018 Building a Million Dollar Community Around You & Your Business

When you have an accountability group and you have specific appointments with that accountability group, you increase your chance of success by 95%. Isn't that amazing? If you want to be more successful, you need a community around you, period, because the chances of you reaching those big ass goals alone are very, very slim.

Welcome to The Million Dollar Badass Podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Rodgers, wife, mother to four children, lover of Beyoncé, coffee drinker, and afro wearer, and I just happen to be the CEO of a seven-figure business. I am on a mission to help every woman I meet become a millionaire. If you want to make more money, you are in the right place. Let's get it going.

Welcome friends. It's another delightful episode of Million Dollar Badass and I'm excited to be here with you guys today. Today we're talking about million-dollar community, which makes a lot of sense because I've just returned from my Million Dollar Badass retreat in Charleston, South Carolina. Just happened last week. It was epic and I'm going to tell you all about it and why it's so important for us to have a community around our businesses.

Really, you have to surround yourself with badass women if you want to become a badass woman, so we're going to talk about that. But first I just wanted to update you on a couple of things. So, on the last episode I told you about some of the things that we had going on, and here's the thing; the reason why I'm able to accomplish so much because people ask me this all the time.

How on god's green earth are you able to accomplish so much with four children? And it's because I have lots of help. I have a community around me and my business that enables me to get more done. So trust me when I say I'm not working like a dog every day all day. I certainly have days where we were launching our Made retreat a couple of weeks ago and so I was up late the night before just doing the final tweaks on the sales page. Things like that.

But it's pretty rare, it's definitely not on an everyday basis and I don't work weekends. In fact, we're just coming off of a holiday weekend and I did nothing. And I was saying to my husband, I was like, “Remember when I used to not be able to rest? Remember when I couldn't turn it off and I just had to work all weekend and all night and I was just always constantly either thinking about work or doing work?” And he was like, “Yes, I remember and you were a pain in the ass.”

And also too, you're not being present with your family when you're constantly thinking about work, so give it a rest. And the beauty of that is that when you give it a rest, you come back reenergized and ready to go. So I am back with a vengeance because I laid on my couch literally all day Saturday. I think I laid on the porch couch because we have a couch on our porch outside and I laid there and read a book and was falling asleep.

I was just like, watching TV, reading, resting. I didn't think about work. I didn't check my emails. I was just lazy AF over the weekend and it was fantastic. Sunday too I was non-productive. And then on Monday I went to see Aladdin with the kids, which was awesome. Excellent movie. I really enjoyed it. My husband was like, what is this?

He hates musicals so as soon as they started singing he was like, what is happening? Get me out of here. So too bad for him, but the rest of us enjoyed it. And then we went to the pool, so we spent the afternoon at the pool and that was relaxing and amazing. So we just had a fabulous, restful weekend, which was great.

And right before the retreat, I shipped out my book proposal. Yay. I sent it out to five different agents and I have a call booked with one of them for today so stay tuned. Very excited about that whole process and I'm sure I'll be talking more about book proposals and getting a book deal in a future episode.

One other thing I wanted to update you guys on is our building that we are in the process of purchasing. So our next step is to hire an architect. We'll be doing that in the next week or two, so that project is moving forward as well, which is exciting. So lots of things going on. We're also updating our Million Dollar Badass membership site for our masterminders and I've been filming all of this new content and refreshing everything and creating a new roadmap for my masterminders to follow to take them from 100K to a million, so that's been awesome too.

So those are some of the big projects we've had underway. But I want to talk to you guys more about community and why that's so important for maintaining your energy for remaining inspired, for keeping your energy high, for actually accomplishing your goals. It's actually a really important piece.

I just returned from a Million Dollar Badass retreat as I mentioned, and it was probably the best one that we've done so far. So this is our fifth Million Dollar Badass retreat. We do three every year and so this is number five. We're already planning number six which is happening in September. Super excited about that.

And it was absolutely magical, and one of the best things that we did was do less work. And I didn't realize this at first. You think when you're starting a mastermind that it's all about I've got to teach these women the strategies and I've got to coach them past their mental blocks and I've got to keep them motivated and I've got to help them reach these big epic goals and make more money.

And all of that stuff is important and all of that happens in my mastermind. But here's the thing that people say consistently is the most important piece; it's the community, literally. So I couldn't sell it based on community. If I got on a sales call and said the community is amazing, some people realize that, but for most people they're like, I don't give a crap about the community, just make me more money. Like, help me make more money. That's all I care about.

And you think that that is the biggest and most important thing when you're coming in, but the reality is once you're in the community, it's all about the community. It's just the fact that you're surrounded with these amazing women who are also ambitious just like you, who are all working towards the same goals that you have, and who are there to say yes, I've been there when you have a launch that doesn't go the way you want or somebody sends you hate mail or whatever goes wrong.

And then they're also there to cheer with you when things go right, when you make more money. I just had a new member – she just started the mastermind 30 days ago. Came, made around 100K, I think that's where her business was. She just had her $100,000 month and everyone was there to cheer with her and say you are amazing, we're so excited for you.

Because when one member of the community reaches an epic goal, it just reminds us all that we can reach those goals. This is exactly why this podcast exists. That's why I interview women who are making seven figures or more because it helps you guys to see look, there are women that look like you, women of color, all kinds of women that are making seven figures, and you can do it too.

So that's what it's all about. That community piece is so, so crucial. And so we started off the retreat with a pricing salon. So the first day we did it in this beautiful venue at the Restoration Hotel in Charleston. Shout-out to them because they did a fantastic job and took really good care of us, took really good care of my clients.

And you know, it feels really good when you work with a business and you get the sense that they really care about having your business. They really care about having your group there and it was a stark difference between some of the other venues that I've hosted events at in the past where it seemed like they really didn't care. So that felt really good. The Restoration Hotel in Charleston is fantastic. If you're going to Charleston, check it out. Excellent rooms, excellent space, fabulous restaurant. It was just fantastic. They took really, really good care of us.

So we started off the retreat with a pricing salon because that is one of the things that my masterminders always want to talk about is their pricing. It's something that they struggle with and it is so crucial to making more money that, you know, we should be talking about it constantly. And so we had a pricing panel with myself and my coaches, and people submitted anonymous questions so they could ask really what was on their heart to ask without having to be identified.

And so we answered those questions and shared some stories and some of our experiences and it was great. So we started with a pricing salon. And then after, you know, you get into pricing, you realize I need to raise my prices or I'm thinking about pricing wrong, and it's just all about money and numbers, we were like okay, let's get that energy out. And so we did a before I let go challenge.

So Beyoncé recreated the song Before I Let Go by Frankie and Maze and she's got a challenge going right now. And so, she's got a little dance, she created a song with the dance kind of featured in the lyrics. So people have been doing the dance and she's been sharing videos on her Instagram of people doing the before I let go challenge.

So we were like, okay, we're going to do this challenge and shout-out to Toya Ambrose who is an amazing choreographer who is a member of my mastermind. She volunteered to lead us through the choreography, and she created choreography specifically for us. So it was so awesome. So we spent like, an hour learning the steps to this dance, like, getting our Beyoncé on. It was so, so fun.

It was amazing to see literally every mastermind member participate and my team participated. I think there were only like, three people in the room that weren't dancing, which was cool. There was no pressure, you didn't have to do it, but it was super fun and I was just so excited about it. We just had an absolute blast. And the video you can see if you go to my Instagram, rachrodgersesq. You can see videos from it, you can see some of our pictures from doing the dance.

We actually had it professionally filmed. So we have a videographer who's editing it right now and once that professional video is done, we're going to post that on social media and tag Beyoncé and maybe she'll share it on her Instagram, which would be super dope. So anyway, that dance just bonded everyone. Dancing together, oh my god, it just gets out so much energy. All of that pent up angst that we all have as entrepreneurs. It just felt amazing and we had a blast, and everyone loved, loved, loved it.

And then we spent the next hour or two dancing. The DJ played a bunch of music. There was a gorgeous terrace. We had rosé flowing. It was just fantastic. It was an absolute blast. So that was the first night. And then the second day we spent the morning – we had a special speaker come in, Dr. Michelle Mazur and teach about her three-word rebellion and how to do it.

And basically it's like, how to come up with like, three words that really put a name and share your mission. Like when Obama for his political campaign, he had yes we can. That was super empowering. My three-word rebellion is Million Dollar Badass, as you might have guessed. And so we spent the morning coming up with three-word rebellions, which was amazing.

And then after that, one of my mastermind members, Sarah Dean who is amazing and has a great podcast called The Shameless Mom Academy. If you're a mom, you should check it out. She came up and spoke about launching a podcast, how to do it, how to monetize it, all of that, and everybody loved that content as well. And then after that we went to the beach, y'all.

So we spent the morning getting work done, being productive, and then at lunchtime we left. We went to the beach, we had lunch on the beach. We rented chairs and umbrellas and towels for everybody at this resort that I have gone to with my family for vacation in Charleston and it was fantastic. And we just spent time by the beach, hanging out, talking shop, talking about our kids, talking about life, drinking canned wine from the cooler, getting in the water, just lounging around.

So that's how we spent the afternoon. Everyone said it was the highlight of the retreat. So I used to do my retreats with like, nonstop content. I used to have like, four different workshops, 90 minutes each, very hands on and productive each day of the retreat. So by the end of it, your head is exploding from all of the content that I've shared, and I've realized that it's not about the content. It's about the community and the connection, and that's really what the women are there for.

And the purpose of these retreats really, the reason why I created them is for women to step into what it looks like, what it feels like to actually become Million Dollar Badasses during the actual retreat, to live like a Million Dollar Badass, to behave like a Million Dollar Badass, to experience life the way a Million Dollar Badass would, and that's why everything is high-end. It's luxury.

I want them to feel what it feels like to have a million dollars, to make a million dollars every year. That's what I want my masterminders to experience at the retreat, and so that's exactly why – you know why I created that beach experience? Because it's exactly what I did in Miami with my good friends a couple of weeks ago.

We went on vacation, we laid around on the beach, we had people bringing us drinks and we talked shop. And we came up with great ideas and we solved business problems and like, this is what we do. So I wanted to recreate that experience for my masterminders, and they consistently said it was the highlight. It wasn't all about learning. Learning is important, but it's also about connecting.

And it's about just really being with your sisters. If you want to become a powerful woman, you've got to surround yourself with powerful women, and that is what we are doing at these retreats. That's why I host events. There are so many details with events. It's tough. I'm not a details person. I'm a big vision person and so events are challenging for me, and that's why I brought in a new team member who is managing our events and is amazing at it to handle all those details so I can be focused on the big picture and the vision for it.

But those events, bringing my community together in person, there is nothing like it and it's absolutely magical and has incredible results. And so here's the thing; we had so much fun. We all got on the bus, went to the beach. Then beach time was over, the bus was back, we were like, no, we don't want it to be over. So we took the bus back to The Restoration Hotel and went to the rooftop pool, and then we just continued the party literally until 10 o clock at night on the rooftop pool at The Restoration.

So we took over the entire pool area. We brought our coolers up with our canned wine and we continued to talk shop and coach women. Literally, we're like, in the pool, me and my coaches, coaching women and just connecting, sharing, sharing ideas, sharing resources, masterminding problems, coming up with brand names and all kinds of stuff while laying in the pool with our shades on and drinking canned rosé. It was absolutely fantastic.

I literally stood there, I had a moment on the pool deck when we first got into the pool and everyone just immediately just lounged around. I'm telling you, this was 45 women. And so they were in the pool, they were lounging around, all connecting and bonding and talking business and talking about life and just having a fantastic time. And I just looked around at that pool and I was like, oh my god, this is my life's purpose.

It was just such an epic, beautiful moment to watch those women connecting. I loved it. I loved every second of it. And so that was day two, and then day three we spent the day getting work done. So we had some more sessions. I had two of my members, Kim Strobel and Felicia Hatcher talk about creating a speaking practice because they get paid very well to speak and so they were sharing their experiences and ho they do that.

And we did a planning session and talked about leadership, talked about creating a speaking practice, as I mentioned. It was just amazing. So one of the things I love to do at my retreats is have my members coach each other and problem solve. And so we had each of – every single member had an opportunity to be in the hot seat and to share here is what my struggle is and to get coached and get advice from the members of their group and the people at their table.

And that is always one of the highlights as well. Everyone loves that because there are so many brilliant women in the room. I truly treat it like a mastermind. So yes, there's lots of strategy and business advice that I have to share and there's tons of coaching that I'm doing in this community, but this community is also filled with very accomplished women who have achieved amazing things in their own right.

And so getting out of the way and giving them an opportunity to lead, to stand up and share their experience and their genius with the community is so essential to our mastermind and the experience that our clients have and the wealth of knowledge that is in the group. I don't want to always be the one talking. I want to create space for my amazing clients to share their experiences and what they've accomplished.

So that's what we did. It was just epic. We ended with a champagne toast. There were hugs, there were tears, we had a fabulous lunch. It was a beautiful experience and I absolutely love hosting events, and I have another one. So our next Million Dollar Badass retreat is in September and it's going to be happening at this beautiful farm in my town where I live. So I'm really excited to bring my masterminders back to my community.

And again, we're going to have amazing things to do, activities to do together. Not just being in the workshop room, like learning. We're going to do that as well. But we're also just going to connect and have space to have fun to talk to establish really deep friendships. And that is really, really important, guys because there is a loneliness epidemic happening in America.

It's a social problem but it's also a health problem. Apparently, loneliness leads to a significant reduction in lifespan. Similar to if you have a habit of smoking cigarettes. Can you believe that? I believe it. So it's not just a social problem. It's a health problem. And the reason it's happening is because of the gig economy. So many Americans are now freelancers, so many people are now working for themselves.

There are a lot of Americans – 43% of Americans work remotely at least some of the time. And so there's a desperate need for community. We are lonely. And I've definitely experienced this. I've had times where I've lived in a lot of random places building my business. I've lived in Phoenix, I've lived in Rapid City, South Dakota, don't even ask. I lived in San Luis Obispo, California. I lived in Tenafly, New Jersey, and now in North Carolina.

So I have moved a lot during the course of building my business, and there have definitely been times where I didn't have a community around me and it got very lonely. And it can feel very much like you're the only one with this problem, you're the only one who is having the challenges you're having. It's important to know that we're not alone. We need that connection.

And then in terms of actually reaching our goals, we need that accountability as well. When you have a specific accountability group and you have appointments with them – so if you have one person or a group of people that you share your goals with and you say okay, here are the moves I need to make and you set a time, like, schedule a time where you're going to meet them again and have to report back on what you accomplished or did you do the things you said you were going to do, did you take those steps, did you reach those goals, you actually increase your chances of success by 95%.

When you have an accountability group and you have specific appointments with that accountability group, you increase your chance of success by 95%. Isn't that amazing? If you want to be more successful, you need a community around you, period. That's why this episode is called Million Dollar Community, because the chances of you reaching those big ass goals alone are very, very slim.

So you need to invest in being in a community. Make the time, put the effort forth, spend money if you have to, but get yourself a part of a community that will hold you accountable, that you can share your dreams with, that you can share your failures with, that you can be vulnerable with, that you can connect with, that you can share your genius with. You need that. Not only does it solve a social and health problem, but it'll also help you reach your goals and help you reach them faster.

So, absolutely essential, and it's one of the reasons why I actually book time with my business community. It's why I'm part of a mastermind as well. It's why I'm going to Italy this summer with a group of business friends, so that we can spend the time together and connect. It's why I went to Miami with my group of business friends a couple of weeks ago. It's really important, and it's worth the time and the money and the energy.

So how do we find these places, rights? Well, one is co-working. You could definitely go to a co-working space and connect with other entrepreneurs. And studies are showing that co-working is really not about being more productive, although you will be more productive, but it's not about that. It's about connecting with other people. Expanding your professional network, creating like, friends who can understand your journey.

Because our families and our friends that we grew up with often do not understand what we're trying to do. They think we're crazy, there's so much sacrifice involved in building and growing a business, especially in the early years that people think we're nuts. And so you need those business besties around you to show you what you're capable of, to remind you what you're capable of, to say you're not crazy, to cheer you on, to give you ideas, to share resources.

That is such a huge, important part, and you will go so much faster. You will reach your goals so much faster. And that's why masterminds are huge now. That's why you see so many masterminds being started because it's a need. It's a need that we have. It's why the EO entrepreneur organization exists, it's why all of these organizations for entrepreneurs exist, but the sad thing is a lot of them are filled with men, and white men specifically. Very few women, very few people of color in these spaces.

And so that's why we have to create these spaces for ourselves. We have to find those mastermind communities, those retreats, those events, those conferences that are diverse and inclusive that we can be a part of. So it's a safe space for us and it's a great place to learn and connect. And they exist, and Million Dollar Badass isn't the only one. There are others out there.

So co-working is an option. Masterminding is an option. Host your own events. You could host your own event or your own meet-up. Host a dinner for entrepreneurs in your city so you can connect with people in real life. That's another way that you can do it. Find the entrepreneurs. Go on LinkedIn, find the entrepreneurs in your town.

I don't care how tiny your town in. I promise you, you aren't the only business owner, so find the other business owners in your town or in your city and invite them to dinner, invite them to lunch. Host your own little event or meet-up to connect so that you can really connect with other people.

It's super, super important, and again, you will go faster and you will be held accountable to your goals, which means you'll reach them, which is really, really important. So I want to give you guys some homework for today to build your million-dollar community. So number one, you need to find a business community. Whether it's a mastermind, a membership community, maybe there's a business community at your local co-working space, but you need to find a community of like-minded entrepreneurs to be a part of.

If you don't have that, go get it. It's on your homework list for this week. Go research them. Find one. Check out Million Dollar Badass, check out Glow Up, check out my Made retreat. Those are three options for you to connect and find community with women entrepreneurs, so look for those communities. Find one and truly participate.

If you're going to join a community, don't join it and be half assed. Truly participate every week in the community. Schedule time to be there to participate in the Facebook group or Slack group or however the community is managed. Participate in the group calls, show up to your accountability group every week. Put the time in because you get out what you put in.

So our Million Dollar Badass mastermind has over 40 members, and it continues to grow. We are going to cap it at some point, but one of the things that we do to keep it contained and to keep it feeling small and manageable and like you have really, really deep connection with a small group of people is we have accountability groups with no more than six members.

So every single member is a part of the larger community, but they're also part of a coach led accountability group. So they meet every two weeks. They set goals together, they talk shop, they deal with their struggles wherever they are having challenges. They come up with solutions, and then in two weeks we meet again and reconnect about those areas where they're feeling stuck and where they're having challenges and did you meet your goals, did you take the action you said you were going to take, did you hire that person, did you fire that person, did you solve that problem.

So there is accountability built in so that increase of success by 95%, every single one of my members has it because they're part of an accountability group that meets every two weeks. And that's really important, and that's one of the reasons why literally every member of our community is making more money when they leave than when they came in, and a lot more money often.

So find a business community, truly participate every week, share your goals in that community, share your fears. Be supportive of others. You have to be vulnerable and you have to be available. And that doesn't mean you have to spend 40 hours a week connecting, but you know, schedule 15 minutes a day to check in with the community, to respond to people's posts, to share what's going on with you, and show up to the scheduled calls.

Actually be a part of the community and invest in the community. That's how you get something out of it. So that's number one. And then number two, find a local community as well where you live. You need both. So we have a virtual community in our Million Dollar Badass mastermind and we meet all the time, every day. We meet several times a week. Like, there's always stuff going on that you can be a part of.

Most of our members don't do everything. They just pick and choose what are those things, that combination of things that they show up to that gets them great results. And almost all of them show up to the retreats. So we do in-person retreats three times a year so that we can connect in person as well.

However, you need to connect at home as well. So I would find a local community where you live. You need friends to overcome that loneliness epidemic. And so I highly recommend hosting an entrepreneurial dinner. Find other female founders in your area and invite them to come for dinner. Or just all of the entrepreneurs in your area or all the entrepreneurs in a particular industry.

That is how you start to connect. The other thing you can do is look for women's communities. Like, women entrepreneur communities locally. There's a community here in Greensboro called Triad Local First that is specifically for women entrepreneurs, or at least they have a women's entrepreneur segment that I recently have become a part of and started attending their events and connected and met some other women entrepreneurs.

So look for those communities in your area. Host a dinner, check out the co-working spaces in your area, but find those local connections as well. So that is your homework for this week. Number one, find a business community that you can connect with on a deep level. And it can be a membership community that is $97 a month or it could be a mastermind community that is $50,000 a year.

I really don't care. Just find a community that you can really invest in and get a lot out of. And then number two, find a local community. So make some entrepreneurial friends in your area locally that you could go to lunch with, that you could go to dinner with and connect. The community around you is going to help you accomplish those goals.

So if you have a dream of buying a building, or writing a book, or hosting a mastermind, or scaling your business to a million dollars like I've done, all of those things as possible and they're going to be more possible and easier for you if you have a community around your business. Powerful women surround themselves with powerful women.

So if you want to become a more confident woman, if you want to become a better entrepreneur, you need to surround yourself with women who are great entrepreneurs, with women who are confident. That's how you become more confident. And look around your community. You need to be spending time with people who are leveling up.

You can't spend all your time with people who are content with the status quo and have no desire to grow because that will stunt your growth. You need to surround yourself with powerful women who are reaching for the stars, who are accomplishing big things, who are at your level of business and higher. Preferably higher.

You need to be in connection and community on a daily basis with badass women, and when you are, trust me, you will make more money just be osmosis. Literally by hearing the conversations that are happening, by talking about your problems with them, by seeing the resources that are being shared, seeing the habits that they have on a daily basis, connecting with communities really, really makes a big difference so I encourage you to do it and you will see that it'll be your million dollar community. It'll be your secret to success is having a powerful community around you and around your business.

And if you want to be a part of a community full of badasses who are scaling their businesses to a million dollars and more, then you should apply to my Million Dollar Badass mastermind. Go to helloseven.co/apply and you can fill out the application, schedule a call with me or one of my team members, and we will talk to you about the various communities we have available, depending on your level of business.

We have our Million Dollar Badass mastermind, which I've talked a little bit about here, and you should definitely join before our next retreat in September. We'd love to have you there. But the other ways that you can join is we have our Glow Up course, which has an amazing community around it as well. It's a 10-week course all about scaling your business to a million.

And then we have our Made retreat, which there is a very special bonus expiring on May 30th where you get to spend a day with me in Paris, have a fabulous photo shoot, go to dinner, and just live that Million Dollar Badass life in Paris with me and a group of badass women, and then, as a weeklong retreat at a chateau in France.

So get all the details about that at helloseven.co/made for the Made retreat or go to helloseven.co/apply if you want to apply to any of these programs and just talk to us and we will advise you on which one would be the best fit for you. And there is no hard sell because we only want the right people in our community.

The community is so important. We're not going to twist your arm and try and convince you to join. We don't think you'll get amazing results and if we don't think it's a good fit for you. So again, go to helloseven.co/apply to apply to any of my programs and we'll have a call and talk it out.