The term ‘Mastermind’ is used fairly often in the business world, but many entrepreneurs still aren’t sure what joining one of these groups entails. What is a Mastermind, and how can we use them to benefit our businesses? Why is it necessary for Mastermind members to challenge each other? How can we offer different viewpoints without offending other members in the process? On this episode, owner of the Speech and Language Kids website, Carrie Clark, and founder and CEO of Cardinal Rule Press, Maria Dismondy, discuss what makes Masterminds so beneficial to business owners.  A good Mastermind is a group that helps you whittle down options. -Dana Malstaff   3 Things We Learned From This Episode Use Masterminds to challenge ideas (10:48 - 11:49)Masterminds are the ideal space for ideas to be shared and challenged. We should be using our groups to help each other brainstorm our ideas in different ways. The benefit of this kind of input is ultimately creating a more thought-out product.  Take advantage of the different viewpoints in Masterminds (15:25 - 16:22)Having a tight-knit Mastermind with different views allows us to narrow down ideas and options more easily. This is an important step, because it stops us from becoming overwhelmed by all the suggestions we get from like-minded people outside our groups.  Maintain mutual respect for all Mastermind members (20:41 - 21:51)For Masterminds to be effective, we have to have a mutual respect for everyone in our groups. This respect makes it easier to challenge one another, without running the risk of offending anyone on a personal level.   Guest Bio-  Carrie Clark is a speech-language pathologist and the founder of the Speech and Language Kids website. She is passionate about helping children through speech-language pathology, and has extensive experience in the field, having worked at the Columbia Public Schools in Columbia, Missouri, and later opening a private practice.    To find out more about Carrie, visit  https://www.speechandlanguagekids.com/about-us/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-clark-74210054 https://www.instagram.com/slpsolution/ https://www.facebook.com/theslpsolution/ Maria Dismondy is the founder and CEO of Cardinal Rule Press. She is also an author and speaker. Maria is the creator of the Empowering Kids with Character mini-podcast, a movement that aims to nurture character development in children through education.   To find out more about Maria, visit https://mariadismondy.com/ https://www.instagram.com/mariadismondybooks/ https://www.facebook.com/mariadismondy https://www.youtube.com/user/mariadismondy https://twitter.com/mariadismondy https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariadismondy