Ignite 2026 Recap

Judd Wilson is joined by Ignite co-host and CDF team member Carol Ann Padgett for a candid conversation about leadership, clarity, and what it really takes to bring Ignite to life each year.

From Andy Stanley’s powerful reminder that “people follow clarity” to the intentional process of selecting speakers who motivate, teach, and challenge leaders, this episode pulls back the curtain on the vision calls, post-event debriefs, and audience surveys that shape Ignite’s impact.

You’ll hear reflections on standout moments from Ignite 2026, including Justin Forsett’s message that “greatness grows best in the shadows,” and how growth often comes through challenge, change, and uncertainty.

If you’ve ever wondered how Ignite comes together — or how strong leadership is built behind the scenes — this episode is for you.

🎙️ Go forth. Lead well. And embrace the climb.

Big thanks to iHeartMedia—our Presenting Sponsor for the entire IgniteCast podcast and the powerhouse fueling this season’s episodes! 🔊🔥 

🎧 New episodes drop every other Thursday, packed with insight, inspiration, and actionable ideas to help you grow as a leader—right where you are.

Want to learn more about the Ignite Leadership Conference?
Visit 👉 www.igniteleadership.com

Transcript

S7 E1 Judd Carol Ann
===

Taylor Tutor: [00:00:00] Welcome to Ignite Cast, where Ideas Spark action brought to you by the Community Development Foundation, your Chamber of Commerce and economic development engine. For Tupelo in Lee County, thank you to our presenting sponsor, iHeartMedia for powering this season of Ignite Cast. I'm Taylor. 

Justin Forsett: I'm Judd, 

Taylor Tutor: and welcome to Ignite Cast.

Judd Wilson: Welcome cast. That is right. It's at Nightcast. Guess what? It's season seven of Ignite Cast. It is good to start another season. And you know what I love about this season is it is the first season after at night 2026, so we probably actually have some new listeners that we've [00:01:00] never had before, so that's exciting as well.

Judd Wilson: And you're thinking, man, Judd's talking a lot. Where's, where's Taylor? When she kind of bounces in on the other microphone. She's actually not gonna be with us on season seven because she is on maternity to leave. So let's give her a little congratulations on the birth of the new baby. Look at that. I love sound effects on a show, so, uh, but yeah, but I got a great guest with me today.

Judd Wilson: She's really not a guest at all. Y'all all know her as Carol Ann Paget. She is actually my co-host at at night. How exciting is that? Carol Ann? We're usually on stage, but now we are just sitting here. Across from each other at a table, just talking and having conversations. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Feels like our normal staff meetings.

Judd Wilson: It does, doesn't it? But we don't usually have a microphone and have headphones on. We, when we talk to we, 

Carol Ann Padgett: yes. That's throwing me off a little bit, but I'll, I'll get used to it. 

Judd Wilson: So, Caroline, I know that you're an an at night cast podcast listener, so you're no stranger to [00:02:00] this question. Long time 

Carol Ann Padgett: listener.

Judd Wilson: Long time listener. She's actually given us a Yelp review probably, I don't even know if, can you do a Yelp review on a podcast? I don't know if you can, but, um, 

Carol Ann Padgett: five stars. 

Judd Wilson: Thank you. Um, but we ask this question all the time 'cause it's a leadership podcast and so we kind of do want to talk about at night in the background and all that a little bit later in the show.

Judd Wilson: But we always ask our guests this, what's the one leadership tip? That you've been given, that you kind of take with you today? What is that one leadership tip? 

Carol Ann Padgett: I'm normally short-winded, but this is one thing I feel like I could talk about for so long. Um, especially working here and just being around the leaders here and having such good mentorship.

Carol Ann Padgett: There's so many people at CDF that have really invested a lot in me, so I could talk about that all day. But one thing if I, if you just want a quick tip is from Andy Stanley and you know, I, we listen to a lot of speakers around here being on the Ignite Committee. But I heard from him one time, he said, [00:03:00] people follow clarity.

Carol Ann Padgett: You can have the better plan, the better be the more caring leader. But if people can't understand your plan and understand what you want them to do, they cannot follow you. So every time I have something that I want to introduce to someone or I want someone to help me with, I just make sure that I'm as clear as can be.

Carol Ann Padgett: And I just kind of hear Andy Stanley in my head saying, people. Follow clarity. 

Judd Wilson: And that's a, it, it, that's a great um, tip. 'cause that goes with everything, doesn't it? Because I know sometimes when I get nervous about something or we're gonna do something new, it really, the nerves come from. I don't really know what the goal is or I'm not clear about something.

Judd Wilson: So not having that clarity really causes stress. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Absolutely. Um, I saw a meme one time. It said, 15-year-old me, don't tell me what to do. 36-year-old me, please tell me exactly what to do in perfect chronological order with great detail and. I completely [00:04:00] agree. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. I mean, the more you know, the better, the better you feel.

Judd Wilson: Kinda walking. Yes. Walking through that, right? Yes. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Yes. 

Judd Wilson: Um, I think this is a good segue here because, um, Caroline mentioned it. We do kind of have a. We do a lot of things at CDF by committee and we kinda work together through different things. And I think it's good too because, you know, we have a, a core group, um, here at CDF that that does work on, um, you know, looking at speakers and figuring out exactly, you know, who we want to kind of get up on stage.

Judd Wilson: And so. Carolann is the backbone of that. I mean, you really do a great job of kind of lining all that up. I mean, how do, how has that changed from maybe year one to how we do it now? 

Carol Ann Padgett: Oh, I'm, thank you for those kind words. But the people on staff, um, the people on that committee, it's a, it's a big commitment because we, it is very time consuming.

Carol Ann Padgett: We do spend so much time just listening to speakers and even some of us going out to conferences and hearing them in real life. But, [00:05:00] um. The thing that's helped a lot is, you know, Judd, the night before Ignite. A lot of times we will take the speakers out to dinner. A lot of times we ask them, who, who do you recommend?

Carol Ann Padgett: And they'll make a recommendation and we'll jot it down and then they will come to Ignite and kind of see what it's all about and feel the energy and meet the people in the room and they'll say, okay, I get it now. I see what Ignite is like. You need to get this person. So that is, that's been so helpful, just getting suggestions for, from speakers who are actually in the room and really see what Ignite is about.

Judd Wilson: Yeah, and, and we do that. So it's kind of neat too because, you know, we feel better about maybe even looking at that speaker or even maybe. You know, asking them to come or, and giving them an invite to do that because, you know, we have that with that, basically that review from a speaker that's been here and knows us.

Judd Wilson: So 

Carol Ann Padgett: love a recommendation from someone who has heard the full speech from the speaker. 

Judd Wilson: Right. It does make it easier. Yes, it sure does. It [00:06:00] sure does. Let's, let's kind of shift gears a little bit. Um, 'cause we'll kind of be going back and forth as we go through the show, kind of talking about the behind the scenes of at night.

Judd Wilson: And we've kind of uncovered that already when we kind of talk about how we have a, you know, a committee here at CDF that looks at different speakers and kind of keep that list, how we go through things to do that. But a lot of times our guidance on how we do things at night is, um, you know, Carol, we're up on stage every time we say, hey.

Judd Wilson: You're gonna get an email at on the next day to, to fill out a survey or go to at night le ignite survey.com, and we point up there in the name at night surveys up there, and then we always say, Hey, you want to fill this out because you have a chance of winning What? 

Carol Ann Padgett: The blue deltas that you model so beautifully on stage every year.

Judd Wilson: Exactly. Exactly. But why is, why is the, why are those surveys important and and how does that drive us a little bit? 

Carol Ann Padgett: Oh, they're super important because we know what we would like to hear and see and what we improve. We, [00:07:00] um, debrief after every IGN night, and that's one of the reasons that we got John Foley in is because he had so many tips about debriefing, but.

Carol Ann Padgett: We don't know. We don't have the same perspective as everyone in the audience, so we, we love to hear, um. What they have to say and what they want to be different or what they're really enjoying and is kind of giving them momentum so that we can deliver for them. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. And so we, we, we value those surveys to do that.

Judd Wilson: And, you know, the survey that we just did closed. And so we'll be announcing that BlueJean winner here soon. We'll, you'll already know who that is by the time this podcast probably is released. But, um, you know, we do value that. And so some of the things that, you know, were uncovered were that. Hey, we want to hear more of this type speaker.

Judd Wilson: I mean, that's how we got, uh, Noelle Russell is because even last year people wanted to know about. Ai. And so, you know, we looked for somebody that, that did that or some, you know, skillset of, of, of some sort. So we see that even in today's surveys [00:08:00] that we got back. And so, you know, we look at that and it helps us, um, kind of look through, um.

Judd Wilson: Different things and they talk a little bit about the day as well. Some people mention, Hey, I, you know, wish we had a little bit more time for networking, which gives us an opportunity to say, Hey, you're gonna do that while you're there. You're also gonna learn about leadership, but also remember everything we do at CDF throughout the year, a lot of opportunities that, that you can take part in.

Judd Wilson: Networking doesn't even have to be at at night. It can be at other events we do at CDF. So, um, it's neat that we can kinda look at what. You know, our audience wants to learn and then take that with the list of the speakers that we have. Um, 

Carol Ann Padgett: I have a funny story about, uh, it's a behind the scenes story. Yes.

Carol Ann Padgett: Like you mentioned about our other events, and I know that you saw it, I saw it too on the survey. So many people saying, we wanna network more, we wanna net more, network more, more opportunities for that at Ignite. And we said, well. Yes, we'll figure that out. We'll definitely improve that. But then also we have other networking [00:09:00] opportunities.

Carol Ann Padgett: Maybe we need to make sure that they know everyone in that room knows about them. Well, speaking of that, um, you know that we have a vision call with every speaker before they get to Tupelo, Mississippi, and you're in on it. And during that, um, Justin Forset, he was super interested in learning about Tupelo, but you could tell through the whole thing that he had a question just on the tip of his tongue ready to talk about something.

Carol Ann Padgett: So we said, okay, Justin, now that you know about igniting Tupelo, anything, um, you, you're concerned about? He said, um, well, I want you all to know that I'm a foodie. And he said, I am gonna wanna eat some good food in Tupelo. And we said, oh, no problem. We, we've got you. So at the speaker dinner the night before.

Carol Ann Padgett: He, of course we were talking foodie talk, and then later he said, so is Ignite your biggest event? And I said, well, it's, it's up there. But actually, um, attendee wise, we have something called Taste of Tupelo, and they, we have more attendees that, that almost doubled the number of people actually. And he said, and he perked up and he said, tell me about this.[00:10:00] 

Carol Ann Padgett: And I told him how it's a business expo, but the part that he perked up his ears was all the restaurants that are there giving out samples. He pulled out his phone and he said, when is this? He was looking to see if he was available to come, because it sounded so interesting to him. Yes. So I thought that was, that was funny.

Carol Ann Padgett: And it's, it's one of those other networking events that you're talking about. 

Judd Wilson: It is. It is. So even the speakers got excited about that. And Caroline, you mentioned too, um, as a good leader, we gotta have vision, right? We gotta have, we gotta know what's coming. It kind of goes back to your Andy Stanley quote of having clarity.

Judd Wilson: So you mentioned that we do vision calls with, um, with our speakers. Why is that so important that we do that? 

Carol Ann Padgett: Uh, so that they can know really what Ignite is about. Um, they do conferences all the time, but I think that ours is different in that there are so many different industries in the room and they need to know about that.

Carol Ann Padgett: There are so many demographics, so many ages. Um, so many people with [00:11:00] different interests, and a lot of times that makes their job harder to connect with that many different people. But the thing that they have in common is that they're there to learn and that they wanna know about leadership and, um, they want to feel the energy of Ignite for that day.

Judd Wilson: Yeah. So it, we, so I, I think it's good for our audience to know that when we do this, that we're actually letting you know the speaker can come and give the same speech all over the country, but they really do like to craft it too. Who's sitting out there, who, who am I talking to? How can I get my message to that person and, and hit, you know, right on there.

Judd Wilson: And I think those vision calls really kind of help with that. And I thought it was interesting this year too, Caroline, because we do those vision calls. You mentioned the. The night before we kind of meet with the speakers, which is a great opportunity for, for some of us on staff to kind of get to know them before they get on stage.

Judd Wilson: But I think it's also a great opportunity for the speakers to get to know one another and kind of feed off one another. And you see that up on stage and that happens every year where, where a [00:12:00] speaker might reference, well, you know, uh. Gucci just said this, and this is how this hits here. And a lot of times you'll hear the speakers reference the other speakers and it's a lot of that's because they, you know, had that time to spend together at the dinner.

Judd Wilson: But I thought it was interesting this year because Gucci talks so much about debriefing, I think this is the first time we've actually had a meeting with the speakers. Um. Group after the event, we actually debriefed with them. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Yes. 

Judd Wilson: Why do you think that was important for us? 

Carol Ann Padgett: Well, actually I think we should steal their idea because it was really good.

Carol Ann Padgett: I think that they learned some of the things that, um, went really well for us and really, and didn't go well or, um, and vice versa. Do you want to talk about how they make a start? Every meeting I 

Judd Wilson: do 

Carol Ann Padgett: of the blue Angel? I, 

Judd Wilson: I was hoping you would've gonna bring that up. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Okay, good. Um, so they do a blue Angel check-in and they made us, um, well, I won't say made.

Carol Ann Padgett: We got to do it with them. And it's four part. So the first part, every person [00:13:00] goes around the room, they start with saying, um, they call it a feeling statement. So, um, I'm feeling this way about this meeting, I'm feeling this way about Ignite coming up. Number two is they say their safety, which is something that they need to fix or get better at.

Carol Ann Padgett: So they say their safety and then they say, they either say, I own it or I'll fix it. And then they acknowledged someone in the room, um, say, thanks for the person next to me for helping me with this, something that's pertinent to that meeting. And then they end it by saying, glad to be here. Um, and that really sets the tone for every meeting.

Carol Ann Padgett: And it was funny, when we did our vision call with them, they said this, this is how we're gonna start the meeting. And you could see. C, d, f everyone on our end, we were engaged and we were there. But you could see when they said, this is how we're gonna do it, every single person in that room stood up a little taller.

Carol Ann Padgett: They were more engaged, they leaned forward 

Judd Wilson: because we had to be ready with those 

Carol Ann Padgett: exactly four 

Judd Wilson: things. 

Carol Ann Padgett: It was really a good skill to get everyone engaged in, in a meeting or a debrief or a, or an engagement meeting. 

Judd Wilson: [00:14:00] Right, right. And, and you know, I think it's good to start that. I mean, like, if we even kind of walk through it today, we could say, Hey, this is what I'm feeling.

Judd Wilson: I mean here, here. We are Carol Lamb. We're sitting here with headphones on and microphones. So it's a little bit different setup than we 

Carol Ann Padgett: love to talk about feelings, John. 

Judd Wilson: So right then we're usually used to, but we got it. Our safety, the audience doesn't know this, but we had a little technical issue and we owned it.

Judd Wilson: We fixed it, and, you know, we're gonna acknowledge our, our Darren, who produces all of these shows for, for taking part in doing that. So we really wanna acknowledge his good work on doing that. And then. We're just glad to be here, glad to be here, that we can talk about at night and talk about leadership and, and so that's, it's, it's so good.

Judd Wilson: So it's so simple to walk through those steps. I did it right then. 

Perfect. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Did it? That's perfect. Yeah. 

Judd Wilson: Look at that. Look at that. And I think it's good. As you mentioned, we saw it in the room the first time we had the vision call, and then after, I mean, it really, it makes you almost pay attention more.

Carol Ann Padgett: Absolutely. Yes. And you, you learn more about the people in the room, because like I said, I'm, I'm short winded. But if you make [00:15:00] me talk, I will. 

Judd Wilson: You will. That's right. That's right. Kind of talk about this, but then I'm gonna play a clip from at night too. But, um, why it's important because Gucci was not like Justin.

Judd Wilson: Justin was not like Noelle. And if you can go back to all of our speakers, you know, from last year and the year before, they're all different. And we try to make sure they're not all the same. Why is that important? What are we looking for when we're looking for speakers? 

Carol Ann Padgett: Well, there are three things that we want at least one speaker to hit every year.

Carol Ann Padgett: We need someone who is going to bring the motivation, who's gonna make you leave there feeling ready to go, feeling ready to use what you learn that day. We like someone who will teach you a new skill set or teach you how to brush up on a skill set that you use every day in a leadership role. And then we, of course, it's a leadership conference.

Carol Ann Padgett: We've gotta have someone that speaks about leadership. So those are the three things that we have to make sure that one, at least one speaker hit. 

Judd Wilson: And sometimes a speaker might hit all three of those. Every 

Carol Ann Padgett: single one. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. I 

Carol Ann Padgett: think John Foley did this year. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's neat. [00:16:00] Um, and we do, Carolyn, this is her first time on it.

Judd Wilson: Night Cas. I know we've shared the stage for many years, but, um, one thing we love to do is we love to play clips either from. Actual, we'll be playing a lot of clips during season seven from this at night, but we even go all the way back to 20 18, 20 19 and, and kind of hear those old clips. And it's good to hear from our old friends and, and listen to that.

Judd Wilson: But I do want us to listen to this clip because this, this really hit home with me. And at night, 2026 

Justin Forsett: Greatness grows best in the shadows, means that we don't get our greatest gains. When we're at the top of the mountain, we get our greatest gains on our climb and our pursuit to the top. Those moments where we're constantly being stretched and pulled and we have to dig deep within ourselves and pull out things that we didn't even know existed in order to take us to that next level in our lives and in our careers, ladies and gentlemen, greatness is developed in those moments of the shadows, those moments when we're being pushed, those moments where we're being challenged.

Justin Forsett: So we gotta learn how to embrace those moments, those moments of change, [00:17:00] those moments of uncertainty. 

Judd Wilson: So if you're playing at home, he was our motivational speaker. No doubt. Yes. But when you hear that, that greatness. It grows best in the shadows than during the hard times. Can you see that with leaders and, and kind of, you don't have to spill your beans, but you know, where, where, where were some times that you learned that even in your own career, maybe?

Carol Ann Padgett: Oh, yeah. Um, that's hard for me because I don't, I don't like chaos. I like for things to go my way, for me to be prepared for every situation. Clarity, like you talked about earlier. Yes, absolutely. But it, it's just, it's never going to be like that. You've gotta come to terms with it and you've gotta find. A way to push through.

Carol Ann Padgett: Um, you know, I'm married to a coach, so sometimes we get those sports analogies in my house, and I've heard him say before, not to me because he's smart and knows not a wife, probably doesn't wanna be coached by her husband, but I've heard him say to our daughter before, um, we either win or we learn. So, um, when she's kind of been going through stuff that she's not very [00:18:00] good at or, or, um, didn't win at, he says, you did win because you learned something in this.

Carol Ann Padgett: So it, it. It really followed what Justin said. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah, 

Carol Ann Padgett: it makes a lot of sense. 

Judd Wilson: And I, I mean, and I think, I mean, I've been at CDF for almost 14 years now, but I, even when I go through my daily life of, of, of running the Chamber of Commerce or, you know, going out and meeting with our members, I take things from, I learned from my previous careers, um, even if it was, you know, I worked at Chick-fil-A in high school.

Judd Wilson: We didn't say my pleasure back then, but we still, you know, I'm sure made sure we were It was your 

Carol Ann Padgett: pleasure. 

Judd Wilson: Yes, it was. Mm-hmm. It was. And then, you know, I was a pharmaceutical rep for many, many years and, and, and the what got me into the Chamber of Commerce world, I was laid off, so Yeah. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Yeah. 

Judd Wilson: Mm-hmm. You, that was not a, I mean, it wasn't like, Hey, I'm leaving here just to go, you know?

Carol Ann Padgett: That was the shadows for sure. I'm 

Judd Wilson: sure it was the shadows and, but I mean, I learned from, you know, what I learned as a salesperson that I still use today, but also what I learned from. Hey, going through that struggle and kind of going through that, and I [00:19:00] think it does, it helped me and I think, you know, good leaders do that.

Judd Wilson: They learn from, from that. So that was sort of my, what I took, not from all of at night, but looking back, I mean, you can talk about something from this year, uh, Carol Ann, but what would you say is one of your greatest at night memories? 

Carol Ann Padgett: Oh, gosh. Um, 

Judd Wilson: there's a lot of 'em. I know it's hard to list a bunch of 'em, but.

Carol Ann Padgett: Oh, you, you put me on the spot. Um, just, I think just, it's every year. It's the same, every year. Just that energy in the room that's so contagious, um, that I get to take with me. It's just such a boost for the year ahead. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. It's, and it's neat what carries, you know, carries through. I always think about this as we meet in the room is how are we gonna top it, you know, because it seems like every year 

Carol Ann Padgett: Yes.

Carol Ann Padgett: Uhhuh, 

Judd Wilson: you know, and we, we get that with, with the, uh. With, with the, uh, with the vision, uh, vision calls we're, we're thinking, man, this is gonna be a good year when, when that comes through. And so, um, you know, when you [00:20:00] do that, it, it kind of helps you say, I think this is gonna be the best year. 'cause you kind of, you kind of see that and, and do that with that.

Judd Wilson: And so that, that's, uh, that's a good thing. And I think about some of my favorite memories too, is. You know, the stuff that that happens that we don't plan for. I remember, um, when Aaron Davis was speaking and the power went out 

Carol Ann Padgett: Oh yeah. Uhhuh. 

Judd Wilson: And we had to. Shine a, uh, 

Carol Ann Padgett: that's a man that rolled with the shadows.

Carol Ann Padgett: I mean, he could have said, well, the power's out. I'm done. Um, y'all have a great day. He kept going. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. And I think about a lot of those speakers and so that he was just very engaging with the crowd. I think of Justin Patton, who we've had twice. You know, those, I mean, it's those connections that they have with our folks sitting in the seats.

Judd Wilson: And it's neat. If you're, y'all know me, I'm not really on social media, but I'm on LinkedIn and it's amazing. Following a lot of our speakers on LinkedIn and they'll post something. And when you look at the comment sections or you look at the likes, it's [00:21:00] people from Tupelo. 

Carol Ann Padgett: Oh yeah. 

Judd Wilson: So you know, Uhhuh, they're engaging with those folks even from years past, which is kind of neat.

Carol Ann Padgett: Yes, he, Justin is very good at engaging with people. A funny memory with him as we were doing our vision call and I had just had Baby Charlie and I guess I got on that vi that, um, zoom meeting for the vision call with Charlie on my shoulder and I, I get a new mother. I didn't even realize he was there. I was just patting him having that zoom meeting and Justin said, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Carol Ann Padgett: Is no one gonna acknowledge the baby in the room that Caroline just has a baby on her shoulder. And I'm like, oh, sorry guys. Yeah. Um, home on maternity leave, but I'll be back before Ignite starts. 

Judd Wilson: And in fact, Caroline, what I remember about that, your first day back from maternity leave. Was that on stage at night?

Carol Ann Padgett: Yes. He came early so that I could, I could host with you. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. That's why Charlie's one of my favorites. He did that on purpose. He did that on purpose. What a great show. What, what a great event. And Carol Lamb, we couldn't, like I mentioned [00:22:00] earlier, your, your, uh, dedication through to that committee. I mean, the way we get our speakers, I give you much props for that and, and all that you do for that.

Judd Wilson: And then. Just being up there on stage with me and keeping me grounded, I, that's gotta be difficult. We're not gonna uncover that in this show. I wouldn't do anyone else. 

Carol Ann Padgett: I promise 

Judd Wilson: we won't uncover that in this show, but that's a tough, tough job. I know. But, but thank you for your clarity as you mentioned, because as leaders we need to have clarity and we, we thank you for that.

Judd Wilson: So you need to hop back on at night, cast some other time too, a call 

Carol Ann Padgett: back. To John Foley. Glad to be here. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah, there you go. Thank you, Carolanne.

Taylor Tutor: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ignite Cast, presented by iHeartMedia. For more leadership insights and engaging conversations, be sure to hit subscribe. And if you enjoy today's episode, we'd love for you to leave a review. And remember, go forth, go forth and do good [00:23:00] things.