My father, who was in retail for most of his career, wrote a book called the Savvy Shopper. He had been a department store executive and knew the ins and outs of how to get the best price on anything. My siblings and I still rib each other when asking how much another spent on a purchase, “Oh really?!” we’ll tease. “I could’ve gotten that for a nickel.” (My dad was a Depression-Era child, so a nickel was the standard back then.)

My dad’s book

In addition to providing insights for the best time to hit the stores, he also underscored that looking for bargains was not incompatible with enjoying paying full price at luxury places on occasion. He drove a Mercedes that he paid full-price for, but would wait for 30 minutes to find a parking space at Stew Leonard’s in order to save a dollar on a bag of candy.

I was thinking of him and his advice as I launched my most recent mastermind group last Friday.

It offers the eight women enrolled a luxury, year-long program where they come together for one full day each month to focus on their businesses. We’ll have guest experts at each session, plus plenty of time for participants to individually review their strategies and visions for the future. I’ll take the opportunity here to brag about the enormous talent, drive and enthusiasm of the women who self-selected to be in my in-person group.

The room we’re in has a spectacular view of trees, currently showing hints of color, big comfy couches to relax into and a caring and competent assistant who is scribing the proceedings, holding space at the back of the room and setting up lunch and tea throughout the day.

The team was hand-vetted by me, and it’s a dream come true all around. We are all in awe of the talent in the room, the visions being shared and the love and support offered by all in attendance. It’s my Tiffany offer.

On Tuesday, through the diligence and creativity of Suzen Petit and Jennifer Covello of Mom to Mompreneur Now!, I will be making a very different offer for women, moms in particular. This will be my Target version of a mastermind group. Like Isaac Mizrahi and Liz Lange who offer high end versions of their designs in places like Neiman Marcus and Saks as well as more affordable versions at the design-savvy discount chain, I want to do the same with my services.

These groups of eight will meet virtually–by phone–for 90 minutes per session over the course of six months. I will encourage participants to focus on one aspect of their business growth–whether it’s deciding on a vision for your business, designing a web presence, a social media program or a product/service development focus. This mastermind offer will be a condensed, high-speed version using the same format of sharing successes, challenges and goals with each other as I coach, encourage and nudge each participant to expand her range of what’s possible.

So, if you’re a Savvy Shopper/woman business owner–or want to be, or know someone looking for a designer experience at a really good price, please forward this entry or sign up for my upcoming virtual mastermind group starting at the end of the month.