Don’t Let the Wrong Room Make You Doubt the Right One | 003

Welcome to Your Next Magnificent Chapter with Nancy Juetten, the show for accomplished professionals, entrepreneurs, and purpose-driven leaders ready to choose what matters now. I'm your host, Nancy Jutten, a 25-year entrepreneur, mastermind leader, two-time cancer survivor, and champion for permission-free success. Together, we'll explore the wake-up calls, pivots, and inner knowings that help us release what no longer fits and create life and work that feel truer, wiser, and more aligned. Your next chapter starts with what you allow. It's time to turn the page.

Welcome to Your Next Magnificent Chapter with Nancy Juetten. I'm Nancy Juetten, and this is the show for accomplished professionals, entrepreneurs, and purpose-driven leaders who are standing in a threshold and ready to choose what matters now. Today's episode is about one of the most common internal objections smart people make when they are considering joining a mastermind, a community, or any kind of intimate business building room. The objection sounds something like this: That sounds wonderful, but what if it doesn't work for me? Or maybe what if I don't belong? Or what if I'm not

far long enough yet, or what if everyone else is more successful than I am? What if I invest and don't get the relationships, results, support, or traction I'm hoping for? What if I show up vulnerably and the room is not safe enough to hold the truth? If you've ever had any of these thoughts, I understand because I've had them too, and not just in theory. I've had them from lived experience. Way back in the day, I joined a high-ticket mastermind with the sincere desire to build my newer business into a six-figure enterprise. I trusted the person whose name was on the door. I believed he would

curate the right room. I believed the experience would be designed in service to the success of all the participants, and I arrived with the mix of hope, ambition, nervousness, and willingness. The group was small, which I thought would be a good thing, but very quickly I noticed something. The members were all over the board in terms of the success they'd already welcomed, some seemed so further ahead. Some were operating at a scale and level that felt much bigger than mine, and I felt like a small fish. I wondered if I would be taken seriously as the other members, and I felt

embarrassed about what I didn't yet know. And even though I had invested real money, real time, and real trust, I didn't always feel like I was in the right room. Then came the hot seats. In theory, a hot seat can be incredibly valuable. One person brings a question, a challenge, or an opportunity to the group, and everyone listens, contributes, and helps that person see what may not be visible from their from inside their own business. That's the promise. But in that particular mastermind, I started to notice a pattern. Members would take their own hot seat, ask their questions, receive

guidance from the leader, and then mysteriously have to leave before the next person took their turn, they got what they came for. Then they disappeared, and I remember sitting there thinking, "Hmm, this doesn't feel right. This doesn't feel generous. This does not feel like community. This feels like people taking from the leader instead of contributing to the room. And honestly, I struggled, not because I was unwilling to do the work, not because I didn't value mentorship, not because I was afraid of being challenged. I struggled because I wanted a real room. I wanted real relationships.

I wanted to learn alongside people who were invested not only in their own success but in the success of everyone gathered. I wanted to feel that giving and receiving mattered in equal measure, and that mastermind taught me something I never forgot. It taught me what I would not create if I ever had the opportunity to lead an intimate group of business owners myself. I remember making a quiet note to myself. If I ever leave a room like this, I will set the safety and standards of the container very carefully. Giving and receiving in equal measure will not be optional. It will be a

requirement. It will be a standard. It will be part of the culture from the beginning. I also made another note: curation matters. Having people at wildly different degrees of success did not feel like my best fit.

I would have preferred to be in a group of business owners who were more aligned in scale and scope of their businesses, where there was. Enough common ground to make the conversations relevant, useful, and mutually beneficial-not identical businesses, not cookie cutter people, but aligned people-people with enough shared experience, maturity, success, generosity, and commitment to make the room strong for everyone. That experience stayed with me, and years later, when I debuted my "Love Your Business, Love Your Life" inner circle, I brought those lessons with me. Truthfully, I had very

little doubt about the fit of the members who joined, and why was that? Because we had already worked closely together in a 90-day group program. We already knew each other's businesses. We already had seen each how each other showed up. We were aligned in our intentions, and we had already demonstrated the standard of giving and receiving in equal measure. So when I invited that first group to continue together in a more intimate inner circle, the invitation was not cold; it was warm. It was relational. It was built on trust already earned. And because I set the tuition at a level that

honored their decision to be among the first to join, members were not hesitant. For the right people, it was an easy yes. And we met when we met for the first time. We were off to the races. Everyone declared what shifts they wanted to make so they could love their businesses and love their lives. We listened intently. We made notes. We agreed to hold each other accountable for staying on the path. And from the beginning, I set the safety and confidentiality of the container, so members could share the tough truths and real-life challenges they might not feel comfortable sharing in a more

public or performative business room. That changed everything, because when people feel safe enough to tell the truth, they can finally receive the right support, and when people are surrounded by others who understand both the business and the life being built around it, something powerful starts to happen. The room becomes more than a meeting; it becomes a place to return to, a place to be witnessed, a place to be challenged with care, a place to celebrate wins with with people who know what they cost and what they mean, a place to lament when things do not go according to plan, and

then look for the lessons and the blessings that may be unfolding anyway. Three plus years later, many of us are still together, still showing up, still sharing, still listening, still celebrating, still exploring, still supporting one another through the surprises of business and life. That does not happen by accident. It happens because the standards are clear, the room is curated, the relationships matter, and the people come not only to receive but to contribute. Now let me bring this back to the objection. What if this won't work for me? That's a fair question, and my answer is

It may not work for you if the room is not curated well. It may not work for you if the only person expected to to deliver value is the leader. It may not work for you if members come to take but not to give. It may not work for you if you're not ready to show up, tell the truth, contribute generously, and take aligned action. It may not work for you if you're looking for someone else to save you, fix you, or hand you a magic wand, but in the right room with the right people at the right season of your life and business, the experience can be transformational. Not always in loud,

overnight fireworks kind of ways. Sometimes the transformation is quieter, more like roses unfolding to bloom, in their perfect timing, with witnesses nearby who understand what it took for you to get there. I have watched this happen again and again. I've watched Mark bring his soulful leadership work into deeper visibility and partnership with members contributing to retreats, collaborations, referrals, and new opportunities, I've watched Lindsay refine her offers, welcome warm referrals, build meaningful partnerships, and move her business forward in ways that felt aligned and exciting.

I've watched Diana experience the power of trusted advisors, warm referrals, and deep support from peers who not only became business allies but treasured friends.

I have watched Vicky bring her brilliance, presence, and voice into rooms where her wisdom could serve, while also receiving the benefit of a community that could champion her right back. I've watched Michelle. Visibility, connection, and collaboration through her own leadership, while also contributing generously to the growth and celebration of others. And the common thread is not that everyone followed the exact same formula. The common thread is that the room made it safer and smarter to keep moving. Belief grew, confidence grew, clarity grew, referrals grew, partnerships grew, and perhaps

most importantly, no one had to navigate the journey alone. That is the shift. The right rooms help you believe what is possible before you can fully see it for yourself. The right room gives you mentorship not only from the leader but from the collective wisdom of experienced peers. The right room helps you stay accountable to what you said you wanted. The right room gives you enough truth telling to keep you honest and enough compassion to keep you going. And the right room reminds you that your business is not separate from your life; you are building both. So, what are my top three

tips for belonging to a mastermind and making the most of it? Here's the first one: decide to give as much as you receive. This is everything. Do not join a mastermind only asking what can I get, ask how can I contribute, who can I support, what do I know that could help someone else, what introduction can I make, what perspective can I offer, what celebration can I amplify, the strongest rooms are built by people who understand that generosity creates momentum, and when everyone in the room operates that way, the value multiplies. Tip number two: Go the extra mile to care for members,

especially when life gets hard, because life will get hard. There will be deaths in the family, car accidents, broken arms, health scares, launch disappointments, family challenges, energy dips, days when business feels heavy and a real life is asking a lot. In those moments, care matters. Sometimes care looks like a thoughtful message. Sometimes it looks like sending a casserole or a restaurant gift card. Sometimes it looks like remembering to check in after the crisis has passed and everyone else has gone quiet. Sometimes it looks like saying, "You do not have to be shiny today; just come

as you are. That kind of build, that kind of care builds trust, and trust is the soil where real business and life transformation can grow. Tip number three: believe in each other, champion each other, and show up from the beginning to end whenever possible. This really matters. If you want the room to work for you, help the room work for everyone. Be present. Listen fully. Stay for other people's hot seats. Celebrate their wins. Make the introduction. Share the opportunity. Offer the idea. Reflect back their brilliance when they cannot see it themselves. Be compassionate, yes, but

also be committed. A mastermind is not magic because it exists, it's powerful because the people inside it make it so, and that requires commitment, not perfection. Commitment. So if you've ever worried, what if this does not work for me? I want you to trust your head, your heart, and your gut. Ask better questions. Is this room curated? Are the people aligned? Is there a standard for giving and receiving? Does the leader care about the culture of the container? Will I be safe enough to tell the truth? Will I be challenged enough to grow? Will I be supported enough to keep going. Am I

ready to contribute as well as to receive? And perhaps most importantly, do I want to become more like the people in this room? Because we are shaped by the company we keep, and when the company is wise, generous, experienced, honest, and committed, your own next chapter can become much more possible. If you would like to be in a room like this, I invite you to take one simple step. Go to https: colon backslash backslash be your own wizard.com forward slash application. That link is also in the show notes. Tell me a bit about yourself and your business so we can determine which of my two

masterwind communities may be the best fit for you. Then, if it feels aligned, we can schedule a conversation. And if you have enjoyed.

Today's episode. Subscribe so you never miss what comes next. If you'd like to catch up on the first two episodes, the links are in the show notes. Your next magnificent chapter is straight ahead. When choosing a mastermind, be clear about what you want to experience in the group and the results you most want to welcome in your business and your life, trust your head, your heart, and your gut. Choose the room with care, and remember always to choose what matters now and to stay true to it. This is Nancy Juetten signing off for now. Welcome to Your Next Magnificent Chapter.