Asheville NACE Lunch and Learn: Set the Stage- A Sales Masterclass

Join us at Twisted Laurel for our March Lunch and learn with Mallory Mullen, the Associate Director of Sales at Goodshuffle Pro! Enjoy a mediterranean inspired lunch buffet of hearty, crowd-pleasing favorites that pair perfectly with our engaging, high-impact educational program. Come hungry and leave inspired.

Everything is sales — and in 2026, the event professionals who win aren't necessarily the most talented or the most experienced. They're the ones whose sales process is so smooth and confidence-inspiring that clients never question their decision, always come back, and tell everyone they know.

In this lunch and learn session, Mallory introduces the STAGE Framework — a five-phase system designed for event professionals at every level, whether your title is "Sales" or not. Using a narrative about two vendors serving the same client, attendees will see themselves in the story, assess where their own process breaks down, and leave with a clear, actionable upgrade for at least one phase of their sales pipeline.

The session covers:

• S — Set the Scene: Making your first impression your best impression

• T — Tune In: Discovering what a client actually needs before you pitch anything

• A — Architect: Building proposals that position you, not just quote you

• G — Guarantee the Experience: Creating handoffs that convert signed clients into raving fans

• E — Encore: Turning every event you execute into the next three

Format: 30–40 minute presentation followed by 20–30 minutes of Q&A.

Audience: All levels — ICs, managers, and business owners.

About Mallory:

Mallory Mullen has spent 14 years at the intersection of events, business, and sales — and she's held all three roles simultaneously for most of them. Her foundation was built at Pro-Tools, her family's manufacturing company, where she worked as a Business Development Strategist applying six-sigma techniques to bridge operations, sales, and marketing. That systems-first thinking never left her. From there she moved into the events world, rising to Managing Director at Team Harbinger — a Washington D.C. agency named to Inc. Magazine's fastest-growing companies list — where she produced events for Fortune 500 brands and civic moments like the March for Our Lives.

Today, as Associate Director of Sales at Goodshuffle Pro, she leads the sales team that helps thousands of event businesses build the repeatable systems that scale. A Go-Giver by philosophy, an inductee of the Maestro Group Sales Hall of Fame, and former top producing rep coaching more like her. Mallory also publishes the Busy Season newsletter, a weekly newsletter offering free business and leadership guidance to event pros. She still finds time to consult for the family business…some clients you never really retire from!