Behind The Scenes Of The Miami Mastermind

Welcome to Million Dollar Grit, the podcast that dives deep into the world of entrepreneurship, where tenacity meets strategy and dreams meet reality. My name is Julie, and I explore the raw, often overlooked truths of what it takes to succeed in business and in life. It's not just about the glossy success stories, it's about the grit it takes to get there. Hey everyone, this is Julie, and today I would like to debrief with you. This is a personal episode. I don't know how much teaching will be in here, but I just wanna go through what the last week of my life looked like with my mastermind. And I know that people who follow me on social media pay attention to my stories, but I'm hoping to give a little bit behind the scenes of what it was like and, you know, see what you think. So my mastermind runs twice a year in May and November. And this year it was in Miami. And the way that I got to Miami as a location is kind of a funny story that I don't really have time for here. But suffice to say, Miami was not my top choice. I am not, you know, a super city girl. I am not bougie and bling, and I tend to associate Miami with those things. And we found ourselves with a contract in Miami And so I was like, all right, that's cool. You know, we're gonna, we're gonna see how it goes. I guess this is just another reason to remind people to suspend some of your preconceived ideas because it turned out to be one of the most fun, relaxing masterminds I have ever hosted. And to think that my first, you know, inclination wasn't like super, you know, I wasn't super excited about the city. It's just funny. But before Miami, I was asked to speak at the speakeasy, Steve Sims Speakeasy, en New Orleans. Now New Orleans is definitely not my favorite city. I went to New Orleans for the first time back in February for the Marketer's Heart. I actually, you know, we had a great event. It was super fun. The actual hotel was outside of Bourbon Street. So I think that aided in my like feeling of like, oh, this was, you know, a more relaxing event. But the Steve Sims Speakeasy was literally on Bourbon Street. So if you are not the kind of person who likes that vibe, then it can be very overstimulating. We got there, we flew out Sunday morning. I never sleep well the night before a flight. I'm sure you can relate to that. So we got there somewhere around 1 in the afternoon, tired, right? Hotel wasn't ready, AC and And I sat out on this beautiful little like patio in the French, it kind of had like French Quarter vibes, and I was just absolutely exhausted and pretty nervous about this presentation that I had to give. And it's not the first time I've had to give a presentation, but this was the first time I was doing a 45-minute presentation with zero slides. And slides are just sort of this funny crutch that I've gotten used to because I use them in courses and webinars and workshops and all all the speaking I've done, and so to not have slides felt really like unhinged. And it was funny, AC's like, "No one's gonna know if you go off track because there's no slides. It's not like you're gonna stumble around and advance a slide and then it's not going to make sense." And I was like, "Well, that's true," but I hate tangents and rabbit holes when people are speaking because I tend to be a closed looper. I like to close loops, So I didn't want to give that experience to the audience. So I was like, yeah, but I don't want to be that way. Turns out I'm not that way at all, even without slides. So I was worrying for absolutely nothing. So Sunday afternoon, we finally got into our hotel around 3:30, and ah, now I remember, it was because it was daylight savings. It was extra confusing on our bodies because, you know, the clocks had gone back, then now we were in Central Time. And so we took a nap, and then we, we were starving, so we went this restaurant called Bourbon and Banter. I was nervous to have dinner because I was like, we're supposed to go to this like dinner, VIP dinner, and like, what if I've already eaten? And just like funny, the things you like worry about when you're tired. Now talking back about it, it sounds so ridiculous, but I was really stressed. Like, should we eat first or should we go? Should we eat? You know, what should we wear? All this silliness. Anyway, we had some great New Orleans food. It was absolute mayhem on Bourbon Street because the Saints had a home game. So the like road was blocked off and it was just, it was crazy. So we went over to the speakeasy dinner, we met some people and that was super fun. I had met them about 6 or 7 months ago. So a bunch of people recognized me. I introduced AC to the crew and then we went home and, or went back to the hotel and I settled in around 8:00 PM thinking I'm gonna get a good night's sleep. And you guys, I don't really know what happened next, but I did not fall asleep till 4:00 AM. And for those of you who struggle with insomnia or anxiety, it is like the worst. And tears, and you feel like your world is falling apart. And I'm like, and I have to present. And like, this is the first time with no slides and I'm never going to sleep again. You know, like everything's terrible. So, I finally fell asleep around 4:00, woke up around 6:00, and another fun fact is that when I travel, I don't have an easy way to dry my hair. My hair is very curly, so I need to air dry it so that it looks nice and fluffy and pretty for photos and for presenting, and my mom's voice in the back of my head, "Don't go out with wet hair! You know, it doesn't look good." And so I'm like, well, I have to speak at 9:30. I need at least 3 hours for my hair to dry. So I had 2 hours sleep and that was rough, but adrenaline, good old friend adrenaline and cortisol did their magic and I was not tired at all. And we went over to the speakeasy and I presented. And based on audience feedback, based on what Steve said, I think I nailed it. I hit it out of the park and I was reminded that when I speak in smaller rooms where I can engage people, it's so, so fun. And it's such a different feeling than being on a big stage with, you know, thousands of people. And that's awesome and that's fun, but you can't engage the audience. And it just reinforced that I really do enjoy the smaller rooms, you know, let's say 300 or less. There's only about 30 people in this room, so it's really intimate. And the minute that I stepped off the quote stage, all my adrenaline left my body. And I don't think I felt more tired than in that moment. And that was the energy with which I traveled to Miami. So we were gonna leave for Miami early, early Tuesday morning, and we were gonna participate in the speakeasy all day and go on the— he had a tour that night and I just, I was like, I am exhausted. There's no way I'm gonna be able to do this mastermind if I don't like rearrange some things. So we went back to the hotel, we packed up our stuff, slept for an hour, and then I rebooked a flight and we took two flights 'cause we had to go to Atlanta and then Miami on Delta. And we ended up getting to Miami around 8:30 in the evening. And again, time change, fatigue, all that fun stuff. We basically showed up in the Surfcomer Hotel and there were a bunch of digital insiders already there because the Tuesday— it was Monday, but that Tuesday, which is the day before the mastermind, there were all a bunch of insiders who had come up with some cool pre-ideas, you know, like pre-mastermind ideas. So, you know, Aaron, who's a photographer, was going to do photo shoots and Arie, who's a wealth architect, was going to host a wealth workshop. So a whole bunch of people were already in the lobby. And, uh, we said hello and we went to our room, had some really yummy food, and then, uh, went to sleep. And thankfully I slept well that night. And then Tuesday we woke up and we jumped in the ocean at 8 AM. And one of the best decisions we made with this mastermind was being really close to the water. So the hotel, it's a little boutique hotel, and it was like a 5-minute walk into the water. That totally set the vibe for the week. And you know, there were a few things about the hotel that I wasn't thrilled about, and they were sort of last-minute realizations. Number one, the room that we had booked, the event space, they didn't tell us the truth about the size. And so it was this very like kind of crazy moment where we were like, "All right, well, this is gonna be tight." And it was. And you know, that was a little tricky, but it's funny, the things you think are gonna like make or break an event Don't, right? You think, ah, crowded room. It totally, you know, yes, a slight inconvenience made it a little bit harder to, you know, navigate the room, but upside, people sat down and didn't get up, you know, 'cause they couldn't. So we went to the water and then we went to the room to set up, unpack all the swag. So the swag that we offered this time was an Ogibo Street Pack. with Digital Insiders etched on the front. And we did a notebook, a laptop sticker that was for Miami, a pen, and a Miami 2023 t-shirt. I recommend that you always do some sort of wearable swag for your events. It's so fun to see people actually wearing the swag at the event. It just, it's just a great feeling. So we got all that set up and then I went over to Aria's wealth workshop for the afternoon. There was about 20 Digital Insiders over there. Spent the afternoon there. AC went to the beach and/or to the pool and hung out, and then we all came back, and then we went to Cuban food on Tuesday night. I gotta say, the stress level that I have when I'm trying to figure out my meals when I'm at these masterminds is like a lot, and the days that I have like booked dinners, like hosted dinners, are way simpler, even though they're so expensive, because I just know that everybody's going to be there, and I know that the food's taken care of, I know the venue's taken care of, and, you know, I can mix and mingle if I'm feeling up for it. And when it's the off nights, it's always like, "Oh my gosh, like, has everybody got a person to eat with? Like, who do I eat with? How big is the reservation? I gotta find a reservation." You know, it's just like all of that. Like, are we going to get an Uber? Are we going walk. I really wish that my budget allowed for me to just do hosted dinners every single night, because I think it would simplify my brain, definitely. Although logistically, you know, would be a lot, a lot more work for my team. And when I say my team, I mean Jess Foster, who is amazing. So, but we ended up going to Cuban food, and it was a hodgepodge of people. Some people were late, some people couldn't show, you know, random people that I didn't expect were coming along. And we sat down in AC, who, you know, obviously speaks Spanish as a first language, basically handled the entire meal for us, spoke to the waiter, ordered us all the food. It ended up being a really, really nice dinner. Adorable, like, location and ambiance and atmosphere. So we came back Tuesday night. I used all of my— I don't know what the word is— willpower and tried to get a good night's sleep because Wednesday was the first day. I tried a few new things this time that I haven't done before. Number 1, I did not give the schedule out in advance. A lot of people got annoyed at me for this, and I understand why. I like to know in advance, but I also know that putting the schedule out in advance gives people the opportunity to be like, "Oh, I'm going to skip this talk, and I'm going to go do this here, and I'm going to go do that there," and You know, sometimes yes, you know best, right? Oh, I don't need that talk, so I'm gonna go whatever, you know, take a moment for myself. And that's totally fine. But other times people make judgments based on the title and then they miss something and then they miss out. And so by surprising people, I thought, you know, you're gonna not necessarily know right away what is going on, but maybe you'll be surprised, pleasantly surprised. So I got mixed reviews on that. I did send the schedule out each morning around 7:00 AM or so. I sent the schedule of the day, what to expect of the day. Another problem with sending the entire schedule out ahead of time is that people just get confused about logistics and times. And I thought, I'm just gonna give you the next thing, right? The next day. And then that, that's all you need to know. So We basically structured the mastermind. Normally the mastermind goes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It used to go 9 to 5. I can't believe we did that. But this time I quickly realized with the pool and the beach and the warm weather that nobody was going to want to be in the conference room, which it wasn't even really a conference room. It's just like a little event room. Wouldn't want to be in there past 3 o'clock. So I— that was another advantage to having this schedule, like, you know, not out there, is I was able to make that pivot. And in the feedback form, a lot of people said they really, really liked the 9 to 3 because what ended up happening is we'd all go outside, either go down to the water or go in the pool, and there would be just organic masterminding and hot seats happening. And there was one day where I was sitting at the pool and I was having a drink, and I just looked around and there were just all these little pockets of people, you know, some with their families, some you you could tell they had their laptops out, they were working. Other people were just laughing. And I think that just did so much for that feeling of like inspiration and restoration. So definitely liking the 9 to 3. And so it does mean having to be, you know, having to cut some things. But all in all, I don't think anyone felt like there wasn't enough content. So every morning from 9 to 9:30, we would do, you know, just coffee and takeaways and getting everybody ramped up for the day. And then from 9:30 to 12:30 is like hardcore learning, presentations, workshops, that kind of stuff. We had lunch outside every day from 12:30 to 1:30, and then from 1:30 to 3 was another block of learning. And we did some roundtables, we did panels, we did presentations, you know, various things, topics ranging from self-care to debt reduction, to Instagram Reels, you know, to swag and merch. Just like really broad variety of topics. Something for everyone, for sure. And then at the end of the day, we would just do some takeaways of like, "Okay, what was the most impactful moment of the day?" And then we'd disperse into that happy hour. Wednesday, we went to a place called Bodega for tacos and dancing. So, funny little story, we booked booked this place, and, you know, we looked on the website. It was beautiful, like, room with all these couches, really like fun vibe. And so that's the room we thought we were getting. And when we arrived, they, they kind of funneled us— and it was just a few of us— uh, funneled us into a smaller room which didn't have any couches and was very kind of like bare. And I hated it. And I said, this isn't the room. And they said, well, the room you saw on the website is our actual like loungy restaurant, like that's for public. I was like, but that's the room I thought I was getting. And they're like, no. And I was like, but that's the room I want. So, uh, and I had like maybe 15 minutes, maybe it was maybe more like 10 minutes before I knew 70 people were arriving. And so I said, give me the person in charge. And like, okay, get— and finally I got to the owner. I got the owner on the phone and I basically just said name your price, I want the room, like the whole thing. And so, you know, nothing a little Platinum Amex can't fix, right? So I threw down a couple extra grand for that, and by the time everybody got there, they went into the main room and, you know, were none the wiser except for the few that had come with me. They knew, they knew the scramble. Obviously, the, the team at Bodega had to move all the the buffet over to the other room, you know, so that was a little stressful. We tipped them well at the end of the night and they were, you know, happy. So we had a great night, lots of dancing, drinks and street tacos and Mexican food. It was really fun. And then Thursday was a free night and people did all different things. Again, another like stress level. What do I do? What do I do? Who do I sit with? You know, how does that all work? We ended up eating in the hotel, and that was fine. We had just whoever was around came and sat, and as people were coming in from dinner and whatnot, you know, they would come to the table and say hi. And I had some pretty poignant conversations that night, and I think, you know, I definitely let my guard down that night. In one particular conversation, we were talking about how difficult it is when people leave the mastermind, and this is a real hard part of running a mastermind, is when people leave. And I don't want people to see how upset I am because I never want to manipulate someone into staying. But the downside is that then they never see that I'm really sad that they're leaving, and then they think maybe that I don't care. And so a few tears were shed there. I think it was good. It was a good night. And then a whole bunch of people went into the mastermind room led by Brittany Long, and she hosted a late night mini mind. So that was fun. About 20 members went and brainstormed at 10:00 at night. I was like, I don't understand how your brain works at 10:00 at night. But a few people said that was one of the highlights of the event for them. So I was really grateful that Brittany was able to host that. And I totally forgot. I gotta go back to Wednesday. Wednesday night after tacos, we actually went to the mastermind room and we streamed a show. It was like a Magnolia Network home renovation show because one of our members, Wendy Conklin, she is an expert in chair upholstery and fabrics, was featured on this show. And so that was so fun. We had popcorn and champagne. We watched the show with her. We celebrated with her. So that was really, that was super fun. And you know, watching everyone celebrate the success of, you know, being on a network television show. And then Friday. Friday was the last day. Most people stayed, a few people left. Another amazing day. We all went for a swim in the ocean Friday afternoon, and then we had a beachside buffet dinner at night. And normally I don't do dinners on the last night, but this time I decided to, and man, good choice. Definitely repeating it. We had an awesome dinner, and then we kind of all sat in the sand and had an aftermind. Probably the highlight of the event for a lot of people, and this was just a little bit of a kumbaya moment. I have PTSD from summer camp, so no singing, but people went around and shared someone that touched them during the event. And this was, it was amazing to hear, you know, not only to hear from people, but to then watch people get encouraged and supported. And so that was Friday, and then Saturday we left at, I don't know, 4 or 5 in the morning, and I promptly got terribly sick. I mean, not really terribly sick, just really, really bad cold. It was not fun on the plane with my ears, but we got home, and I would say the feeling that I carried home with me this time was just such a sense of community and inspiration and creativity. Definitely one of the best masterminds. I think the beach, I think even though the hotel was small, there was that sense of that we were all kind of like in it together. And the way we closed out the event really just kind of had us all going home with good vibes, good vibes. So it's crazy because we do these events every 6 months. There's really only a 1 to 2 month reprieve before we're already planning the one. And for the members, they don't feel it because it's just, you know, every 6 months there's an opportunity to travel. But for Jess, who runs the event, it's definitely a big ask. She is amazing. We've done this 12 times now. The one in May will be our 13th. And I'm just so grateful. I'm so grateful I get to do it. And we keep getting better and we keep learning and we keep adapting. So if, you know, if you like those kinds of things, if you like travel, you like events, it'll be right up your alley. If you If you don't, you know, maybe don't consider 2 events per year in your program because it is, it is a lot. We had the almost like well-attended mastermind. I did take some things away from this mastermind than I used to do. Number 1, I took away the recording and the virtual, and I literally could talk for the next 30 minutes about the complexity and headache that is virtual. I understand the value that it brings, but it reduces attendance, it reduces engagement, it gives people like, I can go listen later. And so it reduces that sense of presence. And that's really important in an event. And not only that, if you're going to do a virtual event, you need someone to manage the virtual like room. And Helen, who has been doing the virtual room for the past 3 years, finally crossed the pond from UK to United States and was able to actually attend. And so I didn't want to have to be split. And it worked out, you know, it worked out because it created a much stronger energy in the room itself. And so going forward, I'm going to continue to not add the, the headache and difficulty and logistics of virtual. And I will tell you, you know, we did this also for larger events for Marketer's Heart, having a virtual option. It, it exponentially increases complexity. You know, the Marketer's Heart event in New Orleans, just to give you an example, you know, we had about 150 people attend. We had a lot of people drop out because they just transferred their tickets to virtual. So we had less people in the room and it was nearly $100,000 of expenses to manage the virtual experience. So hybrid events are no joke. Another thing I did was I slashed the mask the mastermind from 5 days to 3. And number one, 5 full days of education can often really exhaust and overwhelm people. So that was one thing that I took away, but I still wanted people to come for a good chunk of time. So that Tuesday before, so the event was Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, that Tuesday I sort of opened up as a free day. So probably half the mastermind came in Monday night for that Tuesday free day, and then were ready to learn Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So it ended up feeling like a 4-day event. So definitely going to continue that. And I think people were a little bit less overwhelmed this time because there was just less content to try to absorb. So anyway, that is sort of behind the scenes of how my mastermind went. Obviously, if you are interested in joining Digital Insiders, please go to digitalinsidersmastermind.com and fill out an application. I still do all my own sales calls, so if your application looks like fit, we'll hop on the phone and I can discuss your business with you and see if it's the right match. So talk to you soon. And there you have it, folks, another dose of Million Dollar Grit. I hope today's episode has left you feeling inspired, equipped, and ready to face your own entrepreneurial journey with resolve. Remember, until next time, embrace the struggle, harness your grit, and keep pushing forward. You're stronger than any challenge you face. I'm Julie, and this has been Million Dollar Grit.