In the summer of 1999, my wife, Elizabeth Jeffries, and I made our first international trip together. We went to Italy and to the small hill town in Calabria where her grandparents immigrated from. It was an amazing adventure, and sparked our love of international travel.
Part of what made this trip so special is that we traveled with two other couples for part of the time. Jim and Naomi Rhode from Phoenix, Az and Joe and Carol Bonura from here in Louisville, KY joined us. After two weeks together, one of our group said, “This is fabulous. Where are we going next?”
Our response was, “We don’t know about you but we are going to England and Scotland.”
“When are we doing?”
“2021”
“Sign us up.”
Twenty Five Years of International Travel and Masterminding
For the next 25 years, the Tweeds, the Rhode’s, and The Bonura’s traveled the world, exploring, studying, laughing, eating, sharing ideas, and supporting one another. Our group became known as “The Souljourners“, and we name our trips “Intentional Travel”. On each trip we set aside time for a study planned by Naomi Rhode, our Spiritual Director. The learning was connected to the location, and to leaders of influence from that part of the world.
Since all six of us were engaged in the business of speaking professionally, and five of the six were leaders, board members, and past Presidents of The National Speakers Association, much of our conversation was about our businesses, and how we could help each other. Jim and Naomi owned a very large company called Smart Practice which served the dental industry, and later other health care professionals. Joe and Carol Bonura started and grew the largest advertising agency in the state of Kentucky, and third largest in Louisiana. Elizabeth and I were each professional speakers and authors before we met, and after we married in 1992, we merged our business together to form Tweed Jeffries, LLC. We later started Leading Home Care… a Tweed Jeffries company, and in 2013 we introduced the Mastermind Concept to the Home Care industry and formed the Home Care CEO Forum.
Uncommon Friends
One of our trips together was to Naples, Florida, and while we were there, we visited the Edison Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers. This was Thomas Edison and Henry Ford had their winter homes side by side, and Edison has his winter laboratory where he did many of his experiments and inventions.
Ford and Edison formed their own Mastermind Group with Harvey Firestone, Charles Lindbergh, and Dr. Alexis Carrel. The five of them became close friends and spent may days together camping and traveling. They spent may hours sharing ideas, solving problems, and supporting one another.
To learn more about them and their mastermind group, pick up a copy of the book, Uncommon Friends.
The Power of the Mastermind
It was our mastermind experience with the SoulJourners, and our experience with The Uncommon Friends, that led Elizabeth and me to introduce the Mastermind Concept to the Home Care industry. We met with the first group, then called the Five Million Dollar Mastermind, in Orlando Florida in February of 2013. There were five companies and eight individuals who met for two days sharing ideas. At the end of the two days, we invited them to join the group, and they all agreed.
Four of the five companies were sold, and one company is still a member of what is now the Top 5% Mastermind. That group is now ten companies between $10 million and $30 million in annual revenue who meet twice a year in-person, and once a month online. It is amazing to see what has happened with these companies and their leaders over the past dozen years.
Uncommon Friends Coming Together
This past week, we had a reunion of the SoulJourners. The Rhodes came to Louisville for three day while Naomi and Elizabeth participated in another study group they have been part of for 25 years called The Summit Sisters. They spent three days laughing, learning, and loving on each other.
Jim and I went to visit Joe and Carol, and spent several hours remembering and laughing about our wonderful times traveling the world and learning together.
You Become the People You Hang Around With
Ford, Edison, Firestone, Lindberg, and Carrel all were tremendously successful, and prospered even more as a result of their uncommon friendship.
Joe, Jim, and I have also become very successful in our chosen fields, and our uncommon friendship has contributed to that immensely.
As a Home Care leader, who do you hang out with?
Who do you get together with to share ideas solve problems, and support one another?
If you are a franchise Home Care company, perhaps you are a member of a Performance Group within your franchise system.
If you are an independent Home Care company, there is no better place to hang out with other tip tier company owners than at the Home Care CEO Forum, and as a member of a Home Care CEO Mastermind Group.
