Spotlight

Oro Valley’s Masterminds

Attention: open in a new window.

By Christy Krueger • Photography By Jennifer Polixenni Brankin

In the days of old the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker may have shared the day’s business anecdotes over a brandy at the local pub. Today, it’s the financial advisor, personal chef and acupuncturist brainstorming over lattes at an Oro Valley coffee shop.

The trio — Linda Stratton of Stratton Advisors, Mary Ann Brody of Kissed By An Italian and Tess Richardson of Come Alive Health — created their own Masterminds group based on similar programs they’d been exposed to through various organizations and business leaders. Each member claims the others to be invaluable in lending support, motivation, business advice and definitely a few ears.

While all three are now entrepreneurs, each of them was in a field quite different from what they’re doing now: Stratton was a non-profit fundraiser and development officer, Brody was director of marketing for Wendy’s International and Richardson was an attorney with the U. S. House Ways and Means Committee. This has given them unique insights that they share with each other. The trio took time away from the Masterminds to talk with OVM. Here is what they have to say.

spotlight-image-2

MB: Mary Ann Brody, personal chef

TR: Tess Richardson, acupuncturist and holistic health practitioner

LS: Linda Stratton, financial advisor

OVM: How did the three of you meet?

LS: We met through a business-networking group. At one point we were all in NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) and they have a Masterminds.

OVM: What made you decide to form your own Masterminds?

TR: Andrew Carnegie said to seek the help of peers.

MB: It’s about support and bouncing ideas off each other. There’s a trust between us. Because we’re not competitive we’re able to be more open. The chemistry is there.

LS: We inspire each other. My conversations with Mary Ann and Tess are different than others I have. We’re coaches and friends.

OVM: Have you given yourselves a name?

TR: One thing we’ve talked about is Health (Tess), Wealth (Linda) and Zest (Mary Ann). It’s kind of our philosophy more than a name.

OVM: Did any of you have concerns about whether you would be able to work together?

LS: I did. We’re from such different fields and our personalities are so different. How we’d work together was unknown. After one meeting it was wow! It’s beyond what I expected.

MB: What was nice was we broke the ice. We went on a hike together with our spouses that helped us get to know each other. We have a lot in common but we’re also as different as night and day.

OVM: What do you have in common?

MB: We are all small, individual business owners. We’re determined and passionate.

LS: We’re committed, persistent. We’re risk takers.

OVM: Have you had the opportunity to enjoy each other’s services?

MB: I wanted to understand what Tess does so I had acupuncture. I have a financial planner already. It helped in that if someone said they wanted acupuncture, I know enough to recommend her.

TR: We’ve all tasted Mary Ann’s food.

LS: Mmm.

OVM: What was it like when you first started?

TR: We didn’t know what would happen. It’s something we create as we go along. We discovered faith in each other that makes it work.

MB: A lot of times it depends on what’s going on in our businesses.

OVM: What are meetings like now that you’ve been together for six months?

MB: We come [to each meeting] with a topic to talk about.

LS: We follow up; we want to know if what we talked about last time happened.

TR: We encourage each other by our presence and that supplies more results than structure. I read in a book that if you have an attitude of abundance, success will come. When I meet with these ladies, that’s how I feel, abundance, the feeling of enough.

OVM: How do you market yourselves?

LS: I do it through referrals and belong to networking groups. I think about Health, Wealth and Zest; that’s a theme in my marketing plan.

MB: Because I come from marketing, I’m willing to try different things. Before the holidays I’ll do traditional ads I haven’t done before.

TR: I developed lectures on holistic practices and gave them at Oro Valley Library. People have trouble choosing holistic health if they don’t understand it.

OVM: What ideas have resulted from your Mastermind meetings?

TR: This interview is one of them.

LS: We’re talking about [email marketing and online surveyor firm} Constant Contact and how to take advantage of their services.

MB: Social networking is another thing.

LS: I just got Twitter.

OVM: What else has come out of the group?

LS: I think we’re role models, we’re taking risks, trying to make a difference. We’ve found something that’s an immeasurable benefit for us. People need to look into the community to grow stronger. We’ve built a micro-community.

TR: We can be better support for our customers because we do it as a group. It’s brought a spark to my efforts.

MB: With this group, you don’t feel alone.

Tess Richardson

Come Alive Health

8339 N. Oracle Rd., Ste 101

520.877.7910

ComeAliveHealth.com

Mary Ann Brody

Kissed By An Italian

Personal Chef

520.256.8459

KissedByAnItalian.com