Renee:
When people talk about business growth, they usually talk about strategy. Tactics. Funnels. Launches. Marketing plans.
But what I’ve learned watching (and living) this journey is that relationships are the real business plan.
Because no matter how good your strategy is, without connection, it doesn’t go very far.
In those early years, Mark was building relationships that would shape the future of our business. And my experience during that same season looked and felt very different.
While he was making soul-filled connections in California, I was holding it all down at home in Florida.
He was talking to transformational leaders. I was talking to toddlers.
No family nearby. No backup plan. No roadmap. Just a whole lot of faith and a deep belief in what we were building.
Mark:
One of the most surreal moments came early that day in Beverly Hills.
The Unstoppable Mastermind was just hours away, and I came downstairs to grab breakfast at the hotel restaurant with a friend I had met at the Unstoppable Gala the prior evening. There, at a nearby table, sat Bob Proctor, his business partner Sandy Gallagher, and his assistant.
I respect boundaries and privacy, especially when someone is eating. But the friend I had just sat down with stood up to thank Bob for his decades of work. Bob smiled warmly and invited us to join them.
And just like that, I found myself having breakfast with one of the most iconic figures in personal development.
By the end of that day, 20 transformational leaders at that mastermind had said yes to participating in our second Personal Transformation Summit.
And that, yes? It opened a thousand doors we could never have planned for.
Renee:
Meanwhile, back home, my world felt very small.
I loved being with Eden and Xen. I loved seeing them grow and discover. But there’s a particular kind of loneliness that comes from giving everything to a dream and feeling invisible inside of it.
I didn’t crave a big community. I didn’t want to be out there networking and building connections the way Mark was.
But I did want to feel part of something bigger than my living room and a never-ending pile of laundry.
I didn’t need the spotlight. But I did need connection.
Eventually, I created a local mom group with neighbors and played Bunko once a month just to have some adult conversations that didn’t involve Paw Patrol or goldfish crackers.
And later, as the kids started school, I found my voice showing up in new ways, leading the PTA at a school with over 1,500 students and 120 staff members.
I didn’t know it then, but leadership was calling me forward, too. Just in a different way and in its own timing.
Mark:
The connections with visionary leaders from that Unstoppable Mastermind kept rippling out in ways we couldn’t have scripted if we tried.
One of those leaders was Barnet Bain, Oscar-winning producer of What Dreams May Come. We connected that weekend, then deepened our bond through a profound conversation about the "Third Story" of life during his segment of the summit. Years later, my mentor Alan Davidson and I helped Barnet create a course on creativity for Humanity’s Team.
It’s also where I became friends with Glen and Natalie Ledwell, founders of Mind Movies—a $10M+ business. Over time, we became friends. After their divorce, Natalie spoke at our first Soulful Leadership Retreat and contributed a powerful chapter, called “Playing a Bigger Game,” to our first Soulful Leadership Anthology.
The next year, both Glen and Natalie joined us again for our second retreat—held virtually—and co-authored a chapter called “Building Partnerships Strong Enough to Thrive Through Divorce.”
That’s the kind of soul-level authenticity that forms when business is rooted in purpose—not ego.
Renee:
From the outside, it might’ve looked like Mark was just "building the business."
But from where I stood, I saw something more sacred happening:
He was building a community.
One conversation. One connection. One shared mission at a time.
And though I didn’t feel fully part of it yet... I knew it was important. I knew it was ours, even if it wasn’t my voice leading it yet.
Mark:
The thread continued: At the Joint Venture Experience in 2013, hosted by Rich German and Milana Leshinsky, I met Jay Fiset. Five years later, at The Powerful Living Experience, Jay invited me to join his team for JVology—first in Calgary, then in Orlando.
At that Orlando event, I met someone I had long admired: David Riklan, founder of SelfGrowth.com.
Fast forward two years, David attended our first Soulful Leadership Retreat in 2020. He joined MetaMind shortly after—and together, we co-founded the JV Directory, a brand that has now served over 2,000 coaches, speakers, and transformational leaders and over 700 podcast hosts.
Renee:
Looking back, I realize it wasn’t the fast moves that mattered most. It was the faithful, steady weaving of community.
Mark wasn’t just chasing leads or checking boxes. He was nurturing relationships that would one day nurture us.
Connection became our currency. Community became our safety net. Collaboration became our future.
And even though I wasn’t always the one making those early connections… I realize now: Those relationships weren’t just his, they were ours.
Because every time he built a bridge, he was building it for our family. For our future clients. For the leaders we hadn’t even met yet.
Mark and Renee:
One real connection leads to another… And before you know it, you’ve woven a beautiful tapestry of service-based leaders, soul-aligned collaborators, and lifelong friends.
We built this business together. But not alone.
We built it with people we trusted. People who believed in something bigger than a product or a paycheck. People who showed up with open hearts and powerful missions.
And we’re still building it. One connection at a time.
Because relationships aren’t just part of the business. They are the business.