Why In Person Masterminds Are So Powerful

On this week’s blog post, we are going to dial into the power of in-person masterminds.

I want to share why I truly believe they are the best thing you can do for your business, whether it’s mine or someone else’s you join.  If you want to jump ahead and really want to think about joining us, learn more about our mastermind for female entrepreneurs. 

First, let's start with two examples. I was sitting in my office in November of 2019 knowing that I wanted to do something different. I knew I had the resources to do something online but had NO idea what exactly I wanted to do. 

I signed up for my first mastermind within the first 10 minutes of the discovery call, which I snuck into while at work and was so nervous about taking a “personal” zoom on my work laptop. Who knew zoom was going to be the norm a few months later? But basically, it meant that I just invested 5-figures into a business that I hadn’t started from a closet at work because I had an idea and I believed in myself. 

Here’s why I did it. 

• I wanted someone to talk to that has been there, done that. There is a saying to surround yourself with people (in this case women) that are 2-3 steps ahead of you. And quite honestly, I didn’t have time to find these people. So this was instant access. 
• I knew I could bet on myself. Insert I used to tell my husband you know what, I will go work at Pottery Barn and stock pillows if I need to (I seriously love that store) to make it work. 
• Finally, the path I was currently on was not going to get me there. Sure I could take a few courses and dabble in social media, but I wanted a change now. Not five years from now. 

Before we dig deeper, ask yourself this question:

1. Do you have a mentor to that you can ask questions? In this case, it is helpful to have more than one in different industries. I have been in two masterminds so far in the last two and a half years (and am still in one) for this reason. It is fast-tracking multiple areas instead of just one. 
1. Let’s say you decide to work with a social media expert. Once you are attracting your ideal client, what are you going to offer them? And how are you going to grow and scale? And what if you want to take a break from social media? What if you need some mindset help? See how having a group together works to your advantage? It is not a one size fits all model. 
2. Putting it bluntly, a mastermind can fill your gaps of knowledge in record time and give you a seat at the table. 90% of my business relationships are from masterminds I have been in or introductions made from women or men I have met in my masterminds. 

My second example of the benefit of a mastermind actually happened almost a year after I joined the first one. Masterminds give you a seat at the table because you do not have to build your business alone. I remember sitting at a retreat brainstorming podcasting and literally taking out a piece of paper while eating my salad and asking if it was ok to take notes. It was an informal conversation, but one of the members of the same mastermind was walking through her podcast ad strategy and how it fuels her funnel while her pay pal ding was literally going off in the background and I was like, um, I need to pay attention. She has a 7-figure evergreen funnel (which means it is all automated) and I was at the table with her. Now taking feverish notes. It changed our whole strategy. Over a salad. At lunch. Because I had someone to ask questions to. 

The kicker? This strategy was actually in a free course I had taken years back, but it didn’t click until I had someone explain it to me in a way that made sense for our business. 

There is just something about human connection that a course or DIY model cannot provide. 

See how that works? Ask yourself this: are you surrounded by the right people to make it happen? And when I say it, I am talking about that big scary goal. 

The goal to leave your job.

The goal to work 3 days a week.

The goal to make 6 or 7 figures. 

The goal to make a huge impact and change people's lives. 

The Benefit of Collaboration

Growth can only happen so fast in isolation. Collaboration will 10X how fast you get there. Not to mention aren’t we all craving in-person events? Even Oprah says to surround yourself with people that are going to bring you higher. 

Let’s break down collaboration even more.

I literally have a Hollywood PR agent, a 7-figure brand strategist, a multi-millionaire funnel builder, and more in my “close friends” list because of who I was able to network with within masterminds. 

I help them. They help me. And some of them have become very good friends. The kind of friends you plan vacations and visit family with, which is an added bonus. 

Back to the purpose, you need to be at the table with in-person connection if you want to fast-track your growth. 

The other day, I was chatting to a friend about what it has been like outside the corporate world these past few months. I thought I needed to ditch all the corporate speak and do something different. But in fact, the #1 growth tool I have used is actually the same as it was in my corporate career. Networking. Except it isn’t attending events and handing out stuffy business cards, it's getting in conversations with people who have done what you are looking to do. 

Do you love these tips? Take the Productivity Personality Quiz to get a Netflix-style binge-worthy resource list to help you find your focus and is customized to you! Take the business personality quiz. 

Let me give you a few more examples of what collaboration and networking look like if you still aren’t convinced yet. I am writing this on May 7th.  If I dive into my Voxer thread right now (which is what I do every Monday morning between our mastermind and our mastermind alumni thread), I can pull out the following messages:

• Women cheering each other on and asking each other how to slow down and be mindful of priorities during a launch
• Two women whom are navigating new careers and one who just left her job to run her business full time
• An exchange of podcast feedback (i.e. this is the most powerful platform because our podcast hosts have instant guests and our non-podcast hosts have instant platforms)
• A download of what’s working
• Product development
• Feedback for me ;) I am super open about developing content for the ladies so I ask. Today though I was asking for input for the Jenna Kutcher interview coming up (Yes, she is going to be on the podcast!) 
• Social media trends + more

And that is just one day. ONE DAY. Can you imagine six months? 

Insert Instant Accessibility 

An in-person mastermind gives you instant accessibility. Those stories are pretty compelling and motivating, right? And when you do invest (because you should), you need to tell yourself this. 

Repeat after me. 

I will always bet on myself.

Say it out loud. 

A mastermind is usually an "I might feel nauseous for a minute making this investment but I will always bet on myself to succeed." I have had women on the fence about joining and then literally tell me to give them 48 hours, and then come back and say, "I did it." This means they figured out, bet on themselves, and made it work to be able to invest. 

Once you decided to commit, I also want you to say out loud:

"This is going to be my best year of networking. I am Investing in my relationship capital."

Back to the original story, I hit return on my first mastermind investment and made a promise to myself. I would show up for everything and give 110% for one year. Which means it was a year of yes. A year of interviews, asking questions, traveling, and putting myself in so much discomfort that it actually became comfortable. Oh, and I made back my 5-figures in eight months, but then went on to make 10X and leave my corporate career in 16 months. All because of my year of yes. 

Bet on Yourself

And while I can’t guarantee income, I can guarantee if you bet on yourself and surround yourself with the right people and commit to trusting the process, you will 110% see growth. And that leap you need to see. 

Masterminds can do that for you. Because you are surrounded by the right people at the right time and if you take my advice, have the right mindset to take the next steps. 

I hope this inspires you to find the right community for you, but I also hope you will take a look at ours. The Collective mastermind is the very first product offering I created for a reason. I wanted to share that if I could do it in 6-8 months' time, you can too. 

We give you the modern MBA of business in your back pocket as the strategy, but then layer in accountability, friendships, mentoring, and that seat at the table. It's the compound effect. Remember all those amazing friends I have made in the mastermind? They are now yours. And all the other members and their networks are yours. It's like the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon but in business. Everyone is connected and we help you focus on the right steps. It is truly a game-changing experience. 

If you are interested in joining the collective mastermind you can go here or text mastermind to 614-810-4236. 

If you are serious about your business, I hope you consider joining us. Take a peek on IG stories as well because we kick it off at the end of July with an amazing retreat with some of the best business mentors in the country.  All of whom have been guests of the show and are experts in their fields. And this is just the first week of the mastermind. Can you imagine what is next? 

And my own personal advice, don’t wait. Do it now. My life is so drastically different than it was just four months ago because I said yes. I did the scary thing. I invested more than $50 in my business, but more importantly I trusted the process and myself. 

You can too. 

This blog didn’t exist when I invested in a mastermind and look where we are now. 

Use this as your motivation. If I can do it in a pandemic with twins in Kindergarten while working full time, so can you. 

Looking for more on this topic and your High-Level Action items? Check out the Strategy Lab in the Crush the Rush Club!