Earlier this year, I decided on ONE priority for my business in 2019, but I needed help refining my idea, and I knew I especially needed accountability. So I reached out to Rebekah (Virginia Dare Dress Company) and Jen (Tonic Site Shop) and they were 100% on board for a creative business getaway. We unofficially called it the “RJR Mastermind Retreat” (Rebekah, Jen, Rebecca). For this weekend, we each had a very specific challenge or issue that we presented to the group. We had a dedicated collective brainstorming session for each business. As a result, we walked away super inspired and pumped for both our individual businesses and the group’s collective businesses. We left with honed down goals for 2019, along with shorter term goals to accomplish within the next 3 months. We’ll be getting together again in 3 months, to update the group with our progress, reevaluate, brainstorm, critique, etc.

The weekend was incredibly inspiring and we walked away members of our new unofficially official Mastermind Group.

What is a Mastermind Group?

I first heard of the idea of a Mastermind Group several years ago when my friends at Sweet Root Village casually mentioned their group. I learned more about Mastermind Groups in 2017 from my friends William and Susan Brinson, and my interest was really piqued last year when Beth Kirby joined Jenna Kutcher’s Mastermind.

Mastermind Group Defined

A Mastermind Group is a group of business owners who regularly meet together to sharpen, critique, build up, and encourage each other as business owners. This model works specifically well with creative entrepreneurs. Creative entrepreneurs are, at times, sole proprietors, and tend to need accountability and others’ opinions.

Key Components of a Mastermind Group

In my opinion, there are a couple key components of a Mastermind Group that help to differentiate them from other support groups. Mastermind Groups need to: meet regularly, use the collective brainpower, push each other to produce the best possible work, and be committed to the group.

1. Meet Regularly. These meetings don’t necessarily need to be in person; phone calls or Skype meetings work perfectly and allow for more scheduling flexibility. If the group members are local to each other, meetings can be in person. In person meetings are ideal, since face-to-face communication is incredibly effective. But these meetings can even be accomplished via email (although I wouldn’t recommend this for all meetings). Meeting regularly (weekly or monthly) is essential for checking in and for accountability. It’s also a very visible manifestation of the commitment and care of the members for each other.
2. Use The Collective Brainpower. The beauty of a Mastermind Group is tapping into the unique experiences, knowledge, and successes of each of the members. Ideally, non of the members will be in competition with each other, but all will come from similar enough backgrounds and businesses that they can relate to each other and give valuable advice.
3. Members Push Each Other to Produce Best Possible Work. The most successful Mastermind Groups are comprised of extremely motivated and productive people. Accountability and regular check-ins make possible the purpose of the group: that each business would excel and produce the best possible work. However, the members have to not only push each other but themselves, and actually do the work needed to succeed.
4. Members Show Commitment To The Group. The individual members of a Mastermind Group need to value the other members enough to show up again and again. To be honest. To be vulnerable. They need to show this commitment through meaningful participation in group activities, meetings, retreats, etc.

Hope you found this information useful! I’ll be posting more about Mastermind Groups in the next few weeks. Specifically, I’ll talk about How to Start A Mastermind Group, and How to Host A Mastermind Retreat. Let me know if you have any questions I can answer!

Read more about life as a Work-From-Home mom!

P.S. We rented an Airbnb in Waterford, VA for our first Mastermind Retreat. The stunning images in this post are from our stay. You can find the listing here.