48:5 The Mastermind Effect: Agency Transformation

Welcome to the Trailblazer FM podcast. This is your host Lee, and on today's show, I wanna talk to you about the power of Masterminds. Over the years, I have enjoyed some incredible success, both in my agency, which is Event Engine, but also with the Trailblazer FM podcast and also my event Agency Transformation Live.

The podcast has produced over 400 episodes. Event Engine has turned over tens and hundreds of thousands of pounds per year, and we continue to grow. I've also had incredible opportunities to create content for leading hosting providers such as Cloudways for three years, and now Convesio as well, which I am super excited to be doing.

All of this success over the last eight or so years has [00:01:00] been predominantly due to being a part of a mastermind. This is a group of peers that push me, that I'm accountable to, that I can be open and honest and raw with, and they will be open and honest and raw back to me, which is essential. We don't want a group of friends that are just gonna tell us what we want to hear, that are gonna tell us all of our ideas are wonderful and we should go ahead and do it. No, we want a group of friends who will listen to what we have to say. Who will weigh that up, who will share their opinion, who will tell you the truth when your idea is terrible. Perhaps they have experienced exactly what you have shared and they can warn you about the pitfalls.

That has been my exact experience when connecting in a peer to peer mastermind. If you imagine you are in a room of your [00:02:00] peers. have goals, they have dreams, they have aspirations. They also have a rich plethora, whoa, that sounds great, doesn't it, a rich plethora of experiences that they can draw from.

You can then present your problem or your question to that group, and they can then give you their feedback. The format is essentially this. Step one. You spend some time giving a quick background about your business, and you share the specific problem that you have or ask the specific question that you have.

Next, there is a round for clarifying questions. This is where the group you are with will ask you questions to ensure that they've understood the problem or understood your question. They will also reiterate the question back to you, and during that time you can clarify and you can also confirm when they have understood the [00:03:00] problem or the question.

Then they're gonna spend a period of time in front of you talking about you, your business, and what they would do to solve this problem or what they feel is the right answer to your question. And the kicker here is, You're just not allowed to interrupt them. The only time you can interrupt them is if you feel that they've misunderstood something and they've gone off down a blind alley. It's really important, if you can, to keep quiet and let them talk about you. This is a fascinating insight into how other businesses operate, how other people think. So listen carefully and see where they go with this.

Finally, it's the action stage, and this is where the group will discuss with you what actions they think you might need to take either to solve that problem or essentially answer that question.

I really want to hammer home how [00:04:00] essential this has been for me in the development of my business and the success that I've achieved so far.

First off, I've done things I would never have dreamed of. That's approaching huge brands, that's working with those huge brands. Heck, even launching my first event in 2019 was because of a group mastermind. I would never have dreamed about doing it. I never had the confidence to do it, and yet my peers helped me see the value of doing that and going for it.

I've launched products and services that I was fearful to provide. That has absolutely added lighter fluid to Event Engine, our business, and seen us grow and scale.

I've discovered for me, my own self worth. I've had my eyes opened to the immense value that I have and my business has to offer our clients. This one might [00:05:00] sound boring, but the combined brain power has helped me to solve complex process issues within my business.

Hey, it's even helped me to work out massive issues that I had with my business partner because at one point me and Tim were not in a good place, but I was able to take that to the room.

I kid you not, I was actually at a point where I was going to give in with Event Engine. I was gonna walk away. I was gonna hand it all over to Tim and say, "Hey, you know what? This is yours". And I'm so glad that I brought that stress, that anxiety, that frustration, that confusion, all of that to a mastermind because that helped me turn my head around, helped me see what the problems were, helped me solve the problems, helped me find a resolution with Tim and helped us grow the business to where it is today, of which I'm really proud of, and I'm so grateful. So, so grateful [00:06:00] to still be a part of Event Engine and looking forward to an incredible future and the amazing plans that we have.

Being a part of these masterminds has allowed me to be accountable as well to the change that they've helped me see, and I've developed lifelong friendships.

In November last year, we had the agency Transformation Live event, and day two was a mastermind. We had an incredible experience with a small number of agency owners who were really able to deep dive into the issues that they had, and they were able to come away with real action that they could take.

We also did a version of this back in 2020 when we all had to be at home and we did this online. We received awesome feedback, people wanted more, and of course, it was a no-brainer for us to add the physical Mastermind at the end of last year's event.

If you would like to set up your own Mastermind with a group of [00:07:00] peers, then go ahead and check out season 34, episode four, where I share how to create a peer Mastermind. Check out the link in the show notes to go ahead and listen to that episode.

As a result of the positive experiences I've had, being a part of a mastermind and also facilitating these masterminds at Agency Transformation Live, my own group has encouraged me to launch a brand new program. So starting in September of 2023, I'll be running a Mastermind in person here in the UK.

This will be for agency owners that turn over a minimum of 250,000 pounds per year. We want people at the table who have got that experience, who have got skin in the game. The minimum price will be from 1,500. And if you are interested in being at one of those tables, then check out the show notes [00:08:00] and get on the wait list for more information.

This will be a Mastermind facilitated by me, yours truly. We will be in an intimate setting together at Kettering Park Hotel. You will be fed as well, and there will be more opportunities to work together after the initial mastermind day.

The important twist here is that Mastermind is the wrong word. Master assumes that there is one person or entity that is the brain is in control, is the expert!

We're gonna call this a hivemind because we recognize that each one of us has value, has experience, and has expertise to bring to the table. Check out the show notes or go to agencytransformation.live/hivemind.

Folks, if we don't see you on the wait list, if we don't see you in the comments within the show notes, then how about we see you in [00:09:00] the next episode?