Sally Awad Properties, with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, backed the Presence Check™ at ArtPop × The Pinnacle Dinner™ and sent the first 50 guests home with a curated St. Mark Vintage tote, handcrafted from repurposed ArtPop billboard vinyl.
THE PINNACLE DINNER™ / PEOPLE + ROOM ARCHIVE
The people.
The details.
The follow-through.
Explore the guests, partners, sponsors, and stories behind selected Pinnacle rooms.
See what Rare Rooms™ can do for your organization01B / PEOPLE WHO MOVE THE ROOM
THE PROOF
HAS PEOPLE
IN IT.
Longtime believers, artists, operators and sponsors do more than attend. They help shape what guests can experience, carry home and build next.
Photography: Tatiana Berdo
Founder of Manolo’s Bakery—ranked No. 2 on USA TODAY’s 2025 10Best cake shop list—and a longtime supporter of The Pinnacle Dinner™ and Charlotte’s creative community.
After attending this Pinnacle Dinner, Drew Burdick, Founder of StealthX, partnered with Kristi Straw. They now co-host the Operator Dinner: a protected room for senior operators, founders and funders.
Models wore Jill Melyssa’s sculptural jewelry through the room, turning the dinner into a living ArtPop gallery.
02 / ROOMS, HOSTS + COLLABORATORS
ArtPop Street GalleryCharlotte Is CreativeTEDxSugarCreekWomenU.S. BankCLT Startup HouseStealthXThe HamiltonSt. Mark VintageSpeakeasy CharlotteManolo’s Bakery
Featured voices and honorees have included Emily Gerhardstein, Wendy Hickey and Marie Kelly, alongside founders, executives, artists, investors, operators and trusted connectors.
Selected collaborators, hosts, communities, leaders and event contexts. Names do not imply sponsorship or endorsement unless explicitly stated.
THE OPERATOR DINNER / CLT STARTUP HOUSE
16
“AN ABSOLUTE SLAM DUNK.”
SMALLER ROOM.
BIGGER SIGNAL.
Senior operators, founders, funders, PE-connected leaders and Celtics-connected leadership met at one protected table to get honest about AI transformation, judgment work, long timelines, big asks and the failures nobody puts in a keynote.
THE REPEAT ROOMSecond Operator Dinner confirmed for October 29, 2026.
The June table created enough signal, relationship movement and qualified opportunity to bring the room back together.
Drew Burdick, Founder, StealthXOperator Dinner co-host and room architect
04 / THE MOVEMENT
BEAUTIFUL TALK
IS NOT ENOUGH.
7speaking opportunities opened from one June room
01
Referrals + direct bookings
02
Clients + qualified opportunities
03
Sponsorships + partnerships
04
Speaking opportunities
05
Collaborations + shared resources
06
Assets under management
THE TREASURE IS IN THE FOLLOW-UP.
05B / THE STANDARD
MARIE KELLY
INAUGURAL
QUEEN OF CONNECTION™
She saw the room before it existed.
Marie Kelly was the first person to call Kristi a creative.
She was the first to tell her she could do this. When Kristi first began imagining what it might mean to gather people differently, Marie placed a copy of The Art of Gathering in her hands and encouraged her to keep going.
More importantly, Marie taught her that a beautiful event was never enough. Something should change because people were in the room.
Through her encouragement, her example and the extraordinary people she has brought together across business, culture and community impact, Marie fundamentally changed how The Pinnacle Dinner™ builds community.
Crowned in November 2025 as our inaugural Queen of Connection™, Marie returns to The Pinnacle Prom™ to pass the crown forward.
Dr. Jennifer Adelhardt will carry forward the standard Marie helped establish: generosity, intention and connection with consequence.
THE 2026 QUEEN OF CONNECTION™
Meet Dr. Jennifer Adelhardt and see the full Queen of Connection™ story.
Meet the 2026 Queen
2026 / CURATED FOOTPRINT
ONE METHOD.
DIFFERENT ROOMS.
REAL JOBS.
Austin Women in TechNC TECHUNC CharlotteWashington National OperaWomen in Sales CommunityElevate Digital
Selected 2026 rooms and adjacent activations. Organizational names describe the context of the work and do not imply sponsorship or endorsement.
07 / THE ARCHIVE
THE ROOM
KEEPS A RECEIPT.
From TEDxSugarCreekWomen × The Pinnacle Dinner™ to ArtPop Street Gallery × The Pinnacle Dinner™, every expression protects the same standard: useful people, honest conversation and movement that can be named.
ArtPop brought billboard art, models and creative energy. St. Mark Vintage turned that art into the first Presence Check™ collector pieces. Manolo’s Bakery, ranked No. 2 on USA TODAY’s 10Best cake shop list, brought the dessert. The Hamilton held the room.
CREATOR + HOSTKRISTI STRAW, MBA
I MAKE MARKETS
FOR EXPERTISE.
Founder and CEO of Lighthouse Leadership Consultants™, creator of The Pinnacle Dinner™, strategic advisor and nationally recognized keynote speaker. Kristi designs rooms where valuable people become easier to understand, place, trust and buy.
Design a Rare Room™Learn the method in the cohort