Ruth Poundwhite [00:00:00]:
Sometimes the most powerful shifts in business. Come from saying yes before you feel ready. A year ago, I said yes to a mastermind that I was both excited and terrified to be part of. And it has been so powerful for my business. So in this episode, I’m opening up about what I have learned from being part of this small but mighty group of amazing business owners who have become a key part of my journey.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:00:26]:
Welcome to the Soulful Sales show where where we talk about believing in the value of your offers, getting them in front of your right people, and selling. More of what you do in your unique way.

Hi and welcome back to the Soulful Sales Show. So you have probably heard in a few of the episodes on this podcast or maybe you have attended some of our live sessions, but I’ve been doing a few live panels with my mastermind group, who we jokingly call ourselves the Weird Hermits because we all feel like we are kind of weird hermits. And I wanted to share a little bit behind the scenes of some lessons I’ve learned from being inside this mastermind group because I just realized that we have been meeting for a year now, which is amazing. And the first thing I want to share is I am so grateful for this mastermind. So, so grateful. And the way that it came about was I ran a summit in, in September 2024 called the Soulful Sales Summit. This was, I think
the third time I had run that summit.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:01:32]:
And Kate Cordsmeyer was a sponsor of that summit and it was great working with her. She added so much goodness to that summit. We, you know, we, we got to get to know each other. I was not familiar with her. I don’t think she was familiar with me before that. We realized we had a lot in common in terms of our business values. And she, after the summit I think invited me or put it to me that her and Sage Grayson were putting together a mastermind and would I be interested. And I am so grateful that I ran that summit, had Sage as a speaker and Kate as a speaker and sponsor and met these incredible humans and as a result got invited to join this mastermind.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:02:17]:
This is a peer led mastermind by the way. It’s not a paid container, it’s peer led. We all copy created it and co run it together. So the first lesson is that you never know what something is going to lead
to. So when I ran the Soulful Sales Summit, it was a profitable event. It didn’t make as much money as I wanted it to, but it was profitable. It also didn’t get as many attendees as I wanted it to, But I could never have known that it would have led to this mastermind group, which I believe is so supportive and responsible for so many positive changes in my business after this year and hopefully going forward as well. So that is the first lesson. This is a peer led mastermind by the way. It’s not a paid container, it’s peer led. We all copy created it and co run it together. So the first lesson is that you never know what something is going to lead to. So when I ran the Soulful Sales Summit, it was a profitable event. It didn’t make as much money as I wanted it to, but it was profitable. It also didn’t get as many attendees as I wanted it to, But I could never have known that it would have led to this mastermind group, which I believe is so supportive and responsible for so many positive changes in my business after this year and hopefully going forward as well. So that is the first lesson.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:02:58]:
You never know where something is going to take you and where connections are going to take you. And I will say I am not someone who deliberately networks with people to try and get something out
of it. I’m just not interested. I am only interested in having real conversations and seeing if we generally connect. And me and Kate connected, and it led to me being part of this beautiful mastermind.
So very, very grateful for that. The second thing I wanted to share is that when Kate put this mastermind to me and shared some of the vision they had for the kind of people they wanted, the level of
business owners they wanted in there, some of the names they were thinking about inviting, oh, my goodness, did I get imposter syndrome? Like I thought, do I belong in this mastermind? Am I good
enough? Is my business good enough? Am I, you know, making enough money? Am I doing the right things? Do I have anything valuable to add? I was so nervous, but I knew that it was a really great
opportunity for me. And at this point, I had not been in any kind of paid group container for a while, and I was.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:04:01]:
And I had kind of taken an intentional break to focus on my own path and my own ideas. And before this opportunity to join the weird hermits presented itself to me, I knew that I was ready to be part
of something else again. So that definitely helped me to be brave and to say yes, even though I was super nervous. But I remember. And I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this with my weird hermits master. I don’t know if any of them listen, but they’re about to hear about it now. I remember before the first call, I was so nervous. Like, really, really nervous.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:04:35]:
And because they. Most of them are based in the US Our meetings are kind of later in. In my day and the flow of my day. So I was really, like, nervous about it all day long before that meeting. And it
turns out that they are all human beings, just like me. And they all have their own, you know, anxieties about what they bring to the table. And a lot of them have shared that throughout our time
together. Sometimes one of us shows up with needing more support in any one meeting than the others do.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:05:09]:
And sometimes it can feel scary taking up that space or like we’re not Contributing enough. But we do all have unique things to contribute. And actually, we didn’t know at the time what each of our strengths were. But it’s become very clear as we have met that some of the people in the Mastermind are great at the systems and the tech. That is not me, by the way. Some of us are good at asking
those thoughtful questions or tune into how you feel, coming up with ideas. And we share our ideas. We share what’s working. not Contributing enough. But we do all have unique things to contribute. And actually, we didn’t know at the time what each of our strengths were. But it’s become very clear as we have met that some of the people in the Mastermind are great at the systems and the tech. That is not me, by the way. Some of us are good at asking those thoughtful questions or tune into how you feel, coming up with ideas. And we share our ideas. We share what’s working.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:05:38]:
We all bring something to the table and then. And different times, different people are doing new things and sharing more. And sometimes people are asking more or need more help, and that is okay
as well. And actually recognizing that we’re not so different, that we’re all human beings, that we all have fears, that we all have struggles, means showing up in a place where you can be honest versus pretending to be something that you think you need to be to belong is actually what leads to the biggest shifts and helps you to really claim the support that you need. Because you’re not going in there thinking, I have to have this all figured out. You’re actually willing to be seen as imperfect and therefore learn whatever it is that you need to learn in order to improve. The third lesson that I want to share is that we all have our unique zone of magic. Now, I kind of already touched on this in the way that we show up and contribute to the Mastermind, but I would say we all have our unique zone of magic in.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:06:33]:
In the way that we sell. And we all have a different style and a different way of doing things. And sometimes we talk about strategies and one thing that works for someone doesn’t work for someone else. And I think it’s just a beautiful reminder that we get to do this our way and we get to do it however suits us. And actually, this is something as a coach that I have already been very aware of through the clients that I work with. So, for example, some clients are just incredible at selling through the DMS and just getting on calls with people or having DM conversations with people and selling their offers like that. That has never been my way. I mean, I say never.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:07:05]:
I used to do it a little, but it’s never been my main thing. I love sending emails. Social media has never really been my thing as well. And a lot of the people in the Mastermind are not on social media.
Some of the people in the Mastermind are extroverted and love being on really long calls. And some of us are doing everything we can to reduce the number of calls in Our schedule, everyone is different. And it just goes to show that so many different ways of doing things work well. You don’t need to be a certain way to be a leader.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:07:34]:
You can be an extroverted, bubbly leader. You can be an introverted, gentle, quiet leader and everything in between. And I think it’s really a really, really great reminder. And I will say, because this mastermind group is smaller, so I have been part of paid mastermind containers, and they have been good. But I do believe that this is the best mastermind that I’ve ever been in, and it is free. And the
reason that it works is because we intentionally keep it pretty small. I think there are eight of us in there at the. We get to know, like, when there’s only eight people in there, and when we consciously say that we have to show up for the cause because these things will fall apart if we’re not all fully invested in it. containers, and they have been good. But I do believe that this is the best mastermind that I’ve ever been in, and it is free. And the reason that it works is because we intentionally keep it pretty small. I think there are eight of us in there at the. We get to know, like, when there’s only eight people in there, and when we consciously say that we have to show up for the cause because these things will fall apart if we’re not all fully invested in it.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:08:19]:
Right. You can’t help but be seen as yourself. And I think for someone like me who finds it very, very easy to lurk and just, you know, absorb the other things that other people are saying, but not really speak up or not ask my own questions, I. I have been so much more active in this group than I ever have been in larger paid containers that I’ve been part of. And I think the other benefit is that we all deliberately chose the people who are in it because we all have a similar sort of business model. It’s just the way we go about it and the way we market our business varies from person to person. So, yeah, really, really beautiful. I think I’m on the fourth thing right now.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:08:59]:
I think so. But what I really witness in the fellow weird hermits is their ability to come up with an idea and action on it really quite quickly. And this is something I know I’ve talked about in some of my recent podcast episodes, because it’s definitely something I am embodying, especially as I aim to end the year strong before I have a big trip to Thailand. And I’m just so inspired by the way that they have ideas and take action and try new things so quickly. They are so willing to test things even though they don’t know that they’re going to work. And I think that this is something that I know. I know a lot of my clients struggle with this, like being scared to try new things in case they don’t work or having had multiple things that haven’t worked and feeling burned by that and not wanting to try new things because it’s tiring. Right.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:09:53]:
But I will say that these successful business owners who I get to meet up with once a week, if not more, they are all trying new things. They are all having up and down results in terms of the things that work for them and things that don’t. But the average results are always moving in the right direction because they are willing to test and try things. And you know, online business, the online business world is not static. The things that worked for us a couple of years ago are not necessarily the same things that work for us now. So it’s really, really important to be able to be flexible and to try new things for that reason as well. And then the final thing that I wanted to share, and this is actually something that I’m grateful to have learned really early on in my first, is that it’s so powerful to collaborate with the people who do similar things to us instead of seeing them as competition. We have been doing these panels where we show up and we talk about specific topics.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:10:48]:
We don’t ask for opt ins, they’re not paid, we’re not pitching. And the reason we decided to do that is just to get together and share something with our people. And we could easily see it as competition
and not want to share our audiences with each other. Because what if someone from my audience decides to work with Kate instead of me because she has this soulful business angle like I do, but it
doesn’t work like that. Like, if they decide to work with Kate, then that means that Kate is the right coach for them in that moment. And similarly, someone from Kate’s audience might decide to work with me because they feel I am the right coach for them in that moment. Likelihood is that we have multiple people in our audiences who haven’t heard of the other one yet and, or who have bought from both We don’t ask for opt ins, they’re not paid, we’re not pitching. And the reason we decided to do that is just to get together and share something with our people. And we could easily see it as competition and not want to share our audiences with each other. Because what if someone from my audience decides to work with Kate instead of me because she has this soulful business angle like I do, but it doesn’t work like that. Like, if they decide to work with Kate, then that means that Kate is the right coach for them in that moment. And similarly, someone from Kate’s audience might decide to work with me because they feel I am the right coach for them in that moment. Likelihood is that we have multiple people in our audiences who haven’t heard of the other one yet and, or who have bought from both of us. And I think that, you know, that saying like a rising tide lifts all boats I definitely see see as true in our mastermind group.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:11:35]:
And I just love doing these sessions with them. And I think we have so much to gain from being generous and sharing each other’s stuff and supporting each other. It’s just, I don’t know, I don’t feel very articulate about this point right now. But there’s something about the mindset of it as well, the generosity of it and knowing that it’s. It’s that abundance mindset versus the scarcity of trying to keep everyone to yourself. Right. So. So it helps you to kind of detach in that way and see that there are so many more right clients out there.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:12:09]:
We’re all supporting each other to find our exact right clients. So yeah, they are five lessons that I have learned in the Last year Inside the Weird Hermits Mastermind I highly recommend putting together your own Mastermind group. There is still absolutely a benefit to paid containers, but I will say for the reasons I’ve already mentioned, like how selective we were about who’s involved and what types of businesses we have, keeping the group quite small, making sure we are all committed to showing up to most of the calls, all of that stuff is what makes it work, but also leaning in and being willing to be a bit vulnerable and sometimes not feeling good enough, but actually having a supportive group of people who shows you that that you are good enough. And we all have these worries as well. So really really grateful to be in their space. I can’t finish this episode without saying I’m also in another Mastermind and that mastermind I consider to be more like my spiritual support. And we have been meeting and I actually did an episode with that Mastermind group way back when. I think it was the quietly ambitious podcast and we talked about rest.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:13:13]:
We have been meeting since my son was a baby and he is now almost 8 and I think there is something incredibly special about how long we have stuck together. We have stuck together through massive life events and moves and babies and businesses ending, a new job starting and all of this stuff. And I am so grateful for that mastermind as well. But yeah, today I was more focused on my Weird Hermits business buddies, but I had to give my spiritual Mastermind sisters a shout out as well. And I will, hand on heart, say that we are all friends and so, so grateful to have them all in my life. So that is the magic that can happen when you say yes to an opportunity, even if you feel nervous and when you commit to using it and being vulnerable and being yourself. So hope that was helpful. Get yourself in a group of like minded people if you want the same and I’ll catch you again soon with another episode. mastermind as well. But yeah, today I was more focused on my Weird Hermits business buddies, but I had to give my spiritual Mastermind sisters a shout out as well. And I will, hand on heart, say that we are all friends and so, so grateful to have them all in my life. So that is the magic that can happen when you say yes to an opportunity, even if you feel nervous and when you commit to using it and being vulnerable and being yourself. So hope that was helpful. Get yourself in a group of like minded people if you want the same and I’ll catch you again soon with another episode.

Ruth Poundwhite [00:14:15]:
Thank you so much for listening to another episode of Soulful Sales. If you have a moment to rate and review, know that it really does make a difference and if you’d like to carry on the conversation
then you can connect with me on Instagram at Ruth Pound White. Sign up to my newsletter@ruthpoundwhite.com forward slash newsletter or my personal favorite. Join me inside the low Ticket membership at RuthPoundWhite.com forward/membership and keep doing what you’re doing because your work really does matter.