Ninety-nine percent of businesses in the US are small businesses, which drive nearly half of all economic activity and play an integral role in growth and innovation, while also bearing the brunt of economic volatility. Join CNBC’s Small Business Playbook on May 2nd as we recognize National Small Business Week by taking a closer look at the current state of small business in 2024, examine what the future of small business in America looks like, and meet some resilient entrepreneurs who will share their stories, and strategies, of overcoming recent obstacles to achieve success, and how you can too.
For CNBC Small Business Playbook editorial coverage, stories and video, visit www.cnbc.com/small-business-playbook/.
Isabella Casillas Guzman serves as the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and was sworn in on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Administrator Guzman represents the more than 30 million U.S. small businesses and is committed to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs start, grow and be resilient.
A lifelong proponent of small businesses, Guzman grew up as the daughter of a small business owner and learned at a young age how important small businesses are to the communities they serve, the people they employ, and the economies they help power.
Administrator Guzman previously served as Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, a position she held after being appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in April 2019. In that role, she served as the voice of small businesses and innovative startups in the 5th largest economy in the world. She administered and advocated for programs and initiatives to help small businesses access capital, markets, and networks for stronger outcomes. She and her team helped connect entrepreneurs in every community with the resources needed. As the economic recovery support function coordinator for the state, she focused on resilience and most recently worked to help small businesses access relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In California, Administrator Guzman oversaw a network of small business centers focused on expanding assistance to underserved business groups. She launched new public private partnerships and collaborated to deliver cutting edge resources to small businesses, including through initiatives like Get Digital CA to increase technology and e-commerce adoption and Source Diverse Source Local to strengthen supply chain readiness. She advocated fiercely for financial relief for small businesses, leading to the expansion of state supported lending and the largest COVID-19 grant relief program in the nation at over $2.5 billion. Guzman's office launched the Entrepreneurship Task Force to serve as a bridge to small businesses and create content and programs to help strengthen the competitiveness of startup and small firms.
Administrator Guzman has previously served in leadership at the SBA as the agency’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor during the Obama-Biden Administration, where she oversaw policy and new program implementation. She was a small business entrepreneur herself, and an advisor to fellow founders including in accelerating technology commercialization and in helping small business contractors leverage the federal marketplace. Administrator Guzman earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
Hailed as The Master of Innovation by Fortune magazine, World’s Leading Business Strategist, and a 21stCentury Icon, award-winning strategic consultant, trends expert, and professional speaker Scott Steinberg is a top expert on leadership, change and innovation. A business consultant and thought leader for over 2000 brands from Amazon to Zynga, he's the bestselling author of 30 books including Think Like a Futurist and Make Change Work for You, as seen in 800+ media outlets from CNN to The New York Times and USA Today.
One of America's top futurists (per the BBC) and business strategy and leadership training providers, the Fortune 500 calls him a "defining figure in business and tech" and "top trendsetter to follow." A respected business strategist and trendspotter says PBS, he's helped craft hit products found in 500 million homes – and is the creator of smash hit training games The Future is Yours and What’s the Future of…? Mid-pandemic, he made Consulting's Top 25 Consultants list for Excellence in Leadership as one of the field’s most influential voices.
A strategic adviser to CEOs and 4-star generals, he also serves as the head of BIZDEV: The Intl. Assoc for Business Development and management consulting and market research firm FutureProof Strategies.
Leanne Wong is a world-class artistic gymnast, 4X world medalist, and member of the USA National Team since 2017. In 2022 and 2023, she was part of Team USA that won a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Competition. At the 2021 World Championships, she won a silver medal in the all-around competition and bronze medal on floor exercise. Just two months before her first World Championships, she was at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan as an Olympic Alternate due to the postponement of the Olympic games in 2020 from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Leanne just wrapped up her Junior season competing at the University of Florida. Leanne was born to Marco Wong and Bee Ding in Kansas City, MO on September 20, 2023.
Leanne epitomizes excellence both on and off the gymnastics mat, garnering widespread acclaim for her remarkable achievements and unwavering dedication to her craft. Heralded as one of the brightest talents in collegiate gymnastics, Leanne amassed an impressive array of accolades during her tenure with the University of Florida Gators and Elite Gymnastics career thus far.
Off the mat, Leanne's commitment to excellence extended to the classroom, earning her a place on the SEC Academic Honor Roll and recognition as a WCGA Scholastic All-American. Leanne is a Pre-Med student & Entrepreneur. Leanne is CEO and Founder of Leanne Wong Bowtique. Back in high school in 2018, she took an elective class in Fashion and Interior Design, where she created her first hair bow which is now a well-known bow in the gymnastics world. After becoming a 2X World Medalist in 2021, Wong launched her company and website, the Leanne Wong Bowtique (leannewongbowtique.com). Wong designed her very own online retail site and has expanded beyond hair bows to include her signature designer gymnastics leotards. She has sold over 10,000 handmade bows globally. She is also an accomplished pianist and competed up to the state level, and considers cooking and baking as her favorite hobbies.
Tyler Mathisen co-anchors CNBC's "Power Lunch" (M-F, 1PM-3PM ET), one of the network's longest running program franchises. He is also Vice President, Events Strategy for CNBC, working closely with the network's events team to grow the rapidly expanding business.
Previously, Mathisen was co-anchor of "Nightly Business Report," an award-winning evening business news program produced by CNBC for U.S. public television. In 2014, NBR was named best radio/TV show by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW). Since joining CNBC in 1997, Mathisen has held a number of positions including managing editor of CNBC Business News, responsible for directing the network's daily content and coverage. He was also co-anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell."
Mathisen has reported one-hour documentaries for the network including "Best Buy: The Big Box Fights Back," "Supermarkets Inc: Inside a $500 Billion Money Machine" and "Death: It's a Living." Mathisen was also host of the CNBC series "How I Made My Millions."
Prior to CNBC, Mathisen spent 15 years as a writer, senior editor and top editor for Money magazine. Among other duties, he supervised the magazine's mutual funds coverage, its annual investment forecast issue and its expansion into electronic journalism, for which it won the first-ever National Magazine Award for New Media in 1997.
In 1993, Mathisen won the American University-Investment Company Institute Award for Personal Finance Journalism for a televised series on "Caring for Aging Parents," which aired on ABC's "Good Morning America." Mathisen served as money editor of "GMA" from 1991 to 1997. He also won an Emmy Award for a report on the 1987 stock market crash that aired on New York's WCBS-TV.
A native of Arlington,Va., Mathisen graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia.
*Agenda subject to change
1:00pm ET
Tyler Mathisen, CNBC “Power Lunch” Co-Anchor & Vice President, Events Strategy
With optimism currently at its lowest level in over a decade, inflation continues to pose major challenges for small business owners across America. The head of the Small Business Administration will discuss assistance programs and resources available to help owners weather these economic headwinds and share stories of entrepreneurs she’s met while traveling the country who are case studies in resiliency.
Isabella Casillas Guzman, 27th Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
Interviewer: Kate Rogers, CNBC Restaurant and Small Business Correspondent
Since the start of the pandemic, small businesses have played a pivotal role in keeping the economy afloat, but the landscape has changed in unexpected ways. A futurist will share insight into trends, predictions for the road ahead, and strategies on how to future-proof your business and adapt to disruption to create a competitive advantage.
Scott Steinberg, Futurist
Interviewer: Tyler Mathisen, CNBC “Power Lunch” Co-Anchor & Vice President, Events Strategy
Resiliency, focus, and discipline are defining traits of not only elite-level athletes, but many small business owners, as well. A 2x world champion gymnast will share how she applies that same mindset to her side hustle as an entrepreneur and discuss how she’s running and growing her business while competing for a spot on this summer’s 2024 Olympic team.
Leanne Wong, Team USA Gymnast, Entrepreneur
Interviewer: Kate Rogers, CNBC Restaurant and Small Business Correspondent
Live CART captions and AI closed captions will be available for this event. If you have any accessibility questions or requests, please reach out to us directly at Events@cnbc.com.
Harley Finkelstein is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and the President of Shopify. He founded his first company at age 17 while a student at McGill. Harley completed his law degree as well as his MBA at the University of Ottawa, where he co-founded the JD/MBA Student Society and the Canadian MBA Oath. Harley is an Advisor to Felicis Ventures, and one of the “Dragons” on CBC’s Next Gen Den. He received the Canadian Angel Investor of the Year Award, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and was inducted into the Order of Ottawa. From 2014 to 2017 Harley was on the Board of Directors of the C100, and from 2017 to 2020 he was on to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He is currently on the Board of Operation Hope, a non-profit providing financial literacy empowerment and economic education. Harley starred on Discovery Channel’s I Quit, and recently co-founded Firebelly, a modern high-end tea brand.
Gary Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, a modern-day media and communications holding company and the active CEO of VaynerMedia, a full-service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients across the company’s 4 locations.
In addition to VaynerMedia, VaynerX also includes Gallery Media Group, which houses women’s lifestyle brand PureWow and men’s lifestyle brand ONE37pm. In addition to running VaynerMedia, Gary also serves as a partner in the athlete representation agency VaynerSports, cannabis-focused branding and marketing agency Green Street and restaurant reservations app Resy.
Gary is a board/advisory member of Ad Council and Pencils of Promise, and is a longtime Well Member of Charity:Water.
Gary is a highly sought after public speaker, a 5-time New York Times bestselling author, as well as a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, and Uber.
Gary is currently the subject of DailyVee, an online documentary series highlighting what it’s like to be a CEO and public figure in today’s digital world, as well the host of The GaryVee Audio Experience, a top 100 global podcast, and host of #AskGaryVee, a business and advice Q&A show which can be found on both YouTube and Facebook.
Gary also appeared as judge in Apple’s first original series “Planet of the Apps” alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Will.i.am.
Barbara Corcoran’s credits include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country: She borrowed $1,000 and quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City. Over the next 25 years Barbara would parlay that $1,000 loan into a $5 billion real estate business, building the largest and best-known brand in the business.
Corcoran is the author of the best seller “Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business!” and host of top podcasts “Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran”.
Corcoran is a motivational and inspirational speaker. She is a frequent small business and real estate contributor on every major network. Corcoran has been an investor/Shark for the past twelve seasons on ABC’s four-time Emmy award winning show, Shark Tank, investing in over 80 businesses to date. Follow Barbara on Twitter and Instagram @BarbaraCorcoran.
Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers is a 7-time NBA All-Star & a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team. Lillard won a gold medal with Team USA Basketball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and is widely regarded as one of the premier players in the NBA.
Damian is a Co-Founder of Move Insoles, a new athletic health and wellness brand which makes performance insoles for athletes and consumers looking to improve their foot health. Move Insoles was founded in 2020, and has quickly gained momentum as the top insoles product worn among NBA and top college basketball players.
In the offseason, Lillard also known as DAME D.O.L.L.A. is an emerging hip-hop musical artist, who has released 4 studio albums to date under his Front Page Music label.