For one glorious day in Minneapolis, MN, we were treated like movie stars. A few weeks ago, my mastermind group gathered there a meeting and video shoot. This is a new service fellow mastermind member Viki Vertel of Digital Buddha Studios is launching for small business owners, but you would have thought she and her team had been doing it forever. They were fabulous. One of them actually thanked us afterward for making it so much fun for them. (I guess the rock stars and actors they typically shoot can be a little, um, moody.)

From left to right: Carla Young, Viki Viertel, Terri Hoover, Roxanne Pennington, Wayne Johnson, Tracy Needham, Lynn Burkholder, Tom Buford, and Charlon Bobo

I’m not a big fan of getting pictures taken so I was definitely apprehensive about getting in front of video cameras. I’ve done the Toastmasters thing and can definitely speak in front of groups, but I’ll probably never be comfortable doing it. But this was so different. You have the words in front of you on the teleprompter, a friendly crew on the other side of the bright lights, and the freedom to keep doing new takes until you get it right. Much easier!

I wrote and filmed three scripts including a comedy sketch called Bad Copy Theater. That was certainly the most challenging one because it involved three of my mastermind members (Viki, Carla Young of Tangent Ideas, and Corporate Escape Coach Lynn Burkholder) as well as honoree member for the day Tom Buford of Charge What You Deserve—and we never had a chance to practice it. During the filming I couldn’t see what Viki, Carla and Lynn were actually doing—the only way I knew the action was over was when producer Wayne Johnson would break out in laughter. I’m really anxious to see how it turned out, but all the technical production work is still being completed. For the moment I have to take solace in the fact that Wayne, who’s entering a film into Sundance this year, said it was his favorite video of the day.

Viki had quite a day prepared for us—limousine to and from, professional hair and makeup people (yes, it’s true, the pros really do use Maybelline Great Lash mascara with all their high-end makeup), the video shoot, headshots, and then an Inside the Actor’s studio-style shoot where Tom interviewed all of us about our mastermind group. We also occasionally guest-starred in each other’s videos throughout the day—I got to channel Cruella de Ville as a boss giving her employee a bad review. It was exhausting but it was a blast.