This week, the Modern Direct Seller Podcast was back on the road! Becky met up with members of her Accelerate mastermind, as well as the group’s leader and mentor, Amber McCue, during their San Diego retreat, and today she’s sharing some of their one-on-one conversations. Listen in to learn how these women are growing and pivoting in their careers, as well as their takeaways from the retreat, and discover how you can apply their practices to your own business!

Connect with our guests! Sarra Cannon on ⁠YouTube, Rachel Carey-McElwaney with ⁠Emerging Lotus Coaching & Amber McCue with ⁠Modern CEO⁠

Time based notes:

• 0:44 Introduction to the Accelerate mastermind
• 4:46 Sarra Cannon and collaboration
• 10:55 Rachel Carey-McElwaney and grounded action
• 17:38 Lily and business inspiration
• 18:19 Amber McCue and gratitude
• 25:19 Accelerate mastermind conclusion
• 26:25 Finding your support system

One-on-Ones with Becky Launder and Her Biz Mastermind

This week, the Modern Direct Seller Podcast was back on the road! As you know, this summer has been a whirlwind. We’ve been traveling. I’ve been speaking at company conferences, and even bringing my family along for some of those events. And, I am so grateful that the mastermind that I belong to—Amber McCue’s Accelerate mastermind—decided to have their annual retreat right here in San Diego. So, that was one less plane ride that I was able to take this summer, and still was able to connect with some of my biz besties that I’ve grown to get to know really well, both on a personal friendship level, as well as on a business level.

So, as we were working on our incredible retreat, I thought it would be fun to record a podcast on the go and introduce you to Amber, as well as some of the amazing members of my mastermind. And, what you’re going to hear is that we come from all different walks of life; we have all different kinds of experience. Many of us are running online businesses, but not everyone is. And, I think that that’s the beauty of being able to learn from people that get what it’s like to be entrepreneurial and to be in this space, but also to learn from people that aren’t doing exactly what you’re doing.

So, this is live from San Diego with my business mastermind! I’m gonna go ahead and kick things off and introduce you to my friend Sarra Cannon:

All right, for all of our listeners out there, tell them a little bit about yourself, your background, and how you ended up in our mastermind together?

Okay, so I have multiple businesses. I’m an author, and I write young adult contemporary fantasy. I have 27 novels. And, from that, a lot of people are asking me, “How did you start your own publishing company? How did you get started as an author?” And so, I decided to start a YouTube channel helping people self-publish and organize their time. And, that turned into course creation and a YouTube community. So, through that, I started working with Amber McCue and her Modern CEO group, and then wanted to jump up into the higher-level mastermind so I could have those really great connections.

So good. We had so much fun last year in Chicago together, and this year, it’s so fun having everyone here in San Diego. So, tell us a little bit about why it’s so important for you to take time out of your crazy busy schedule to join us on the beach, and do some masterminding, and just take a little bit of a timeout.

This is so important. And sometimes, it can feel like, “Oh, it’s a lot of money,” or “I don’t really have that time to take for myself.” Like, it can seem like a vacation in a way, because we’re having so much fun, and there’s a lot of laughter and connection. But, what I have learned over 13 years as a business owner is that these kinds of connections, and downtime, and time to really get clear about your vision and who you are and what you’re trying to create in the world are some of the most important times. Just over the course of the last few days, I feel like I’ve put a lot of thought into the bigger picture of my business, how I want to show up, and in the day-to-day, I don’t always have time to do that. And, I think sometimes we need that break from normal, day-to-day, busy life to be able to step back and see that eagle-eye view.

I love that you say that, because I think many direct sellers can relate in the way that they’ve gone to their company conference before, they’ve gone to a retreat before, and they’re able to kind of disconnect from the day-to-day to really focus on bigger picture stuff that always kind of gets shoved to the bottom of the to-do list when life is happening all around us. I think the other thing that I’ve noticed is that any major decision I’ve made in my life/career has always been at an event like this with a bunch of like-minded, empowering, encouraging women—usually—that push you to take that next leap in your business and give you the confidence to take that next step.

I’d love to hear from you what you’re taking away from San Diego. Anything that you’ve learned this week that you’re excited about putting in place when you get back to real life.

I really have been thinking that I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to do everything myself. And, I also have been doubling down on what I think other people want from me. And now, this time has allowed me to talk to other business owners and think about other ways of leveraging my business, and leveraging connection, and working with other people, and doing collabs, and not always having to be so isolated and thinking that I have to do it all myself. It’s like, “Okay, let me work with some other people, put a little bit less on my plate sometimes, and not be so scared to step outside of my comfort zone sometimes.”

Because, it does feel scary sometimes to reach out to other people and say, “Let’s collab on this,” but at the same time, that’s the way a lot of business connections lift everyone around you. And, that’s something I’m really thinking about right now that’s probably going to be one of my biggest takeaways.

And then, another one really is, I think I need to focus on creating mornings that really get me grounded and centered instead of becoming reactionary so quickly in the morning. So, I’m working through some morning routine ideas, and I think it’s going to be really helpful.

I love that. Thank you, Sarra! I am so grateful for our friendship, and how we’ve connected through our mastermind, and it’s been really fun to see how your business has grown and how my business has grown, even just in the last year since we saw each other in person back in Chicago. So, big things are coming!

So good! Sarra is incredible. You’re gonna have to go follow her. If you’re into planners, and washi tape, and office supplies, this girl has got it all. Not to mention, incredible training. If you have “writing a book” on your to-do list, or just thinking about how you can get more done, she is absolutely incredible.

The next friend I want to introduce you to is the amazing Rachel Carey-McElwaney:

All right, everyone, I am here with Rachel! Rachel is actually a repeat guest on the podcast. So, if you’re looking for an earlier episode of the podcast to binge, Rachel and I had an incredible conversation around impostor syndrome.

So, Rachel, tell everyone a little bit about your background and what you do.

My name is Rachel Carey-McElwaney, and my business is Emerging Lotus Coaching. And, I have been doing a lot of leadership development coaching up until now, but this retreat has got me rebranding and pivoting to energy facilitation. So, I’ll be helping do energy audits for entrepreneurs, and helping them kind of look at how their energy shifts when they’re making their offers, and how to help them keep it elevated to that good-vibe space where they’re able to accomplish their goals.

Oh my gosh, so good. And, I’m so excited to see how all of this comes together. And I think, like many business owners, pivots are something that we’re just used to. We’re constantly evolving and constantly growing, and I feel like elevating and growing our business was definitely a theme here over the last couple of days for all of us.

So, given your background as a leadership coach, any tips or advice for anyone that might be repositioning their business, or that might be thinking a little bit differently about how they’re going to go about doing things in order to really set them up for success? Because, change can feel scary.

Change can definitely feel scary. I think that when you’re moving through change, there are blocks that come up in your mindset, and you’re not able to see that clarity. So, having an amazing group to surround yourself with, like we had here this weekend. People that can help you get that clarity and sharpen those tools is really, really powerful. And then, when it comes to change, I really look at what brings me joy, and what drains me. I think that’s a really good place to look when you’re looking at pivoting.

“What brings you joy, and what drains you.” And, after reflecting on that, you can decide where you’re going to put your focus and how to manage your energy, right?

Yeah, absolutely. And, I think one of the other themes that came up a lot this weekend was trusting the process. And, that can be really hard when you’re in that scary space of change. So, it’s important to have that person that can help you stay grounded during the unnerving unraveling that comes as you’re making those pivots, because things are unraveling to come back together. And, it can be really beautiful.

I love that. At one point this weekend, I said that I kept hearing a theme of “trust” and a theme around “focus.” “Focus” was one of my big takeaways, and really getting clear on where we’re going and just honing in on that.

And, now that you’re heading home tomorrow, what are those things that you’re taking with you? How does your business look different, or what are you carrying as you step back into managing and juggling all the things when you get back home with your family?

I think, first and foremost, there’s something that’s very powerful when you can get into a space of supportive people. So, I feel like I’m bringing deeper connection and friendships with me, and hope to keep nurturing from afar. And then, I think just a grounded sense of what I need to do to help execute my vision while then balancing and loving on my family. So, that grounded presence and grounded action.

I love that, and I’m excited to see all the amazing things that you put together when you get home. So, thanks so much, Rachel!

There’s so much gold in all of these conversations, and I am so glad that you’re getting a glimpse into some of the conversations that I am so lucky that I got to have over the last few days.

Next, I want you to hear from Lily:

Lily, tell us, being behind the scenes here at our retreat, what was that like for you?

It feels so inspiring and so good to see everybody doing their thing in, like, their own zones. Everybody’s crushing where they’re at. And, it makes me feel really excited for me to get there, so it’s just all around inspiring.

So inspiring, indeed. Thanks, Lily!

All right, we’re wrapping up our retreat, and I couldn’t end without getting Amber here on the podcast. Amber McCue is my amazing business coach. I’ve been part of her program for several years now. So, for my listeners that haven’t met you, do you want to just introduce yourself and tell them a little bit about you?

Absolutely. I am Amber McCue. I host the Modern CEO, the Right on Time podcast, and I really love collaborating with business owners to grow, scale, and build businesses that bring meaning and joy to our lives without all the hustle.

I love that so much. It’s probably why I’ve been a member for so long. So, I have to ask: We get together all the time; our group is meeting pretty much on a weekly basis. But, these few days that we spend together are so meaningful. And so, say more about the planning process that you put into it to make sure that we have the space to learn and grow and connect.

It’s interesting, because as I thought about planning and organizing this event, it felt a little bit different for me. Oftentimes, you’re thinking through an agenda. “What do we need to do? How do we show up? We’ve got to keep everything moving.” And yes, you do have to create that space. But, I think that’s a key piece of it, is creating space. And, the group and the community that we have is absolutely brilliant. I look at every single person in our group as a leader, as an expert, as an incredible human. So, as I was preparing for this particular event, it was key for us to get an amazing location—where we are sitting right now—and that sets a backdrop in the tone. I wanted to make sure we created space. And then, each agenda that we put together, I think about what is current, and I always think about a keynote topic. What is the topic that we’re going to ground in and root on to really bring some depth to conversations, so we can grow from that, and collaborate, and support each other, and tackle tough things that may be coming up. But then, weaving that with activity and with presentation, whether it’s virtual or in person.

For example, we’ve done face yoga before. We’ve had magicians. We’ve had DJ parties virtually. So, we try and bring an activity. And, this time, our activity was laughter yoga. And, there’s a lot of trust that goes into that. And, we’ve had conversations about trust throughout the whole two days, as well. So, I do think about the flow of the agenda, opening it up, keynoting, but then building and layering in space and collaboration and time for the community to share expertise, as well as activities that mix it up a little. Because, we get together regularly, we’re doing business, but what makes the event special is something I think about as we plan the agenda.

And, what are you taking home from this? I mean, you have a big summer in front of you, and a lot more travel ahead, but as you’re leaving San Diego and moving on with all the other summer activities, what’s your big takeaway?

My takeaway really ties back to how incredible our group is. And, I have actually been feeling emotional, but I’m also feeling so much gratitude for the depth and the authenticity and the realness of the conversations here. Because, yes, we can shop and do business together, but when we can integrate and bring these things together, that feels really special. So, what I am taking away is, how do we continue to hold space for each other in a way that feels good? Because, all of this can feel good. We’re building businesses. We’re creating lives that don’t have to be hustle. And, while I’ve been moving away from hustle for a while, I feel like I’m just starting to really step further and further into the depth and the realness and the joy.

I love that. So much gratitude! Thank you for leading us and bringing us together and making the magic happen.

The perfect conversation to wrap up this episode of the podcast. I hope that you have a little taste of what it’s like to be part of the mastermind that I belong to. I know, I spend a lot of my time bringing people together, and it feels like quite a treat to be one of the people brought together and not responsible for the agenda and the flow of the event, but getting him to show up and really think big-picture about business and connect in such a real, authentic way with people that truly inspire me and love on me, and support me, and challenge me, and all the things.

So, if you haven’t found your people, if you’ve haven’t found your community or your space to have these conversations and really think about where you’re going as a business owner, I want to challenge you to find those people. And, if you need a point in the right direction, I am more than happy to share some personal recommendations. And then, of course, I’m a little biased, but our Modern Direct Seller Academy does create an incredible space for direct sellers to connect with others throughout the industry, as well.

Launch your own user-friendly, personally branded website at ⁠OhMyHi.com⁠.

Take Action: What is one step that you can take towards building a support system for your business?