95 | £100k in Insights: Lessons from 5 Years of Masterminds and Business Growth

Jo Lott: 00:00:00

Hello and welcome to Women in the Coaching arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor and ICF accredited coach and I help coaches to build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter the arena there is fear, self doubt, comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armour up and protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast I'll be sharing honest.

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Not hype, practical and emotional tools to support you to make the difference that.

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You'Re here for dare greatly you belong in this arena.

Speaker B: 00:00:41

Hello, welcome to this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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It's been a crazy week of three extra episodes for my next levelers.

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So happy to be back to our weekly episodes where I will share strategies for all of the stages of the journey.

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Today though, after just creating three additional episodes, I'm going to reflect off the cuff on the biggest insights I have gained from spending £100,000 on masterminds and personal development and business development over the last five years.

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So you can gain these insights without having to spend a hundred thousand pounds.

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Because yesterday I had a day out in London with my mastermind and we went out for dinner afterwards, which was amazing and the things I gained were literally game changing.

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And it astounds me really, the difference that it can have just to be in a room with people doing similar things who know your business well enough to remember what you said you were going to do last year and challenge you on it.

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So I'm going to reflect really briefly on all of the different programs and masterminds I've been on and just see what I remember to be my biggest takeaways.

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Because I think the longer you have been in business, the more you realize that really small insights can create really huge impact.

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For example, 12 months ago I was in a really high cost mastermind and I've had clients say to me, was it worth it?

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What did you gain from the experience?

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And I always gain from the experience.

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So I don't think I've ever actually wasted money because even tiny insights have made me a stronger businesswoman, a stronger person.

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Helped me gain a perspective shift that I wouldn't have gained otherwise.

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So, for example, from that particular mastermind that I'm thinking of, my biggest insight was make more offers.

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Yep, I could have just read a book, but it took someone actually saying to me, you've got it all nailed.

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You just need to make more offers to help me to see.

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Yeah, you're right, actually, I give a lot of value And I very rarely go big on sales and making offers.

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So that was my insight from that mastermind from the first group program I was ever part of when I first started my business.

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My biggest takeaway from that one was customer care.

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And if you have listened to my yesterday's episode, you'll see how much that tiny tweak and that one story that that business coach shared with me has made in my business years on so he told us a story about a top hotel in London and how even if they made a mistake, for example, forgot to leave the shampoo in the room, they would then knock at the door and make up for that mistake in a way bigger way to delight their clients.

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So, for example, they might knock with the shampoo and then say, tell me where you'd like to go for dinner this evening.

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We'll make your reservation and I'll book you a car to take you there whenever you want.

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I mean, how amazing would that feel if you stayed in a hotel that really went above and beyond when you were disappointed with something.

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I had this experience myself in my business recently where for the first time ever, somebody replied to a voice note that we had sent them.

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So again, I'm so grateful that I have such good systems in my business for client care that I do send voice notes asking how they are.

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And they said that they weren't feeling as connected as they hoped.

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So I had a call with her, immediately implemented changes straight away, and she has just left the program.

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And I must admit to being really nervous because she didn't want to leave a case study, which is really disappointing because she did so, so well.

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But she didn't want her clients to find her on my website, which is fine.

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But either way, she left me a feedback form.

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So obviously I was really, really tentative about opening it.

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And the first question is, how likely is it that you would recommend the business of coaching to a friend or colleague?

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And it was a 10 out of 10 score, which made me so happy.

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So it just reminded me myself of how I managed to turn that situation into a really good client experience for that person and a great client experience for all of my future clients.

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So that was the insight that I gained from that program that I was part of, from the Amplify Group program that I was part of.

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I remember the coach saying on one of the calls, what you really want is one of those websites where you're scrolling and scrolling and it's just case study after case study after case study, and you're like, God, this is just so much social proof.

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It's absolutely crazy how have they managed to achieve this?

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And I literally have made that my mission in my business.

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So you're very welcome to go on over to my website, joannalottscoaching.com and look at my results page.

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Or you can go onto my sales page for the Business of Coaching program which you'll also find in the show notes and see pages and pages of people saying really great things about my program.

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So that was the greatest insight I gained from that program and from the mastermind I am currently Part of.

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My greatest insight is that I am better than I think I am.

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Yesterday in particular from our masterminding session is how important and actually kind boundaries can be.

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So she said she really hates it when people haven't got clear boundaries because then she really worries about contacting them because she doesn't know if she's meant to or she worries that they think they need to reply straight away.

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es as my word of the year for: 2025

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I feel it in my entire body that this time needs to come.

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I've never been good at setting boundaries and have that people pleasing tendency to think whatever people want they need to get and they need to get it now.

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But actually what I can do is systemize things so people know when they can get things and they get them consistently.

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y excited to practice this in: 2025

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I was part of another group program recently where my biggest learning was that breakout rooms are really important for people to bond.

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That structure is really important in group calls, that taking a look at that bigger picture really often is important, that having materials alongside your course to support it is really important.

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So whether my experience in all of these group programs has been good or bad, I have gained so many insights that have made me the business owner that I am today and I don't regret a single penny of the probably hundred thousand pounds I have now invested in myself and business development over the past five years because that is why I want my business to grow, to learn, to become everything that I am meant to be.

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So I will always invest in myself and my business because that is what I consider to be self care and to provide me with the environment, the support, the accountability, the championing that you really need to have a fulfilling and profitable business.

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I hope this short off the cuff episode has given you some insight into what it feels like to look back on all of the different investments you've made and to look for those gems that can be the small but mighty shifts that can completely transform your business.

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So like I say at the end of every episode, trust yourself, believe in yourself, and be the wise gardener who keeps on watering the seed.

Jo Lott: 00:09:06

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mass of free resources on my website Joannal.com that's Joanna with an A and lot with two T's.

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Joannalotcoaching.com and I'll also put links in.

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The show notes below.

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Let me know if you found this episode useful, share it with a friend.

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And leave me a review and I.

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Will personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe in yourself, and be the wise gardener who keeps on altering the seed.

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Get into the arena, dare greatly and try.