Provided by SCORE Bucks County:
A dozen women business owners reaped a lifetime of business-building tactics as part of SCORE Bucks County’s recent Women’s Business Mastermind Group.
Led by Georganne Ford, a certified SCORE mentor and a Business/Personal Development Coach, the Women’s Business Mastermind Group met from November through April for the monthly roundtable sessions focused on women’s business issues. Another six-month session will begin on May 25.
“It was as successful, if not more successful, than I had hoped,” Ford said. “The support expanded beyond the group. It was really great to watch.”
Ford said smaller groups formed along the way. One group worked collaboratively on book publishing, while another looked at bringing their businesses to the same location.
Best of all, the Women’s Business Mastermind Group truly followed an all-inclusive approach.
“There wasn’t anyone who did not contribute or who wasn’t counted on to contribute,” Ford said.
Johanny Manning, a realtor with Long & Foster in Yardley and one of the Women’s Mastermind Group members, said she struggled to find enough time to provide the best for clients and family and still compete in business.
“I was amazed to hear that whatever field all the women were in around the table we were all struggling with the same things,” Manning said. “It was a great supportive structure. We always have our best foot forward, but there’s still things we should be working on to be better.”
And Ford, as the facilitator, “knows the right questions to ask” to make that happen, according to Jane Stinson, a licensed massage therapist specializing in chronic pain.
“She was really good at quietly and lovingly controlling the room,” Stinson said. “She was just really very graceful and had a lot of finesse in encouraging everyone to share. She was constantly gently, lovingly pushing us to think in a different way. I think as a business owner it’s really important.”
The group of women business owners supported and inspired each other to learn, grow and achieve specific goals aimed at moving their businesses forward. The group also helped fellow masterminds stay
on track and be accountable.
SCORE Bucks County Chairman Gene Murtha had asked Ford to lead the group.
“Georganne’s business coaching expertise is a natural fit with the mentoring that our SCORE Bucks County volunteers provide,” Murtha said. “With 60 percent of our clients being women in small business, we hope to encourage more women owners, like Georganne, to get involved with SCORE.”
For Manning, the biggest takeaway from the mastermind group was the training component.
“Most people have training in their specific careers,” she said. “There aren’t any training programs out there that give you the option of personal growth and development from the inside.”
To learn more
The next six-month installment of the SCORE Bucks County Women’s Business Mastermind Group will begin meeting on May 25 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Regus, 42 University Dr., Suite 400 in Newtown. Sessions will be held monthly on the fourth Wednesday of the month. For more information or to register, click here.
