For almost a year, I have been hosting a small event every Monday morning just to bring local folks together to talk about life as an entrepreneur, living in Austin, TX. At first, the meet-ups were a rather loose, care free, meet-and-discuss whatever you need kind of gathering. They certainly lacked something. I think I’ve finally figured out what that is.
Over the summer I was talking with my friend, Ramin Jahedi, founder of Restaurant Black Ops and a regular attendee to the Monday Morning thing, and he was asking me if “Steve” had ever attended. In our small world, everyone knows “Steve” means Steve Harper, the author of The Ripple Effect. I had to say, Steve had never been, but I had not done anything to really promote the event and I had not yet invited Steve. yet.
I felt Steve deserved a little more than a, “Hey, a few of us are having coffee on Monday, want to join us?” – Although, I think he would have, I felt he deserved more of an incentive. So I invented the Monday Morning Entrepreneur Spotlight.
Now I get to highlight members of the group and also invite friends from the area to tell their stories. To inspire and motivate each of us at the start of the week. It worked great and Steve’s ‘Monday Morning’ event was the highest attended and best reviewed (to date).
My plan is to bring successful entrepreneurs from the area to sit “Center Stage” and share their wisdom, answer questions and simply awe us with their adventures. I didn’t want it to be like other networking/mastermind groups. We start off with a “connective” exercise (Something I learned from my friend and mentor, Brad Closson) and after that, the Spotlighted Entrepreneur gets to share what I call, THEIR ORIGIN STORY.
From the origin story we learn about what makes them tick, where they came from and how they got to where they are today. We also learn that our story is not that different.
Then we move into what gets them excited today: What gets them out of bed each day and propels them to take on the world. It’s proven to be quite inspiring. As I often tell attendees, “To end your week right, you need to start it right – here.”
So that’s it! If you want to visit us on Monday, consider this your invitation to join me Monday Morning – Who knows, it just might change your life…