denver, 2026
A one-day Denver intensive with Matt Stone and Mark DeCarlo — for established experts and accomplished leaders with a point of view who have outgrown their old introduction.
Invite-first and intentionally small — an exclusive Denver cohort.
A Note From Our Chief Sponsor
Your New Opening Line is proudly presented with Savvy Strategic Partners.
For years, I've helped CEOs and business owners see what's missing inside their companies: the leadership gaps, the systems, the people, the clarity standing between where they are and where they know they can go.
But there's one gap I've become almost obsessed with. It's the distance between the leader you've become and your ability to tell the story of who you are and why it matters. You can build an incredible company, earn the wins and the scars and the hard-won wisdom, and still walk into a room and tell a version of your story that barely scratches the surface.
I know that feeling. It's part of why we're bringing this one-day intensive to Denver. Not to polish an elevator pitch, but to do the harder work: digging underneath the résumé, the title, and the accomplishments to find the story that actually shaped you, and learning to own it.
Because the most powerful leaders don't just have a story. They know how to tell it in a way that makes a room lean in, remember, and refer.
Jill SimondsFounder & CEO, Savvy Strategic Partners · 4x founder & author
The moment you're in
Your old title, company, book, or category used to validate you. Going forward, the “Next You” requires a new opening.
For years you may have been introduced by a title, a company, a book, or a body of work that carried the room for you.
Now you're leaving corporate life, launching an advisory or fractional platform, refreshing a message, or stepping into the next chapter of your mission — and the opening that used to land no longer creates the same pull.
You don't have a credibility problem — it's a positioning one. Your audience will follow you into the new chapter — unless your introduction still points to the old you.
What this is
Your New Opening Line is a concentrated day of story, stagecraft, strategic identity work, candid feedback, and filmed rehearsal. You walk in using the introduction of who you were. You walk out with a newly crafted opening that defines who you've become — one you actually love saying. A sharper, more human 60–120 second opening that makes people lean in, remember, and want more.
The day, step by step
Capture your current introduction on stage and pinpoint exactly why it no longer fits the chapter you're entering.
Find the story, image, or contrast underneath the résumé — the one with real gravity and pull. The one that opens your next chapter.
Chart the old story, the new story, and the turning point between them into a clear narrative arc.
Build a concise opening that starts in the middle, paints a picture, and earns attention fast.
Work presence, rhythm, compression, and audience pull with live coaching from Matt and Mark.
Deliver your refined opening on camera — a clean record of the before and the after.
The transformation
Recorded first thing — your current 60–90 second introduction, exactly as you give it today.
Recorded at the end of the day — a refined 60–120 second opening you can study, use, and build on.
What you leave with
Who the room is for
Your hosts
Story & strategy
Matt Stone is the founder of The Bigger Stage, where he helps accomplished leaders turn hard-won expertise into a story the market leans toward — so audiences pay attention because they see themselves in it. A former practicing attorney, leadership consultant, and longtime entrepreneur, Matt has helped clients translate their story into business results from Hollywood to Silicon Valley to Tokyo. Now based in New York City, he leads the strategy and clarity side of the room in Your New Opening Line: what your next chapter really is, and how to say it so it lands.
Presence & performance
Mark DeCarlo is an Emmy Award–winning comedian, actor, and television host with more than a thousand episodes to his name. A founding member of The Second City's Hollywood company, he earned three Emmys for his comedy on ABC's Windy City LIVE, hosted series from Studs to the Travel Channel's Taste of America, and voiced Hugh Neutron in the Oscar-nominated Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. His on-camera credits include Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. In Your New Opening Line, Mark runs the performance side of the room: presence, timing, rhythm, surprise, and the instinct for what makes an audience lean in.
The essentials
Request Information
The founding Denver cohort is intentionally small and invite-first. Share a little about where you are now and the chapter you're stepping into. If it's a fit, we'll be in touch personally with the details.
This is a request, not a checkout. There's no payment here — just the start of a conversation about whether the room is right for you.
The founding Denver cohort is limited to a small, exclusive group. If that sounds like your next chapter, start the conversation.
Request Information