Aaron Eggert 0:00
Me being like a flaming visionary and horrible at all the detail stuff, I had to work extra hard to make sure that it was done right on the front end. Because I also knew that once the business got up and running, all that's going to fall by the wayside because I'm going to be always chasing chasing shiny objects. I'm going to be looking for the next topic for an event, I'm going to be doing all the things that entrepreneurs do. So I had to front load that and know that that can be built up on all lining with what I wanted this business to look and feel like that is 100%. The honest reason why is that I just wanted to good, bad or indifferent. I wanted to eliminate people from the equation.
Sarah Fejfar 0:36
Oh my gosh, that's so brilliant. I love that reason. I feel so aligned in that as well.
How are entrepreneurs like us daring bravely to build a stage? Ditch the sweat pants and step up to the mic? How do we create our own transformative events? So we can get our message out into the world in a bigger way. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud of. That's the question and the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to Green Room Central. Today I've brought in the green room central studios Aaron Eggert, founder of coalition nine hosted the power of nine podcast and executive director of the C nine Gibbs foundation. Aaron's role is Chief vision Officer of coalition nine is to ensure that they are driving the experience and community forward for the maximum positive impact in the lives of their members. As someone who thrives on connection Aaron takes really great pride and building a relationship with every single member they're building something really special with their vibrancy nine community and I can't wait for you to hear from Aaron today. Aaron, welcome to Green Room central studios say hello to Linchpin Nation.
Aaron Eggert 1:58
Hey Sarah Good to see you good to meet all the people are virtually meet all the people from Linchpin, Linchpin Nation, I'm pumped to be on the show.
Sarah Fejfar 2:06
Yeah, me to ever since our mutual connection, Katie Walter, who's also been on the podcast introduced us I've been looking forward to this. Because, you know, we're both we had so much fun the first time we met first, but also we're both entrepreneurs. We have roots in Twin Cities. We both love a good bonfire, I think and love gathering people. And so thank you so much for being here today.
Aaron Eggert 2:31
Yeah, yeah, man pumped to be on the show. Thanks a lot.
Sarah Fejfar 2:33
So I thought we'd start by having a little fun ask you to share stories, a little backstory on me about six years ago, I made my way into my first four day personal development seminar, and it just changed my life. Then 11 months of being in that room, I left the Midwest where I'd been my entire life, and moved my entire family, to the Pacific Northwest Northwest, I left my 16 year corporate career and started my own business, I paid off all the debt that we've been under for a decade and a half, it was a massive shift. And so to start us off today, I'd love to hear a story of a room you made it into that changed your life.
Aaron Eggert 3:16
Boy, probably a bunch of them. So I would say a room that I moved that I saw, I used to own a commercial interiors company with a with a couple partners. And I've obviously since transitioned. But while I was doing that, I was so what I do is I run peer groups, right. And so the I could never find the right peer groups for me. And one of the things that I did is I got connected with some friends. And they we kind of created our own peer group. And it was, it was at a time where this was, I mean, think probably 15 years ago or so. And I felt like we needed to create the the next generation of business owners and leaders in the twin cities that are doing it for the right reasons. And the room was crazy how how dynamic they were. And I had never felt this presence of people that I had, I had always wanted to be around. And the last names are highly recognizable. They're very, I mean, some of them are family businesses that have been in the twin cities, communities for generations. And they were, you know, second and third generation leaders, but then some of them were self made. And we're doing some really dynamic things. And I literally thought to myself, What in the hell am I doing in this room? And I was one of like, 11 people 11 Guys, but it was it was insane how much it changed the trajectory for me of just not only just like from a business standpoint, but just from the people I was around and the tone of conversation and where people's hearts were aligned with their minds. And all of that was just like a whole
All new world for me, it wasn't slinging office furniture, and it wasn't selling AV and it wasn't all the stuff that I was used to. It changed everything for me.
Sarah Fejfar 5:11
Isn't entrepreneurship like a different breed of people?
Aaron Eggert 5:15
Yeah, I, you know I am I have my brains all over the place, I could never find the people that are like that could run at the level, the level that I run at, right. And I feel like I was I had never found those people, I have a huge problem with authority, like, the second someone tells me to do something, my initial reaction is to tell them to eff off. And I have to like, I have to, I don't know where swearing lies on this podcast. But so I was like, like, all of that stuff has been in me. And I do think that there's that aspect of the way that I'm wired is probably the same as a lot of entrepreneurs is like, I think entrepreneurs go a couple of different routes, either you are a disrupter in a world that needs to be disrupted, or you're a disrupter of something that has already been established, and you're just going to make it better. And so I decided to go the latter of the two, but I but at the end of the day, like that problem with authority, that internal drive that that makes people tick, as is what makes us special. Yeah, I
Sarah Fejfar 6:16
had, I'm in a coaching group right now. And one of the other members had a conversation conversation with me. And he said, Sarah, there's a difference between being an outcast and an outlier. And you need to recognize that the reason why you didn't find your people early on is like, you're not not because you were an outcast, just you're an outlier. And because I was telling him, I'm like, I finally see, the my people like, I'm in the rooms with people who are like me, and like, like you said, like, running at the same speed and, or faster. And it's, it's so energizing, to be in rooms, where you see yourself and others. And
Aaron Eggert 7:02
I also think, too, that I don't want to discount some of the internal leaders at organizations that have the entrepreneurial spirit, it's just, they may not have the high level of risk tolerance that it takes to say goodbye to that world. And so, you know, there are intrapreneurs as well. And I think there's a lot of contributing factors to that, that in their lives. So I also want to recognize that I've been around some, some pretty dynamic people where I respect the decision to stay within the organization because of the stability that that organization brings them. But they are, they're able to do some pretty amazing things within an organization that could probably be a little bit stodgy.
Sarah Fejfar 7:41
You know, and you're telling me the story of being in a room with, like, very big names, and like Twin Cities, business, like, Legacy kind of style names in the Twin Cities, it made me think about, I went to school, for college in the Twin Cities. And in one of my accounting classes, there was a gentleman who was several generations in to one of the major businesses in the Twin Cities, family businesses, a restaurant. And we were, like, his last name is the name of the place. And, you know, that already seemed like, famous to me, right? But then it was so funny. We were like, talking about accounting, and he was like, asking, like, okay, so what about, and he was talking about accounting for like, a because they do like perishable goods in the restaurant, you know, like sauce, for example? And like, how do I account for this? And it was just so fun to, like, hear kind of a real world example, that was also tied to something that felt to me like, famous and really cool. That's what came to mind. Yeah. So I want to, I want to shift and talk about what you've built at coalition nine. And the first thing I'm curious about is what brings you the most gratitude about the community that you've built at coalition nine.
Aaron Eggert 9:09
It's the I mean, I've literally just had this conversation with somebody yesterday that was kind of exploring who we are, it's the stories. I mean, I feel like every single you know, we've got 2425 groups. And it seems like every week, there's a new story that comes out of either some relationship that was built or some aha moments or something like that, that it just truly shows the power of if you bring the right people together and they're all conspiring for each other that magical things can happen and and frankly, for me like that, that's my why right there is like seeing the impact that the positive impact that this community has on people's lives, and then hearing the stories that come out of it. Game over like it's just it's insane. It's insane. The is the role that I get to play doing this every day? I don't I don't squander that at all.
Sarah Fejfar 10:08
You said something about like, conspiring to win. I wonder how do you weave that into the fabric of a community, we're bringing people together, and you want to create an environment where they're all conspiring for each other to win, like a rising tide lifts all boats, it's not how everybody's built. Yeah,
Aaron Eggert 10:29
one of our key beliefs, you just said it, one of our key beliefs. So I, when I started this community, I didn't want to have core values, I wanted to have key beliefs, I think everyone was, you know, if you're going to build a community, everyone should have their value set. But I think we should all kind of believe in the same thing. And I'm not going to go as far as like anything faith based or anything like that. But what I am going to say is like you, we all gotta believe that we want to build a community based on character first, but also one of our one of our key beliefs is every member lives and leaves with with insatiable curiosity. And then also all ships rise. And so it's a short way of saying as a rising tide with a rising tide, all ships rise. And so with that, kind of to answer your question, I think it all comes through vulnerability. I mean, to me, that's a simple answer, creating a safe space, really rooted in in transparency, authenticity, vulnerability, that people can really start to peel the armor off, and really troll through show their true selves. That's when the speed to conspiring to win, whatever winning means, right? Like, we're in an infinite game here, Simon, cynics term infinite game, we want to make sure that we're just getting people incrementally to wherever they want to go, whatever that means to them.
Sarah Fejfar 11:49
Yes, yes. Yep. It's our own game, we make the rules. And
Aaron Eggert 11:55
everyone's game is different. And it's fascinating when you get nine people in a room and some people are entrepreneurs, some people are leaders, there's a difference. You know, we bet we built build groups based on where they're at in their season of life and the chemistry of the personalities and stuff. We don't really focus on fancy titles or anything like that, or size of business. But you get nine people together. And they've all got different reasons, their different ways of joining. And we, we have a process of how we pull that out of people and things like that, once you start to lay it all on the line. And some of them are personal reasons, and they just happen to be running a business that crushes it. All of that matters. Yeah.
Sarah Fejfar 12:32
Yeah. Wow. That's so good. You You said stories that you love hearing the stories of your members connecting and, you know, doing awesome things together. And, and that's because of you because of curating the room right, and dialing in the facilitation and the systems and geeking out on the member experience. And I wonder how does tell me more about why hearing those stories like, is essentially like, what fills you up with the most gratitude? Is it because you're a connector?
Aaron Eggert 13:12
I think, yeah, I think a little bit like, you know, this has never been a building this business as has never been a money thing for me, right. It's not a financial, I want to I want to live a good life. But it's not like I want to scale this to be some kind of national conglomerate to where, you know, it's a rinse and repeat thing. So to me, the fuel that comes for me is not going to be the profitability of of the business or the community, it's going to be the impact that we have on the lives and some of them could be really small stories. And for, you know, for me on the outside looking in, it could be like, that's a nice story. But for them that can be just so wildly impactful. And seeing the emotion on their face and their body language that goes along with telling the story that of how it impacted them is amazing. And then some of them we have got, you know, we've got people that have started businesses together because they met at an event that we threw and and they had a need and the other person had a need is like we should probably start talking about this. And then it turns into something that that they never even dreamed of.
Sarah Fejfar 14:16
Yeah. Yeah. That's special. I, I want to talk about the experience, the member experience that you work so hard on dialing in. What are what piece of that are you most proud of?
Aaron Eggert 14:40
So we spent a lot of time on the front end of curating what we wanted the member experience to be. It's, it's awesome to see that it has has come to fruition. It's also awesome to see that it has kind of stood the test of time. So and we haven't really had to make a lot of adjustments now. I think We're always going to need to evolve as a community and evolve the member experience. However, we've got, we've got the foundation already built. And so we can just kind of kind of complete completely keep stacking on that, that foundation. I think probably the thing, the short answer on that is, is, in this to, this wasn't like at the beginning, this has kind of come through time after a few years under our belt was predictability. And I think, I think there's something in that, that there's something powerful in that term of like, you are, you're an entrepreneur, right, and you're no different than many of our members, you just happen to live in Portland. And, and you know, that if you have something that is in your life that is predictable, and you know that it's a predictable, predictable experience, but it's also a positive, predictable experience, that's something that you're going to keep coming back to, because everything else in a leaders or entrepreneurs Life is unpredictable. And so if we can create a space to where listen for three hours, you know what it's going to be, you know, it's, it's the same process, you've got the same facilitator, you've got the same other people that are conspiring for you, we're just come to your safe split space, and just know that it's going to happen, it is like just watching your body language, it is a little bit of of a warm blanket, right. And in a world that is lonely, and and highly unpredictable, we want to create that three to three and a half hour time, every single month where people feel like, okay, these are my people.
Sarah Fejfar 16:36
So I'm hearing a couple of things there. I'm her I'm hearing like, it's a place where people feel taken care of. And in a world where entrepreneurs are kind of doing all of the things for others. And for the business, that's, like definitely a place of refuge. The other thing I'm hearing is, so Jesse Itzler is one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram, I love his philosophy on family and entrepreneurship and parenting and being a husband and all the things and he had one of his groups up to his home last weekend, he took them out on a good day of adventures and things. And he was kind of recapping at the end of the day and said, You know what, one of the things that we did today is we didn't tell you what was going to do what was going to happen, but we led you in a way that you like knew, like, okay, we're told we're gonna go for a walk, I don't know how long it's going to be or where we're going. But like, I'm just gonna do it. And he said, that was actually a gift to you, because there's so many in as entrepreneurs, or leaders or leaders, and we're doing all of the things all the time and like we're the one who's kind of keeping track of all those balls in our head. And I'm hearing that maybe when your members go to your events or get togethers that there's a facilitator there that's taking care of that thinking for them. And like there's a there's a few hours where they have that reprieve or they're just, they're being led, they can just trust that someone else's got it and they're in great hands and they're gonna walk away feeling good and they don't have to worry about what's going to happen there. They're just going to show up as themselves.
Aaron Eggert 18:27
I kind of assimilated to bowling with the, with the bumpers on at the end of the day like we just want to the facilitators, the bumpers and the processes the bumpers, but you never know what's going to happen and how many times it's going to bounce off of that but but we just want to get the ball down the lane and knock over a few pins. If we can get a strike every time that'd be awesome. I don't know how good of a bowler you are. I'm a machete boulder so I think I think that I probably need some bumpers and so I'm the type of person that likes and appreciates bumpers not only just in bowling but also in life.
Sarah Fejfar 19:05
Yeah, that's I love a good visual and I yeah, I do love bowling. My back doesn't love bowling scoliosis, or does not like the repeated bending over and throwing up the ball. But I do find it so fun. And bumpers make it so much more fun because you win more. Yep. I love that. What kind of, you know, I I know that we both geek out on systems and I'm guessing that you've built some systems around that facilitation. The bumpers, if you will. What give me a little taste of what that looks like because I know being a good facilitator is a huge skill. It's not something we're all born with.
Aaron Eggert 19:58
And all of our facilitators Many of them are business coaches, they've got all the chops, right, they've got the experience that they can bring into the group. But we wanted to also make sure that they can combine their their skill sets and their expertise and their experience, and just have something a little bit of a playbook. And so that is our, we call that our lead forward process. So it's a four step process that guides members through through the half day session. We've trained them on that, I, I want that to be pliable, though. So I want them to them along with the members of the group to be able to kind of like playdough, right, and just kind of pull it and push it and things like that and make it their own. And so we've got some non negotiables in there, like this is how this is how we do it. There's magic and having a common language and a process like that. So if someone is at an event, and they meet someone from another, from another group, they're speaking the same language, that there's power in that that right away aligns with the community that we're building. And so to be able to have enough flexibility to where the facilitators can create their own subculture within within the small group, but all knowing that aligns up with the larger community, that that is what really creates that experience. And sometimes, you know, we've got younger, or what we call expanding leaders, they're there earlier on in their career, they don't have the strategic mindset quite yet, they're still probably a little bit in the tactical world, and they need their time to be strategic set aside. And that's what what some members join for, for for at the expanding level, we'll find the right facilitators to guide those types of conversations. And then we'll also find people that are, that are able to guide highly strategic individuals, C suite, people or entrepreneurs that are a little bit more seasoned, and they just need a little bit of a different flavor. And so we really tailor where people are at, along with the facilitator. So it's not just a warm body going into another spot. We want to make sure that we're being very thoughtful, even at the at the team member side. Yeah.
Sarah Fejfar 22:10
That it makes me want to ask you a very selfish question. I'm working with a client right now. And her concern is that scoring her event quite rapidly, and the members who come to the event, they love it, because it's intimate. And they don't want it to be big, but it could be big, big, like, you know, we could be thinking, talking like 1000s, not hundreds, soon, and I'm guessing that yours, the systems you set up around facilitation allow, like, they almost manufacture intimacy at scale. How do you think about it?
Aaron Eggert 23:00
I don't know, if I would say intimacy at scale, I think, you know, when you're, you're talking about a couple different things at play here, I think when you're building when you have a small group, and intimacy is going to come natural with it. I mean, there's a reason why we chose the number nine and and the reason why we choose our facilitators for certain groups and things like that, that's going to create one environment. But then also we do events, and we're not in the 1000s, we're in the hundreds and so at our events, that allows people to there's a there's a there's a like it's almost transcendent from that intimate small group to also knowing you're part of a community where vulnerability and authenticity is celebrated. And so it can speed up that level of trust that's built when you first meet somebody at an events. And to me, that's, that's the way that we handle it. And we again, we don't have a desire to grow to 1000s, we want to we want to make sure that this is a captive smaller community, Twin Cities based. And so that is that is in the fiber of who our members are. And so if that happens organically, I have to tell you like that transitioning from hundreds to 1000s is is a whole nother mindset. But I do think that the principles in how we've done it in creating that intimate environment and then making sure that that translates also into the larger events. There's some there's probably some lessons to take from that. But
Sarah Fejfar 24:36
I mean, you're not you're not playing small anymore. You've you're not just one group of nine You're what 25 groups of nine, that that it's not an accident that they're all have a shared language and they all kind of like, feel like they get along. Like you said shared beliefs like that. That's A lot of intentionality there. And that is a quite of a big scale that you've managed. Yeah, I hope you give yourself credit for that.
Aaron Eggert 25:10
Yeah, I, you know, I think about that in the respect of like, it's, I'll use the example of like, it's so cool to be able to take one person from one group and another person from another group, knowing that they 100% compete. They are, they would probably go head to head if they were if they were to be dancing on a deal or something like that. But then make a synergistic introduction. Because I think, at the end of the day, I want our community we live in a mindset of abundance. And knowing that even though there's some, I think there's something healthy and in, in competition, I just think it's very unhealthy to be in a mindset of comparison. And that's where we, that's where I think we thrive in making sure that our members coincide in the same same community as well. That there's, there's, there's magic in that and it is, there's, there's a ton of intentionality that goes along with that as well.
Sarah Fejfar 26:07
A lot of wisdom in you know, where, where's that all coming from?
Aaron Eggert 26:13
That I know, right? You know, I, I'm a terrible, I was a terrible student, like I, I'm a, I'm a late bloomer from an education standpoint, I'm a college dropout, cut my chops and sales. Once I figured out that I don't, quote unquote, read good. I started consuming information through like Audible and podcasts and things like that. I think probably most of the time, if I'm not reading a book for pleasure, the books that I read are on human behavior. You know, you talked about outliers, that's a Malcolm Gladwell term. And, you know, Adam Grant and Simon Sinek, and all of the different, you know, gurus that come along with all that stuff. I just, I just think people are so fascinating and, and, you know, being a student, of a student of humankind, I guess, and just how you can blend so many different people from different factions of faith, and factions of gender, and race and all sorts of things. But see, pretty magical things happen. I mean, that's the stuff that fuels me, too.
Sarah Fejfar 27:19
I read this book by Evan Carmichael recently called built to serve. There's a journaling exercise in there to uncover your purpose in life, which seems so silly to do at age 43. And I was seven, eight years into my entrepreneurial journey. But I uncovered the word caring, and it made so much sense and so many facets of my life. And I wonder if what I'm doing is really an extension of that is the build a business that I'm building. And I wonder if you've uncovered your purpose in life, and if this is kind of that kind of living embodiment of that.
Aaron Eggert 28:10
So the way I approach that is my, that's a big topic, we could probably have another podcast on that. So my wife and I don't have kids, we chose not to have kids. And so once I leave this earth, the only thing I leave is a legacy. And so I want to make sure that I leave it in a better place than when I found it. And so I want I want my name to be said, you know, maybe it's selfish, maybe it's not whatever, but I want I want it to be set in a positive light for as long as possible. And so I also read a book recently that I think kind of describes it really well. I'll go, I'll go two ways with this. So His name is David Brooks. It's a book called How to know a person. And there's a there's a term that he says in there is that there's there's two types of people in this world. There's either illuminators or there's diminishers. And, and he talks about what are the qualities of diminishers everyone's got diminishing qualities in them. It's going to you know, the ego is going to drive a lot of those things. But everything that you can possibly do to be an illuminator to illuminate other people is going to have a positive effect on you. It's just don't focus on the positive effect is going to have you on you just know that the universe is going to make that work. I'll simplify that in and I'll go back to some football stuff. So at the end of the Super Bowl, when the Chiefs the Chiefs won this last Super Bowl, Travis Kelce was and everybody loves Travis Kelce. Now because he's dating Taylor Swift right. So so but what he said something that I just loved it and it aligns so well with the way that David Brooks was talking about it in his book and it just happened to be a little serendipitous there is that he said in a world of drains be a fountain. And I was like man, like coming from a football guy. That's some pretty deep shit. And so I thought about that, and I'm like, I just want to be found. And, and there's a little bit of that purpose, right of like, I just feel like, I've now got a platform, I've now built a business around some of the things that we that we want to do to have a positive impact on the greater business community and society. And and I'm going to do everything I can to be as much of a fountain as possible.
Sarah Fejfar 30:25
That's so great way to bring Travis Kelce in.
Aaron Eggert 30:30
I mentioned Tim Smith that that makes my skin crawl by the way, but that's cool. I love Taylor Swift. I love Travis Kelce. I just want to be dropping their names on podcast.
Sarah Fejfar 30:41
We did just finish watching the era's tour here at home on Disney plus, because I was like, Well, what is all the buzz about? Now? I know.
Aaron Eggert 30:51
That's on our agenda.
Sarah Fejfar 30:54
The happier fountain. Wow. So cool. I this is maybe kind of a weird direction to go from there there. But I I know that you geek out on systems like I do. And but about the direction I want to go, isn't it like not? What systems have you installed? And how did you do that? What I'm curious about is what what have what freedoms have installing systems in your events and business afforded you.
Aaron Eggert 31:32
So there was a couple of things that I made a conscious decision when I transitioned out of my other business and got into this one was, I want to have as few w two employees as possible. And I never want to have another business partner. And so a lot of it goes to my personality, a lot of it goes to the way that I wanted the business to align with the life that I want to live. And so my wife's an entrepreneur, she owns a business, you know, I do this. And so I want to be able to have the flexibility to do what I want to do when I want to do it. Now I'm not a world traveler. We live on a hobby farm west of the Twin Cities, all of the things that just like anybody else that listens to this has got their personal life. So I just didn't want my business to compromise my personal life. And so the systems and process where I read the book, I was in the middle of like building what I wanted this to look and feel like I had hired a brand strategist. So we're working on all the brand stuff and things like that. And I picked up the book, the E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. And he literally talked about like, the there's there's magic in the way that McDonald's approached, how to serve food better and faster than everybody else. But then also if I go back to my predictability term, he uses different terminology. But you go to McDonald's and I don't care if you like McDonald's or not, you know, you're going to get the same hamburger, the same french fries, regardless if you're going to Portland, Oregon, or if you're going to Hutchinson Minnesota. Yes. Right. And so there's there's magic in that. And so that is that system is a process that's training, that's, that's repeatable things. Me being like a flaming, visionary and horrible at all the detail stuff, I had to work extra hard to make sure that it was done right on the front end. Because I also knew that once the business got up and running, all that is going to fall by the wayside. Because I'm going to be always chasing chasing shiny objects, I'm going to be looking for the next topic for an event, I'm going to be doing all the things that entrepreneurs do. So I had to front load that and know that that can be built up on all lining with what I wanted this business to look and feel like that is 100% The honest reason why is that I just want to do good, bad or indifferent. I wanted to eliminate people from the equation.
Sarah Fejfar 33:48
Oh my gosh, that's so brilliant. I love that reason. I feel so aligned in that as well.
Aaron Eggert 33:59
And we have amazing people on the team like we've got an A we've got a marketing specialist, Brenda Harvey, who's amazing at what she does, she creates all of our content she she ghost writes for me on my LinkedIn stuff, a lot of the times she does so many things that I can't do, I have to have a human do that there's a human component to marketing that has to be done. We have an experienced coordinator that manages the member experience reaches out personally to all of our members. So there's two people, right that are highly critical to the day to day operations. And then on top of that, you gotta have facilitators that also guide the small groups. We couldn't do it without the facilitators. I definitely couldn't manage 25 groups on my own plus, I think people would probably get sick and me and board with my my stick. And so we got to have it broad that way. But the end of the day, it's it's it does take a little bit of a village but you've got to be able to build it on the front end first.
Sarah Fejfar 34:54
Very wise counsel there, Aaron Very wise counsel that yeah, I'm a little bit of an Well, he's the term outlier, again, in the entrepreneurial space. Like I actually love systems, I could just like be behind the scenes like geeking out on, like making sure things like are at the, at the, what is it the deficit of that at the detriment of things that would run a business like sales and marketing?
Aaron Eggert 35:25
Well, I think so there's your other thing that I, I respect it, right? Like I respect the systems, and I respect the process, because really, at the end of the day, that's the IP that we have, that's the value that we bring in, in the experience. And that's what's guiding and driving the member experience. So as much as, as I dislike the details in it, I also respect and know that I need to lean into those things, because that's what's going to drive and evolve the member experience. And without the members were nothing.
Sarah Fejfar 36:02
I want to go back to that positive predictability phrase you've used a few times. I, that's just so beautiful. Because there's a there's a coffee shop within walking distance of my house. And they are predictably disappointing. So like, they're like close early, or they'll not wipe the tables, or they'll be out of like any food, or that just so many, like, we we have predictably, like we just know that place will disappoint us. And I think that, you know, places like a Starbucks, for example, or like you said to McDonald's, there is so much like relief and comfort and just knowing like, they've got their shit together. And it will, predictably, we're gonna have a positive experience. And I, I love your intentionality of bringing that into your member experience and building out the systems and the facilitation processes to, like, take that standard of excellence, and like have it permeate your organization. And
Aaron Eggert 37:20
it needs to, it needs to be like, in you got to record like, once you start to scale, there's always, you know, when you have 25 groups, I can't get my hands in 25 groups. That's why Emily, you know, checks in on our facilitators make sure injection with members. So we've had to create processes around the processes to make sure that that is something that's predictable, and we're not we're not running off the rails. But there's, you know, if you, it's almost like I on a relatively regular basis, I kind of envision what the member is going through, and what the member is feeling from their perspective. And that sometimes informs how we evolved certain things, how we approach certain things. And we really do a great job of serving our members and constantly getting more and more data that's going to continue the evolution. But that I mean, you look at the you look at like a Starbucks versus the one down the coffee shop down the street, the coffee shop down the street, if they continue that up, they're just not going to make it because people are just going to be like, I'm not even going to walk there anymore, even though it's the most convenient. I'd rather drive three miles, then then go to this place that this doesn't really give a shit if I show up. Yeah, yeah, that gets that's just decades old. And that and that that story right there that you told around these coffee shops versus you know, that that you could apply that to any single business period. Yeah.
Sarah Fejfar 38:48
Yeah. I love that you care so much.
Aaron Eggert 38:53
I use the term borderline unhealthy obsession. Like it's, it's almost like, like, if you're not obsessed with that experience. As an entrepreneur, you might want to even just check if you're going down the right path. But you got to get obsessed. Yeah, it just it just, it's experiences everything. COVID What did COVID Teach us? COVID tosses taught us that. That experience is everything people can go get their hands on anything that they want to from a technology standpoint, or experiential standpoint. But if you're not if you're not a little obsessive about the experience, people are going to figure it out on their own. Mm hmm.
Sarah Fejfar 39:34
Yeah. i You mentioned you have a hobby farm. And I am pretty certain certain I've never shared this publicly on the podcast before but I do have a very Chip and Joanna hobby farm dream inside of me. What what do you why did you go down that path and how do You think that makes you a better business owner.
Aaron Eggert 40:06
We decided to go down the path of, we didn't want to be in the city anymore. We didn't want to have neighbors. So our North closest neighbors like a mile away. And what's crazy about that is like we we moved out here, we were an hour west of the Twin Cities, middle of farm country, no one around and our neighbors are not like some of our best friends, which is wild to me, because you got to drive to their house and a side by side, there's Ranger or your pickup or something like that. They're all farmers, none of them know what I do, which I absolutely love. And, you know, to me, there's there. And then to answer the second part of that question is, there's something magical around, you know, really what I do is not labor driven, I don't lift heavy things. Coalition nine is very much like a mental slash, slash spiritual type of work that I do, right. I love getting my hands in the dirt, like I love on a Sunday. You know, I'm a meditator. And I meditate every morning and different types and things like that. But nothing beats my Sunday meditations of either cutting the grass, or, or chopping up wood or gardening and things like that. And I think what it's taught me moving out here is that I got to be able to have that that outlet a little bit, that it's almost like those are the things that precipitate new ideas and creativity. And I never would have dreamed that that would be a derivative of moving to foreign country.
Sarah Fejfar 41:40
Yeah. Do you? That sounds beautiful. That sounds like so right up my alley. Yeah,
Aaron Eggert 41:48
that's a lot of work. Sarah, like it is, like, I'm telling we're just getting into it. We're, if you look outside, it's a beautiful day to day, it's 65 degrees and, and sunny, and this weekend, supposed to be 70. And that just tells me that it's time to get to work. And it's a whole nother level of like cranking it up over on the weekends. And it's eight to five, Saturday and Sunday. And we're dedicated the farm, but that's what we chose. We love
Sarah Fejfar 42:14
it. Yeah, I'm sensing that I would hire hire team to support that. Yeah, I usually don't like getting my hands in the garden might become scarred for life because my my mom love to garden. And so when we were little she would like garden all day. And then right at the witching hour, and you know, in Miss Minnesota, Wisconsin, there's like that hour of the day when all the mosquitoes come out. Yes, she'd be like, and I'm ready for everything to get, like tidied up. And so I'm like widening up a hose is covered in like dirt and wet and getting, like swarmed by mosquitoes and like that's like, that is the epitome of like, feeling trapped and in pain for me. So I think I'll hire a gardener. The
Aaron Eggert 43:01
nice thing Well, here's the deal. Like, the nice thing about being human adult is that you get to make choices, and you get to choose when you want to go outside. And so, you know, luckily, we live in farm country and the wind picks up a little bit. So half the time bugs aren't even even a thing. And by the time the witching hour comes, you know, it's 730 to 830 You know, later in the mid summer, it's going to be a little later but we're not out there doing that stuff that like we're we're sitting in a screen porch, or we're sitting up by the house where the mosquitoes are like we're not going up there and stuff. So we've got that whole thing figured out. Okay,
Sarah Fejfar 43:33
okay. All right. Yeah, maybe I maybe I would like it. Do you have an escape beyond the hobby farm where you like to get away and like recharge your batteries even further, do some more deeper recovery work.
Aaron Eggert 43:52
Farm, the farm kind of checks the box on all of that because I can choose how I want to use it now. So it is our home. So sometimes it's nice to get out of the home. Again, we're not huge travelers, we'll do some some, you know, global vacations, or trips, I guess every other year or so. And so we'll do big trips and we do small trips. We do have a couple years ago, my dad passed away and we have a family. A family cabin that we've had, it was built in 1918 middle of the North Woods in northern Minnesota, ours just it's up north and we you know, many of your listeners probably have cottages we in Minnesota we have cabins and so we're on a little bit of acreage, we have some lakefront property, and it is so quiet up there too. We don't have internet we don't have you know TV only comes in via Tana. We barely have running water you can't drink the water because we're on the Iron Range and all that stuff and all sometimes go up there for a few days. It's a three season so I can only go up there you know, spring summer fall, but I'll go up there for a few days and just kind of check out a little bit and know that no one can get a hold of me and I can't get a hold of them and and I'll do I'll do some some self self work.
Sarah Fejfar 45:06
Yeah, we have a cottage in Door County, Wisconsin. And it's similar like, there's no you get even get a text message. And there's some things so like, on hitching for the brain of an entrepreneur to be like, okay, all hamsters could just come off the wheels because there's nothing we can do.
Aaron Eggert 45:25
And, and nature plays a huge role in all of that, too, right? Like, I just think nature, nature creates that openness, and you get to be back back to back to your roots a little bit. So being a you know, it's a very different environment for me going up there because you're in the middle of the woods. There are mosquitoes there, like in the summer 24/7. So you have to figure that out and just kind of, you know, bug spray up, but it but I love it. Yeah,
Sarah Fejfar 45:53
moving to the Pacific Northwest, that's one of the biggest gifts is no mosquitoes, and I love it so much. And I love being able to be outside and not have to worry about that. And I didn't I didn't realize how much I changed how I live my life when I was in the Twin Cities, because of when the hours of mosquitos being out are. And I love not being like run by that. It's It's so cool. Yeah,
Aaron Eggert 46:23
you're lucky in that respect.
Sarah Fejfar 46:27
As we wrap up here, Aaron, I got one last question for you. I have heard that you read about 52 books a year. Is this a true statement?
Aaron Eggert 46:37
It's not a so I don't let's clarify a couple things. I don't read anything. I consume the information of 52 books. And and yeah, I'm gonna say that's a loose representation. So I really shoot for a book a week. I try and alternate between, you know, books that are going to that I hate business books, right? I hate and I hate sales books and all that stuff. So I try and do you Okay, good for you. Not my jam. I've read them all. And I've just gotten a little little burned out from some of that stuff. So I like to consume just different types of information. Like I talked about that how to know someone book and sometimes I'll, I'll get recommendations, but then I'm also rereading my inner nerd. I'm rereading the Harry Potter series. 47 year old guy, apparently, it's in the news that people somebody said from the original movies that that adults should not be consuming Harry Potter information with it, which is a bunch of bullshit. Yeah, they see, that is crazy. And I'll tell you like, I just finished book two. And now I'm into that, that that David Brooks book, and I'll go to book three and I'll then I'll listen to another book. So I'll kind of alternate back and forth. But the feeling that it gives me and just the the ability to just kind of check out and follow the story and the dude, that's the narrator is amazing. Oh, it's so good. Like, I love accents and hope people can inflect their voice and stuff like that I all of that stuff. I just get caught up in and so yeah, I mean, long answer your question. But yeah, I everything's on on the table for me.
Sarah Fejfar 48:17
Yeah, we started reading them, because we drive back and forth to Minnesota and Wisconsin every summer for a four to 12 week road trip every year since we moved here. So we'll be making our sixth one this summer. And I, we started as a way to kind of, like past the time not on screens. And I never expected to love it so darn much. It is a phenomenally like written series. And we're on our second we're on book five, like, for the second time going through and yeah, it's amazing. And I just like don't ever watch the movies or nothing. I just not like can't even touch the books.
Aaron Eggert 49:04
They can't. And that's, you know, I think that I don't know, maybe not enough people do that kind of stuff. But you know, that's the that in order to do 52 books or you know, let's say let's say it's 52 Maybe it's 50 maybe it's 54 Doesn't matter. But at the end of the day, like you got to mix some things in there because I get really bored really fast and even with really good, educationally focused books, I can see myself towards the end of it just being like alright, let's wrap this. Let's wrap this sob up here. I've had about enough. Got your point. It's time to move on. And so I got to keep myself a little bit a little bit entertained.
Sarah Fejfar 49:42
You have a very short attention span. I want to do want to correct something there because I think I've heard that you said you've shared that you've you're dyslexic and that I'm not but my husband and daughter are and I I really firmly believe that you're still reading if you're listening on Audible. That's how I consume is on Audible now unless I'm in the sauna, and then I bring paper, but I, I it's you're still reading like your give yourself some credit there.
Aaron Eggert 50:14
Yeah, I think it's it's, you know, it's consuming information there just happened to be you know, called books or whatever and you know, I'm not gonna say I have full blown dyslexia, I have a lot of friends and friends, children that have full blown dyslexia I, mine's more on the mild side, like I can read. I don't consume information. I don't absorb information from reading. It takes me a long time to write an email, it takes me a long time to read along. Like if I read in bullets. If I open up pick up a magazine, I usually start at the end first. Which is weird, like just things that I actually up on over the
Sarah Fejfar 50:52
magazines backwards to? Yeah,
Aaron Eggert 50:55
so there might be something there. I don't know. Whatever. Yeah. But yeah, and I love consuming information. It's good, you know, in any way, but it just happens to be that, that books are a way that I've created some discipline around that. Yeah.
Sarah Fejfar 51:06
And I have to like, that's, I walked the dog every morning. And that's what happens when I want the dog is the book. Right now I'm reading I, I value lifelong learning so much. And I subscribe to the school of thought that we have to design our own curriculum with intention. And so I do keep a list in front of me at all times of what my curriculum is. So I don't get shiny object system is you know, syndrome, and like, oh, that podcast sounds good that that you know that they're hyping right now listen to that. I just I like I have a list. And it's like, if I want to listen to it, I have to go on the list and get prioritized. And so I'm wondering, as we wrap up here, I would love to know, what are you reading right at this moment? And why did you pick that one? And what's one thing you learned?
Aaron Eggert 52:00
Well, so I'm probably three quarters of the way through that how to know someone, or how to know a person. And, and, you know, I think, you know, I talked about that being illuminator, not a diminisher a little earlier. I think everything has gone back to that of around, it's kind of reinforced my thought process around both intentionality of when you're spending time with people like looking someone in the eye and truly being there with them. I think so many times, you get caught up on on what you want to say, when or if you're actually really investing into the person that whether it be someone you just matter or someone that you've you've talked to, you know, 20 or 30 times is really figuring out how you can be an illuminator for that person. And then it the curiosity thing, like I I just love asking question, you're an awesome podcast host and I like even the the time that you and I met for like, what a half an hour and we just figured out we got to do this thing. Yeah. But for me, like the respect that I have for other curious people, and what makes you great at what you do in this is, is you'll have a you'll have a you're an active listener right? To me active listening is something that it didn't come very natural to me. And it actually happened through sales of just not having anything preconceived to say, and just listen to what people have to say and respond. And and that is what makes a great a great conversation. That's what makes a great investment into a relationship. And I just think too many people don't do that.
Sarah Fejfar 53:44
So beautiful. Just a fountain of wisdom here. Aaron. Oh, boy. What have you got going on right now that we should know about? And where can Linchpin Nation find you, Aaron?
Aaron Eggert 53:59
Oh, we got a lot of good things going on. So we're heading into the spring here. So we got a couple events. We've got, you know, from for all of you that are events, folks, so that many of our events are in person in the Twin Cities. And so we've got a really cool event coming up in May, we're doing an exploration into business operating systems, if anybody's heard about Eos, or Pinnacle or scaling up or Gazelle only we're we're going to kind of pressure test all of them via a panel discussion. And then small group discussions. Really cool space, we're doing it in at the Senior Cultural Center, which is in the Lynn Lake area that took a really really big beating after the murder of George Floyd. And so we're going to infuse our community into their community and, and shine a light on all the good things that they're doing in the Lynn Lake area of Minneapolis. And then we're gonna we kind of take it easy a little bit the summer and then we're gonna hit it hard again in the fall. It's beautiful.
Sarah Fejfar 54:56
Where, where can that Linchpin Nation find you
Aaron Eggert 54:59
We are on LinkedIn. So no, no, don't even bother Facebook, you send me a message on Instagram probably the same thing. LinkedIn is my spot. So Aaron Eggert on LinkedIn coalition nine on LinkedIn and then I have a podcast as well the power of nine podcast, Sarah will be on that podcast on our podcast in the near future. We typically only spotlights our members, but you are a fascinating individual. And I'd love to be able to tell your story on our podcast, and then polish it up. Okay,
Sarah Fejfar 55:31
we'll link all that up in the show notes. Thank you so much for being here. Aaron. It's been an absolute pleasure.
Aaron Eggert 55:37
Thank you for having me. Love to be here and and I appreciate everything that you do.
Sarah Fejfar 55:41
Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram. And be sure to tag at Sarah Fejfar. And let me know why you liked it. And what you'd like to hear, or who you'd like to hear from in the future that helped me know what to create for you. The number one thing I'm asked by CEOs, whether it's their first event, or their 20th is Sarah, how do I get more butts in seats. And so I put together a guide for you. Head over to filling events.com For your free copy of 107 ways to fill. I want to help you quickly master event marketing events. Even if you've never done it before. I've scoured the online business world and found 107 My favorite strategies working right now to fill your next in person or virtual event. Create the event promotion plan you need from these easy to implement customizable strategies for free over at filling events.com I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and strategy of live events. Keep going Keep learning. If you want more, head over to green and central.com For show notes and all the links from today's episode.
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