Kaleidoscope

Small Business Owner Mastermind

Hosted by Jolinda Anderson
with Shapes & Colors

Thursdays, 8:30a – 9:45a
Next Quarterly Visitor Day: September 19, 2024

Gather Arts District
313 E Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23219

Registration required.

What is Kaleidoscope?

Purpose of the group

As a Small Business Owner, I have found tremendous value in networking and masterminding with other like-minded entrepreneurs. Our goal is to create a community of intentional connectors. We expect members to approach the group with a giving or farming (NOT a hunting) mindset. Our primary focus is building community and supporting each other, knowing that business referrals will naturally happen in time as trust is built.

Our focus is not the metrics, but the relationships. We will have an expected code of conduct and confidentiality within the group. We can only accept a limited number of business owners and will aim to create a vibrant, diverse group that is driven by intentional growth.

The original virtual Small Business Owner networking group began meeting in March 2020 and many successful business relationships and connections were made in that group. This is a restart of that group with a greater focus on small business owner needs and concerns, not just business networking. Our agenda will be structured initially with 5 minutes of open networking, 30-35 minutes of individual intros and business requests and 30 minutes of Mastermind open discussion or an opportunity for a member to present and then 10 minutes of open networking. We can evolve this agenda based on membership needs.


Our proposed agenda:
8:20a – 8:30a  Open networking
8:30 – 9:05  Intros and business requests
9:05 – 9:35  Mastermind open discussion
9:35 – 9:45  10 minutes of open networking

What is the time commitment?

We will meet 3 Thursday mornings per month from 8:30am to 9:45am. Yearly members can attend all meetings they can make as part of their yearly fee. There are no penalties for missing. We hope you’ll WANT to be there and know that regular attendance will lead to deeper relationships.

Drop-in members can attend two meetings per year for free, after which a $10 meeting fee applies. (If someone chooses not to apply for a yearly membership)

What about parking?

Broad Street offers free street parking for 2 hours.

Side streets have paid parking using the Passport Parking App.

Please plan to arrive with enough time to park, check in and walk up 1 flight of stairs to our meeting area.
(10 to 15 minutes should be enough)

How much is it?

Yearly membership – $149/12 months
Drop-in meeting fee – $10/meeting
Quarterly visit (2 per calendar year) – Free

Meeting location?

Gather Arts District
313 E Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23219

What are the rules of engagement?

You can see a sample of the Kaleidoscope Mastermind Agreement here.
Please read and be sure this sounds like a fit for you before applying.
If accepted, you will be required to sign this agreement prior to attending your first meeting.

Are you qualified to lead this?
How will I know it’s worth my time?

My business journey

I have owned my boutique graphic and website design business since the fall of 2019. In that time, I have invested in tons of business coaching and training. At this point in my business journey, I know I have a lot to share with my community (from both successes and failures). Creating a Mastermind Group is a core business strategy many business leaders recommend.

Vision for this group

I plan to intentionally curate this group. I purposefully work with kind clients and will bring in high quality business owners with a similar value system. There won’t be sharks that swim in our waters…they won’t feel at home here. If a member is not honoring our core commitments, they will receive one warning and then they are gone. (I also used to coach high schoolers, so I’m not scared of tough conversations!)

Refunds

If you have made a good faith effort to participate in the group (at least 2 meetings per month for the first 3 months after you join) and you decide it’s not worth your time, you will be refunded 50% of your yearly membership minus credit card fees (approximately $70.00). I ask that you communicate your concern to me as early as possible and not later than 90 days after joining.

Hosting experience

I currently host the monthly topical speaker event Richmond Curious out of Gather Arts District. In the past I hosted CreativeMornings/Richmond, the monthly breakfast lecture series.

Building community is core to my makeup. I grew up in the small farming community of Victoria, VA in Lunenburg County where everyone knew everybody else. Richmond is now my home and I am always striving to make connections and get to know folks wherever I go.

Leave out the junk

I have participated in networking groups in the past and have even been chapter president for one group. While the relationships built were amazing, there were details about those groups that I found unhelpful that we will be avoiding. 

Some of those details were: high fees, lots of pointless required meetings with people you don’t connect with, being in trouble for missing a meeting, tons of pressure to invite guests, pressure to refer, lack of focus, too much emphasis on personal details vs. business needs.