​The best salespeople aren't the best talkers — they're the best listeners. Carrie Painter, COO of an improv-based leadership company, brings the "Yes, And" principle off the stage and into your sales conversations.

​In this session you'll learn how to:

• ​Stop performing and start genuinely connecting with prospects

• ​Use deep listening to uncover what buyers actually need (not just what they say)

• ​Handle objections without going defensive or losing momentum

• ​Read and navigate tricky buyer dynamics in real time

​Walk away with practical conversation frameworks you can test on your very next call.

​Speaker

​Carrie Painter

​Carrie Painter is a founder, COO, and consultant whose 25-year career has spanned startups, scale-ups, and mission-driven organizations.

​Carrie is a business operations expert who thrives in smart, creative, often chaotic environments. She has built a business operations function at a global Ed Tech company, advised clients across multiple sectors on achieving performance through people, and serves as COO of freestyle+, an improv-based leadership development company. Today she runs Groundwork Partners, providing fractional COO services to founder-led businesses.

​Carrie didn't set out to become an advocate for improv as a business discipline. But during her time at freestyle+, surrounded by Broadway actors, she saw firsthand that improv and operations require exactly the same things: presence, trust, communication, and the ability to adapt without losing the plot. She has spent her career helping others see that the line between improv and running a business is thinner than they think.

​She holds an MBA from Duke and has called Durham home for most of her life — having moved from New England way before it was cool to live here.

​Location

​Bay 7 at American Tobacco Campus

​324 Blackwell Street, Durham NC 27701

​Parking

​Free parking is available at the American Tobacco Campus North Deck, courtesy of CBC Real Estate.

• ​Map to: 305 W Pettigrew St, Durham, NC 27701

• ​Use the 2nd floor and above. (Please do not park on first floor.)

​Questions?

​This session is part of Raleigh-Durham Startup Week. Click here to learn more about the event, plus get answers to your FAQs.

​Track Supporter

​​Thank you to Bank of America for supporting the Revenue Track at #RDSW26!