The eve a new year was ushered in, a new era began in the life of Ann McNeill. It was December 31 1980. Instead of enjoying New Year’s Eve festivities with her husband, she decided to stay home and read a book. What book could be that interesting? That book was Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and it changed her life. The book soon became her blueprint in creating her strategic life plan, she took the book with her every where she went, preaching its principles to anyone that would listen. She gave the book to a small circle of friends at her local church in West Palm Beach, Florida and from there began to give the book as a gift for birthdays.
In Think and Grow Rich, McNeill was introduced to the Mastermind concept of goal setting. Once she started to apply the principles in the book to her own life, a shift began to take place. She began to move from mediocrity to excellence. She also realized that it would be selfish to keep the Mastermind concept to herself, and a major part of Mastermind is accountability. She needed to share Mastermind with others. She needed a group of like minded people to whom she would be accountable She started to meet with those she had given the book to for discussion “sessions”. From this the original Mastermind Women’s Group was formed.
As McNeill’s life transitioned so did the group. Her move to Miami in the early 1990s meant a formation of a Mastermind group. The original Miami Mastermind Women included Alice Fincher, Bert Johnson, Isabella Rivers, Shaundra Scott, Nifretta Thomas and, of course, Ann McNeill. The group met every Saturday morning at 7:00AM to discuss their goals and over the next 5 years saw tremendous growth in its members. McNeill left her corporate job to start a construction company, which she has parlayed into a small dynasty. She is the President of MCO Construction and Services Inc., MCO Consulting, Inc., Constructively Speaking, Inc., Franchise Owner of Colbert/Ball Tax, Founder of Speak 2 Share, Incorporated and of course Founder and President of the International Mastermind Association. The group has produced several authors, such as Dr. Mia Y. Merritt, and a host of other successful entrepreneurs.
Mastermind Women’s Group has members that have come and gone, but the nucleus and precepts on which it was founded have remained. In 2005, the group restructured and Mastermind Empowerment Association was born and as the organization was officially incorporated for the first time, it saw an influx in membership, growing to nearly one hundred members. Further, for the first time the membership included men and children. It was also at this time that the organization’s annual meeting began to be restructured into the conference that it is today.
Again, in 2007 the organization began to remake itself, changing its name from Mastermind Empowerment Association, Incorporated to International Mastermind Association to encompass the membership that has now spread from the United States to other countries.
As the organization continues to grow and expand the mission still remains the same… To teach people how to create a strategic life plan, in order for them to achieve success.