Greetings from the passenger seat, as my husband drives me back from hosting the Indie Business Network's Maker Mastermind event at the Doubletree Hilton in the heart of New York City. Along with Christine Laureano of Ba6 Botanicals, I delivered a full day of entrepreneurial training and peer inspired Masterminding to help my members propel themselves to the next stage of their entrepreneurial success.
There were many different types of businesses represented, including product Makers, coaches, massage therapists, and expert bloggers. Most everyone was from either New York or New Jersey, but we did have a member from Pennsylvania. Viktoriya Hopperstad of Vika's Essentials won the prize for the longest distance traveled, coming all the way from Minnesota! It was a fantastic group, and everyone came ready to roll up their sleeves and acquire new strategies to help them grow both personally and professionally.
The morning opened with a fun “bingo-type” game to break the ice and help everyone warm up and get to know each other a bit.
The Presentations
Next, I delivered my talk: Handmade is the New American Manufacturing. I gave a variety of case studies and examples of how manufacturing has changed in America over the past few decades. This included a discussion of how Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs are poised to be the big beneficiaries of these changes, and how they can leverage the new economy to their benefit. This presentation was a great precursor to the tactical work we did later in the day.
After I spoke, Christine Laureano shared a message about Success Through Failure: How Falling Flat on Your Face Opens Your Life Up to Big Thing. Christine shared examples from her entrepreneurial journey to illustrate that failure, though not permanent, requires us to put the lessons it teaches us to good use. It was meaty and timely, and everyone was motivated to embrace failure in a new way.
Before we broke for lunch, we enjoyed a fun gift exchange.
The Masterminding
We spent the afternoon engaged in structured Masterminding. Everyone set and shared a big goal, and we all pitched in to provide our best ideas and strategies to make it happen. It was intense, and worth every minute. Here's a collage of some of the action.
I will be in Portland, Oregon for Maker Mastermind in November. Thanks to everyone who joined me in New York City, and I hope to see you next month in Portland or at in 2016 when we'll take the show to more cities near you!
