Have you ever wondered what it’s like to attend a small mastermind retreat? Like the ones you see on Instagram? Where the pictures can ignite major FOMO.? Yep, those. I’m with you, I get FOMO too.
So instead of leaving you hanging with just a few Instagram story photos of my most recent mastermind retreat, I’m going to peel back the curtain on our very first Pinterest Agency Masters retreat and give you all the nitty-gritty details.
But first, you’re wondering, what is Pinterest Agency Masters? Great question.
It’s our membership community for students who have completed Pinterest Agency Pro, my 12-week coaching program. After a student completes the Pro coaching they are invited to continue on with me, and the rest of the students, in a private slack group with 1 coaching call per month and 1 hot seat per month. Plus, a lot of troubleshooting and support when times get tricky in your agency business. And to celebrate the wins. Let’s not forget the good stuff.
Back to the retreat and how it came about.
On a whim, I asked the current Pinterest Agency Masters students if they would like a mastermind retreat. Put simply, it would be a few days away where we go deep with our most pressing issues inside our agency.
Truthfully, I was super scared no one would go for it. It’s a big risk to ask a business owner to take time away from their business and family as well as spend it with people you’ve only met online. Five students said yes and I got to planning.
Location
We held the retreat at a house in Salt Lake City. Why Salt Lake City? It is a super easy hub to fly in and out of for most people. And almost all of us except one had a direct flight. I hate hopping planes all day so why put other people through that.
We rented a house via Ari bnb instead of booking a hotel. I had looked into one but frankly, the cost was high, the meeting room just okay, and it left little room for margin conversation (meals, walks, etc). That’s where most of the retreat magic happens. But the advantage of a hotel is everyone has their own room so our house had to mimic that.; I see you introverts and know your needs. Therefore, we had a 6 bedroom house with a big open concept and room to meet. It also had a great view.
Note — all the students want round 2 for this group so we’re looking at a warm-weather option with a pool. Another place for margin conversations. Maui was also thrown out as an option. #goals
Food
The advantage of a house is that you cook meals yourself. The disadvantage of a house is you cook most meals yourself. And clean up. But 7 women (my integrator joined me) know how to pitch in and clean a kitchen fast. Maybe next time we would bring someone in to cook a fun meal, but we didn’t really feel like we needed that. We asked everyone if they had any food allergies, preferences, or general likes and dislikes and we built the menu.
We also planned an out-to-eat dinner the last night in Park City. That was so fun! The only downside was the car lost air conditioning and in 80-degree weather with a pregnant lady. That’s not awesome. Regardless, renting a car helps you get back and forth to the grocery store so definitely snag one of those.
Food has the power to bring people together in vulnerable ways. Breaking bread across from someone makes them more human and you have a chance to ask them questions and also share about yourself. Our mealtimes were filled with laughter, tears at some points, and the start of new friendships.
We did charcuterie boards, tacos, salads, full breakfasts, and lots of snacks. And LOTS of coffee.
The Rules
What happens there stays there. And what is says stays there too. Confidentiality cannot be broken. These are sacred relationships in the online world and if someone breaks trust it’s devastating.
Ask clarifying questions before trying to solve a problem. Think about giving counsel instead of advice.
Phones to silent during meeting times.
Be open to learning in the margins — walks, meal times, etc.
Ask great questions!
The Itinerary
Anyone who ever attended a retreat knows that you need a good facilitator to lead you through the process. It’s a delicate dance of teaching, processing, decompressing, and connecting. As a leader of the group, you have to remain agile and ready to pivot based on the needs of the group. This is my jam.
Before arriving all the students completed a survey asking what their biggest pain point was currently, what they wanted to learn, and their expectations for our time together. Asking those key questions gave me a starting point with which to dive in and anchor points for what everyone needed.
I designed our curriculum and within the first 20 minutes completely changed it around. That’s how fast you need to pivot sometimes. We went through the following:
- Strengths
- 2-3 year planning (mission, vision, values)
- Productivity
- Their most pressing topic (Lead Gen)
- Hiring (I was not expecting to lead on this but it was one of the most impactful sessions)
- Action items and short-term goals
- Processing and decompression time.
Some might look at this list and want a little more over 2-3 days but truthfully, when 5 people are doing the activity and processing their thoughts and asking for feedback it takes more time than you think.
The result
On the last day, I asked people to give a one-word opener to the day. It was when we would be closing up shop, laying out our action items for the remaining quarters and year. Asking people to distill down their feelings into one word helps them to pull it all together succinctly.
The women used these words
Motivated
At Peace
Inspired
Enthusiastic
There is power in gathering together in person, especially after some of us have experienced a season of being more isolated. To be able to ask questions in person that you might not online.
To sit across the table and map out pricing while wrestling with the scary feelings you have at the thought of increasing your prices.
To share tips and tricks for hiring and the vulnerability that you might be scared you’ll get the wrong person.
To admit you’re not doing some aspects right and you need to start over with a new foundation.
There is power in being together in person.
The goal of Pinterest Agency Pro is to help equip students with the foundational elements of growing an agency — either a boutique or a larger plug-and-play model. Once those foundations are set it’s time to build and that requires mentorship, tweaking, troubleshooting, and pushing through growth boundaries. The Pinterest Agency Masters community supports that effort and the retreat is a level beyond that.
If you’re considering taking your service-based business to the next level beyond a VA or managing just a few clients, Pinterest Agency Pro is everything you’ll need. It’s the exact blueprint I used while growing my own agency. All the steps in sequential order help you build one up the next.
Check out this page for more information on when the program opens. We like to keep it intimate and small so if you’re considering joining us it’s best to start planning now. Join the waitlist.