I clearly remember my first experience in a business mastermind.
At the time I didn’t realise I was in a mastermind, I thought I was just spending time with friends, but the potency of that interaction proved so substantial that it led me to my current situation, having a business I adore working the hours that I love, having clients that thrill me and making an income that supports a really pleasant lifestyle.
I was in Florence having been at a conference — one of those boss babe type conferences. It was fair to say I was the least ‘boss babes’ in attendance. I didn’t have the right clothes. I didn’t wear makeup (or even know how to put it on!) I didn’t know the words to the songs we were supposed to dance to. I was allergic to all of the delicious Italian snacks we were supposed to Instagram over the breaks. And my business was a sham.
I paid $15,000 to be in this group business coaching program. (That didn’t include buying myself the airfares and the accommodation to be at these quarterly boss babe workshops all around the world.) It was the most I’d ever invested in my business at that point and I was terrified: I wasn’t making any money, I wasn’t keeping up with everyone else in the program, I was surely just riding the ‘sunk cost fallacy’ into a life of credit card debt.
I live in Australia, so making the trek to Europe is kind of a big deal, at least time-wise. The conference I was attending went for 3 days. The flights — there and back — four. So to make the travel seem more worthwhile I’d registered to attend a second conference, staring a few days after the first. This way the two weeks off from my corporate job felt a little more responsible.
It was those days between the conferences that I discovered I was in fact in a business mastermind and that mastermind was going to change my life.
When I arrived in Florence, I didn’t know anybody and I’d never flown into Florence before so I was unfamiliar with the airport. While I was waiting at the baggage carousel, some other women who also looked a little apprehensive, but also really excited, were waiting for their bags. We struck up a conversation. While they’d come in on different flights, I’d come from Australia, and they’d come in from the States, we were all headed to the same event. And so we shared a taxi to the conference venue, a private villa tucked away behind the city with a view of the Duomo. We dropped out bags and went to lunch. Over pasta and wine we commiserated about our businesses. They also felt like they were doing ‘all the things’ but not seeing the results. I was starting to think maybe it wasn’t just me.
Fast forward to the end of that first conference where I’d been the under-earning one, the unfashionable one and the one crying in the toilets on the break. I had used up all of my holiday leave for the year, but I’d spent thousands of dollars on a training where I just couldn’t fit in, and I’d been shamed on stage by the conference leader who yelled at me ‘You can’t ask that question!’ during a plenary.
As I was preparing to leave on the final day one of the women I’d met at the airport invited me to spend the next day with her and some other women.
They were going to be talking about their businesses. ‘We’re going to be masterminding you should come and join us,’ she said. I didn’t know then what a mastermind was, but I said yes because I had nothing else to do and, to be perfectly honest, these women inspired me and I felt better and just the tiniest bit hopeful when I was around them.
At that time the business I was trying to create was wellness life coaching for women. I had signed a couple of clients but I was really averaging, you know, under $1,000 a month and I was absolutely relying on not only my corporate job, but also teaching yoga classes after my corporate job most nights and on the weekends to pay for this business that I was trying to create. It felt like I was in a downward spiral.
That morning I arrived in their beautiful Airbnb where they were all staying together. It was bright white with gorgeous décor. They had snacks, post-it notes, markers and big pieces of paper and were rearing to ‘get their clarity’. I was hooked.
We spent the day sharing ideas, taking it in turns to ask for specific support then receive feedback. It was honest, probing and really insightful.
When it came to my turn and I was scared because I’d never talked about my business hopes and fears so candidly before. I was worried I would get it wrong. I was embarrassed to disclose how much money I’d spent versus earned in my sham business. I didn’t want to be judged.
Luckily, I checked myself: I’d flown halfway around the world spend all of my money. This might be the one thing that could potentially make a difference. I might end up embarrassed but I really didn’t have anything else to lose. So I went for it.
I shared with them how much I was struggling with my business. How I was no further to quitting my corporate job than I was when I started. How my business was costing — not making — me money. How I was missing my friends because I just didn’t’ have spare time anymore. How I was exhausted. And how I was worried that the real problem was me: I just didn’t’ have what it takes.
There was a pause.
Immediately, I thought I’d messed up. This wasn’t what I was supposed to have said. I wanted to melt into the beautiful white sofa.
Then one of the women said, ‘Amy, you’ve just spent the last four hours giving each of us amazing business advice. Why aren’t you doing business coaching?’
Remember the shaming moment I mentioned? The one that happened back at the conference? That had been my question.
‘Do you think it would make sense for me to be a Yoga business coach?’
I loved Yoga. I was good at project management and strategy. I’d been helping my Yoga teacher colleagues get their businesses off the ground. I could write, teach and manage budgets. What if I mashed it all together and did THAT for a business?
But the conference leader had shut me down. Switching from life coaching to business coaching was a ‘money grab’ and a gimmick. I was selling out. I was looking for a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. How dare I even ask such a question? After such a public and humiliating response, I had abandoned the idea.
But then these women in their beautiful Airbnb in Florence suggested it. They’d essentially given me permission. To do exactly what I wanted to do. Could it be that easy? Did I really know things that could be helpful to people? Could I really blend all my passions and skills together to create not the boss babe version, but a REAL version of my ‘dream business’?
And so it was that an informal business mastermind really led me to this point now where what I do is exactly what I love and I’m good at. It’s not what someone else told me I could or couldn’t do. It’s simply the result of following my passions and encouragement and leaning into the unbiased, warm support of people who wanted the best for me in business. And this is what I think defines a really great business mastermind.
I’ve been in a number of masterminds since that point. Some have been good and others haven’t been the right fit. Along the way I’ve learned what makes for a good, effective and meaningful mastermind.
1. A shared desire for growth
It doesn’t matter if the scale and size of the businesses are the same in a mastermind. What matters is everyone has a shared commitment to growing and learning and developing. Start-ups and veterans have loads to teach each other and as long as the velocity is more or less the same, individuals’ points on the route doesn’t matter.
2. A commitment to give and receive
While I have collected so many insights and incredibly useful feedback from my mastermind groups, along the way I’ve also sought to give the same. Being in a group here you’re always the one offering support is pointless. You want to feel like there is a balance of input and output, and that you’re offering as much as you’re receiving.
So how do you know if a mastermind is for you? Well, here are some questions to consider:
· Do you have an idea of where you want to go in your business?
· Are you looking to take things to the next level?
· Do you enjoy having peer support?
· Are you tired of trying to figure it all out by yourself?
· Are you interested in having accountability that’s going to be understanding, warm and supportive?
· Do you like the idea of having a shared collective momentum?
If these things appeal to you, then I suspect a mastermind might be exactly what you’re looking for.
I’ve been running my Keep Growing Mastermind for a number of years now and I’ve had the pleasure of welcoming people into that group who are at different stages in their businesses. Some are just starting out. Some have been going for years. Some have strong subscriber followings and are in the process of building empires. Some are opening studios, some have closed studios, and all sorts of things in between.
What these people have in common is a shared desire to grow in community, collective support.
The Keep Growing Mastermind is designed to support you to leverage the success you’ve already achieved and create more space, ease and flow. My Sankalpa for this program is to support you to take your business to the NEXT LEVEL with ongoing community and group support AND the accountability, specificity and personalised guidance of 1:1 coaching.
If you’re looking for this type of support for your Yoga business in 2022 I am now opening five places in the Keep Going Mastermind for a January start.
You membership to the group is by application and you can find the application here.
If you would like to know more in particular about my mastermind and what makes it different from other business masterminds, please do get in touch. You can DM me on Instagram here.