Your Mastermind Group Is Not Enough

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June 4, 2026

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Beth Mazza

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Mindset & Leadership

Power Move #2: Build Yourself a Kitchen Cabinet

Twenty-four hours before our acquisition offer was set to explode (yes, that is the official term), Victoria and I were a mess.

The buyers had been calling for days. Life-changing money was sitting on the table. And neither of us could bring ourselves to sign.

We were fighting each other and shadowboxing the deal itself at the same time. We had spent years building Clermont Partners. We knew the number was meaningful. But something was wrong, and we could not name it.

So we did what every founder should do when the stakes are sky-high and your brain has stopped working: we phoned a friend.

I called my private equity contact, someone who had no financial stake in our decision whatsoever. Victoria sat down with her attorney. Both of them, independently, came back with the same read: too much risk in the final payment structure. Hold out for a better deal.

So we did. And we got 35% more than what was on that table.

Why This Matters

We tell this story in Chapter 5 of Entrepreneur Like a MOTHER because it is the clearest illustration we know of why your advisor bench is not a nice-to-have. It is a business asset. It compounds over time. And when you actually need it, there is no substitute.

Most women we talk to have some version of an informal support system: a mastermind group, a few trusted friends, maybe a mentor from earlier in their careers. That is a start. But it is not the same thing.

A mastermind group is a room of peers trying to figure it out alongside you. A Kitchen Cabinet is a handpicked crew of people who have already been where you are going and are willing to tell you the truth when everyone else is telling you what you want to hear.

The difference is not subtle. One gives you community. The other gives you traction.

The Three Roles You Need Filled

As we built our Kitchen Cabinet over the years, we kept noticing that our best advisors fell into one of three categories. We did not name them at first. We just started to see the pattern.

Champions

These are your ride-or-die people. You call them when things feel shaky, when you are convinced you made a colossal mistake, when the numbers look more like a bad joke than a business plan. Their job is to remind you that you are not an impostor, help you separate the real problems from the imaginary ones, and get you back in the ring. Your job is to take their advice seriously and resist the urge to argue.
Early on, our Champions were tight best friends and brothers who worked in adjacent industries. They kept us focused on our goals when we wanted to chase every shiny opportunity.

Compensators

These are the seasoned pros who give you 20 years of experience in a 20-minute phone call. They fill the gaps in your knowledge, pressure-test your ideas, and save you from expensive mistakes by having already made them. Do not waste their time with questions you could Google. Save them for when you are genuinely stuck.
Our Compensators came from industry organizations, academic connections, and professional events. They helped us understand what our clients were actually thinking before we pitched them.

Connectors

These are the human switchboards. They know everyone, they are generous with introductions, and they open doors you did not know existed. One of Victoria’s best Connectors was someone she met at her daughter’s volleyball game. Another was a fellow mom we passed in the school pickup line for years before we finally had a real conversation.

Leverage their connections with gratitude, follow-through, and returned favors. Always look for ways to make the introduction worth their while.

How to Build Yours

We are not going to pretend this happens overnight. It took us years. But here is how to start.

First, be honest about where you actually need help. Not what sounds good in a pitch. Where do you genuinely have blind spots? That is where to look for Compensators.
Second, stop trying to build the whole Cabinet at once. One relationship at a time. Ask for a specific favor. Deliver on your end. Say thank you. Do it again. Before you know it, you have advisors you can call at 11 p.m. before a deal closes.

Third, pay it forward constantly. It is impossible to fully repay the people who helped us build two businesses. But we pick up every call, return every message, and show up for their moments the same way they showed up for ours.

The early version of our Kitchen Cabinet was stacked with Champions and almost completely empty on Compensators and Connectors. We had people who loved us and not nearly enough people who could challenge us. That imbalance cost us time and probably money we will never be able to calculate.

Figure out where your gaps are. Start filling them now. Not when the offer lands on the table.