The Impact of Authenticity in Peer Groups with Marques Ogden

Hello and welcome to Mastermind Mastery, the podcast for professionals who want to create and run successful peer advisory councils, or as we call them, PACs for short, or they're also known as peer groups or business mastermind groups. I'm your host, Tina Corner Stolz, founder of Elix Council, where I've been in the industry running groups since 2005 and now help those like you with education, certification, and support wanting to do the same. At one time, I ran 10 groups, nearly 100 members, and sold my groups for a good multiple and recently released my second book, Your Seat at the Table: How to Create and Run Your Own Peer Advisory Councils, published by Forbes, and grateful to you that it's an Amazon bestseller. I invite you to join each week where we share strategies and techniques to successfully launch and become a master of running your PACTs. You'll hear insights, perspectives, do's and don'ts, learn from my and my guests' mistakes, successes, and get the inside track to key takeaways. Each time we have a guest, we'll be having a bit of fun. So are you ready? Let's get going and dive into today's episode.

Okay, hello listeners and welcome back to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. I'm your host Tina Corner Stolz, and today's guest I'm very excited about is Marcus Ogden. So I know Marcus actually best from when I heard him speak at another conference, and this was about a couple of years ago, I think, right, Marcus? And, um, I thought he's perfect because he talked about mindset, and that has so much to do with when you're running mastermind groups, peer groups. And so I asked him to speak at our national conference that we have every year, Live Exchange in St. Petersburg. Since then, okay, luckily, I feel like I got on the front end of Marcus because he is an amazing keynote speaker, and he is now number 4 of top business speakers in North America with phenomenal other names. And also since then, he had started a podcast, and that podcast, Get Authentic with Marcus, is globally ranked in the top 1% most listened to podcast and rising, right, Marcus?

Yes, ma'am.

And so He has just been on fire. I'm thrilled he's the guest today. And this is just two things that Marcus does, but he does many, many, many other things. So mentor, business coach, he's part owner in a business. He's former NFL player, four different teams, the Titans, the Bills, the Ravens in Jacksonville. But when he retired, he has a great story. How he rose to riches and paint, right? And went from like 7 figures to the $8.25 an hour. Um, so he is amazing story when he speaks. And today we are going to turn the tables and talk about authenticity and what it means to Marcus, because that's what his podcast and his show is all about. So welcome Marcus to the show. Glad to have you.

Thank you, Tina. Appreciate you having me here.

Of course. So we have to start with what that question is you ask everybody on your podcast, which— what does authenticity mean to you?

Tina, to me, authenticity is showing up as who you are when you say you're going to do something. For example, this interview. Amazing, right? I'm in San Francisco right now. It is 6:00 AM where I'm at. You actually asked me, Marcus, do you still want to shoot tomorrow? And I said, absolutely I do. Because I knew where I was going to be. I knew what time it was going to be. And I made a commitment. And authenticity is knowing who you are and showing up for people and for yourself no matter what, no excuses, all the time.

And you learned that from some hard knocks, I think. Am I right?

Oh, absolutely.

And so with that, let's kind of transition to what does it mean when you're in business, whether it is business in general or with your clients, being authentic? Because I believe a lot of people believe you maybe can't be authentic. you know, in business without it hurting you and being a negative. So what are your thoughts about that?

So I'm gonna make it real easy for people. Being authentic in business is exactly what I did last night. I'm in San Francisco with a client. We had dinner, me, the guy who introduced me to the client, that guy's brother, the business partner that hired me, and their other business partner. We're at the sushi restaurant just literally for 2 hours, cutting up, having fun, talking about old times. And they're talking about they were in high school together playing basketball and this and this and this. Absolutely no business was talked. And that's exactly what it is to be authentic in business. People are going to gravitate to you when you actually show them it's not just transactional. So many people say, oh, I'm going to do this for you. I'm going to do this. OK, got that. That's great. But who are you when you take the business mask off? When you take off the facade? When you take off the trying to always be Mr. This or Miss That, right? So to me, last night with the sushi restaurant dinner is a perfect example of just authenticity in business, like being who you are, having fun. And then, I mean, for me, I was out to 11 o'clock. Pacific, which is 2:00 AM my time. But again, that's because it was so fun and kept going. We were there for almost 2 and a half, 3 hours. To me, that's what it means to be authentic in business.

It's so interesting that you said that. I was having a conversation with one of our licensed partners yesterday. And we were talking about kind of jumping past getting to know people and building the relationship and getting right into business. And how today that is just becoming a huge mistake even more so because ever since COVID right, a lot of— so much business people are trying to do through Zoom without real connection in person and really getting to know people and how that really is not the right way if you're looking for long-term connection and relationships. Right.

Oh, absolutely. So when I came, you know, when I came down to Florida before your event, wasn't there to see you, but we grabbed dinner, me, you, and your husband. Great time talking, all this type of stuff. Then when I came to your event, I brought my ex-girlfriend who was still close to meet you, and she came to the event and network and all that. So you getting to know who I am from the past with her because She was amazing. She still is amazing, right? But at the same time, I have to know you and your husband outside of business. And that's what people want. So now, like, you're in our Podcast Profit program. You sponsor our show. I've sent you somebody for potential speaker. You're helping me. I'm helping you. Like, and you're one of my favorite people. I mean, you were like, oh, Marcus, are you going to be okay at 6 AM? Like, um, it's you. Absolutely. I'd be able to be okay if I had to be, right? But that's what it is. And people miss that because they're trying to chase off— and I I know what that's like, right, Tina? Because when I started speaking, hire me, hire me, pay me. And no one did. And now I'm like, hey, how are you? I can help you here. I can help there. Now, Marcus, I want to hire you. I want to pay you. I had a guy talk to me yesterday, right, Tina, about this, like, business. And he has a family office business. And he was talking. And he said, hey, Marcus, I'm thinking about advertising. You know, tell me a little bit about your show. And I told him about the show. He said, oh, that sounds really good. Send me over a deck. I think I'm going to sponsor. I didn't come around and say, hey, sponsor my show. I didn't do all that. So, you know, that's what it's— that's what it's— that's what it's about. Like, at the end of the day, people want to get to know who you are, then how you can help them.

And if they don't want to get to know you, that tells you something else.

Amen. I don't want to work with you because you don't want to work. I'll work with you because it's just going to be straight numbers, which is fine. But relationships can help you get past tough numbers. If it's just numbers, numbers, numbers, something goes wrong, you're out the door.

Mm-hmm. And so when we relate this to the peer group environment and masterminds, you had an opportunity at the conference to participate, you know, in a group of others that are running, running mastermind groups and actually process personal challenges or opportunities. So first, I'd love to ask you to share with the audience, what was that experience like for you? And then we'll talk about how it relates to being authentic.

Oh, it was amazing because I got to talk about something that I didn't realize I was— well, I realized I was missing it, but I didn't know how I'm going about to fix it. So in that group, George, who was our leader, Talk about, okay, where's your process? Well, you know, I need to do better at marketing. Marcus, do you have a marketing plan? No. Marcus, do you have a marketing setup?

No.

Marcus, do you have any type of structure? No. So literally, we're growing this phenomenal brand with no plan, right? So finally brought somebody in, created a marketing plan. George is a business advisor of mine now. Literally, I was looking at his stuff on the airplane yesterday, flying from Raleigh to here. He— I talked to him, I probably go once every 2 weeks. I mean, he has our marketing plan, he has our org chart, you know, we go through this. He helped me say, hey Marcus, and we agreed going this route, not yet. New people, new process, we gotta build and then look to add on later. And so because of your awesome But then not only did I get great help there, I have now George, who I work with every week, 2 weeks, to help kind of go from where we are to where we want to go.

Excellent. And in that environment, it was— you were being vulnerable enough to answer honestly, you know, as kind of a sensitive topic of just feeling like, well, I have this persona, and I should have my act together and everything. And being authentic means, right, you're honest and out there because the whole point is that you get real. And you get then more valuable insight and advice by doing that.

Tina, if you're not going to be authentic, if you're not going to be vulnerable in rooms like that, then why the hell are you there, right? What are you there for?

So Marcus, here you are participating in— an actual group and the importance and you saw of being vulnerable, authentic in order to get real feedback. And a lot of times people aren't. And the value of doing that is because if not, then why do you— why? Right. So the thought is, is like you experienced it and kind of the importance of being and how critical that is in a group. Environment, both for the members but also even for the person who's running the group.

Um, yeah. Oh, I'm sorry, but I mean, you just said it best. If you're not gonna be vulnerable and authentic, why are you there? What the hell are you there for? Because nobody has all the answers. The human mind can do a lot of things, but it can't do everything. And the minute you feel that you know everything that you are always right. I called the Marcus of 2012, and Marcus of 2012 ended up bankrupt in 2013. So I tell my clients, learn from me so you don't end up like me.

Mm-hmm. Excellent. So as we wind down, because our time always goes so fast, what piece of advice would you give our listeners today? And it could be anything. It could be personal. It could be business. But something that, you know, you have obviously has impacted your life positively, and you would love to share that with the audience.

Deliver more value than the price you are offering for your service. Again, deliver more value than the price you are offering for your service. When people know without a doubt you're going to help them not just with what they say they need, but go above and beyond that, and you give a lot more value in that regard, right, Tina Corner Stolzl? Greatness starts to happen for you. That's us podcasting, helping people get out to get on more podcasts, helping our clients network with people, referring people for business. You name it, we do it. And at the end of the day, we stand behind that. And that's how we've gone from, you know, where we were to where we're going now. Like you see in our podcast, Profit. I mean, you gave us great feedback, right, on the— on how to get better. That's how we improve the value. If more value than the price you're offering, no matter who you are or what you're doing, you will always come out on top.

I could not agree with you more because that goes directly in line with we're back to being authentic. Because when you really get a chance to know people, then you also get a chance to understand how you can help them best and grow that relationship. Because it is an abundant mentality, right, versus a scarcity mentality of helping people and connect. And when they get a chance to get to know you, they can better understand how to help you as well based on your vision and what you're looking to do, and vice versa. And it extends the relationship. That's what I valued about yours and my relationship is it's just continuous and continuously evolving because we both know we have both best interests at heart. Right. And right. Great. So thank you. And before we close out, you're an amazing speaker. So how can people reach you for that? Your podcast, get in contact with you. What would you like, like to tell our audience on how to do that so they can go to—

we have the Marcus Ogden app, so you can go to an Apple or Android phone to your app store and type in M-A-R-Q-U-E-S-O-G-D-E-N. You can stay up to date on exclusive content. You can follow our podcast there. You can download our podcast on Apple or Spotify. Tina, since we last spoke to you, we have 401 of 401 5-star ratings. And we also have 103 written 5-star reviews. So it's climbing with more people and more people rating it. So that's exciting. And then for the speaking, they can go to www.marcus360.com. That'll take you to a link where you can look at our blog, our, our podcast, our website testimonials, and you can check out all— I tell people all the time when it comes to speaking, don't take my word for it. Tina's hired me. Take the client's word. I tell everybody what you say about yourself should build your self-confidence. What others say about you should build your book of business.

Excellent point. We're going to end on that one. So Marcus, thanks again. Always good to see you. Talk to you soon. And the other thing about the podcast is you're doing a wonderful training about how to monetize your podcast, right? And so any of you out there that are thinking about creating a podcast or you have a podcast and you want to take it to the next level, I encourage you to reach out to Marcus too about that. I'm currently working with him about this one. And so maybe you'll see some, some positive changes from that as you continue to listen. We'll close out again. Thanks everyone for joining us another Tuesday. And as we get going through the holidays, happy holidays to everybody and a great 2024. Talk to you next time.

Hey, moderators of groups, thank you so much for listening to today's podcast. To get access to today's show notes and exclusive content and resources, visit tinacornerstolz.com/podcast or lxcounsel.com, where you can also become part of an exclusive online community, attend our academy, or get free resources, templates, checklists, and more. And you can even contact me there as well. So if this episode resonated with you and you know someone who can also benefit from listening, please share with them by taking a screenshot and even posting on your social media. I also love reviews and appreciate hearing from each of you, those actually doing this wonderful work. Please tune in next week for another episode of Mastermind Mastery. And I'll close by sharing something my mentor did after every learning moment. He shared a shiny pebble from his pocket with anyone he passed knowledge to. And ask them to forward that pebble knowledge on. So now I encourage you to go pass on a pebble, the takeaways you learned today, to either your existing groups or fellow peers. Now go make it a great one.