Amy Vaughan:
Hey everyone and welcome to our weekly Power Lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughan and I am the owner and Chief Empowerment Officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital and choose to share their knowledge, power and connections. You can join the movement@togetherindigital.com and today we are joined by someone who is redefining what it means to build both purpose and profit in business. Ann McNeil is the founder and president of MCO Construction and Services. She has blazed trails in Southern California as Southern California’s first black woman owned construction firms while simultaneously mastering the art of niche monetization. As a master strategist and transformational speaker and a certified Napoleon Hill foundation coach, Ann brings a unique perspective on how focusing you on your niche and developing unshakable and unshakable mindset and aligning wealth with legacy can create sustainable success. Through her work with Constructively Speaking Inc.
Amy Vaughan:
She has helped countless women and entrepreneurs connect to their deepest purpose with measurable prosperity. And as research or Ann’s approach isn’t just about building businesses, it’s about leading and building legacies. And today she’s going to share with you our amazing listeners on how intentional niche selections and mindset mastery can transform not just your income, but your entire impact. So welcome to the Power Lounge and we are thrilled to have you here.
Ann McNeil:
Oh wow. Thrilled to be here. And I’m excited in discussing this, I call it a niche to be richer with your audience. So it’s exciting.
Amy Vaughan:
Me too. I’m sure some people were kind of scratching their heads like, oh, she’s in construction. But I think that’s such a profound attestment to like the work that you’re doing because I mean, talk about an industry that is not diverse. I worked when I was in my 20s, I was kind of in a gap here at college and I worked at a construction company and oh my gosh, Ann, it was awful. It was miserable. I won’t go into it because I don’t want to take up the whole hour, but any woman out there who is in an industry such as this, like, I just, I have seen firsthand what things in that industry are like. So again, kudos to you. So on that note, you’ve, like I said in your bio, you have built one of Florida’s first women owned black owned construction firms.
Amy Vaughan:
And then, you know, taking what you’ve learned, you know, the good and the bad, and you’ve been using that to coach others. Like you said on niche monetization, what was it that made you first realize that focusing deeply on a specific niche was more powerful than to serve everyone? I think because that’s something we do as marketers and as women. We’re like, we want everyone to like us. We want everyone to love us. We want everyone to buy our product or service. But what was that moment that you realized or what kind of led to that moment of realization?
Ann McNeil:
Well, Amy, for me, it was exactly 9pm, December 31, 1970.
Amy Vaughan:
You knew when I asked that question, people were like, I don’t remember the exact moment. But you’re like, no, I remember the day and the time. Okay, continue. Sorry.
Ann McNeil:
I remember the day. I remember the time. I remember the location. Because when you say pivotal moment, it was. And I. I still. Oh, my. I still get those feelings of sitting at my dining room table at 9pm when my husband and friends decide to go out and celebrate the new year.
Ann McNeil:
I decided to stay home and read a book. And actually I brought a version of it here with me. This is thinking more richly. And I had the version, the little yellow book with the white book with a yellow border. But I decided that night to stay home and, and, and begin to read this book because I just couldn’t go out and party one more night knowing that I felt broken. Broken. And so when you asked the question, what was the pivotal moment? That was it. Because as I began to read the book, Amy, the author, asked me three questions, but he gave me six Steps to Riches.
Ann McNeil:
And. And those three questions have led me into a niche area of my business and my life that now I share with everybody, and I help elevate women in particular in their business and their life to go to the next level with these. And the first question, if it’s okay if I can share.
Amy Vaughan:
Yes, please.
Ann McNeil:
Okay. The first question he asked me in the book, he said, and I made it personal to me. Personal. Personal. He said, Ann McNeil, how much money do you want? And I’d never been asked that question before. The second question he asked me in the book is in the very beginning of the book in the Desire Principle. He said, what. What are you going to do in return for the money? You know, some kind of product or service you’re going to sell? I had no answer.
Ann McNeil:
I just kept reading. But the third question he asked me was by what date? Those were the questions. And then the number four was to write out my plan of action. And this is where the moment shifts for me. I went back to question one. Now I’m home alone. Friends and family, they’re gone, out celebrating this New Year’s night. I went back to number one and I said, you know, I’m home alone.
Ann McNeil:
Why don’t I just answer the question? How much money do I really want? I have a good job and I’m doing okay. And so as I sat there and I said, you know, how much money do I want to see? It would be nice. This is 1979. Now, don’t. Don’t judge me. Your audience doesn’t judge me. No, but I said, a thousand dollars. I’d like to have a thousand dollars saved a year.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
Question number two. He asked me to give an exact date. So this was December 31, 1979. I said, it would be great to have saved a thousand dollars. December 31, 1980. But when I got to the next step, he asked me to describe exactly what I was going to do. And this for your audience and your listeners, this is where the work begins. Because I said in my mind, I make this much, I spend this much.
Ann McNeil:
I got a negative number. I decided to take a sheet of paper and a pen and write it down. I make this much, I spend this much. The negative number got bigger. I decided to get a calculator in case I was missing some income. I mean, we know how much money we make when we have a job. Yeah, to the penny. I make this much, I spend this much.
Ann McNeil:
The negative number got bigger because I remember some expenses that I had that I did not take into consideration. So, Amy, I actually went through this process of pulling out 11 months of canceled checks. I refused to acknowledge how broke I was. That is the journey that leads to the idea of niching to be richer. Because I sat there that night and it took 11 months. I have an undergraduate degree in accounting at the time, working on a master’s degree, planning on getting a PhD. That’s where I was at this moment in time. So I said January.
Ann McNeil:
I took a sheet of paper, I just made a handmade spreadsheet, and I wrote the date, payee amount, and across the top, where was I spending the money? January, a negative. February, negative. March, a negative. Now I can go through the end of the year. They were all negatives. When I got to the end of November, I realized that if I continued doing what I was doing, I was going to continue getting what I was getting. And I decided that night to sit there and figure out how I could make more money with my existing job. And I figured that If I got a part time job with my job, I would pay for the privilege of working.
Ann McNeil:
So now it’s 9 o’. Clock. I sat there, Amy, until 4 o’ clock that morning. Now the door opens. My husband, friends are coming in from celebrating the new year. I am still sitting there, but now I’m crying. And I like to always ask my audience and my coaching clients when I share this and I ask if anybody can guess, why am I crying? You want to take a guess, Amy, while I’m crying?
Amy Vaughan:
Did you figure it out? Did you get the numbers? No, the opposite. I’m such an optimist.
Ann McNeil:
And I’d like to ask all of your audience if you’re listening live or in the future, write in the chat. Why do you think I’m. Yeah, I was crying.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. Drop it in the chat.
Ann McNeil:
Audience. Drop it in the chat. Drop it in the chat. The reason I was crying was because I felt hopeless. And I think that I know from my own journey and my own story that I could not shift until I realized and accepted where I was at that point in time?
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
And now when I look back and then look forward, I realize that that was. And then you asked an excellent question. The pivotal point for me was that point of realizing that I had to do something different.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
And that was the journey for me to realize. Yes, I had a really good corporate job.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
At that point in time. But something as simple as getting out of debt and saving an extra thousand dollars is what put me in the path of understanding I needed to start a business and do something in addition. And I’m talking to those of us who are professionals in a job. Please don’t, don’t, don’t quit your job.
Amy Vaughan:
Right. Right.
Ann McNeil:
Do something in addition to your job as an entrepreneur before you become an entrepreneur. So that was the pivotal point for me when I realized I needed to do something that became what I now call niche. Yes. My pleasure.
Amy Vaughan:
Well, and it’s one of those things. Right. Because how many of us are sitting in jobs that feel like, oh, I’m comfortable, I’m getting paid enough, but it’s not until you take that time to look inward and put something on paper and say something as simple as saving $1,000 a year. And you can’t make that, Ma. It sucks. Right. It’s kind of like therapy in some ways. Right.
Amy Vaughan:
I know people who want to avoid therapy because they don’t want to face the truth and then have it said out loud or put on the paper. People avoid journaling for these reasons. But there has been no one that I’ve ever had as a friend, a mentor, a guest on this show, a member within Together Digital that has never not said that that’s a part of the process of, you know, finding that sense of freedom and focus and going after what it is that you want. I think we’re always kind of waiting for the silver bullet, but sometimes it’s literally doing what you did and kind of sitting out the social, you know, evening and taking four or five hours and really, truly looking at what you have and putting it on paper. So thank you for giving us that. Those are the guiding principles and then that vulnerable story. I love it. That’s like classic Together Digital type of like, inspirational.
Amy Vaughan:
But, like, here’s the hard truth of what I had to face to get there, and here’s how I did it. And I knew that when we talked Ann, I was like, this is going to be such a good conversation. And, you know, we had somebody drop in overwhelmed into the chat. So, yeah, she was definitely feeling it. I was like, I was optimistic. Figure it out. You’re gonna go. You’re gonna.
Amy Vaughan:
But it’s true that the reality is, that’s probably where most of us would be sitting right now if we did the exercise that you just explained. I love that so much. You know, and there’s a lot of women within the organization. Oh, I. Sorry, I meant to say live listeners, like, keep using the chat for comments and questions. You know, I’ve got a number of questions here, but, you know, you are listeners. We want to know what you would like to know based on where you’re at, to make the most of our time here with Ann. But a lot of our members are entrepreneurs, and often, you know, I see it in our Slack chat.
Amy Vaughan:
I see it or hear it in their peer groups. They struggle with this idea of leaving money on the table when they consider narrowing their focus. They think in order to make all the money, they have to do all the things right. How do you help or what advice would you give to, you know, women entrepreneurs, whomever, to overcome that scarcity mindset when they’re kind of choosing and settling in on their niche?
Ann McNeil:
Thank you so very much for the question. I have a framework that consists of really five different areas and businesses that we’re in that we should niche. The first is your craft, and you hit it on the head when you talk about, you know, the peer groups in the chat and the individuals who are part of this phenomenal community. I believe that the first Business that we’re in is our craft, our niche business, whether it’s your profession. And I take my profession as an example. I’ll use this as an example. I’ve been a licensed general contractor for over 40 plus years, since 1990, 80ish date myself. But if I were a painter.
Ann McNeil:
Now, I’m not just going to use this example to help your clients. Right. If I were a painter and I’m in the painting business, am I an expert painter? That is for our listeners. Think about whatever it is you do for your business. Are you an expert and are you known as an expert in that business, that craft? Secondly, I believe the business that we’re in now, mind you, the profession is a business in and of and by itself. So I’ll use painters again, there’s a professional painters association. Are you a member of your professional association in your niche craft or your niche profession? The second business I like to encourage all of our clients, my coaching clients in particular, that we’re in, and we don’t often think of it as a business in and of itself, is the business of the operations of your craft. Yeah, the business of the operations of your craft.
Ann McNeil:
And when you think about all of the different nuances of being in business, from your hour, your payroll, your taxes, your accounts receivables, your payables, all of the platforms that are required for your particular niche industry in terms of the business. Right. So as a painter, there’s certain things that I must do as a painter that may be different than if I were an artist in terms of the operations of my business.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
And treating that as a business by itself. But then we get into the business of relationships. And oftentimes, and I like to share with my clients to read something in every single area of your business. So let’s take relationships, for example. I’m asking your clients, put in the chat and your members of your organization. Amy, put in the chat. What’s the last best favorite relationship book you’ve read? You see why? Because the relationships in your particular craft are very different. And oftentimes we don’t think about that as a business.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Ann McNeil:
Because most of our business comes from people that we know, that we like and that we trust.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Ann McNeil:
But what am I reading? One of my favorite authors is Jeffrey Gittamer.
Amy Vaughan:
Okay.
Ann McNeil:
Jeffrey Gitter has little books of sales connections and they come in colors. And your audience can, you know, you can Google him. But we often think of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which is a regular habit for many people. But think about whatever it is that you need to read in your particular industry for those connections to get business in your industry.
Amy Vaughan:
Yep.
Ann McNeil:
The next niche area I encourage all of us to think about is the industry. Let me go back to painting as a painter. Imagine I am Ann McNeil, I’m a contractor and I come to a conference with contractors and I run into three painters. Painter number one, I say, what do you do? The painter says, and here goes the niching. The painter says, listen, I’m a painter. I paint everything. What do you have? I paint houses, I paint businesses, I paint school, I paint everything. Then I say, okay, painter number two, what do you do? He says, I’m a painter.
Ann McNeil:
What do you paint? Well, listen, I paint roads, I paint highways. Now, I am a school painter. I’m a school builder. I build schools. Now, this is an example. I build schools. Now, painter number three, I say, painter number three, what do you do? And painter number three says, listen, I only paint schools. I only paint schools for Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County.
Ann McNeil:
I live in Florida and Dave Broward and Palm beach county is a part of our state. Now. My schools that I build are located in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County. Now, painter number three only paints schools and has been in the school painting business for 20 years. Which of the painters would I use? Can we put it in the chat? Is it number one, number two, or number three? Now, I say that laughingly, but we’d be surprised when we think of our business and our craft. We want to be all things to all people and then we wonder why we’re nobody to everybody. Why is it that the person won’t call me back? Why is it that the person won’t respond to my email? And have you studied the business of the client you’re proposing to what industry they are in? What craft are they in? What associations and organizations, professionally and civic wise, are they a member of? And the next business? I like to encourage all of us that we’re in, but seldom do we discuss this. And this is a part of my framework and that is the business of the money.
Ann McNeil:
What does that mean? Ann McNeil well, the business of the money. Have you studied where the money is in your business? For example, if you’re a painter and you’re painting in the healthcare industry, what’s the margins of profit? If you’re painting in the facilities which are schools, what’s that margin of profit, industry wise, if you’re painting at airports, what’s the margin of profit? What’s the Margin of profit? If you’re painting in the industry of water. Now, as you’re listening to me, think about the industries that you’re in. Where’s the money in that industry? And until we drill down into the numbers, do we really know if we’re working in the pride industry that generates the highest profit margin? Now, once we are able to do that, I want to come back to the business of money. Long time ago, Amy. I did save that money. So let me go back to that story.
Ann McNeil:
I did save that money. It took me about 10 years to get out of debt. Yeah, okay. And finally I was able to save $15,000. But what I did not know, Amy, is that I did not know how to make money. So I gave that. Yes, I gave that money to someone never to see it again. We don’t usually talk about that.
Amy Vaughan:
No, you’re right, we don’t.
Ann McNeil:
And when I gave that money to that person and never to see it again, I realized that that person knew I knew absolutely nothing about investing. So what do you do when you’re taken? I. I was upset with the person, but I was more upset, Amy, with myself for not knowing how to properly save and how to invest in. Right. And so what do you do when you do that? I decided to start an investment club. And I pulled together some friends from our mastermind group and started my first investment club. Became a volunteer. But the point I’m making is about making money.
Ann McNeil:
I learned the value and the benefit of a 20 bill invested over a long period of time and the product or service that we know. So as we listen and think about niching to be richer.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
Now, after 30, almost 40 years of investing, I am now learning that I will never outwork my money. My money. Making money from saving, investing in our Roth hours and our retirement in our investment accounts will always, Amy, make more money than I would ever make. Working for the money, working for it.
Amy Vaughan:
Making your money work for you. Oh, my God. And that’s amazing. There’s so much to unpack there. And I think it just shows, like, how deep the scarcity mindset goes, because it’s like, okay, when you are finally making the money and you’re saving the money, I don’t know about you all, we’ve had some podcast episodes talking about our relationship with money as women. And, you know, I learned recently there’s such a thing as, like, poverty, trauma, and whatnot. So a lot of us sit on that money and we are afraid to do what you’re saying. It is like, invest.
Amy Vaughan:
And I think the opportunity there is not only to just invest and make your money work for you, but I also have an amazing friend, mentor, and coach for me. Her name is Sue Baggott, and she’s a part of Queen City Angels. And her whole mission is all about getting women to become micro investors because they will get that money back in return, and women make good, safe bets. But then also, women invest in more diverse businesses than men tend to do. And so I. There’s so many good pieces of advice in that. I’m always so glad when we’re here and doing this and it’s recorded. So if y’all need to go back and listen, there were some gems in there, for sure.
Amy Vaughan:
So fantastic answer. And I’m kind of curious, too, to dig into your coaching. And, you know, within coaching, obviously a lot of what you’re trying to do there is help people achieve a certain level of mindset because, you know, the person that’s getting in the way of yourself the most is usually you, right? Yes, absolutely.
Ann McNeil:
Absolutely.
Amy Vaughan:
And you’re a certified Napoleon Hill foundation coach, so you clearly understand the power of mindset and business success. I’m kind of curious what was the most or what has been some of the most or the most critical mindset shifts that you’ve seen transform either you or someone else’s ability to find success, to monetize their niche in any. Any of those types of things?
Ann McNeil:
Absolutely. And I actually wrote a book on this in terms of understanding and the realization. And I love books. I love reading. And this is it. It’s called the fact that you must have a dream to have a dream come true. Amy, I wrote this. I started writing it about 20 years ago and realized that I’m in the dream in terms of understanding my spiritual area. What is my desire in that area? Go back to the first principle of Napoleon Hill’s philosophy.
Ann McNeil:
The first principle is desire. What is it that we’re desiring? And I am now focusing with my clients on every area of your life. What is, what is it that you’re desiring for your spirituality? How about your family? How about your finances? How about your health? How about your education? How about that business or your profession? And for those of us that are entrepreneurs, you must have a dream to have a dream come true in your business. Are you going to legacy it? You’re going to sell it? What, what, what’s. What does that look like? What about the recreational area of your life? I’m just coming back, Amy, off of a Five and a half, almost six month world cruise, Crystal World cruise beginning. Yes. This year. I say that because what’s the dream that we hold dear for the recreation area of your life? What about the civic area and giving and serving and legacy leaving and a life of significance living? And then finally, what about creativity? I’ve mentioned a couple of books and I’ve written five.
Ann McNeil:
But again, what does that look like for each of you in your business, but also in your life? So for me, going back to your question, it is having a dream in order to have a dream come true. You can call that dream a desire, you can call it a purpose or a passion. But that’s what I’m realizing that for any of us struggling with self confidence, self worth, I believe that when we serve through our business.
Amy Vaughan:
Yes.
Ann McNeil:
And through other areas, we tend to serve higher for others than we would for ourselves. And that tends to increase our self confidence.
Amy Vaughan:
Agree. Yeah, no, it is a great way. If you ever want to give yourself a boost, find a way to give back. I’ve always been in alignment and agree with that wholeheartedly. And I love, I’m such a language and a word nerd, as a lot of our listeners know. And I love that you didn’t just say what do you want? I think sometimes I want something more surface level. Right. And not as deep.
Amy Vaughan:
When you say what do you desire? I’m like, oh, I want to think about that a little more. I’m not just going to talk about the cute pair of shoes I saw the other day. And I was like, that’s a want. Right. And my kids talk about that a lot. Is it a want or a need? Right. It’s a coaching, parent coaching thing that gets thrown around a lot to us like elder millennial parents and younger millennial parents, I guess. But it’s like, I love that.
Amy Vaughan:
I love that idea of what do you desire? And to sit with that and look at it across all aspects of your life. I think, you know, if you’re in that moment of, you know, a lot of people are there right now. Right. I get it. The world’s hard right now and kind of just sitting and thinking mostly about what you want versus about what you desire. It’s such a different mindset and mind frame to kind of look at things. And again, as women, I don’t think we often think about that. We’re usually focused on how and where and when we’re unhappy versus sitting and taking the intentional time to say, what do I desire?”
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. I think that’s a great takeaway for all of us to kind of think about this weekend as we head into the week, since we’re on a Friday and you know, it’s. I love that, like, your work expands. We have a lot of multi potentialities within digital in the community and our listeners. So we all can appreciate when someone comes into the room that does both coaching and construction. So obviously two very different industries. How is operating, you know, in different, completely different niches informing your approach on how you help others and how to monetize theirs? Because, yeah, those are just so, like, I mean, they’re not completely opposite. I could see where they might overlap, but day to day looks pretty different on both those, you know, types of business.
Ann McNeil:
But what I’m learning though, Amy, is mindset neutralizes all of it.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it.
Ann McNeil:
Think about it. Mindset neutralizes all of it. And when you really think about how we transition from one niche industry to another to another to another, it’s mindset and being able to see with the vision that my skill set oftentimes is driven by my mindset.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, I love that your skill sets are driven by your mindset.
Ann McNeil:
Right. And so it allows us to transition. So to go back to your question, for me, I am teaching what I’ve learned and I’m learning, yeah, I’m teaching what I’ve learned in my construction career. From the construction, I started a consulting company. From consulting, I started a speaking company. And along the way, I started an international mastermind association for mindset, teaching individuals how to walk through the book, think and grow rich, over and over and over again. And utilizing the principles to increase their mindset, to increase their bottom line, you know, utilizing the framework. But then also I started an organization in my niche industry of construction called the national association of Black Women in Construction.
Ann McNeil:
And with that, Amy, we’re able to take women from all areas into a community. And you think about, you may say, okay, well, we’re in a different community. But when you think about construction, it crosses and includes everything from health care to technology to every single thing you could think of. People, some of them would say, well, I sell water. What does that have to do with construction? Guess what? We drink a lot of water.
Amy Vaughan:
Right?
Ann McNeil:
We wear makeup, we wear clothes. And so oftentimes we don’t look at how these industries connect, how the skill sets connect. And so I have a friend who sells Mary Kay, and I asked her about her clients and she’s struggling. And I said, Guess what? Everybody has. She said what? I said a face.
Amy Vaughan:
Mm.
Ann McNeil:
Men have faces.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
Women have faces. So when you think of niching to be richer, think about who is willing to invest in their face. I mean, but my point coming back to it, Mindset. But it starts with me knowing that I’m worthy. But am I willing? And you. You hit the nail on the head. Earlier in this conversation, we talked about journaling. I have a daily date with myself, Amy.
Ann McNeil:
And journaling is a part of that. Yeah, every day. So that’s it. That’s what I think in terms of when we look at how we connect those dots.
Amy Vaughan:
That’s fantastic. Yeah, definitely. I think the mindset over skill set, I think that’s so fantastic. There’s this framework too, that another mentor of mine told me once about, like mentoring and coaching or even working with other people or people that work for. With me, for me, it’s like, it’s a skill hill or will, and you can teach skill. And sometimes there are hills, and you might not see the hill, but they do. So it could be something personal, something outside the office that’s going on because it’s like the kind of a framework for when you have somebody with. On your.
Amy Vaughan:
On your team that you’re maybe managing or mentoring that’s struggling. And it’s either skill, hill, or will. And he says if it’s, you know, skill, you can remedy that pretty easily. If it’s a hill, it might be a temporary situation. It might mean you just need to do some digging, open up the door for vulnerability. And if it’s a will, then you need to just, you know, he’s like, hire slow fire, fast, Amy. And I’m like, ah, Rod, it’s so hard. I want to make everybody happy and whole.
Amy Vaughan:
But like you said, when you aren’t narrowly focused, you are only taking yourself off that path to success by, you know, all of that meandering. And that kind of leads me to my next question, which. Which, you know, so many of us feel it doesn’t really matter the kind of work that you’re doing. I think, you know, these last few generations especially, it’s so important for us now that we’re not, you know, as a labor society as we used to be. I think a lot of us want purpose in the work that we do if we have that privilege. And so I’m kind of curious for those who are trying to connect both purpose and prosperity, do you have any examples of how maybe a client of yours or even you have aligned to a Deeper, deeper sense of purpose within their niche while still managing to kind of break through and see some really good results for that. Because I think sometimes we think, oh gosh, what is it ? I heard another term recently that guy got me was called noble poverty, where we feel like we gotta give it all away for free or it’s, it’s like we’re not doing good things if it means we actually prosper from it.
Amy Vaughan:
I was like, ouch. Man, I hurt.
Ann McNeil:
Yes. I have a story.
Amy Vaughan:
Great.
Ann McNeil:
I felt for years when I was transitioning into my construction business, I was utilizing the mastermind principle to grow and my non profit was being utilized to help individuals to grow their business and their life. And so I thought of that passion and that purpose as a not for profit. You don’t need to get paid.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
And a friend called me and said, you know, I’m going to be speaking at this event. Can you come? I said, yes. And when I walked in, I had a seat. She was speaking from the stage and she talked about what I was, the work I was doing and everything, and how many lives it was positively impacting and my not for profit. And the coordinator of the event, annoying me, went to my website, downloaded everything and put her name on it.
Amy Vaughan:
What?
Ann McNeil:
Wait, wait, I’m coming to your question. Do I have a story? I have a number, but I’ll just.
Amy Vaughan:
I’m about ready to throw on my headphones. Where are they at? Where do they live? Continue.
Ann McNeil:
And so my friend later on called me, she said, oh my gosh, I feel so bad. The person that I invited you to this event, you know, I went, she invited me to something. I went on her website and did everything that you do, but she’s charging fifteen hundred dollars. I was doing it for free.
Amy Vaughan:
Oh, wow.
Ann McNeil:
And so I said, you’re kidding me now Fire. Yes, fire that other fire. So she said, she’s having an event and you should come. And I said, okay. And I went on and I saw all of my information on her website and I said, okay, I’m gonna buy a table. I love it. I want to see and hear everything.
Amy Vaughan:
Front row.
Ann McNeil:
Now this story is not going where you want it to go. So if you’re listening to me and you’re thinking one thing, stay to the end of this story. This is why all things truly do work together for good. I don’t care who we are. We must look for the good in it all.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
So I’m, I’m, I’m doing this for free. Because I have a passion and a purpose and it’s free. I got my booth, I’m set up in my booth. I have my books, my Napoleon Hill, this, and thank you. All this stuff in my booth. And people assaulted me about it, but they’re not stopping. She gets up on the stage and she is selling. The line was out the door of individuals who wanted my material that she was marketing with her name on it.
Ann McNeil:
And I’m standing there in total shock. Now the end of the story. A lady walks to my table. Now, for those of you that’s listening on the podcast, I am an African American female, in case you cannot see me. Lady walks into my table, everybody. The majority of the people in the room did not look like me. A lady walks to my table, she’s an African American female, she looks like me. And she says, oh, you’re with this thinking girl, Richard? I said, yes.
Ann McNeil:
She said, sound like the same thing. So she said, can I get your information? And we changed information. Her sister is in line to pay.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
So then the lady came back to me and she said, so tell me a little bit about this. And I told her, she said, oh, I would like to, you know, see how we could mastermind together. Long story very short, that lady and her sister lived across the street from me and we have been in a mastermind group to this day for 20 years.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it.
Ann McNeil:
But my point is, it would have never happened.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Ann McNeil:
If I had not been drawn to this situation. And I’m sharing this story because oftentimes when we’re on this path of our purpose and our passion for profit, and I tell my coaching clients, make the profit in your for profit business and give it to your non profit.
Amy Vaughan:
Yes.
Ann McNeil:
Can I say that again? Make the profit in your for profit business and fund your own not for profit. And if I had not done that with the spirit of service, because none of this information belongs to any of us. That lady was brilliant. She was a marketing genius. She just took it.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, she just took it.
Ann McNeil:
Yes. Okay. But all of that was good. But it took me years. Okay, let’s be honest, Amy. It took me years to release that and let it go. When I saw the hand of God showing me that this was the.
Amy Vaughan:
That was the message you needed?
Ann McNeil:
That was the message I needed.
Amy Vaughan:
As annoying as it is, it’s the message you needed.
Ann McNeil:
Exactly.
Amy Vaughan:
I love that story. Okay, and I just realized something. And we’ll edit this out later. Can you take your mic and lift it just off your label? I just realized, I think rubbing your.
Ann McNeil:
Shirt okay, thank you.
Amy Vaughan:
All right. Yeah, no, no worries. That story was incredible. And I also wanted to point out two other things. Like, amen to your friend. That was like, listen, girl, look at this person over here doing this. And you were like, that you need those kinds of people in your circle. And then you know the other woman that you know, your neighbor that became a friend and a mastermind for 20 years.
Amy Vaughan:
When these people walk into your life as well, like, be open to receiving help, ladies. I think we get conditioned to do it all, do it all alone, figure it out, be like this lady on stage who’s like taking other people’s material and marketing it. You’re going to run into those folks, but you’re also going to have people that are going to be on your side. And those are the folks that you just definitely need to keep there along for the ride, because it’s gonna be a ride.
Ann McNeil:
Look, look. Look for the gym in it all. Look for the gym in it all. That’s it.
Amy Vaughan:
That’s the point.
Ann McNeil:
Look for the gym at all.
Amy Vaughan:
And I love, again, your mindset. It’s just, it’s so clear that you, you live what you teach in that sense of like, yeah, I mean, I could have gone in there and rolled up my sleeves, took off my earrings and like, just went at this woman. But instead you, you showed up and you listened and you received and you took what, like you said, the message that was meant to be received in that moment. As hard as it can be, sometimes a door slammed in your face or an affront is. Is actually not happening to you. It’s happening for you.
Ann McNeil:
For you. Exactly. But that’s the mindset. That, that really is the mindset. And what we want to make sure we leave with the audience is that mindset is everything. Yeah, it is everything. And the question becomes, are we willing to work on ourselves? You know, like Jim Warren saying, harder than we are working on our job and also in our businesses. Is that personal work that we must do?
Amy Vaughan:
Yes. Oh my gosh. I joke and tell people all the time, if you ever want to learn a whole lot about yourself, start a business. As one way to get a lot of self awareness. I think it’s required for those who are successful. So a lot of our listeners are, you know, and community members are those in digital professions and that are looking to monetize their expertise in digital marketing. Advertising is a broad spectrum and a lot of different roles and opportunities. So, you know, you just shared a mistake in the sense of not making what you do a profitable niche.
Amy Vaughan:
What are some other mistakes you see people make when they’re trying to turn their skills into a profitable niche? Is there anything else we would want to call out for them?
Ann McNeil:
Well, I really, I go back to what value and what transformation do you bring? We hear the word a lot. But when you stop and think about why you didn’t start the business in the first place? You know, when you stop and think about it, every client is not the same. So the solution to that client’s problem is not going to necessarily be the same. And when we walk in to do that discovery, whether it’s in person or on Zoom or online, do we really listen intently to what the need is or do we package something where we already know this is what I sell? This is the color. You either take it or leave it?
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
And there’s a process called sweet spot selling that one of our members of the National Speakers association created, where she gives three different options every time she makes an offer. And the person can take option one, option two, or option three. And I think what happens for many of us is that we don’t change the value and the benefits for the offer we provide in terms of clearly listening to what the client has. But also.
Amy Vaughan:
Sorry, keep going.
Ann McNeil:
No, but also the industry. And yes, one of the suggestions I’d make to all of your listeners is look, even, even in my profession of construction, look into the construction industry and connect with those individual industries for your profession.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
For example, technology in transportation with AI is transformative.
Amy Vaughan:
Oh, absolutely.
Ann McNeil:
So when you look at whatever it is you do, where’s the money for that business of yours that you’re able to add such great value? And if you are a woman, if you are a small business, what federal, especially state and city areas that are looking for you harder than you’re looking for them. I’ve been a member for a long time with wpo, we bank, and many of these women’s organizations that hook each other up.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Ann McNeil:
In the profession. So those are some thoughts I would share with your listeners in the community. Because oftentimes we. It’s right in front of us, but we look right by it.
Amy Vaughan:
I love that advice. Look for people who are looking for you harder than you’re looking for them. And that is the power of niching, because then you are speaking right to them. And also, I wanted to zoom in for a second on that proposal. It’s so true. Right. We always, like, I think as marketers and those of you who are listening, I’m sorry, we’re going to feel this, but we come up with 3, 4, 5 package options and we noodle over each one of them and we spend 10 times the amount of effort to kind of come up with each of these packages to give them choice. But at the end of the day, and exactly what you said is that you just need to focus and listen to that exact client.
Amy Vaughan:
And God, what would it look like if you took all that time you just spent and put it into one proposal and said this is exactly what you need and this is how much it’s going to cost? I’m not even going to give you options because I’m not questioning myself. I’ve listened to you. I am an expert and this is what you need. Ah, I love it. I love it. And we had a question here in the chat, so I’ll pause on it. What were those businesses that you mentioned? WBENC was one you mentioned that’s owned by women. Certified.
Amy Vaughan:
Right. What were the other two?
Ann McNeil:
Women’s President’s Organization, wpo. Okay, we bank wbenc. I didn’t mention these, but NABO National. Okay, we know, right? Nabo there is also one that came out of these and it’s called Go for the Green and it’s a conference that’s held in Florida on the golf course for women. Yes, but in addition to those, many of the local cities have small women organizations and I would strongly encourage all of your listeners check your local city and school board agencies. They have contracts for you and oftentimes they’re overlooked because they’re public sector. Ah, yeah, big, big, big, big opportunities.
Amy Vaughan:
Look in your own backyard. Sometimes you go to reach and it’s like acres of diamonds.
Ann McNeil:
No, I have to go there. The book, Acres of Diamonds. I’m not sure if you’ve read it, but it is one of my all time favorites.
Amy Vaughan:
Yes, love it, I love it. We love the good book recommendations, so keep them coming and we’ll include them in the show notes as well.
Ann McNeil:
Okay, well, let me give you this one too since you have a good book. I talked about the 10 areas of our life and one of my favorite family books is 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey. He has 500 references in the back of the book.
Amy Vaughan:
Wow, well researched. Gotta love that.
Ann McNeil:
7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. And what I like most about that particular book is that he gives us samples and examples of a family mission statement.
Amy Vaughan:
Oh, I love that.
Ann McNeil:
Yes, family mission statement. So again we’re talking about mindset here and as mothers, daughters, sisters, we’re all a part of a family. And do we have a mission statement for that family?
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. I am literally just adding it to my cart and buying it now. I think that’s so tremendous. Well, because my kids, you know, they’re 8 and 12 and they are both just. And then everybody’s, you know, we all think our own kids are great, but they just kind of blow my mind at their level of emotional maturity, regulation, understanding in a world where they like. It feels like a lot of chaos right now. And there are kids exposed to so much more in the world thanks to the Internet and media. No matter how much you try to control like you can’t, you can’t always protect them from all those things.
Amy Vaughan:
And yet, you know, especially my 12 year old, she’s very entrepreneurial. And you know as a family you always do want that sense of growing in the right direction. And as somebody who is ambitious, hard working, multi, business, business, owning mom, there’s just something I know that they’re like, that foundation has to be strong. Right. If things are not good at home, it’s really hard to perform well in the workplace. And that’s what I love about things like our digital community together is that it is the safe space to show up and be the business owner and the mom and talk about all the hard things. But I know that that’s a privilege that I have. Not everybody has that.
Amy Vaughan:
So for those of you who are listening, like if you feel like there’s an imbalance in life, I love that you recommended that book. And I think there’s just so much that starts within us and that starts within the immediate people that we spend the most time with, which is like our family and our co-workers, which is where we really need to find some time to spend. So. And I just love it. I know my kids will love the idea of a family mission statement because like I said, my son’s really creative, my daughter’s very entrepreneurial. They’re gonna, they’re gonna love it. So thanks for the recommendation.
Ann McNeil:
Absolutely, Absolutely. Absolutely. Just wanna just mention one more before we go too far in our family. We started investing early and when I talked about not seeing that money again and starting an investment club, it came out of our mastermind group. I started a mastermind group the second year after reading the book Think and Grow Rich and from the mastermind group I realized that I didn’t know anything about saving or investing.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
And I read a book. We, our group, would read a book among different subjects and one of the books that we read was the millionaire next door. The millionaire next door. And in that book it referred to a group of women in their 70s, 80s and 90s who beat the stock market. And they were volunteers in an organization that was called the national association of Investment Club. And again, I’m not selling anything. Sure this is all non profit and everybody’s a volunteer, but when you talk about families growing together, entrepreneurial families if you will, we got involved with that organization as a mastermind group and we formed our first investment club. And to this date I’ve helped to form over 20 different investment clubs and with our children.
Ann McNeil:
I’m coming back to the children.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
Who started with us learning how to Invest? A simple $20 bill compounded over 20 years.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
Equals six, sometimes seven figures. Not $20 a day or a week, but a month. And I share that because we have investment clubs. And you can go to betterinvesting.org that’s another resource for your community, better investing.org and has a free membership at the bottom of the website for 90 days. And I will tell you it has made the difference in, I would call it a million dollar difference in your retirement by learning how to make money. Make money. Yes.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. Well, and it also solves for. It actually answered my next question. So I’ll probably skip to the next one here in a second. But it also does something for me that I think is incredibly important. Being a first generation kid who grew up in a trailer park is. I want to create like it’s not just about the legacy, it’s not even about making the money. It is generational wealth.
Amy Vaughan:
I want my kids to be better off than I was. I want their kids to be better off than they were because I’ve seen that privilege of just knowing how to, like you said, save or invest money, it’s such an advantage. But it’s like one of those things. I actually have a friend in high school who likes her, she doesn’t, she doesn’t work. She has a husband who works, but she doesn’t have to work because while she was in high school she learned how to play the soccer stocks, the stock market. Her parents gave her an allowance and she’s like, I’m not going to spend it on clothes and makeup. I am going to learn how to invest in it. And, now she’s at home with her boys and raising them and her husband works.
Amy Vaughan:
And I was just like, why? And I thought she was such a dork for doing it. I was like, damn, I should have done what Kelly did. Although I love working and I love doing what I do, so I can’t complain. But it’s just one of those things, like you don’t realize what an advantage it is understanding, like we said at the very beginning, knowing how to make your money make money. We’re also busy squirrels throwing it away, trying to figure out how to make more of it instead of making it work for ourselves. Let’s get to these couple more questions that we’ve got to go back.
Ann McNeil:
Can I go back for one second? Oh, of course, Amy. What I teach, what I teach my coaching clients is start a free family and friend mastermind group.
Amy Vaughan:
I love that idea.
Ann McNeil:
The keywords are family and friends. And I set a goal this year to create 50 new free things. And I call it free because there are a lot of mastermind groups where you can pay lots of money. I’m going to. Yeah, but this is not me, I have that too. If somebody wants to do that, we can talk about that offline. I do have a niche to be rich in programs where you can. Yes, you can mentor me and coach.
Ann McNeil:
That’s not. That’s not this conversation. Yeah, but you can do that. But a free family and friend mastermind group. This is the benefit and the value it would bring to your family. And I want to strongly encourage you, Amy, to consider this for your family. And that is it would allow you to meet once a week on the family goals.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
Start with creating a family mission statement. And again, if you want to Google Covey, he will give you that online. Or you can get the book, whatever you want to do, but start there with the foundation. But as a part of that. That gives you an opportunity to sit with the children and the family. And it could be sisters, whoever you choose do you want in that group. But. But what I would also encourage you to consider doing as a part of that small group, start an investment club.
Ann McNeil:
So let’s go back to your story you shared about your friend. This is an opportunity for you to also include your children in the learning of how to save, how to invest, but also how to learn how to analyze stocks. And we have chapters, we have volunteers that would help handhold. And I did say volunteers are working for free. I’m one of those. But I think that it’s very important that we know that we have options. So having our businesses is great, but what are we doing to include our family into that conversation? And that’s what we’ve done. And so we can get it.
Ann McNeil:
I have some information. If anybody’s interested, if I can share, they can text the number 59925, text the number 59925 and just put Ann in the chat and I’ll gladly send you the information. Because my goal this year, Amy, is to create 50 free family and friend mastermind groups.
Amy Vaughan:
Okay. I love it. Well, and there’s something to that. Accountability, right? We do peer groups within digital for entrepreneurs, for working parents, and then we have dedicated peer groups. And a lot of people oftentimes are like, I don’t have time. I’m like, it is one. It says ours are one hour a month. But you would be amazed how much more you get done when you have to be accountable and show up and report to others.
Amy Vaughan:
Like it’s such a good practice to get into. So I love that advice. I dropped those, the number and the message request in the chat as well. So members, you can. And listeners, you can take a look at that. All right, I’m going to ask you one more quick question here, and then we’ll jump into our fun power round. But live listeners, please drop your questions in the chat if you have them. We’d love to hear from you, too.
Amy Vaughan:
The one I wanted to ask you, let me find, because we had a couple left, but I was like, oh, this one. I think this is going to be good takeaway advice. You mentioned oftentimes in your writing and things like that, that and in your talks that success isn’t accidental, it’s intentional. What daily or weekly practices do you recommend for maintaining a mindset that’s needed for niche success?
Ann McNeil:
Now, you did not know this when you asked that question, but I have a daily date with myself. I have a daily date with myself. And I wrote a journal book on this. It’s called My Daily Date with Myself.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Ann McNeil:
Because I believe that we are all like bank accounts. We must make deposits every single day, small amounts over a long period of time, because others are making withdrawals from us every single day.
Amy Vaughan:
Ain’t that the truth?
Ann McNeil:
So I start my daily day with myself as being an early riser, and I have an early riser mastermind group. And all we do is just say the word up and that’s a prompt to get up. We don’t smile face. We don’t talk. We don’t do anything but just text the word up to a group. That’s it. But once you get up, I wouldn’t challenge you to do you. That could mean a number of different things.
Ann McNeil:
This is what I do. I Meditate, I read, I pray, I journal, I stretch, I exercise, I walk, I take my vitamins. Yes. Every single day, my desire is to drink 16 to 20 ounces before leaving to go exercise. And then again the same, you know, before showering. And that starts my day. It takes me again. For me, it’s a good 90 minutes, depending.
Ann McNeil:
When I travel, I do the same thing. So those are the deposits I make in myself, Amy, every single day. And journaling is key.
Amy Vaughan:
Is key, girl. I’m doing it because, like I said, I. I know. I know myself in the sense that, like, I am better at being accountable to others than I am to myself. So I’m gonna start my own little morning mastermind group. So if you’re listening members and you want me to create a slack channel for this, we could even create a slack channel. And I love that. It’s like the only thing you’re doing is saying up.
Amy Vaughan:
So it’s like you have.
Ann McNeil:
Because that is.
Amy Vaughan:
That is the hardest part is showing up.
Ann McNeil:
I’ll send you my group me link and you can all share it. You know, it’s free. We don’t do any talking or anything. And I think Michelle from my office is here with me. But we’ll send that over to you because again, it’s the accountability. Something simple as getting up just a few minutes earlier to read a couple of pages and two or three books. Exactly. When you journal, what are you thankful for? What are you grateful for? What are the desires of your heart? But this is the other thing that I do when I journal.
Ann McNeil:
And one of my favorite journaling books, for those who are interested in learning how to journal, is called, Is Julia Cameron’s the Artist Way. And many of your listeners have probably already heard this book. You read it already, Amy?
Amy Vaughan:
No, but I’ve heard of it.
Ann McNeil:
Yes.
Amy Vaughan:
It’s been on my list for a while.
Ann McNeil:
While during a period of my life.
Amy Vaughan:
I think it’s one of my friend Lucretia’s favorite books. Now that I think of it, she’s the one that’s mentioned it to me.
Ann McNeil:
A number of times. Listen, two times is a charm. The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. And. And just thinking about having a date with yourself. I call it a date. Whether you’re married, whether you’re single, divorced, it doesn’t matter.
Ann McNeil:
Have a daily date with yourself. And even if you cannot do it every day for the mere fact that you’re thinking about yourself. When you rise, you pray, you give thanks, you meditate, whatever it is that works for you. Make the daily deposits in yourself and be true to yourself to build yourself for the service of others.
Amy Vaughan:
I love that so much. And you know what? I think we’re just gonna wrap on that. We’re right at the hour. And that was just such good, sound advice. And I really hope that those of you who are listening, you know, truly listened. I know it’s hard. We multitask. We let our attention get pulled from other places.
Amy Vaughan:
So this episode will probably be live and up by midweek next week. So if anybody had to bounce early, they could come back to it. But I definitely think this has been an episode that’s worth listening to, not just once, but again, you know, whenever you feel like you’re starting to slip. And you have given us not just really good inspirational advice, but actionable steps in which we can take. So I encourage all of you to check out Ann and her work and where’s the best place for them to connect with you?
Ann McNeil:
I think the best place to connect with me is on LinkedIn. Okay, Ann McNeil with two Ls, N, E, I L L on LinkedIn.
Amy Vaughan:
Wonderful. Again, thank you, Ann, so much. This is such a pleasure. I’ve had a few weeks off from the podcast, so I’ve missed you all. I have missed this. It’s always such a good way to end my Friday with amazing women like yourself that are just doing really awesome things and sharing what they’ve learned and sharing that wisdom. So I really appreciate you being here with us today.
Ann McNeil:
Thank you.
Amy Vaughan:
All right, everyone. Well, that’s a wrap for this week. I’m excited to say we are back again next week, so we hope that you’ll be here to join us. I think we’re talking about AI a little bit. You know, we got to bring it back to that. We’ve got an expert from a local university that I actually met at a recent event, and I was just blown away by her approach and her conversation and her smarts and abilities. So she’s going to talk to us about how to empower your team with responsible AI, which a lot of us are advocating for and trying to work towards and getting in the workplace. But, you know, it’s not an easy challenge.
Amy Vaughan:
It’s an uphill battle for sure. So tune in next week if you want to learn more about that. Until then, everyone keeps asking, keep giving, and keep growing. We’ll see you soon.
