Ready to 'Crush It!'

Corey Jeppesen wants to change local perception of the “business conference.”

“The conferences I’ve been to locally are all kind of the same,” Jeppesen said. “It’s stuffy. You sit in your seat for four hours and just listen to the speakers.”

With the help of some like-minded local experts, Jeppesen is about to try a different approach. Crush It! Northwest, set for Jan. 10 at The Innovation Den in Coeur d’Alene, aims to help entrepreneurs and owners in the Inland Northwest get the most out of their business.

In addition to its lineup of speakers, the event will include food from Cosmic Cowboy Grill, drinks from Summit Cider, multimedia presentations, music courtesy of a live DJ and more.

“It’s going to be high intensity, high energy. Hopefully people will leave inspired, wanting more and to network with us and to be a part of this culture,” Jeppesen said.

Jeppesen, who is one of the four main speakers at Crush It! Northwest, is the owner of Seejepp Studio and Bahlr Media in Coeur d’Alene. An online and social media marketing expert, Jeppesen wants to help local professionals better understand his field in order to improve their own businesses.

“My specialty is communicating people’s message and vision through various platforms and to help people build confidence and be themselves,” Jeppesen said. “I don’t concern myself with competition. I don’t do it like they do, and they don’t do it like I do. There is an abundance of business, and you are not in competition with anybody. Nobody is like you.”

Jeppesen wants to help people better understand the online world, which is something he thinks many local businesses are fearful of embracing.

“I think there are a lot of businesses, especially in North Idaho, that romanticize too much on the way things used to be,” he said. “They refuse to communicate their business in certain ways and it’s because of fear and pressure. There are afraid to take a risk.”

Jeppesen wanted to focus the conference on ways he sees business trending on a national level, and that includes a heavy swing towards connecting with a younger audience with social media and online communication.

“They have to stop trashing on millennials. They are your customer in 10 years, so if you don’t want to speak to them, then you’ve lost,” he said.

Jeppesen said he wants to offer a better perspective on why people should choose your business over others.

“A lot of these types of conferences tell you to choose local, but they don’t tell you why. They just want you to do it because it’s local,” he said. “If you want people to choose local, then you better damn well be able to offer value to your community.”

Online communication is just one aspect Crush It! Northwest will address. Tabitha Wiltse, another organizer and speaker for the conference, is a public relations specialist who will speak about the importance of real world, in-person networking. She’s worked with a number of local and national nonprofits and corporations and has developed many valuable relationships along the way.

“The reason I’ve been successful, and why I’ve not had to apply for jobs is because I’ve networked,” Wiltse said. “Now people reach out to me, so I really want to tell that story, actually give them a real life story of how you can become successful at networking.”

Wiltse offered a bit of what she plans to tell conference attendees.

“I don’t say no,” Wiltse said. “I say yes a lot, which can stretch me out pretty thin sometimes, but I’m saying yes to having coffee with some random person at an event, I’m saying yes to opportunities.”

Wiltse said the conference is an opportunity to get business owners and entrepreneurs together in a fun local atmosphere. She said The Innovation Den was a natural choice for location.

“It’s at the center of our downtown, where we already have so many entrepreneurs and thinkers in our area, so it just became a great fit,” she said.

Jeppesen is excited to share what he believes are four core aspects of successful business in the modern landscape. Even though he’s in the business of marketing, he isn’t afraid to share what he’s learned so others can find the same success.

“I will give all the secrets away,” Jeppesen said. “I don’t want to hold back anything from businesses, because the more you give, the more it comes back.”

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Featured Crush It! speakers

Bruce Ware

With a degree in organization development, Bruce has decades of experience in producing and coaching businesses that strive to be sustainable. He works to combine Purpose, People, and Process to reinvent strategy and create inspired and engaged teams with his consulting company, Summit Success Strategies.

Tabitha Wiltse

Tabitha is a real-world networking & public relations specialist in a digital-trending world, connecting businesses like Cosmic Cowboy, Children’s Village, and other local and national companies. Passionate about nonprofits and corporations alike, Tabitha thinks outside-the-box and strives to connect businesses in ways that produce results.

Leanne Smith

Owner of The Pursuit of Profit, LeAnne is a profit coach and financial planner that has worked with thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners and has seen every possible win and loss. LeAnne offers a multitude of webinars, workshops, and 1-on-1 coaching tailor-made to her clients’ needs and desires.

Corey Jeppesen

Most notable as the owner of Seejepp Studio and Bahlr Media in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Corey embodies the spirit of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and how to hustle your way to the top. Corey is a proponent of transparency in marketing and a master of communicating by any means necessary.

For more information, call (208) 659-4255 or visit www.CrushItNW.com