The Growth Playbook I Learned from EO Chapters (and How I Used It)

By Ronnie Crowley, the founder and CEO of Vision Implementors, an award-winning association management firm that manages over 15 U.S.-based EO chapters.

I was 50 years old when I started Vision Implementors. Some may say I entered the entrepreneurial field late, but I view this as one of my biggest strengths. With five decades of life experience, I knew I wanted to build my business on values that matter. 

Working with EO chapters provided me with insider access to the most effective strategies and best practices for growing a company. I listened to the pros, learned what works, and took action to drive results.

One of my most critical realizations was that my company needed strong core values to guide its growth.

GAIN for Strength

Referred to internally as GAIN, our core values — Growth Mindset, Adaptability, Inclusion & Ethics, and Next-Level Execution— are the guiding principles of the business. They empower us to serve clients and support employees with purpose, intention, and authenticity. 

At Vision Implementors, our core values aren’t just words on our website. Rather, they’re the values we truly live by every day.

A Roadmap To Your Identity

As a business owner, your core values must reflect your entrepreneurial identity and serve as a business roadmap. These unique and powerful identifiers should speak to all facets of your business, from your goals to your clients and employees. 

When I founded the company, I chose values that mattered deeply to me: Inclusion & Ethics and Next-Level Execution mirrored my personal beliefs, while Growth Mindset and Adaptability represented the spirit I wanted my business to embody. By selecting core values that also held significance to me personally, I felt confident and secure that my business growth was authentic and reflected my goals and passions. 

One of my proudest moments in Vision Implementors' growth journey was when I won Chapter Staff of the Year at EO’s Global Leadership Conference in 2023. It felt surreal; I immediately recognized that the moment wasn’t just about me. It was about my team, the chapters we support, and the work we accomplished together.

This recognition affirmed that serving EO chapters with heart, clarity, and deep partnership matters. It reminded me that even in a support role, when you lead authentically and passionately, your impact can ripple far and wide. 

Managing Conflict and Failure

Throughout my career, core values have also guided me through challenges and failure. When I was avoiding a hard truth about an old business partner and friend, the values of Adaptability and Growth-Mindset enabled me to find the courage to have a difficult conversation and move forward. 

Similarly, we use our core values when identifying (and sometimes replacing) clients. In the company’s early days, I said yes to every opportunity and client that came my way. Over time, I realized my solution isn’t a fit for every chapter or problem. I discovered that true growth isn’t only about saying yes to everything — it’s about knowing when to say no, too.

I learned that working with clients who don’t resonate with our core values ultimately hurts both parties. Such misalignment drains our team, muddles our service, and keeps us from fully executing for our clients.

At first, letting go of a client felt like failure. But each time we made that hard decision, something better stepped in — a more unified client, a more sustainable workflow, and a version of the business that fully aligns with our core values.

3 Key Growth Strategies Learned Through EO

After attending countless EO learning events and conferences around the world, here are the three things that helped me grow:

1. Experience sharing over advice.

Before EO, I thought mentorship meant being told what to do, but EO’s model of experience sharing changed that. I learned to listen differently, not for direction, but for resonance. Experience sharing gave me the space to find my truth and trust my gut, even in messy, uncertain moments. 

2. Courage is a muscle.

EO pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best ways. From the live coaching that revealed I needed to leave my old business partnership to learning how to lead a team, EO has repeatedly pushed me to be courageous for the betterment of my business. I’ve since learned that entrepreneurship is not about lacking fear — it’s about acknowledging fear and acting anyway.

3. You don’t have to do this alone, and, sometimes, your biggest champions don’t even know they’re on your team.

I lovingly refer to them as “Team Ronnie” — the EO members who, without even realizing it, have poured hours into my growth. They’ve talked me off the edge, helped me unravel problems, recommended experts to fix what I couldn’t, and have just been there for me.

From my early chapter management days when I would quietly listen while running EO Accelerator events, to the moment I realized my business had grown beyond Texas and needed a tax strategy, EO has been the heartbeat behind my progress.

These generous, brilliant people saw the untamed entrepreneurial spark in me and fanned the flame until I could see it, too.

Growing With Heart and Intention

Though I started my company at age 50, I’m not slowing down. Right now, I’m focused on continuing to grow in a way that aligns with our core values, supports our current clients, and creates career development for our team — something that’s often missing in the traditional chapter management model.

We want our new hires to subscribe to our Growth Mindset value, which entails creating a path to success, not just a position. Instead of expecting them to manage large, complex chapters immediately, we first train them on smaller ones. That way, they learn the culture of EO, understand the dynamics, and grow in confidence before being handed full responsibility. 

We're also applying Growth Mindset to our business and exploring how to diversify our client base beyond EO. We've built incredible local teams in cities across the U.S., and we’re asking ourselves, “What other organizations in those areas need the same kind of thoughtful, strategic support?” 

When these opportunities for growth come, we’ll be ready. And we’ll have our core values to guide us to success.