Shownotes
Business Building Insights
- Listen to the people you’re attracting. They will tell you what to do next.
- Understand what is performing well and do more of that.
- The things that are easiest for you are most likely difficult for someone else. This provides a clue as to how you can help them.
- There is huge value in specializing and niching down. Be known for something. Narrow your focus of who you are trying to attract and serve.
- Initial opportunities for business are greatest in your personal network. Make sure people there understand what you’re doing and who you do it for.
- The goal of an elevator speech is to create curiosity.
- Masterminds bring together people with a common objective. It is important to have the same level of commitment and momentum.
- Masterminds provide value through getting advice from people who are not emotionally connected to you.
- Masterminds offer camaraderie so you don’t feel alone in your business. It’s important to connect with people who understand you and what you’re going through.
Resources Mentioned
Download your free Mastermind Quick Start GuideContact Links
Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest LinkedInGift Biz Resources
Join our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you.
Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
You're listening to gift biz unwrapped episode 171,
Speaker:my whole life.
Speaker:I've tried doing new things and I do them even though
Speaker:I'm scared Attention.
Speaker:Gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue And thank you so much for spending part of
Speaker:your day with us today.
Speaker:This is actually a little bit of a longer podcast than
Speaker:we normally do,
Speaker:but Natalie brings such great information and I'm so excited for
Speaker:you to hear about masterminds that I just let the recording
Speaker:keep going,
Speaker:because I didn't want you to miss a single point.
Speaker:If you're a first time listener here,
Speaker:I would love for you to click that little subscribe button
Speaker:so that you don't miss any future episodes.
Speaker:And if you're a longtime listener,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:I appreciate you tuning in each week and being part of
Speaker:our community here.
Speaker:One other thing that you can do is leave a rating
Speaker:and review that helps people find the show.
Speaker:And it's a way that we can support each other as
Speaker:we're building our businesses.
Speaker:That falls right in line with the topic today,
Speaker:it's all about masterminds.
Speaker:Let's get right to it.
Speaker:I am so excited to introduce you to Natalie doll with
Speaker:biz chicks.
Speaker:Natalie is a business strategist and high performance coach who helps
Speaker:women entrepreneurs across industries and time zones build,
Speaker:grow, and scale their business while avoiding overwhelm.
Speaker:She's the founder of the biz chicks,
Speaker:community podcast programs and events,
Speaker:and has been recognized as one of the top women in
Speaker:business to listen to.
Speaker:She's also been featured in Inc fast company,
Speaker:Huffington post and entrepreneur.
Speaker:When she's not enjoying precious moments with her husband,
Speaker:Mark and her three children,
Speaker:you can find Natalie drinking a steaming cup of coffee on
Speaker:her way to spin class or sneaking in a power nap.
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:Natalie, I think we can all relate to that last one.
Speaker:Welcome to the gift biz unwrapped.
Speaker:Yeah. As you were reading that,
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:That gal sounds pretty cool and actually feel really good to
Speaker:hear her,
Speaker:hear my bio read.
Speaker:And that's you,
Speaker:how about that?
Speaker:And I am sipping a steaming cup of coffee right now
Speaker:as we speak,
Speaker:but also ready for a power nap already.
Speaker:Cause it's early morning for you.
Speaker:Yeah. I just started doing Pilates again.
Speaker:And so my body is like,
Speaker:what are you thinking?
Speaker:Yeah, seriously.
Speaker:But you know what,
Speaker:if you did that at the top of the day,
Speaker:then you're set because that's already off the list.
Speaker:Right? I know I went already.
Speaker:Yes. I feel very proud of myself right now.
Speaker:Good for you.
Speaker:I'm thrilled.
Speaker:And now we're getting into business,
Speaker:so that's perfect.
Speaker:Yes, I'm ready.
Speaker:Yes. But before we get into too much business,
Speaker:I want to do another kind of fun creative thing,
Speaker:which is I have all my guests introduce themselves and share
Speaker:a little bit about them in a different way.
Speaker:And that is by having you describe who you are through
Speaker:a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to have us envision what your perfect
Speaker:candle would look like,
Speaker:what color is it?
Speaker:And what would be a quote or a motto that you
Speaker:would put on your candle?
Speaker:So I have to tell you that some of your questions
Speaker:are a challenge for me,
Speaker:I'm a very analytical person,
Speaker:but I do have so As well,
Speaker:this is called out of the comfort zone.
Speaker:I know I was like,
Speaker:I'm very uncomfortable with some of students questions,
Speaker:but I'm here For you and I'm going to answer anything
Speaker:you ask.
Speaker:So let's see here.
Speaker:So thinking about a candle,
Speaker:I like a lot of different colors and I think there's
Speaker:a lot of different aspects to my personality and even to
Speaker:my business.
Speaker:And so I was thinking about,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:those confetti cakes that are like,
Speaker:they're white on the outside,
Speaker:but you cut into them.
Speaker:And inside is like different colored sprinkles that are melted.
Speaker:So I'm thinking that my candle,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:I'm not going to pick one color.
Speaker:Right? It's all the colors.
Speaker:So I'm thinking my candle is like a white with kind
Speaker:of a lot of different colors,
Speaker:sprinkled around like little dots of different colors and three colors
Speaker:that make me very happy,
Speaker:are yellow,
Speaker:teal and hot pink.
Speaker:So there would definitely be those colors in there.
Speaker:And then other colors that went well with those.
Speaker:But those are colors that I really love Now.
Speaker:Weren't you just telling me you're not creative,
Speaker:Strange way of being creative.
Speaker:It's not normal.
Speaker:No, but this was a challenge for me to think about.
Speaker:Like I had to spend a lot of brain power on
Speaker:this too.
Speaker:It didn't just come from,
Speaker:Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker:And after Pilates of all things,
Speaker:Then a motivational quote or inspirational quote,
Speaker:that would be on it.
Speaker:Is that the next part?
Speaker:Yep. So it would be do it scared because my whole
Speaker:life I've tried doing new things and I do them even
Speaker:though I'm scared.
Speaker:And I just find that there's something really amazing on the
Speaker:other side of the fear.
Speaker:And so do it scared.
Speaker:I don't think people get the fact that a lot of
Speaker:people who have been successful did it,
Speaker:even though they were nervous,
Speaker:just like you're saying,
Speaker:because you don't know what's going to be on the other
Speaker:side, you just kind of take the jump in good faith.
Speaker:That things are going to be okay.
Speaker:Yes. I agree.
Speaker:It's really hard to do things scared.
Speaker:I think we don't see other people's fear we're in our
Speaker:own heads and we know all the fears,
Speaker:all the negative thoughts going on in our heads,
Speaker:but we don't,
Speaker:we just see other people's like highlight reel on social media
Speaker:and it looks so easy and it looks so nice and
Speaker:it looks perfectly packaged.
Speaker:And so I think especially today with all the visual,
Speaker:we, of other people's lives,
Speaker:it can be worse.
Speaker:I think then 10 years ago,
Speaker:15 years ago.
Speaker:And I'm constantly scared in my business.
Speaker:I constantly do things that scare me.
Speaker:I'm so glad you say that.
Speaker:Yeah. And I'm constantly scared.
Speaker:Like I have fear this week.
Speaker:I had things going on.
Speaker:I had to work on my mindset this week because I
Speaker:was getting nervous about some big ideas I have.
Speaker:So I haven't even done them yet.
Speaker:And I'm scared of them,
Speaker:But it's exciting too.
Speaker:And then you actually do it and it works right then
Speaker:it's onto the next one,
Speaker:I guess.
Speaker:But I'm so glad you say it because I think a
Speaker:lot of people think they're alone in their fear and it's
Speaker:more common than we all think It is.
Speaker:It really is just so you know,
Speaker:everybody's messy and everybody's scared.
Speaker:We just deal with it in different ways.
Speaker:Right. And we never admit to it most of the time,
Speaker:but we just did.
Speaker:We talked about a whole little conversation about it right here,
Speaker:so that's perfect.
Speaker:Did we did we're outing the fear.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let's dive back a little bit and give us a
Speaker:little story of how you've gotten to where you are today.
Speaker:Sure. And this is something I haven't really shared publicly before
Speaker:I actually started as an entrepreneur in high school and college,
Speaker:I had my own swimming lesson business.
Speaker:I taught private swimming lessons.
Speaker:And for the longest time I said that was the best
Speaker:work I ever did because it was so impactful and so
Speaker:satisfying to take a child that had never swam before.
Speaker:And then within two weeks they could swim.
Speaker:So that was very satisfying work and an amazing business that
Speaker:I learned so much from,
Speaker:in terms of literally things I did in that business.
Speaker:I use now in business chicks,
Speaker:but in between that entrepreneurial venture in this one,
Speaker:I worked in corporate and I worked in public relations.
Speaker:I worked in market research and I worked for a general
Speaker:contractor at one point.
Speaker:So I learned about all about the construction industry.
Speaker:I did marketing for that company.
Speaker:And then I got my MBA,
Speaker:my master's of business administration.
Speaker:And I went into the field of management consulting,
Speaker:which is where you literally fly to a client site and
Speaker:work on a project and you're flying back and forth every
Speaker:week. And then I had my daughter who is now 16
Speaker:and just started driving last week,
Speaker:which I am still mentally wrapping my mind around.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:And I didn't want to continue to do that work that
Speaker:caused me to travel every week.
Speaker:So I scaled down what I was doing.
Speaker:I took some time off and then people that I had
Speaker:worked for in the past would give me projects and they
Speaker:would say,
Speaker:Hey, this is something you could do from home.
Speaker:Will you do it?
Speaker:And so I was able to kind of keep my skills
Speaker:up and stay abreast of everything going on in the market.
Speaker:And then my husband Mark,
Speaker:and I decided to create a software company and we start
Speaker:launched a software company and we've since closed that company,
Speaker:but so many learnings from that company.
Speaker:I see a lot of similarities between a software business and
Speaker:a product based business because we were creating a software as
Speaker:a service,
Speaker:which is a product that had to be created and marketed
Speaker:and sold.
Speaker:And in the middle of doing that company,
Speaker:I was looking for education.
Speaker:I needed to understand social and how to connect with customers.
Speaker:And it was so different from the work I had been
Speaker:doing in corporate.
Speaker:And even the world of marketing had completely changed with marketing
Speaker:for, with social media and connecting with people online.
Speaker:And I started listening to podcasts and I loved them.
Speaker:I've always been a huge fan of talk radio.
Speaker:I love learning via audio.
Speaker:I love learning while I'm multitasking.
Speaker:And so kind of once I exhausted audio books,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:what else is there?
Speaker:And I found podcasts and I loved them.
Speaker:But what I felt was missing were women's voices.
Speaker:And even the male entrepreneurs I would listen to would interview
Speaker:women. I will say at the time it was about like
Speaker:10% of their interviews would be women,
Speaker:90% men.
Speaker:And they just would ask different questions than I would want
Speaker:them to ask.
Speaker:Like, I was like,
Speaker:how is she managing her family in her home?
Speaker:How is she doing these things?
Speaker:And a 30 year old single guy is not going to
Speaker:ask those questions.
Speaker:They don't even know to ask them.
Speaker:And so I got this crazy idea that I could launch
Speaker:a podcast and I could have my own radio show broadcasting
Speaker:from my master bedroom closet.
Speaker:And the technology was such that I could.
Speaker:And so I did,
Speaker:and I will say,
Speaker:Sue, I had no idea at the time that the business
Speaker:I have now is what I was creating.
Speaker:And that was four and a half years ago at this
Speaker:point. So now I have
which is you shared what it is,
Speaker:is a,
Speaker:at the core,
Speaker:a community of women entrepreneurs.
Speaker:And then we provide services to support them.
Speaker:So you had the podcast,
Speaker:You start talking with people and sharing all of these different
Speaker:things and the challenges that women would have.
Speaker:And then at what point did you decide,
Speaker:okay, I'm going to start bringing this group together.
Speaker:So it was all your listeners in a more formal way,
Speaker:which is now biz chicks overall,
Speaker:Right? Correct.
Speaker:Yeah. I thought that the business was sponsorship.
Speaker:So I thought I was creating this brand and drawing listeners
Speaker:in, and that the monetization strategy,
Speaker:so to speak would be through sponsorship.
Speaker:And I also thought if I build it,
Speaker:they will come and Sue,
Speaker:that did not happen.
Speaker:I built it in a few people,
Speaker:came, a few people came,
Speaker:but not thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands
Speaker:that you need to have a business based on sponsorship.
Speaker:Right. And at first for the first gosh hundred and 50
Speaker:episodes, and remember this first year,
Speaker:I was actually doing five episodes a week for about the
Speaker:first three or four months.
Speaker:That was crazy.
Speaker:I do one episode a week now.
Speaker:Yeah. But at that time,
Speaker:I didn't know people wanted to hear from me.
Speaker:So I was only interviewing other women and they were wonderful
Speaker:interviews. I learned so much from them,
Speaker:but my audience and my peer group started saying,
Speaker:Natalie, we want to hear your thoughts.
Speaker:You have this amazing business background.
Speaker:Like we hear bits of it,
Speaker:but we want to hear your point of view,
Speaker:teach us things.
Speaker:And that took a lot for me to realize that that
Speaker:that was something people actually would want to hear.
Speaker:I really didn't understand or know that I had a point
Speaker:view and a voice,
Speaker:and I have this deep business background.
Speaker:And I thought everybody has that.
Speaker:Everybody knows what I know.
Speaker:And of course they don't.
Speaker:And that's one of the things that I help my clients
Speaker:with now is the things that are easiest for you are
Speaker:most likely,
Speaker:really difficult for someone else.
Speaker:And you could help them.
Speaker:You can fast track them based on your knowledge and your
Speaker:trainings, which is what you do,
Speaker:Sue as well.
Speaker:Yeah, it's crazy because all of our audience,
Speaker:so gift biz listeners,
Speaker:this is really an important point for you too,
Speaker:is we don't put value on the things that come easy
Speaker:to us.
Speaker:And so we undercharged for it,
Speaker:or we think that there isn't value to it,
Speaker:right? So yours,
Speaker:Natalie is more intellectual.
Speaker:It's all your business knowledge and what,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:as a woman and a mother and a wife in business,
Speaker:those types of challenges and that there was nothing available to
Speaker:help work through all of those things.
Speaker:So that's one point is we don't understand the value of
Speaker:what we bring and it could be tangible.
Speaker:It could be in the jewelry or the cupcakes you make.
Speaker:It could be in the knowledge and the experience that you've
Speaker:had. That's part of it.
Speaker:And then also the other thing I really like about your
Speaker:story is you didn't know,
Speaker:right? From the beginning exactly where you were ending,
Speaker:you were picking up on things along the way that were
Speaker:happening, that your audience was saying,
Speaker:we want to know more from you.
Speaker:You were receptive and open to not just going on a
Speaker:path that you started with,
Speaker:which was straight to sponsorship.
Speaker:You were listening and adjusting based on what you were learning
Speaker:as you were moving forward.
Speaker:Exactly. I think that's probably one of my gifts or talents
Speaker:is I'm able to pivot.
Speaker:And I really have learned to listen to the people that
Speaker:I'm attracting and to,
Speaker:I love to say,
Speaker:do more of what's working.
Speaker:So I've done more of what's working on the podcast.
Speaker:We have statistics we can look at,
Speaker:I can see what are the most popular episodes.
Speaker:And it was one of the best pieces of advice I
Speaker:got from someone that actually owns a very large podcast network.
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:how can I grow my show?
Speaker:And he's like,
Speaker:well, tell me about your most popular episodes.
Speaker:And I did.
Speaker:And he's like do more of that.
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:okay, that's simple.
Speaker:But I think in terms of like a product based business,
Speaker:what are your best-selling products?
Speaker:Like you have to look at that just because you want
Speaker:to create something for your own enjoyment does not mean that
Speaker:that's what is working.
Speaker:And that's what the people that you're attracting your customer base
Speaker:want and to really understand what is doing well and to
Speaker:do more of that.
Speaker:Totally agree.
Speaker:And now you're sitting with a group of followers who you
Speaker:have naturally attracted because it's what you present.
Speaker:Right. And the quality of people.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I feel fortunate that I'm part of your group,
Speaker:Right? Yes.
Speaker:But the quality Of people that are attracted to you,
Speaker:there's a certain feel to it.
Speaker:Everyone is very generous,
Speaker:supportive of each other,
Speaker:knowledgeable. Everyone is going towards a similar goal.
Speaker:Although all the goals are different,
Speaker:but everyone is doing something with their business progressing in one
Speaker:way or another.
Speaker:So now it's moved from,
Speaker:although the podcast is still there,
Speaker:it's moved into this community where each individual person is growing
Speaker:under the whole,
Speaker:under the umbrella of biz checks.
Speaker:Yes. What are you seen as if there were some common
Speaker:challenges that people are having and concerns that keep popping up?
Speaker:I'm curious to know if some of them would be similar
Speaker:to what my audience sees us.
Speaker:I bet they are,
Speaker:because I think a few of the things I see are
Speaker:very universal among all entrepreneurs.
Speaker:The first is one I kind of alluded to in myself
Speaker:is that imposter syndrome.
Speaker:That's kind of like the feeling that you're not qualified to
Speaker:do what you should be doing or that people will find
Speaker:out that you don't really know all that you think they
Speaker:think, you know.
Speaker:Right. And so I experienced that.
Speaker:That's how I felt about even just starting the podcast.
Speaker:I felt like an imposter.
Speaker:I'm not trained in communications.
Speaker:I'm not trained as a broadcaster.
Speaker:And so who am I to think that I can have
Speaker:a podcast?
Speaker:And that's the words you hear in your head,
Speaker:like, who are you to think you can do this?
Speaker:Like, who are you to think?
Speaker:You can launch a business?
Speaker:Who are you to think that people are going to want
Speaker:to buy what you're selling?
Speaker:Who are you?
Speaker:And it's such a ridiculous thing that goes on in our
Speaker:heads. What helps me is to know that literally every single
Speaker:person is dealing with this.
Speaker:And I deal with this.
Speaker:Every time I do something new,
Speaker:I hosted a live event for women entrepreneurs last year.
Speaker:And it was so amazing to me to experience my community
Speaker:and in person that it's something that I can't imagine,
Speaker:not doing every year going forward,
Speaker:but in advance of that,
Speaker:I had to deal with a lot of those words in
Speaker:my head.
Speaker:Like, who are you to think that you can get on
Speaker:stage and host this conference?
Speaker:Like, who are you?
Speaker:And I'll just be honest.
Speaker:There was a few weekends beforehand when I should've been doing
Speaker:things for the event.
Speaker:I was like laying in my bedroom,
Speaker:just paralyzed in fear.
Speaker:Yeah. It's like,
Speaker:what did I get myself into?
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:I literally went and looked at it.
Speaker:Is there a way I can cancel it?
Speaker:Is there a way,
Speaker:like, what would it cost me to shut this down?
Speaker:Because I am so scared to do this.
Speaker:So how'd you change it?
Speaker:Well, I knew I couldn't,
Speaker:first of all,
Speaker:I was just going to be really too expensive.
Speaker:But more than that,
Speaker:it really wasn't about the money because the money had already
Speaker:been spent.
Speaker:It was that my community was counting on me.
Speaker:They were flying here.
Speaker:I had one client coming from England and I didn't realize
Speaker:it until she got here.
Speaker:She had never traveled to the United States before.
Speaker:This was her first trip to the United States.
Speaker:And when she had signed up,
Speaker:when she had signed up for the conference,
Speaker:she's like,
Speaker:Natalie, I'm coming,
Speaker:I'm coming from England.
Speaker:This better be worth it.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:game on,
Speaker:there's a stake in the sand.
Speaker:There was pressure.
Speaker:Like people had spent A lot of money to travel.
Speaker:Every single person that came had bought new outfits and had
Speaker:coordinated childcare had gone above and beyond set their business up
Speaker:to so they could leave it for a few days.
Speaker:People had left their homes and their families and their countries,
Speaker:some of them to come here.
Speaker:And so it felt very weighty,
Speaker:but I just needed to do that.
Speaker:I needed to have a few days of being scared of
Speaker:procrastinating of watching Netflix and my husband.
Speaker:I couldn't do anything cause I needed to be in my
Speaker:room, dealing with my mind and I moved out of it.
Speaker:But I needed to give myself a little grace to sit
Speaker:there in that.
Speaker:And so I just want to share that because you could
Speaker:look, if anyone's ever seen pictures or if you go look
Speaker:at my website or my social media,
Speaker:you'll see pictures from that event.
Speaker:And it looks amazing.
Speaker:Right? They're professional pictures.
Speaker:They're beautiful,
Speaker:but you don't see inside my head.
Speaker:And just knowing that every single person is dealing with imposter
Speaker:syndrome. It really helps me Great example based on what we
Speaker:were talking about in the beginning,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's a demonstration right there.
Speaker:Yeah. And I also think,
Speaker:and this is exactly what you said you did to get
Speaker:yourself out of.
Speaker:It is you looked forward,
Speaker:you look to the people that you were serving instead of
Speaker:looking inside,
Speaker:when you finally got out of bed,
Speaker:you knew I have to do it because I've made a
Speaker:commitment to them.
Speaker:Yes. And I also Think based on intent when your intent
Speaker:is pure,
Speaker:you weren't doing this event just to make a ton of
Speaker:Money, right?
Speaker:No, I did not make a ton of money.
Speaker:Sue. Well,
Speaker:Most people think event make a ton of money and they
Speaker:don't that I know they A lot of revenue,
Speaker:but they have immense costs,
Speaker:right? Like the costs of putting on an event is so
Speaker:incredible. I learned so much right.
Speaker:From putting on an event.
Speaker:Now I know when I look at other events,
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:this is costing.
Speaker:Like I now know the costs,
Speaker:but there were tangible benefits.
Speaker:And there were intangible benefits from hosting the event.
Speaker:And this year,
Speaker:just so last year we lost money.
Speaker:We actually lost money on the event.
Speaker:We knew that we would,
Speaker:and this year we will break even,
Speaker:and maybe have a small profit and then going forward.
Speaker:And this is very common in events.
Speaker:Like the third year you do something or the third time
Speaker:you do something is generally where you start to generate the
Speaker:profit. But that event is more about connecting the community and
Speaker:training the community than it is about making money.
Speaker:Right. Well,
Speaker:and since we've been talking about the event,
Speaker:let's just slip in here a little bit.
Speaker:You can do a short,
Speaker:real quick promo about it since I don't want to wait
Speaker:until the end,
Speaker:because we're talking about it right here.
Speaker:So you're going to be there.
Speaker:I am.
Speaker:Yes. It's in November and it's called
And if you go to my website,
Speaker:which is biz chicks,
Speaker:and I spell chicks with an X,
Speaker:so it's B I Z C H I x.com.
Speaker:There's an events tab.
Speaker:And you can see more about it.
Speaker:We actually have like six or eight tickets left.
Speaker:We're capping it at 120 women this year,
Speaker:but we will sell tickets for the next year,
Speaker:right after this year's event.
Speaker:So if you're not able to come this year,
Speaker:we'll have a waiting list and you could get on it.
Speaker:If you're interested in coming,
Speaker:it's in Southern California.
Speaker:And it's a really great time.
Speaker:It's just really amazing to bring women together that love business
Speaker:and love collaborating and our kind,
Speaker:that's kind of the things people say about the women in
Speaker:my community.
Speaker:And it's great.
Speaker:I can't wait for you to experience it to Sue and
Speaker:thank you for letting me share about it.
Speaker:I know So excited cause you and I connected like less
Speaker:than a week before this chick's lives last year.
Speaker:So there was no way I could go then.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So we're talking about common challenges.
Speaker:So let's get to a couple more real.
Speaker:Yeah. Another one is I see people trying to go too
Speaker:broad and serve everyone.
Speaker:Like just because you do something or just because you can
Speaker:create something for someone doesn't mean that you should,
Speaker:there is a huge value in specializing and niching down.
Speaker:That's like kind of the term we use,
Speaker:but it's really about specializing or being known for something.
Speaker:So if you're a creator,
Speaker:you could probably create a lot of different things.
Speaker:But what is the thing that you want to be known
Speaker:for? Because then it's easy for you to be top of
Speaker:mind when someone says,
Speaker:Oh, I'm looking for this kind of a gift.
Speaker:Or I'm looking for someone who does this thing.
Speaker:The people that are specialists are the ones that come to
Speaker:the top of mind for me and make it really easy
Speaker:for me to send someone to them.
Speaker:And the thing is,
Speaker:it feels scary,
Speaker:right? Because you're narrowing down who you could possibly serve.
Speaker:And it's literally like counterintuitive.
Speaker:The women I see being the most successful in my community
Speaker:are those that are niching down.
Speaker:I think you're a great example of that.
Speaker:Sue, you have the capacity to help any kind of entrepreneur
Speaker:and you have narrowed down who you are serving in my
Speaker:community. I started a number of years ago when there were
Speaker:less people doing what I do now,
Speaker:if I was to start today,
Speaker:I would really narrow down my focus of who I was
Speaker:trying to attract.
Speaker:I have chosen not to train people how to start a
Speaker:business. So I work with people who already have a business
Speaker:and I help them grow it and help them get more
Speaker:profit from it.
Speaker:And that is my niche.
Speaker:And it's hard because I know how to help people start
Speaker:a business.
Speaker:I can do that.
Speaker:But what I've seen is that there are fewer people that
Speaker:help people scale it.
Speaker:And fewer coaches working with entrepreneurs at a higher level of
Speaker:business. And so I love serving women and helping them scale
Speaker:what they're doing,
Speaker:helping them take it to the next level and really focusing
Speaker:on having profit,
Speaker:like putting money back into their family,
Speaker:not just keeping it all in the business and creating offerings
Speaker:that are more profitable.
Speaker:So specializing,
Speaker:niching down is another challenge.
Speaker:A third one is I see people being shy about their
Speaker:personal network and letting people know what they're doing.
Speaker:But the truth is,
Speaker:is that the most opportunities for us are usually in our
Speaker:personal network,
Speaker:especially when you're starting out,
Speaker:when you're starting out,
Speaker:we're trying to get people to know like,
Speaker:and trust us,
Speaker:the people that already know they can trust you are most
Speaker:likely to help you to buy from you to make that
Speaker:connection. And so I encourage our community to post on their
Speaker:personal Facebook page,
Speaker:what they're up to,
Speaker:or if they are looking for a resource or a connection
Speaker:to ask their personal community,
Speaker:we don't want to be selling on our Facebook page.
Speaker:And I know a lot of us have experienced that.
Speaker:It gets really annoying to have people constantly selling on their
Speaker:Facebook page.
Speaker:And I'm not recommending that at all,
Speaker:but make sure the people that are in your personal network,
Speaker:understand what you're doing and who you do it for so
Speaker:they can help you.
Speaker:Because I think at our core,
Speaker:we all really want to help each other.
Speaker:I think that You're right,
Speaker:that people don't look at that community.
Speaker:I think that people will say,
Speaker:Oh, I'm embarrassed.
Speaker:I don't want to tell anybody what doing until I'm already
Speaker:successful until I've kind of proven It.
Speaker:Exactly. I don't know if it's The fear that they're thinking
Speaker:well, that people so close to me,
Speaker:aren't going to believe that I can do this.
Speaker:We don't want to fail also,
Speaker:right? Like the few people that know what we're doing,
Speaker:the fewer people will have to find out that if things
Speaker:don't work out,
Speaker:but I think it's a mistake to not take advantage of
Speaker:your personal network,
Speaker:because I can't tell you how many people have taken my
Speaker:advice and shared something.
Speaker:Even what I especially find with women will be at non-work
Speaker:events and we will actually share what we do.
Speaker:We like,
Speaker:keep it really quiet.
Speaker:Why don't we do that?
Speaker:I think it's a lot of reasons.
Speaker:I think when you are running a business as an entrepreneur,
Speaker:you don't quite fit into the stay-at-home mom role or the
Speaker:working mom role.
Speaker:You're somewhere in between.
Speaker:And it's really hard to find other women like you.
Speaker:And so you don't really quite fit in with anybody.
Speaker:So I think we just feel like no,
Speaker:one's going to really understand me.
Speaker:So I'm just going to keep quiet and just talk about
Speaker:the kids or talk about other things.
Speaker:I'm still trying to understand that maybe,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what do you think,
Speaker:Sue, do you have any thoughts on that?
Speaker:I think We are nervous that we won't get the support
Speaker:from the people closest to us.
Speaker:So we'll be hurt,
Speaker:which will then squash our dream.
Speaker:I think there's an overlain imposter syndrome thing going on,
Speaker:that the people who know us the best know our secrets
Speaker:probably too True.
Speaker:I agree with you completely.
Speaker:I see it.
Speaker:Even when we're meeting new people though,
Speaker:I see women out and I felt this way too,
Speaker:before I felt like,
Speaker:well, especially with what I do,
Speaker:it's an online business.
Speaker:It's hard for people to understand the scope of what I
Speaker:have to say.
Speaker:I have a podcast two years ago.
Speaker:Not very many people even knew what a podcast was.
Speaker:So then I had to explain what is a podcast.
Speaker:And when I say I'm a business coach,
Speaker:there's so many business coaches around people just roll their eyes.
Speaker:So sometimes I just know that people aren't going to understand
Speaker:what I do and it's just easier not to really get
Speaker:all into it.
Speaker:So I think that people feel that way too.
Speaker:But a lot of it is just keeping our worlds separate.
Speaker:And I think we should not.
Speaker:We need to bring our worlds altogether because there's opportunity right
Speaker:there in your personal network.
Speaker:And it's incredible when people reach out because the benefits of
Speaker:those connections are incredible.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:And There's also the extension of,
Speaker:well, who else do they know?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:You're tapping into that.
Speaker:Person's entire network.
Speaker:Now, once they know that you need something or need help,
Speaker:or want to collaborate or need a resource,
Speaker:Your point about not sharing with other people that you made.
Speaker:I think there's a lot also to be said,
Speaker:and this takes practice to figure out how to present what
Speaker:you do with confidence and excitement and enthusiasm for what you're
Speaker:doing. Not just,
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:Because it's the Attitude that you bring forward to.
Speaker:Like, if you were just to say,
Speaker:Oh, I'm a high-level business coach,
Speaker:that kind of thing versus,
Speaker:Oh, I'm a high level business coach.
Speaker:I have attracted such a dynamite group of women.
Speaker:It's always so energizing when We're together.
Speaker:It's the whole presentation of what you're bringing forward,
Speaker:which is also how the reaction is going to come back
Speaker:and ultimately what people believe,
Speaker:what their impression is of what you're doing in your business.
Speaker:It's true.
Speaker:And I love,
Speaker:we've been talking about recently,
Speaker:how you can change your kind of elevator pitch is kind
Speaker:of what we're talking about,
Speaker:right? That short script,
Speaker:you kind of share quickly about your business in like 30
Speaker:to 60 seconds that can change based on who you're talking
Speaker:to when I'm in a brand new group of people and
Speaker:no one knows who I am.
Speaker:I usually start off with that.
Speaker:I host a podcast for women entrepreneurs because at this point,
Speaker:most people know what a podcast is and it creates a
Speaker:lot of curiosity.
Speaker:So I'm wanting them to say,
Speaker:so what do you do?
Speaker:Like how does that work?
Speaker:And who's listening and how do you make money with that?
Speaker:Usually that gets to them asking me how I make money
Speaker:as a podcaster.
Speaker:And then that moves into the conversation.
Speaker:So creating curiosity is really important as well,
Speaker:right? Which is really the goal of your elevator speech.
Speaker:Anyway, is people wanting to talk with you more taking it
Speaker:from stand-up 32nd thing to more interaction,
Speaker:just like you were saying.
Speaker:The other thing I was going to talk about Sue is
Speaker:we're talking about feeling kind of isolated and alone and in
Speaker:our heads is the importance of finding community and whether that's
Speaker:local or online or both,
Speaker:it's really important to find other people that understand you and
Speaker:understand what you're going through.
Speaker:And so in my business that happens in a few ways.
Speaker:It happens in my Facebook group for women entrepreneurs.
Speaker:It's a free Facebook group and we talk a lot.
Speaker:There's a big connection between that group and my podcast.
Speaker:So I always say I podcast for those women.
Speaker:And if I didn't have that group,
Speaker:I wouldn't still be podcasting because just knowing that they're there
Speaker:and watching them connect with each other,
Speaker:having the opportunity to connect with them personally,
Speaker:it has become a really special place for me to spend
Speaker:time and for them to spend time as well.
Speaker:I believe many of them have been in there since we
Speaker:launched it,
Speaker:which was almost a year after I launched the podcast.
Speaker:And then from seeing what the needs were in the community.
Speaker:I, it created a service in my business,
Speaker:which is professionally facilitated masterminds.
Speaker:So I host masterminds for women entrepreneurs,
Speaker:and that is another way to create community in a smaller
Speaker:format. So the Facebook group is a larger format.
Speaker:Many people may be going to networking groups or trade groups
Speaker:in their area.
Speaker:And a mastermind brings it smaller and more intimate.
Speaker:I'm so glad you brought that up because this is exactly
Speaker:where I wanted to go,
Speaker:Natalie. And one of the things that I wanted to get
Speaker:you on the show to talk about was specifically masterminds.
Speaker:And we're going to do just that right after a word
Speaker:from our Sponsor.
Speaker:This podcast is made possible.
Speaker:Thanks to the support at the ribbon print company,
Speaker:create custom ribbons,
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Speaker:visit the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information,
Speaker:share a little bit about What a mastermind is for people
Speaker:who might not know.
Speaker:And then let's talk about opportunities of how they Could possibly
Speaker:play into that right in their local area.
Speaker:So let's first start with what is a master.
Speaker:So I had never heard of masterminds either until I started
Speaker:listening to podcasts and they originate from Napoleon Hill who wrote
Speaker:the book think and grow rich.
Speaker:And what Napoleon Hill did was back a hundred years ago,
Speaker:basically interviewed the most successful business people at the time.
Speaker:And he found that what they had in common was they
Speaker:were all part of a mastermind.
Speaker:And that could be many different sizes of people.
Speaker:For some people was just two people for some,
Speaker:it was a small group or a medium sized group.
Speaker:And here's how he defined it in his book.
Speaker:He has all these principles.
Speaker:So one is the mastermind principle and he says,
Speaker:the mastermind principle consists of an Alliance of two or more
Speaker:minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common
Speaker:objective. So one of the key things about a mastermind is
Speaker:that you bring a group of people together,
Speaker:a small group of people together,
Speaker:and they have a common objective.
Speaker:So for the purposes of masterminds in my business,
Speaker:we are bringing together women entrepreneurs in a small group with
Speaker:a goal of growing their businesses and creating community and creating
Speaker:accountability. So if someone was to say,
Speaker:Natalie, I'm interested in a mastermind,
Speaker:but I'm going through a really busy time in my life.
Speaker:I'm just trying to maintain the business and not make any
Speaker:changes I would say that's great,
Speaker:but that's not what a mastermind in my business is for.
Speaker:We are trying to grow and we can talk about the
Speaker:format and how things work.
Speaker:And, and you're actually part of one of my masterminds,
Speaker:which is super fun.
Speaker:So we can talk about that too.
Speaker:But at the core,
Speaker:it's a small group of people and you're working on things
Speaker:together and you're supporting each other,
Speaker:right. But they're not all in the same business either.
Speaker:So I'm just want to clarify that They can be in
Speaker:my business.
Speaker:I bring people together from different locations,
Speaker:different businesses,
Speaker:different educational backgrounds,
Speaker:as many differences as we can create.
Speaker:I'm trying to provide that in our masterminds because my background
Speaker:is on studying teams and my MBA that I mentioned earlier,
Speaker:one of the things that I studied was teams and how
Speaker:to create a high performing team.
Speaker:And I've come to think of a mastermind as creating a
Speaker:high performing team,
Speaker:like a dream team for your business.
Speaker:And so when we study teams,
Speaker:we see that the teams that come up with the most
Speaker:creative ideas are those that are the most diverse.
Speaker:So in my masterminds,
Speaker:I'm trying to create as much diversity of thought and personality
Speaker:and education and past experience as possible because it's amazing the
Speaker:brainstorming and ideas that come when you bring diversity of thought
Speaker:together in a room,
Speaker:whether it's virtual or in person,
Speaker:but there are people that are in the same industry that
Speaker:come together for masterminds.
Speaker:If someone chooses to do that,
Speaker:I recommend that they not be in a competitive space,
Speaker:that they be in different locations.
Speaker:So for example,
Speaker:there are a lot of therapists like marriage and family therapists
Speaker:in my community.
Speaker:I wouldn't recommend that a group of marriage and family therapists,
Speaker:the same city get together and help each other grow their
Speaker:businesses. But marriage and family therapists from a bunch of different
Speaker:locations or a bunch of different cities could do that.
Speaker:And the same for a product business.
Speaker:So like say you have a cupcake store,
Speaker:you could be in a mastermind with like four or five,
Speaker:six other women or other business owners.
Speaker:It doesn't have to just be women,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:that are in different locations.
Speaker:That wouldn't feel competitive to you because you're wanting to be
Speaker:able to be very open and vulnerable about what's going on
Speaker:in your business so that you can get the highest level
Speaker:of advice possible.
Speaker:Right. A lot of give and take within the masterminds too.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I feel like I know my mastermind partners.
Speaker:I know their business,
Speaker:not totally as well as I know mine,
Speaker:but I know a lot of things about their business.
Speaker:So the goal is not to,
Speaker:Just to be taking,
Speaker:but to give to so,
Speaker:Oh, you're helping each other.
Speaker:It's like having a board of directors for your business in
Speaker:a way.
Speaker:And what's really important is to have the same level of
Speaker:commitment and preferably a similar level of momentum.
Speaker:So if someone is working during nap time on their business,
Speaker:they're probably not a match to be in a mastermind with
Speaker:someone that is working full-time on their business because they're going
Speaker:to be moving at a different pace.
Speaker:And it's going to feel a disconnect in the mastermind.
Speaker:I find that when people put their own masterminds together themselves,
Speaker:which you can completely do,
Speaker:and we're going to share some more ideas on how to
Speaker:do that.
Speaker:I think it's really important to figure out a time commitment.
Speaker:Like how often are you going to meet,
Speaker:how is the group going to be facilitated?
Speaker:What is the length of the mastermind?
Speaker:Like, are you going to meet for three months,
Speaker:six months,
Speaker:a year longer indefinitely?
Speaker:What is the commitment?
Speaker:And I think,
Speaker:especially in a peer led mastermind,
Speaker:which is what I'm talking about right now,
Speaker:where you don't have a professional facilitator,
Speaker:or it's not a specific program that someone is running,
Speaker:that you really create some rules.
Speaker:When would someone need to leave the group?
Speaker:If you're not showing up after three meetings in a row,
Speaker:maybe this is usually the mastermind.
Speaker:So having some ground rules can be really helpful.
Speaker:Yeah. And ground rules up front.
Speaker:I think it's a really good point,
Speaker:Natalie. So before anyone is guilty of something to have the
Speaker:ground rules,
Speaker:if there's someone listening,
Speaker:that's thinking about a mastermind,
Speaker:how do you go about finding members initially?
Speaker:And what do you look for?
Speaker:We've already talked about that they can maybe if they're in
Speaker:the same industry,
Speaker:they should be in a different area,
Speaker:maybe different areas of the country for that.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:I would utilize Facebook groups personally or my own personal network.
Speaker:So I do see people just randomly post in a Facebook
Speaker:group. Hey,
Speaker:I want to start a mastermind,
Speaker:direct message me DME,
Speaker:if you're interested.
Speaker:And I kind of cringe when I see that,
Speaker:because a mastermind is so intimate that you don't just want
Speaker:random strangers in it.
Speaker:If I were a listener right now,
Speaker:and one of your listeners,
Speaker:I would be in your Facebook group,
Speaker:Sue, and I would be watching for people that I connect
Speaker:with in the group,
Speaker:or that offer advice that I'm like,
Speaker:wow, that woman is powerful.
Speaker:Like she has some advice.
Speaker:She's very insightful.
Speaker:And I would hand select people.
Speaker:And I did this for myself in 2015,
Speaker:I created a mastermind for myself to help me grow my
Speaker:business. And we started off with three of us and we
Speaker:grew it to five of us.
Speaker:And we over time added people.
Speaker:And every time we added someone,
Speaker:we'd invite them into a session to one of our meetings
Speaker:and they could at the end,
Speaker:let us know if they wanted to join or not.
Speaker:And then we needed to have unanimous decisions.
Speaker:Like everybody needed to agree on that new person.
Speaker:So that's how we manage that group.
Speaker:It doesn't have to be huge.
Speaker:I think some people think,
Speaker:well, I need like six or eight or 10 people,
Speaker:a mastermind with three people that are very committed,
Speaker:can be amazing.
Speaker:Yeah. A mastermind with four people,
Speaker:five people,
Speaker:my ideal size for a mastermind is anywhere from six to
Speaker:10 people.
Speaker:And it kind of depends on the format and how long
Speaker:you're going to be together.
Speaker:But that seems to be a nice,
Speaker:especially that six to eight,
Speaker:that seems to be a great number because if a few
Speaker:people can't make it,
Speaker:you can still have a great discussion.
Speaker:Right. And if someone needs to leave the mastermind,
Speaker:like the mastermind wouldn't folder and because you still have enough
Speaker:people and perspectives to continue In my first mastermind,
Speaker:gosh, I'm going to say it was probably 12,
Speaker:13 years ago.
Speaker:We started with six people.
Speaker:And the thing that was so cool about it is everyone
Speaker:came with the business that they currently had,
Speaker:but everybody also had experienced from a prior business.
Speaker:So it was not just the one person with that one
Speaker:skill level.
Speaker:There were added things on top like HR and like,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just a whole bunch of things.
Speaker:And then as time went on,
Speaker:things changed and some people left and we really struggled to
Speaker:bring somebody else in.
Speaker:We tried to do exactly what you were doing.
Speaker:And we had just gotten so deep on some of our
Speaker:businesses. It just,
Speaker:we couldn't find other people.
Speaker:And we ended up being just got down to three of
Speaker:us, but we were together for 10 years.
Speaker:Wow. Sue,
Speaker:we just broke up recently,
Speaker:which is when I was starting to decide,
Speaker:okay, now I'm thinking I want to do a more organized
Speaker:mastermind, which is how I end up coming to you.
Speaker:But the value of somebody knowing your struggles in your business
Speaker:over time,
Speaker:people that you can call on within seconds and they can
Speaker:be there and you can dive right directly into a problem
Speaker:is so valuable.
Speaker:And I bring that whole story up in addition to what
Speaker:Natalie is talking about,
Speaker:because the strength behind developing a solid mastermind,
Speaker:not just finding five people,
Speaker:because you want to be quote unquote,
Speaker:part of a mastermind,
Speaker:but people you feel comfortable that you can be vulnerable with
Speaker:and open up with and all going towards the same goals
Speaker:of building each other's businesses up.
Speaker:I don't think there's anything better in terms of support for
Speaker:your business,
Speaker:besides having a supportive spouse.
Speaker:Probably true.
Speaker:I think it can be difficult to find people.
Speaker:Here's one thing I wanted to say.
Speaker:There's a huge benefit to being in a mastermind with people
Speaker:who are not emotionally connected you.
Speaker:So while you could be in a mastermind with friends and
Speaker:family, I would recommend looking for people that you connect with,
Speaker:but that are not your best friends,
Speaker:that are not your current support system,
Speaker:because there's such huge value in getting advice from people that
Speaker:are not emotionally connected to you.
Speaker:It's a different kind of advice.
Speaker:And I feel like people are more direct with the advice.
Speaker:So not that they're rude or hurtful and what they're saying,
Speaker:but there isn't that personal relationship.
Speaker:Initially over time,
Speaker:your mastermind will become some of the people that you're closest
Speaker:with because you're actually sharing more with them than you probably
Speaker:would with some of your friends and family.
Speaker:But initially to start the relationship off in such a direct
Speaker:way, it allows that directness to continue while having a friendship
Speaker:create as part of that.
Speaker:Right. Very good point.
Speaker:So let's say that we found our people,
Speaker:we have a mastermind.
Speaker:What do you do then?
Speaker:How do you get started?
Speaker:Yeah, so there's a lot of different ways to,
Speaker:to run a mastermind.
Speaker:And when I was started creating this for my community and
Speaker:for myself,
Speaker:I really studied anything I could find on masterminds and teams
Speaker:and listen to how other people structure them.
Speaker:I have friends that are in other paid masterminds and I
Speaker:asked what's going on in there and how are they formatting
Speaker:it? What are they doing?
Speaker:And over time through trial and error and some pivoting,
Speaker:as I mentioned earlier,
Speaker:I've come up with a format that works best for my
Speaker:community and I'm happy to share it.
Speaker:What we do is every meeting,
Speaker:a couple businesses are in what we call the hot seat.
Speaker:And that is not a scary thing.
Speaker:It is actually a wonderful thing.
Speaker:Your business is in the spotlight and you get to ask
Speaker:the group for help and advice.
Speaker:So we create a schedule of when people are in the
Speaker:hot seat,
Speaker:usually it's best.
Speaker:If you have say a 60 minute timeframe to have saved
Speaker:one or two people in the hot seat,
Speaker:if it's a 90 minute timeframe,
Speaker:you can do two or three people in the hot seat,
Speaker:but we'd start off every call on a positive with everybody
Speaker:sharing a win.
Speaker:Like what is your win for the week?
Speaker:And that's so valuable because even when we have weeks where
Speaker:things seem to not be going so great,
Speaker:there usually is actually some huge,
Speaker:amazing thing that happened.
Speaker:And so we love to start off with a win.
Speaker:And then we check in with each member on the goal,
Speaker:they said they were going to accomplish and at the end
Speaker:of the last meeting.
Speaker:So that's how we end all meetings is what is your
Speaker:goal that you're going to accomplish before the next meeting?
Speaker:So at the beginning,
Speaker:what is your win for the week?
Speaker:Did you hit your goal?
Speaker:Yes or no?
Speaker:We don't allow for long explanations about why you may not
Speaker:have, but they're asking for the goal and creating that accountability
Speaker:creates a natural pressure for us to actually complete a goal.
Speaker:And that's one of the things that's really hard as an
Speaker:entrepreneur is to actually hit those goals.
Speaker:It's a struggle,
Speaker:especially if you've come from a corporate or very structured background
Speaker:and no one's checking on you and it's not in your
Speaker:natural personality to actually hit these major goals.
Speaker:So one of the hugest values of our masterminds and many
Speaker:others is it keeps you accountable and you're setting and hitting
Speaker:goals between each meeting.
Speaker:So that can be really amazing.
Speaker:And then we do our hot seats and then we close
Speaker:with the goals.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:I have to admit that there have been times when I
Speaker:have maybe not gotten close to my goal,
Speaker:but pushed and driven to it just because I was going
Speaker:to have to say something about it in our meeting.
Speaker:Yes. It's a powerful,
Speaker:I'm pretty good at finishing goals,
Speaker:but I'm noticing,
Speaker:well, maybe I'm not as good as I think because I've
Speaker:had to do that.
Speaker:So that's awesome.
Speaker:The other thing I really like about the way the masterminds
Speaker:are handled is again,
Speaker:as women,
Speaker:we're not really that good at voicing our wins overall.
Speaker:Yes. This gives them a format where you're part of the
Speaker:deal. That's what you're supposed to do is say what has
Speaker:happened. That's been positive.
Speaker:So you get a chance to say a win,
Speaker:and let's say,
Speaker:you've had a week where there hasn't been so much progress.
Speaker:You can still find something to Pat yourself on the back
Speaker:about. So you can always move forward in a positive manner.
Speaker:Yes, for sure.
Speaker:It's really an incredible format for helping you not feel alone
Speaker:in your business,
Speaker:helping you feel a deeper connection with other business owners and
Speaker:just also creating some structure in your life too.
Speaker:Right. So you have this ongoing meeting.
Speaker:Sure. Yeah.
Speaker:So I have a quick start guide.
Speaker:I'd love to share with your audience.
Speaker:So wow.
Speaker:Yes, because It basically walks people over.
Speaker:Many of the things that we've just shared and it's all
Speaker:in a PDF ready for people.
Speaker:We can have that for you guys on our website@bizchicks.com
Speaker:slash gift biz.
Speaker:Oh, that's perfect.
Speaker:We can remember that.
Speaker:Yes. physics.com/gift
Speaker:Biz. So I would love for people to try to start
Speaker:their own mastermind.
Speaker:It has been a game changer in my business,
Speaker:and I've been able to see it as a game changer
Speaker:in many other businesses.
Speaker:And I just think it's such an incredible type of thing
Speaker:to have in your life.
Speaker:That probably for some people they've never heard of it before.
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:wow, that'd be really amazing to have this group of women.
Speaker:And then I will say,
Speaker:what has been a huge learning for me in the last
Speaker:year is the power of meeting in person.
Speaker:So at BizChix live,
Speaker:we had several women who had been in masterminds together over
Speaker:the years,
Speaker:come together and get to meet in person.
Speaker:And it was so special.
Speaker:And then in the group,
Speaker:you're in,
Speaker:in my high level mastermind,
Speaker:it's called CEO chicks.
Speaker:It's women that have multi six-figure and seven-figure businesses.
Speaker:We actually have retreats as part of that program and to
Speaker:get to watch your group bond,
Speaker:but from one retreat to another.
Speaker:And then to get to go see you guys again at
Speaker:biz chicks live,
Speaker:it's been so amazing to watch the intimacy level of the
Speaker:group, like quadruple,
Speaker:like move at quadruple speed after spending time together in person.
Speaker:So I just want to encourage,
Speaker:if you do create a mastermind and even if you guys
Speaker:are in different locations,
Speaker:if you can find a way to come together in for
Speaker:a weekend or find a conference,
Speaker:you all want to go to our trade show and to
Speaker:spend time getting to know each other and even doing an
Speaker:in-person mastermind,
Speaker:it is an incredible experience.
Speaker:Absolutely. I completely agree with you.
Speaker:I almost wish that there was a way to see like
Speaker:what your business would have looked like in a year without
Speaker:a mastermind and what it was looks like with one I
Speaker:would love to be,
Speaker:so I know it would be amazing.
Speaker:I know it would be,
Speaker:I almost kind of feel like after we're done this year,
Speaker:it'll be interesting to try and do that exercise and see
Speaker:like, if we could reflect back and think honestly,
Speaker:what would have happened different.
Speaker:You never know for sure,
Speaker:but anyway,
Speaker:gave you some good ideas there.
Speaker:So, all right then.
Speaker:Good. So gift biz listeners.
Speaker:I think the idea of a mastermind is so powerful and
Speaker:now you've heard what they're all about how to put one
Speaker:together locally for yourself,
Speaker:how you would run through a meeting,
Speaker:the right types of people to put together in a mastermind.
Speaker:And Natalie,
Speaker:I didn't ask this question and I'd like to just get
Speaker:a feel from you on that is,
Speaker:should people be at the same level of their business?
Speaker:Like all people who are starting or all people in that
Speaker:very initial growth stage,
Speaker:or what do you think,
Speaker:should they be at the same level Personally,
Speaker:feel like they should.
Speaker:I think that you should be,
Speaker:this is how I define it at plus or minus two
Speaker:levels of business.
Speaker:And for me,
Speaker:I define that more by revenue.
Speaker:So, and then plus,
Speaker:or minus one level of momentum and that's kind of subjective,
Speaker:right? But someone just starting out and someone with a six-figure
Speaker:business, you have completely different issues.
Speaker:And I also really believe if you were just starting out
Speaker:that you should be part of some type of coaching or
Speaker:course program that has a lot of the things that you
Speaker:would need to start your business.
Speaker:And I know Sue,
Speaker:you have an incredible membership site.
Speaker:Like that would be like a wonderful thing I would recommend.
Speaker:And having a mastermind in tandem with that kind of a
Speaker:support system would be fantastic.
Speaker:And even like,
Speaker:if you're in that membership group,
Speaker:you could create a mastermind from that,
Speaker:right? From some of the other women you're seeing in there
Speaker:that you'd like to connect with,
Speaker:but then you're getting the same kind of training and getting
Speaker:to connect on that level.
Speaker:And then for women that have more established businesses,
Speaker:so say you're a six-figure business or a multi six-figure business.
Speaker:You're starting to bring on a team and hire.
Speaker:I think if you have a brick and mortar business,
Speaker:it can be valuable to be in a mastermind with other
Speaker:people that have a brick and mortar business,
Speaker:same with online.
Speaker:Not that you all have to be the same,
Speaker:but that there are people in the group that will understand
Speaker:some of your unique struggles in that situation.
Speaker:And then one of the things I wanted to highlight that
Speaker:you said,
Speaker:Sue is what I call magical mastermind moments.
Speaker:And that's when people share things from their past,
Speaker:like maybe their past corporate experience or another job or some
Speaker:education they have that they bring into the moment.
Speaker:Like you may not even have known.
Speaker:They had that background and they are able to make a
Speaker:connection, share a learning,
Speaker:give advice,
Speaker:fast track you because they have this past experience.
Speaker:And that's really the value of a mastermind.
Speaker:And you can't even anticipate all of the connections that will
Speaker:possibly happen in advance.
Speaker:And that's,
Speaker:what's so fun about me getting to do what I do
Speaker:is I call them.
Speaker:I get excited when those happened,
Speaker:because I know the background of everybody when we start,
Speaker:but I don't know,
Speaker:everybody's a hundred percent background.
Speaker:So those magical mastermind moments happen every time.
Speaker:And they will happen in whatever group you create.
Speaker:It is exciting because you don't even know within yourself,
Speaker:the knowledge that you have until a topic presents itself.
Speaker:And you're like,
Speaker:Oh, I have an idea.
Speaker:I'd like,
Speaker:you pull things out that you don't even know you knew.
Speaker:And I think that That's the other value of the mastermind
Speaker:is you get to be of service to other people we
Speaker:can get so caught up in our own business and even
Speaker:start to feel defeated and to realize,
Speaker:wow, like I really helped someone else today.
Speaker:Like I have a lot to offer the world.
Speaker:It gives you some confidence that can help you.
Speaker:When you go back to your business on your own.
Speaker:That's a really good point.
Speaker:Really good.
Speaker:You have provided so much great information all around from the
Speaker:very beginning.
Speaker:And now I want us as listeners to give back to
Speaker:you, Natalie,
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What's inside your box.
Speaker:Okay, let me open it.
Speaker:And we will see what's in here.
Speaker:I think there's going to be some little sprinkle,
Speaker:eat things to you and this confetti just popped out.
Speaker:Right? I wish you guys could see it.
Speaker:Thank you So much.
Speaker:This is such a powerful question to ask because it really
Speaker:got me thinking and dreaming more.
Speaker:At the end of the day.
Speaker:What I love most about the work I do is I'm
Speaker:impacting women's lives.
Speaker:And I know that when I help someone grow their business,
Speaker:it's not just helping them with that specific business.
Speaker:It's helping them bring more money into their family,
Speaker:maybe creating opportunities for their children or allowing their spouse to
Speaker:do something that they wanted to do.
Speaker:And also as people scale their businesses,
Speaker:they're hiring and creating jobs.
Speaker:And so the impact that is happening,
Speaker:the ripple effect from the work I do is so amazing
Speaker:to me and really fuels me.
Speaker:And the community that I have created is very tight and
Speaker:connected. And it feels like a smaller community right now.
Speaker:So my dream is to scale everything I'm doing to impact
Speaker:more women,
Speaker:to grow the community and kind of the big dream beyond
Speaker:that is that it still feels small.
Speaker:So that in the future,
Speaker:as this business grows and scales,
Speaker:that the community still feels somewhere that everybody wants to go
Speaker:and participate in because the culture has maintained has stayed intact
Speaker:and that as people are working with other members of my
Speaker:team and we're training other people to facilitate masterminds,
Speaker:that no matter who you are working with,
Speaker:whoever your professional mastermind facilitator is,
Speaker:or your coaches that you still get the same customer experience
Speaker:and mastermind experience or coaching experience,
Speaker:regardless of who,
Speaker:whether it's me or someone else on my,
Speaker:so I think that wraps it up.
Speaker:I want everything to grow and scale.
Speaker:And I have like numbers attached with that in my head.
Speaker:But at the end of the day,
Speaker:I want to impact more women.
Speaker:And I want the culture of our community to stay the
Speaker:same. Right.
Speaker:Grow it bigger,
Speaker:but keep it the same intimate and all the qualities and
Speaker:everything you already have.
Speaker:Yeah. Which is a challenge.
Speaker:That's a challenge to do as you grow an organization,
Speaker:but that's my dream.
Speaker:Something tells me you're going to figure it out.
Speaker:I just know it's going to happen that way.
Speaker:So, and you've already started the ripple effect because just by
Speaker:coming on and talking to my audience,
Speaker:I think there are a lot of people who don't know
Speaker:you, but now they do.
Speaker:They know more about what biz chicks is about.
Speaker:I think we have incentivized people to try and do a
Speaker:mastermind themselves and they might follow the path that I have
Speaker:in the past.
Speaker:You did my own.
Speaker:And then maybe go to a more structured one as business
Speaker:grows. Yeah.
Speaker:I think there's so many options and opportunities with masterminds and
Speaker:local virtual combination,
Speaker:peer led paid small,
Speaker:large. There's so many ways to go about it.
Speaker:And I just hope that people will take that,
Speaker:that step forward and try one.
Speaker:Absolutely. Thank you for letting me share about them.
Speaker:I'm so passionate about them.
Speaker:So here are your next steps gift biz listeners.
Speaker:You're going to go grab that mastermind quick start guide.
Speaker:And even if you're not thinking about masterminds right now,
Speaker:go grab it because you don't know if next month or
Speaker:two months from now or six months from now or somebody
Speaker:else, you know,
Speaker:wants to do a mastermind,
Speaker:just grab the guide.
Speaker:So you've got it.
Speaker:Ready to go.
Speaker:You don't have to go looking for it later.
Speaker:And that's at biz chicks.com
Speaker:forward slash gift biz,
Speaker:right, Natalie?
Speaker:Correct. All right.
Speaker:Wonderful. So do that.
Speaker:And then I also encourage any and all of you to
Speaker:look at biz chicks in total,
Speaker:look at the community.
Speaker:My guess is that biz chicks live is going to be
Speaker:booked by the time you're hearing this,
Speaker:but there's always the next year.
Speaker:And there's a whole community of really fabulous people over there
Speaker:that I would love for each and every one of you
Speaker:to meet.
Speaker:So I encourage you to go check that out as well,
Speaker:Natalie, thank you so much.
Speaker:I appreciate you taking the time with all you have going
Speaker:to come and share with us today.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Sue. It was really fun and your questions are very unique
Speaker:and fun to answer.
Speaker:Thanks. Have a good rest of your day.
Speaker:Bye Sue,
Speaker:Are you discouraged because your business is not performing as you
Speaker:had envisioned or are you stuck and confused about how to
Speaker:turn things around Sue's new selling book is structured to help
Speaker:you identify where the holes are in your business and show
Speaker:you exactly how to fix them.
Speaker:You'll learn from Sue and owners,
Speaker:just like you,
Speaker:who are seeing real growth and are living their dream maker
Speaker:to master find and fix.
Speaker:What's not working in your small business,
Speaker:get it on Amazon or through www Doug gift biz,
