Hey everyone,

happy Monday and almost new moon!

I’m bringing you an episode all about masterminds – about why they are so important and beautiful, what you could get from being in one and how to start or join one to support your business adventures.

I’m sharing what I loved about the four masterminds I have been in and what my ideas for the next evolution of the DIY Small Business School are. If you are seeking some company on your business journey and would like some inspiration for building community I hope you’ll enjoy this episode!

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⋒ Hi, my name is Yarrow and I am your host.

My Embodied Business podcast explores what it means to build a livelihood with integrity, joy and anti capitalist values. I offer practical guidance on tech, strategy, ethical marketing, creativity and money and interview other small business owners who do things their own way. 

You can learn more about my work, listen to other episodes or join my community at PinkWellStudio.com

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Transcript

Hey, everyone, my name is Yarrow and you’re listening to the DIY small business podcast. I’m so glad you’re here. And I’m excited to bring you another solo episode all about masterminds. So I want to share about why I love them so much, why I think they are really an amazing way to receive support and accountability, and make things happen in your business. And then I’ll also share what to look for if you want to join one or stop on yourself. So yeah, I have recently celebrated the first anniversary of the DIY Small Business School. That’s been such a dream come true. I had been teaching online courses for two years before I started this programme. But I this was a really new venture, I wanted to offer a really affordable, community based online programme with community and really teach everything that I’ve learned in the last four years about online marketing and starting a small business and getting organised and DIY media and getting clear on your offerings, and being creative, and all these different things. And I also was really annoyed with the really, really expensive programmes out there that are not financially accessible for many people. So I wanted to create an alternative that’s a bit more DIY, where people also can really get to know each other. And then at the beginning of this year, after being on teachable, we switch to mighty networks. So now, there’s a real community feel to it, which I love. So mighty networks is almost like its own on Facebook. And people have their profiles and can talk to each other. There’s different topics, and you can ask questions, and then the courses, so it’s way more interactive. And then we also have the regular life workshops. But anyway, all this to say, I’ve, as I’ve been celebrating the first birthday, I’ve also been thinking a lot about what has really worked and what hasn’t. And I think what has really worked is that the course covers such a broad range of subjects and really takes people behind the scenes where I’m sharing my screen at Green and teaching how I’m doing things. And the other things, I think that that really works is to have more accountability, ability and a chance to ask questions and get connected through the live workshops. But I think what’s still really hard for many of us, and that totally includes me is to show up and really implement their work and make time for all this information that we need to take in in some way. Where we don’t have regular access to support and accountability and a real connection with other humans. And it’s tricky to create, obviously, as a cross grade, I can tell you that. It is energetically expensive, so to say, to offer a tonne of one on one support, say to have office hours all the time, or to create these online workshops where people can show up in small groups. But I also at the same time really want to keep this course account as accessible as possible. I don’t really want it to become expensive. So yeah, that’s kind of how I got thinking about mastermind some more When reflecting on the ones that I’ve been in over the last four years, and the ones that have been amazing, and other ones that have been perhaps less fruitful. So I want to first begin by saying that I think the word mastermind is actually really weird and achy. And I just chose it for this episode. Because I think it’s it means something to a lot of people. And you’ll probably know exactly what I mean by that. So that was kind of my attention. But I think actually, there’s way more beautiful words, for a group of people that’s meeting to make stuff happen together. And I’ve recently recorded an episode for Daedra walls, my other podcast with general Heidi, we had some really, really cool idea for what it was to win could be called. So listen to that, if you’re interested, it’s going to come out this Friday. But anyway, so four years ago, or four and a half years ago, I joined a large business programme online, that was an eight records and it also has a Facebook group that has 1000s and 1000s of people in it. And so if you want to think about a mastermind early Broadway, you could say this Facebook group is one. And I’ve I’ve made some really cool connections in there. And I certainly learned a lot and got inspired, you know by what people were doing. I got some questions as answered. I answered a lot of questions myself. But overall, I would say that it’s an overwhelming experience to be with so many people in an online space, and there’s not a lot of room for intimacy, I would say. So the first kind of real and ackwards mastermind I joined was two years ago over
the summer it was an eight week programme that was paid. And we were put together in a group with three other people. So there was always four of us and we’d meet every Monday. I think it was nine Few minutes or two hours, and each person would get a certain amount of time to talk. And then we would also hold each other accountable to just sharing what was going on in our business. And then there was a little bit of guidance from the leader who puts mastermind together each week on what we could touch on and expand on and explore together. And that was really cool. I met some really great people, some of which I’m still in touch with. And it was a really cool way to kind of try things out. And what I liked about it was the sense of being in a team. And, you know, having this creative exchange with other people without necessarily committing to a real collaboration, because especially at that point in my business, I was still finding my foot in some ways, you know, like I had been in business for two years. But I think the feeling that there’s so was so much to figure out every single day, never really zeal, I still feel that way. So I just wasn’t really ready yet to build a team or make a commitment to a long term collaboration. And this way, I was still kind of like doing my own work. But I was meeting these people every week, and we met some really cool things happen together. So that was great. And I would do that again. And now also and more informal one. Well, there’s a lot of structure, but we find each other and kind of just on the internet, which was really beautiful. So we weren’t in a Facebook group together two years ago. And we kind of noticed each other. And then one of the other ones were like, Hey, did you maybe want to be in a mastermind. We have similar kinds of businesses and different areas. And so we have so much to see each other to each other. And there’s a real sense of like, cover calibration and solidarity and trust that has been a bird or a time. So in the beginning, you would need twice a month, the four of us and just kind of each person getting 15 to 20 minutes to share what was up for them. And then there was space to give feedback or answer questions or just reflect to each other. And then we would see each other again, two weeks later, sometimes you also add themes. So we would talk about things like money or relationships or specific areas of our business. And then each person would contribute something that they had learned or that was currently on their mind. There’s also the sale of skills between the four of us because we have done all these weird and amazing things in lots of different areas. So sometimes we have sessions where we one presence shares a specific skill, or guess some some kind of presentation. And that’s really beautiful, too. And honestly, I think this mastermind is is so I just I don’t just think that I know this mastermind is so close to my heart, really love these people. I love how it’s grown over time. We now also talk about all kinds of things. It’s not always just about business. And it just feels so nice to witness these other people on their journey over a longer period of time. We need to monthly now, which which kind of does works better for everyone. But I’m just excited every time I open zoom and I see these faces, I’m just like this great. Because I think it’s important to really feel seen and what we’re doing because so often it can feel lonely and social media. And it can feel overwhelming to have to make all these decisions, and figure so much out by yourself to hat. So to have this like structured regular soundboard is really, really beautiful. I second mastermind I’m in is related to a course that I’m taking. So it’s optional, I’ve decided to take the course. And then the person facilitating the course has offered people to sign up to form small groups where we meet also every other week to kind of go through the material and check in with each other. And that’s another really beautiful way of doing it, I think because yeah, it’s just so much easier to really get the work done and really dive deep. And you know, you’re going to meet a group of people, and you will want to have something to share about what you got from the material. And it’s just hard to motivate yourself all by yourself. Sometimes that’s a really good way for me to dive deeper into that course. And I think I’m definitely getting so much more out of it because of that group than I would have just bought myself. So that’s cool. And then the third one that I’m in is with a friend that I’ve initially met online. And we have met in real life now, which is also great. And we meet about once a week, also on zoom. And sometimes we do courses together,
where we kind of discuss the whole work of that week or what has come up with the section. And sometimes we just meet and talk about what’s going on and our businesses and support each other which is also really beautiful. And with that I’m also really seeing that when we’re doing the self study courses together or evergreen courses as they’re called. It’s so much easier for me to really implement what I’m learning in my business because yeah, there’s another person that was wants to know how I’m doing and what My Christians, and that’s just really beautiful. Yeah, so all this to say, I really think that masterminds can look so many different ways, they can be free, you really don’t have to spend any money of them, you can just get clear on what you want out from one and then find some people that you think would work. It could be a small Facebook group in which you share stuff, it could be a whatsapp group where you’re sending voice messages, maybe you want to have one that’s either based, or you could commit to meet regularly in some ways, which I think personally is the most beautiful way of doing it. And I think that’s especially beneficial if you don’t have a local community of like minded business owners that you can connect with. So if you have that, obviously, that’s great. Maybe you want to start a mastermind in a local cafe. But if you don’t, then maybe you can find a small group of people with a shared timezone. And see if you want to meet over a certain period of time. And what I would recommend, if you’re trying to start a mastermind, or you’re looking to join, one is to get really clear on what you want from it, I guess, that maybe even make a list and say, I want to feel seen and my decision making process, I want feedback on my ideas. Maybe you want accountability for implementing something in your business or learning something. Or maybe you just want to feel less lonely and your business and feel like you’re really creating this network and community of people that support each other. And then you can make a call out, or you can approach people. And if you do that, I would recommend that you get really clear on the structure that you’re trying to create. So it’s much easier for the other person to say yes or no to that. So you could say for example, hey, I noticed your work is really cool. I like what you’re doing and wondering, is she interested in joining a mastermind that I’m creating, we’re going to meet once a month, at roughly this time of the week. And it’s going to be in zoom. And my intention is for us to hold each other accountable as needed in a really gentle way, or provide creative inspiration or share skills? Would you be up for that? So that’s way more specific and better than saying, hey, do you want to join some kind of mastermind group with me? So I think especially if you’re approaching people that you don’t know yet, it’s good to be really clear. And obviously, you can also say, this isn’t set in stone. These are just my suggestions, if you’re interested, but you have other ideas, let me know. I definitely think it’s okay to approach strangers, you know, as long as you’re prepared to hear and know, that’s okay. I have definitely approached strangers on the internet that way. I think as long as you feel connected to their work, and you know kind of what they’re about. And you can communicate by you’re interested in working with them, that’s totally fine. And yeah, it’s actually a really beautiful way to do it yourself and not necessarily spend money on some mastermind that someone has else has created for you. I will update you also on how I’m kind of restructuring the d-ri Small Business School in August, with this new intention to really build community more around my business, because I think that the course I’ve created is really cool and going to appreciate some videos, there’s going to be more worksheets, that makes it easier to navigate the content. But I think essentially, it is really everything you need to know in our latest status, small business, which is great, and, and it’s pretty affordable. But I think we need more connection. So in addition to the expanded video trainings, and the worksheets, there will also be weekly journaling prompts that are optional, of course, I’ll be offering quarterly in depth business planning workshops, where we’re going to meet in small groups, and do planning for the next few months in our businesses. There’ll be six interactive live workshops a year, and then there will be monthly group coaching calls. So 22 live calls a year in total. And then you will have the option to meet up in smaller groups. So there’ll be an extra sheet where you can fill your name and intention and and find each other. And you can create a small mastermind, if you want to. The school is not open for enrollment at the moment because I’m restructuring stuff behind the scenes. And I’m really kind of talking to people that are currently in it about what they really want and how it could be better. And then it’s gonna relaunch in August. And of course, announce that on the podcast here.
But also, if you want to be on a waitlist for that, you can just use a forum under this episode, and I’ll send you an email when I have more information and I’m ready for you to sign up if that’s what you want to do. But yeah, let me know if you have any questions about masterminds. I hope that this episode makes you feel really excited about the possibility to connect in deeper ways and to go beyond the conversations that we have on Instagram, or go beyond listening to people’s podcast and really create a community that supports you and supports your creativity and your vision as a whole over a period of time because they We all need more intimacy and connection and yeah so so enjoy a good luck with that. Let us know how it’s doing. If you want me to share your shout out, I totally can do that just message me. I’d love to hear from you and I wishing you a beautiful day.