Building a successful career as a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) starts long before you sit down in front of a business owner looking to exit their company. The technical aspect of leading an owner through the Value Acceleration Methodology™ (VAM) matters a lot, but it’s your network and exit planning team that turn strategy into real actions.
Treating networking as a strategic effort rather than a sporadic activity creates consistent opportunities for collaboration and deeper client impact that compound year after year.
Networking is an integral part of not only expanding your knowledge of exit planning and Value Acceleration, but also growing your client base. By intentionally building relationships with fellow advisors across disciplines, you create a referral system that delivers a steady flow of high-quality business-owner clients you can trust.
These relationships can also help you build a solid exit-planning bench of specialists, like M&A advisors, estate planners, CPAs, and others, who you can collaborate with when leading your clients through the Value Acceleration Methodology.
Over time, this network can become one of your most valuable assets, enabling you to take on bigger, more complex client problems, move deals forward faster, and become your clients' most-trusted advisor.
One of the best places to grow your network is in your backyard, utilizing the Exit Planning Institute® (EPI) Chapter Network. Since EPI Chairman Christopher Snider launched our first Chapter in 2007, our network has grown significantly to 28 and continues to grow.
These Chapters include some of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, San Diego, and more. To view the full list of EPI Chapters, click here.
EPI Chapters are led by groups of experts who are well-versed in Value Acceleration and work closely with EPI to create events and resources, making it a great way to stay involved in the community, no matter where you live.
If you live in an area without an EPI Chapter, consider launching your own. Launching your own chapter is an opportunity to establish yourself as a leader in your local community, help connect fellow advisors and local business owners, and more.
Another great way to connect with your peers in the EPI community is at the Exit Planning Summit, our annual gathering. In 2026, we’re headed to Nashville and the Gaylord Opryland Resort with a focus on personal planning in the three legs of the stool.
Alongside the knowledge you will gain from our highlighted speakers, there’s plenty more to gain by connecting with your exit planning peers. We’re offering several organized networking events designed to give you the time and space to have meaningful conversations with other attendees from around the globe.
These networking events include the Welcome Social, our Sunrise Table Talks, and the After Party Social. Attendees with a VIP Ticket can also attend the Partners & Pours VIP Social, the Summit VIP Social, and the Summit VIP Breakfast.
Now is a great time to identify the gaps on your exit-planning bench and commit to filling them.
Whether it’s at the Exit Planning Summit, an EPI Chapter Event, or a chance meeting with a fellow advisor elsewhere, treat every interaction as an opportunity to listen, share insights, and add value. If you do that, your network will quickly become one of your most reliable tools in giving business owners their best exit possible.
The Exit Planning Institute® (EPI) is the exit planning market leader, providing education, tools, resources, and the ecosystem to support professional advisors across the globe on all things Value Acceleration. EPI’s offerings include the Certified Exit Planning Advisor credential, the annual Exit Planning Summit, EPI Academy, an extensive Chapter Network, and more.