The Fuel & Fire Forum: Intentional Intelligence | May 7, 2026
The Fuel & Fire Forum

Intentional Intelligence

Insight  ·  Implementation  ·  Impact
May 7, 2026  |  8 AM – 5 PM  |  Wyndham Garden, Manassas VA
Preceded by the VIP Neuro Playground — May 6, 7–9 PM
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One day. Two workshops. A personalized Insight, Implementation, Impact plan you will build, validate, and refine before you walk out.

The morning sharpens you. The afternoon equips your business. Between them, two working Game Plan workshops turn what you learn into a written plan you can use Monday. Fourteen speakers lead the sessions, with Table Partners around the room bringing services, products, and new technologies for you to explore between blocks.

May 6 · 7–9 PM

The VIP Neuro Playground

Hands-on. Small room. By invitation.

A private, capped experience for Prime Access VIP ticket holders and Presenting and Stage Partners, the evening before the main Forum.

Matthew and Carol Newell lead a hands-on business brain optimization clinic, with Bryan DePhillip of Ukemi Health and Christie Pride of Authentic Health joining as supporting practitioners. A curated meet and greet with Table Partners and sponsors runs alongside the clinic during the same window. You will experience practical protocols for cognitive performance, nervous system regulation, and physical resilience, and connect with the Table Partners before the main Forum begins the next morning.

May 7 · 8 AM–1 PM

Fuel Your Being

Mindset, brain optimization, and peak performance. Includes the Networking Luncheon.

You will learn what keeps your mind sharp and trustworthy through every decade of leadership, how to regulate the body and nervous system that carry your thinking, and how the brain actually rewires in response to the right inputs.

OpeningMary Benson Alphs
Welcome & Framing the DayBDI Leadership Network · Founder & Chief Strategist
Main StageDr. Alexis Epperly
Cognitive Confidence at Any AgeJoya Family & Lifestyle Medicine · Board-Certified Family & Lifestyle Medicine Physician
Main StageGreg Ballard
Identity & Faith: The Foundation Beneath the PlanFive C Consulting · Founder & CEO

You will then choose one breakout for a deeper dive into the lever your performance needs most.

Breakout OneBryan DePhillip
Your Body Is the BusinessUkemi Health · Functional Health Practitioner
Breakout OneChristie Pride
Your Nervous System Runs the ShowAuthentic Health · Neurodevelopment Specialist
Breakout OneJennifer Ruckner
Improving Your Workplace with NeuroscienceTots to Teens Therapy Services · Co-Founder & Speech-Language Pathologist
Featured Morning Keynote

Matthew Newell with Carol Newell

"Changing Your Brain: Proven Brain Optimization"
Family Hope Center · Co-Founders · 20,000+ families in 34 countries · Authors, Healing Your Child's Brain

You will walk out of the morning with a direct understanding of how the brain actually changes, and the protocols that prove it.

Breakout Two · Workshop One

Insight · Implementation · Impact

Your personalized game plan begins here.
You will take everything from the morning and build the first half of your plan. By hand, on paper. A subject matter expert will work it with you. AI will sharpen it. You will walk into lunch already holding a plan that did not exist when you sat down.
12–1 PM

The Strategic Networking Luncheon

Included in every ticket tier. Shared across both halves of the day.

You will share a meal with speakers, Table Partners, and a room of leaders who came for the same reasons you did. Plenty of time is built in to visit the Table Partners and explore their services, products, and new technologies. The introductions that happen here often turn into the relationships that move your business in the year that follows.

May 7 · 12–5 PM

Fire Up Your Business

AI, positioning, sales, and brand differentiation. Includes the Networking Luncheon.

You will learn how to attract clients predictably, how to close without pressure, how to find profit you did not know you were losing, and how to put AI to work so you can lead instead of manage tasks.

Main StageMary Benson Alphs
Fire Up Your Business: Opening the AfternoonBDI Leadership Network · Founder & Chief Strategist
Main StageJim DiModica
Built to CloseAPT Impact · Founder · Sales Authority · Speaker & Entrepreneur
Main StageMary Benson Alphs
The Client Magnet: Customer Acquisition That Grows Any BusinessBDI Leadership Network

You will choose one breakout to go deep on the specific lever your business needs next.

Breakout OneChris Peden
Stop Spinning. Start Profiting.Peden Accounting Services · CPA, CGMA, Fractional CFO
Breakout OneTheresa Willen
From Insight to Action: Make It StickEducational Renovation · Instructional Designer & Executive Learning Architect
Breakout OneSanjay & Meeta Patel
Be Your Own BankAlternative Wealth Strategist
Breakout OneJames Geisler
Money Moves: Financing Most Owners Never See2G Holdings · T13 Startups
Featured Afternoon Keynote

Larry Fischer

"Intentional Intelligence: Let AI Do the Work So You Can Lead"
Internet Media Now · Founder · AI & Automation Strategist · CRM & Digital Systems Expert

You will leave knowing exactly which workflows in your business belong to AI now, and how to hand them off without losing your standards.

Breakout Two · Workshop Two

Insight · Implementation · Impact

Your personalized game plan is completed.
You will layer the afternoon's acquisition, sales, finance, and AI insights onto what you built in the morning. Hand. Expert. AI. Again. You will leave with a complete Insight, Implementation, Impact plan, personalized to you, ready to execute Monday.
Closing Keynote

James Geisler with Mary Benson Alphs

"The Long Game: Legacy, Vision & What You're Really Building"
2G Holdings · T13 Startups · Entrepreneur, Investor, Real Estate Developer

James delivers the closing keynote on legacy and long-horizon vision. Mary steps in to close the day with him, sending the room out with clarity, connection, and a plan already in hand.

Services and products for you.

Around the perimeter of the main room, our Table Partners are ready to meet you. These are not passive sponsors. They are practitioners, founders, and experts whose tools, services, and insights complement every stage on the agenda.

You will find new technologies to explore, partner books to take home, and introductions to solutions you have been quietly searching for. Dedicated networking time is built into the day so you can visit the Table Partners without missing a session.

The right partner at the right moment can shift the trajectory of the next twelve months. Plan to spend time here.

You will leave with a plan, not notes.

Built by your hand. Validated by an expert. Accelerated by AI.

The two workshops on May 7 are built around a three-step method. The order matters. It is what makes your plan yours, not a template.

01
By Hand

You will write your plan on paper, using the brain science and business principles from the day. The clarity comes from doing the work yourself.

02
With an Expert

A subject matter expert will work the plan with you, pressure-testing the logic and the sequence so you leave with something that actually holds.

03
Through AI

Once the plan is sound, AI refines and accelerates the execution path. You will leave with tools, timelines, and next steps built into your document.

One day. Two workshops. The work captured on tape so you can take it in on your own time.

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Recorded May 7, 2026 · Wyndham Garden, Manassas VA
7 days of on-demand viewing from your purchase date
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