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SALT LAKE CITY — After a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Qualtrics X4 summit returned to the Beehive State in triumphant fashion as around 10,000 people flooded the Salt Palace Convention Center to network, collaborate and hear from speakers.
The summit kicked off just a day after the Utah-born customer survey software company announced that it received a $12.4 billion go-private offer from private equity firm Silver Lake Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The offer would convert the Provo-born company, co-founded by Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, from a public company to private ownership.
On the first day of the summit, attendees heard from world-renowned women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai, Smith, Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin, Delta CEO Ed Bastian and YouTube influencer Mark Rober.
Day Two of the highly anticipated event built off the hype from Day One with a star-studded list of keynote speakers, headlined by Martha Stewart and Chip and Joanna Gaines.
Stewart, a highly successful businesswoman, author and television personality who has built her own home and lifestyle brand along the way, kicked things off Thursday morning, mainly speaking about how she built her brand and sustained relevance over the course of so many years.
"I have been called the original influencer," Stewart said.
So, how has the "original influencer" evolved her brand to span multiple generations?
In her words, it's all about staying in tune with what's relevant to her audience not just in the current moment, but what will be relevant down the road as well.
One way Stewart has done this is by collaborating with different brands as well as with other celebrities and icons, many of whom come from completely different genres of pop culture.
Perhaps most notable is her long-running friendship with rapper Snoop Dogg.
"We've done a show together which was very popular. We have done a lot of collaborations ... We did a Super Bowl commercial together and I even got a tattoo of Snoop on my arm," Stewart said.
Now, Stewart is jumping into the world of CBD wellness, partnering with cannabis company Canopy Growth. Before attaching her name to the brand, Stewart said she did her own research to determine the benefits associated with CBD use.
"I found a lot of good things about CBD," Stewart said. "I developed these fabulous gummies with Canopy. Beautiful flavors and we're still going strong."
Before parting, Stewart offered one more piece of business wisdom.
"All of these kinds of businesses are relevant and they are sustainable and they are useful and as long as they serve a purpose, I think they are good," Stewart said. "Innovation is also terribly important for any business. If you don't innovate and evolve, I think you are not going to make it."
Following Stewart were the husband and wife duo, Chip and Joanna Gaines. Together they own and operate Magnolia Homes, a home remodeling and design business that became the centerpiece of their hit show, "Fixer Upper."
Although the show has been highly successful, it wasn't a home run from day one, or even two and three.
"The network was like no, no, no, no, no, yes. And that fourth or fifth 'no' that turned into a 'yes' is sort of how this whole thing started," Chip Gaines said.
Since then, the couple's success has continued to grow, from what Chip Gaines described as a "small business" to the couple starting their own network, dubbed Magnolia Network, and even developing Magnolia into a home decor and goods brand.
Last year, Magnolia Network was at the center of a controversy that led to it pulling the show "Home Work" after homeowners expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith, the Utah couple behind the show.
Despite bumps in the road, the rapid ascension of the Magnolia brand can be attributed to Chip Gaines' "all-in" mentality, one that his wife eventually developed as well.
"In the past, it was 'what if you lose all this,' but the older I get it's 'why not give it a try, why not go all in'."
— Qualtrics (@Qualtrics) March 9, 2023
- @joannagaines
We loved having Chip & Joanna at #qualtricsX4 to share how they work as a team to balance creating the vision, taking risks & being "All In." pic.twitter.com/oKIkz4cDA4
"When you're married to a guy like this, it kind of just rubs off on you," Joanna Gaines said. "So as these opportunities were coming and they were aligning with our dreams and our visions and our values and it became these passionate things that we could get behind, it was like, 'Why not go all-in?'"
Once she started living by that mentality, the couple was off to the races.
"The network was her thing, the magazine was her thing. Jo has been a steady hand over our last 10, 12 years of really building this thing out," Chip Gaines said. "If Jo says to do something or has a vision about something, our entire little ecosystem is very, very attentive to those thoughts and ideas."
