Black Briar and Founders Financial Group turn sales training into a 72-hour leadership test

Black Briar Advisors and Founders Financial Group say their voluntary “72 Hour Day” program has drawn more than 90% participation as they try to speed up sales development without taking commission-based agents out of the field. The overnight training-and-workout model is designed to build leadership, discipline and culture while participants keep serving clients during the day.

Why it matters: - Black Briar Advisors and Founders Financial Group are using an immersive training model to address a common problem in commission-based sales: how to develop talent without cutting into income-generating time. - The program is also a culture test. More than 90% voluntary participation suggests the companies have built strong internal buy-in, which can matter as firms compete to recruit, retain and develop high performers. - The founders frame the 72 Hour Day as a faster path to leadership development, resilience and execution in a field where performance depends on consistency.

What happened: - Stephen Nalley, founder and CEO of Black Briar Advisors, and Bowen Sweeney, founder and CEO of Founders Financial Group, created the 72 Hour Day. - The program is an immersive leadership experience for financial services sales professionals. - The companies said more than 90% of the organization voluntarily participates. - The training is designed to accelerate learning for commission-based sales professionals while allowing them to keep working normal business hours. - The release was dated July 1, 2026, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The details: - Participants work their normal schedules during the day, including prospecting, meeting clients, closing sales, recruiting talent and serving customers. - Evening sessions begin at 9:00 p.m. and continue until about 4:00 a.m. - Training includes sales instruction, leadership development, physical discipline, team building and real-world application. - Topics include foundational sales skills, advanced presentation techniques, objection handling, recruiting, coaching, communication, operational systems and personal accountability. - The leadership team builds classes around the organization’s current strengths and weaknesses instead of following a fixed curriculum. - At about 4:00 a.m., participants move to a voluntary team workout. - The program is not mandatory, and no agent is required to attend overnight sessions or early-morning workouts. - The founders say the morning workouts are meant to reinforce discipline, resilience, trust, mental toughness and a shared standard of excellence. - The companies said the schedule is intended to compress months or years of development into a concentrated format.

Between the lines: - The 72 Hour Day is as much about identity as instruction. The companies are signaling that high performance comes from habits, not just sales scripts. - The voluntary nature of the program is a major part of the message. The participation rate is being used as evidence of culture, not compliance. - The model also reflects a bet that hands-on coaching and immediate application can outperform traditional classroom training for sales teams. - Nalley said the program was built around exceptional coaching, immediate accountability and constant opportunities to apply what participants learn. - Sweeney said culture is measured by what people choose to do when they have complete freedom to do something else.

What's next: - Black Briar Advisors and Founders Financial Group appear to be positioning the 72 Hour Day as a repeatable model for recruiting, retaining and developing high-performing sales professionals. - The companies say the broader goal is to keep refining leaders who can create strong business results while raising the standard for the organization. - The training format may serve as a template for other firms looking for alternatives to conventional professional development.

The bottom line: - Black Briar Advisors and Founders Financial Group are betting that voluntary intensity, not mandatory training, builds the kind of sales culture that lasts.