Behind-the-scenes in a high performance mastermind

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio

 If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be part of a mastermind container, in today’s episode, I’m gonna pull back the curtains and share what a Mastermind is like and how it could add incredible value, and of course, more money to your business.

 If the sound of a Mastermind excites you, I am so excited to share that doors are open to my brand new mastermind container, the profit collective. This is an exclusive six and multi six figure mastermind for creatives and service-based businesses who have dreams to scale their business to a million dollars of revenue a year, of course, in a profitable way. To find out more about the Profit collective, click on the link in the show notes for today’s episode and you can line up a time to chat with me to see if it’s the right fit for you. But for now, I’ll dive on in and chat more about Masterminds so that you can learn a little bit about how they can support you as a business owner.

So for today’s episode, I of course cannot speak to all masterminds. So this is gonna be from my experience, both attending masterminds, being a part of a mastermind myself, and of course my experience hosting Masterminds. And in particular, I’m gonna be referencing my current mastermind container, the profit collective throughout, because of course, that is my latest point of reference.

So first and foremost. As a question, you might wonder why join a mastermind? So a mastermind generally is an exclusive business community or a collective of like-minded individuals who get together and fundamentally are working on creating growth in their businesses. Now the cool thing that I love about Masterminds is that you are connected with other business owners with similar values, visions, and goals. I personally think masterminds are particularly potent when you are with people of a similar or higher level of business than you. So for example, my mastermind, it has a selection criteria. So there’s a minimum earnings that you must be making to be considered to join. So there’s a minimum of a hundred thousand or multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars a year that you must be earning. There’s also criteria around the type of business. So my mastermind is not for product-based businesses. It’s not a container where there’s coaches, coaching coaches, it’s a container for service-based business owners and creatives. So we are getting a similar type of business together.

Again, with a mastermind container, you really wanna think about the value set of what is important to the people coming inside.

For this container that I’ve created, I have said that this is a value led group. It is very important that people coming in are impact led. So as much as money is important and I really wanna be supporting and empowering the Mastermind to make more money, we don’t wanna be doing it at the expense of our values. And also, I want to welcome people into the container who have a bigger vision than just making money. People who have a desire to create positive impact in the world. So again, bringing together a cohesive group of people. Now, of course, other mastermind containers are gonna have their own sets of, of values of people who are coming together. So if you are sussing at a mastermind container, I think that it’s really important that you do have a look like who’s in this group? How much money are they earning? What are they all about? What’s the value set of the mentor and of the collective container?

So what exactly do you get inside a Mastermind container?

Well, again, they’re all very different. I know the masterminds that I’ve hosted over the years, they’ve had different inclusions in them at different stages as well as a general ruler. Generally, they are facilitated by a mentor or a coach, someone who is leading the container and who is keeping the container cohesive and on track. The container will generally have an online element, so there might be some online coaching, there might be an online training portal, prerecorded content that gets rolled out. There may also be an in-person component. I know that the collective has, we are having a a mini retreat, a time where everyone can actually get together in person and have that true deep experience of getting to actually meet and hang out in real life.

Again, all containers are different, but I’ll, I’ll share a little bit about what’s inside the Profit Collective. So the coaching component of my mastermind has marketing that the trainings are around marketing, around team, around mindset, around leadership, around scaling. So for example, the training sessions that I’ve had already inside, the first one was called New Sales in Seven Days, a really clear sales driving training, and the one this week was called Recurring Revenue, how to Protect Your Business through Peaks and Troughs. And this was really about ways that the collective members can start to think about building up an income that will weather their business through peaks and troughs. We also spoke about some practical components for navigating through the ups and downs that are invariably gonna happen in business.

Another thing that might happen, you might be assigned an accountability Buddy. This was really important for me for this mastermind container because I’m such a big believer that the transformation happens through the action. And if I can’t be personally coaching everyone, I want you to still have someone that you need to be accountable to. So I’ve set up a big spreadsheet inside. People need to document their actions after the calls each week, and you then meet with your accountability buddy.

Masterminds may also have private networking events or in-person components. Like I mentioned earlier. There may be an online community, so the collective has a Facebook group where I am in every day answering questions, people can, oh my gosh, this challenge has come up for me. I will jump in and provide my thoughts, but it’s not just about having a coach, it’s about having a collective. So other people, other experienced successful business owners are also jumping in and sharing their 2 cents, their ideas around navigating, through challenges, around inspiring, around, Hey, this is something that I’ve done in that situation before. And again, this is one of the beautiful things about a mastermind. It’s not just about having a coach. It’s actually about having a whole group of inspirational, intelligent, like-minded people to support, share their advice, cheer you on.

And another thing that you may uh, see inside containers is opportunities for upgrades, which again, is something I’m intending to share inside the profit collective. Opportunities to upgrade to private coaching sessions or an inner circle where you get more access or a more intimate container inside.

Another thing that, again, I’ve experienced as a client inside Masterminds and something I certainly love to do for my mastermind attendees is above and beyond surprises. So I love to really think about what are some ways that I can serve this community deeper? And an example of this that, um, I’ve launched with the collective just this week is I said, Hey, my audience might have your next dream client inside. So I’m gonna be featuring the Profit Collective members on my Instagram feed, to my email list, to my other social followings with a plug for their business saying, Hey, this is someone who’s chosen to invest in me. I’m willing to put them in front of my audience. So I love to think of little ways that I can add value. And again, this was something that was modeled to me inside containers that I’ve been in before. A little surprise and delight gives.

Now thinking about a mastermind container, it can be a really vulnerable space because obviously you were sharing your, potentially your financial numbers. I know I certainly encourage people inside mine to be saying, tell us your actual revenue numbers. Talk about sales. Talk about losses, if that’s relevant. You are also perhaps sharing when you’re navigating through really challenging times. It might be that a sale fell over or that a team member’s quit, so it really does require a level of of vulnerability. And as a result, a good mastermind container should have boundaries and trust protocols in place. You wanna make sure that there is confidentiality and a commitment to mutually support each other inside the container. In our first call, I spoke a lot about how I wanna have this as a no competition, no judgment place, because sometimes you can find that people get a little bit cliquey, like, Hey, I’m making this much money. But the truth is we’re all in it to support each other to win. I. When one person wins, everyone wins. Sometimes what I’ve witnessed is that some people have rapid growth trajectory and other business owners might stagnate for a while, and that’s okay. There’s no judgment. It’s all about how can we lift everyone up together.

So what are the kind of results that you can expect in a mastermind?

Well, first and foremost. Hopefully the intention is that you are going to make more profit inside a mastermind. Now, perhaps the profit uplift might not happen in the first month or couple of months because as you are outlaying money, you might find that there’s a, a temporary step backwards. But I would be really intentional about your investment saying, Hey, what am I wanting to achieve inside this container? How much am I wanting to be earning?

So obviously income is one thing, and I’m actually gonna share in the link in the show note for today’s episodes, uh, some of my previous masterminds and what they’ve been able to achieve inside a mastermind container. I know for myself as well, I have, by investing in a mastermind, I’ve achieved rapid growth in my business. In fact. The first mastermind contender that I invested in, I tripled my sales in that group simply by being in the energy, the inspiration of an incredible group of humans, and by having an epic coach that was lifting me up. And there are a lot of other benefits as well, I mean, all going well, you’re gonna be forming some amazing business friendships inside. I know some of my really close business friends I’ve met at retreats, masterminds, in-person workshops, and it’s such a great way to do so, in a mastermind. You’ll also get inspired by being around people doing big things. Wow. I can’t believe they’re making that much money. Wow. It’s so cool how they are showing up in a confident and magnetic way and becoming more visible. Wow. It’s really incredible to witness their confidence, growth. And of course that really beautiful component of support so that you feel less alone because something I hear again and again in business is that a lot of business owners really do feel like they’re going it alone. When there’s a tough day, you’re talking to your partner and they’re like, I don’t know, maybe they don’t get it. And so inside this group, you’re around people who are like, oh my gosh, I’ve been there, yes, I can relate to that. So you feel less alone and also you get that practical support. Here’s what I’ve done in that circumstance before from the group, but also from your coach.

Now it sounds like there’s a lot of benefits from being in a mastermind, which of course there are. However, there are also some mastermind red flags that I want you to be really aware of if you are seeking to join a Mastermind container.

Firstly, someone guilting you into joining. I have seen this, unfortunately in the coaching world where people get pushed into a high pressure sales situation, they are sitting on the fence and someone’s like, you need to join up now. If you wanna do something, if you wanna make something, you need to be in this container, and we are gonna take a deposit right now. And not even giving people the opportunity to really think it through. Something that’s a higher value of mine is yes, of course I’m gonna try and sell my solution if I believe that it’s the right fit for people. But you should never feel forced or pressured into making a decision, particularly if it doesn’t feel aligned.

The second mastermind Red flag that I particularly don’t like, and I think that you need to be really aware of that I see a lot in the online world is vagueness. I myself have inquired about, uh, a mastermind container and I almost got in trouble for asking questions. I was asking what I thought were quite reasonable questions like, Hey, what time are the calls? And the answer I got given is, you are either being pulled into this container and you’ll make it work or not. And I said, well, I’m in Australia. This is america, like, you know, the calls could be at at 2:00 AM in the morning and they’re like, if you want to be in there, you’ll make those calls. Which of course is highly impractical for someone who runs a business and also has a young family. So if people are saying to you, you should just be pulled into the vibe and don’t allow you to ask reasonable questions, that is a bit of a red flag for me.

I also see people talking a lot in, in riddles, like they’re not actually sharing like how much access do I get to, are there calls? Is there a mastermind group? And I’ve seen people saying, people are either just called into my world or they’re not. I. People should just pay me in full and trust the process you. If you’ve got questions to ask about a mastermind, to find out if it’s the right fit, it’s incredibly reasonable, and in fact, I believe diligent of you to get clear answers or you could end up locked into a contract or container that you can’t even actually make the calls or that you don’t even get access, I’ve also seen this where people don’t even actually get access to the coach. The coach has hired coaches, and you don’t even get to access the person that you thought that you were buying off. So ask the questions, please.

The next Mastermind Red flag to be aware of, have a look out for actual testimonials. Have you heard someone talk to this container or this group? I really love to get people to come on my podcast so that you can hear their story, their truth about the experience. I see lots of masterminds advertised with. The coach writing what someone allegedly said without sharing a screenshot, without actually getting that person to share their testimonial. Without linking to who it actually is. You should be able to go and connect with people that have provided testimonials and say, Hey, I saw that you said this. Was that your experience? I really believe that. If, if it’s a good container, people are gonna be saying good things about it. So you wanna look for those pieces of evidence.

Another mastermind red flag. Yes, a container should be a space where you get to connect with and hang out with cool people, but there needs to be more than just a vibe inside. I really believe you need to be mentored. There needs to be actual training, actual strategy, actual energetics, whatever it is that this container is offering. You don’t wanna be spending big dollars just to hang out with people. I mean, that should be part of it. But if you are spending big dollars, I really believe there needs to be some sort of strategy training, transformation inside.

Now a disclaimer of course to all of these mastermind red flags and success indicators is, I will say this, what’s one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. So what I mean by that, I have sometimes been in the, uh, the energy of someone’s trainings and I’ve really not understood it. It’s been a little bit esoteric, a little bit over my head. I am like, I didn’t learn anything in that, and yet I know that other people have had massive transformations from that coach, training, whatever it might be. And do you know what? At the end of the day, I think that there’s gonna be some people who are magnetized towards a certain kind of coaching container, learning style, um, the way that a mentor teaches that is gonna work for some people, that’s not gonna work for other people.

So for example, I am not the right coach for everyone. Like, I’m just gonna put it out there. And I really think that that’s the case as well. So just because everyone else is raving about this trending coach, if they, if you are not filling that pull, if the way that they teach doesn’t resonate with you, don’t just jump on the bandwagon because it seems like other people are going down there. Look for who is speaking to you. Look whose energy you are magnetized towards. And the best way that you can really find this out is to spend time and the energy of your mentor. Listen to their podcast, go along to their free trainings, see if this is the right fit for you.

And similarly, try and get a feeling for the people who are in their world. I know that, um, a lot of people say about the events that I host, they’re like, wow, the people here are really down to earth. And that’s the kind of vibe I hope, think that I have. So that is not the right vibe for everyone. Just to be super clear, you might wanna be in the energy of people who are, I don’t know, really, really think about the energy that magnetizes you, because that is likely to be the energy of the people inside the container as well.

So with all of these wonderful things that I’ve spoken about in mastermind world, what are some of the reasons that people wouldn’t wanna join a Mastermind?

Well, firstly, the cost. Um. I if you are not at a stage where you are able to afford the investment, again, me personally, I would say it’s not the right time to be leaning into a mastermind. You want this to be something. Yeah, it might be a bit of an uncomfortable stretch, but you don’t wanna be missing meals to make your mastermind payments each month. That is so not the vibe or certainly that I would wanna welcome people into my containers.

The next reason is the time commitment. So again, really have a look about what your capacity is to invest into a container and really think about if it aligns with your availability. So if the call is at 3:00 AM if the morning and you can’t make those calls, maybe it’s not the right fit. For me I always say to people, you will get out what you put in. So I’ve got this Facebook group I’m like, get in the Facebook group, come along, the more time that you are spending, taking the actions, coming to the calls, being in the energy people, the more that you will get out of this experience. So really think, do you have the capacity for this?

Now, the next thing that I really want you to consider is this. You can’t join any sort of coaching container mastermind group and expect that just because you’re paying money that you are going to get the income uplift. You have to do the work. And I think sometimes we make these decisions from a place of lack, of scarcity, of, oh my gosh, if I just throw money at this thing, hopefully I’ll make more money. No, you are going to have to do the work. A good mastermind container will be set up to support you with that. Again, a coach that’s there, that’s available, that’s supportive, that’s giving you the tools, having some sort of accountability inside the group. Like I said, I’ve got my accountability buddy. I’ve got the accountability spreadsheet there to keep you on track, but at the end of the day, I can’t make anyone do anything. So don’t join a mastermind container if you think it’s gonna be a magical savior without you having to actually do the work.

So how do you know if it’s the right time to jump on him?

Well, firstly, if you are ready for a level up, if you are ready to make more income in your business, and you are like, yes, it is time. I want to grow. I wanna grow my visibility, my confidence, my results. Now might be the time.

And how do you know if it’s the wrong time? Okay. A couple of things that I wanna say here. Number one, if you’re financially distressed, if you are freaking out and you’re like, let’s hope this thing saves me, that is not the right time to be investing into a container. If you’re coming into something from a space of lack. You are not coming into it from a space of expansion. The next thing, if you are having mental health challenges again, um, if you really are in a very distressed state. If you aren’t in a, a great. Energetic space yourself. I really think that you need to get medical expert help. A container isn’t the right place to be seeking out those kind of solutions. And the third reason why I think it’s the wrong time to join a mastermind container. If you are like, if I jump in a group, then I can just hide. I really think that that is not the right reason or time to jump into a mastermind. You wanna be jumping in there with a real sense of accountability, of responsibility, and when you are really ready to take action and get the results. I.

Now I’ve spoken a bit today about my container, the Profit Collective. It may or may not be the right fit for you. If it is speaking to you if you would like to work with me and find out more about what this container looks like, there is a link in the show notes for today’s episode and you can actually on the sales page book in a call with me or reach out to my team and book in a call with me. So, um, I’d love to have a chat if that is speaking to you. If it’s not, or if you’re not at that right stage of business, that’s totally cool. Um, I really do hope that you do find a container that speaks to you and that is aligned for you. And remember, of course, that individual results will vary through any kind of coaching experience. You can see what has happened for other people, but there are no guarantees that those same results will happen for you. So just bear that in mind as you are making any coaching investment in your business.

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of the Clare Wood Podcast. Hope you have a magical week and I’ll chat to you again very soon.

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio