The Trust Point Young Professionals (TPYP) met in Eau Claire on Tuesday, August 11th for their third quarter 2026 event. The theme for this quarter’s meeting was Raising the Bar.
Thinking Like a CEO
To kick off the day, President and CEO, Bill Bosch, and Senior VP of Strategic Relationships, Randy Van Rooyen, led a “Think Like a CEO” activity, inviting members to revisit and reflect on professional challenges from an executive perspective. The group had the opportunity to learn from real-life examples of overcoming challenges, embracing pivots, and, most importantly, continuing to raise the bar when roadblocks arise.
Raising the Bar Through Connection & Communication
Q3 gave the group a chance to focus on building stronger communication skills and becoming more confident when navigating challenging interactions. Jason Munz; Chief Revenue Officer at Trust Point, was one of the quest speakers, who dove deeper into the importance of communication and shared strategies for becoming more intentional and effective in the way we communicate with others.
Later in the day, Jason returned to discuss a topic that can be challenging in both our personal and professional lives: uncomfortable conversations. He shared different approaches for handling these situations and offered tips for staying engaged, listening carefully, and working through moments that may feel uncomfortable.
The group also had the opportunity to put these concepts into practice through interactive exercises. Members partnered up and practiced observing and mirroring each other’s body language, highlighting the importance of nonverbal communication and how much we communicate beyond our words. Another exercise challenged one person to share about themselves while the other participants could only ask questions. This activity emphasized the value of active listening, curiosity, and asking thoughtful questions rather than immediately relating a conversation back to our own experiences.
Welcoming New Members & Interns
During a colleague networking lunch, the group formally welcomed two new members and several interns, who had the opportunity to introduce themselves and share a little about their backgrounds. Interns from the La Crosse and Minneapolis offices also joined in the day’s activities and were challenged to raise the bar with the rest of the group.
Goal Check In & Discussion
Following lunch, members paired up to reflect on their Q1 goals and share their progress. The conversation created an opportunity for meaningful connection, allowing members to exchange constructive feedback and brainstorm strategies for overcoming challenges in achieving their personal and professional goals. Members also reflected on their commitment to making “One Bold Move,” building on an activity from the previous quarter.
Transforming Ideas into Opportunities
The primary focus of the day was Raising the Bar by putting teamwork, creativity, and communication skills into practice through a Shark Tank-style challenge. Members were divided into groups of three to four and challenged to develop an idea or product that could benefit Trust Point. With no technology allowed, each group had to rely on conversation, creativity, and the strengths of their team to build their concept.
The first part of the challenge was identifying an idea worth pitching. The group was able to use inspiration from the earlier “Thinking Like a CEO” discussion. Once each team had settled on an idea, they spent 30 minutes developing their pitch using only one large sheet of paper as their planning tool.
The day concluded with each group presenting its pitch to the four “Sharks” (Bill Bosch, Randy Van Rooyen, Jill Taylor, and Jason Munz). Teams had five minutes to make their case, followed by five minutes of questions from the Sharks and another five minutes of questions and feedback from their peers. The activity gave members an opportunity to step outside their comfort zones, work collaboratively under a time constraint, and practice presenting an idea with confidence.
