Community.

If I had to pick just one word that I hear the attendees of Momentum Live use the most to describe their experience at this mastermind and strategic planning event, “Community” would be it.

Momentum Live is a curated program that you must either be invited to or apply to attend. And yet there are many folks that I extend an invitation to every six months and it takes years for them to say, ‘yes.’  Once they do, they share that the experience is powerful, moving, life changing.  

Why do they put it off?  Here is a bit of what I have heard holds them back:

• Not carving out time for this work
• Prioritizing other activities
• Not sure what to expect
• 3 Days + travel is a long time away from home, work, etc
• They think they know what it will be like (because they have been to other business events before)

So, I thought I would give you a glimpse of what the last week of September looked like for me, my team, and the 14 attendees of Momentum Live in Havre de Grace, MD.

On Tuesday evening, people start arriving from all over the country (some came on Monday to just arrive and relax).

Betsy Hall flew in from Los Angeles, CA and Brian Rassi from Florida.  Wanda Turini drove down the East Coast from Massachusetts and Demetrius Peoples made his way from Pittsburgh, PA.

We met up at MacGreggors for a relaxed dinner that included a lot of laughs, hugs and a few additional people that just popped over to say, ‘Hello!” We love seeing other members of The CEO Network so it was great to have David Carberry of Needworking.com and Ousmane Toure of Yourbigbank.com with us in person.^[a]

We didn’t stay out too late since our mornings begin at 8:30am. But it’s fun to connect with friends, especially ones you only see in person every 6 months or perhaps have never met in person after spending years on Zoom; so a few people gathered on the porch at The Spencer Silver Mansion to catch up.

In the morning, everyone arrived for our 8:30am start time at The Vandiver Inn. We met in the Pavilion at the back of the Inn. It’s used for weddings and is situated in a garden. As you can imagine, it’s a perfect place to disconnect from the every day of business and tap into your creativity. We are just a couple of blocks from the top of the Chesapeake Bay, which makes a nice walk for breaks.

The event kicks off with introductions, as you would expect. And then we set our intention.  Everything at Momentum Live is done with intention. The room is filled with business leaders in all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, genders, orientations, abilities, faith backgrounds and years in business. What is the same is their generous spirit for service, their desire to play full out, and their willingness to show up. One of our attendees said they had never been in a room this diverse. But at Sappari Group, we work to create diversity. Because we know that our differences make us uniquely designed to serve the greater good.

The focus on our first day is to create our Momentum Strategic Plan. From reflection of our past successes and challenges to documenting the next step we will take today, we capture our one year plan. We have fun doing it and support each other in envisioning what’s possible. Every afternoon, we put our plan into action during implementation time.  

This looks different for each person. It may mean calling a potential client, working with a partner on a visibility strategy, heading to the bar for relationship building, walking to the water to think, or taking a nap to let the ideas integrate.  

At 4pm everyone is back to anchor their experience and close for the day. This closure is important as there is more learning that comes when you distill your key takeaways into succinct bullets, but don’t worry – there is a structure for all of this.

Oh, I almost forgot to share. We do something different from many other events. It’s kind of a best kept secret.  We offer headshots and staged stock photo shoots. To be honest, they are a fun benefit of coming. You have the ability to capture yourself speaking to a cheering crowd, working with a focused client, or leading a transformational session. Your colleagues help you get just what you need to showcase your services.  

Here Victoria Whitfield is capturing her own stock photos for the strategic meditation programs that she offers.

After the day ends, you can schedule after hours 1-1 coaching with me, Brian Rassi or Victoria Whitfield. (Another benefit!) We all then take a breather, change into comfortable clothing before coming back together for our celebration dinner and drinks.  

Last week we toasted completed degrees (go Jacob!), new grandbabies (awesome, Amy!), new lines of business, breakdowns, breakthroughs and so much more.

Day 1 lays the foundation for Day 2 and 3: The Hot Seat Mastermind.  

I’m often told just how HOT this seat really is.

Before we begin the mastermind, Victoria Whitfield leads a strategic meditation to help us discern our question. Then for the next 3 hours, in rounds of three 20 minute sessions plus a 10 minute break we work on each other’s businesses.  

When you are in the hot seat, you share your question and then close your mouth. Everyone contributes to share what has worked for them to solve the problem you are facing. It doesn’t have to be a problem, occasionally we have other “asks” – such as ‘Tell me how you would describe what I do.” or “What does it mean to be royalty?” You record your session (we recommend Otter.ai) and you receive your notes. Plus, if you ask, you may even have a scribe capture what they hear. Many attendees have commented that this alone has brought them tens of thousands of dollars of advice and hundreds in potential revenue, problems avoided, or partnerships.  

After lunch we recap our morning mastermind time and then dive into implementation time. This time when we wrap up for the day, some people explore the town, take a historical walk, rest, or shop. We meet again in the evening for dinner and again a few friends in driving distance join us.

On the third day, we again mastermind in the morning, enjoy delicious food, implement in the afternoon and this time, we have to say, ‘Goodbye.’  It is short and long at the same time.  Refreshing and at times overwhelming as we are stretched in our businesses. We meet new people and strengthen relationships.

March 28-30, 2023 we will do it all again.  We have attendees that have come to 10 of the 12 times this event has been held and always they receive what they need. Currently, we are already a quarter of the way booked for the spring and I would imagine, we will have half the seats confirmed by the end of the week.

Is this YOUR turn to join us and your community?

Now accepting applications SappariGroup.com/Momentum-Live