Episode 949: Coaching a Chapter to Greatness (Classic)

Summary

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The Official BNI Podcast:

Episode 949 – Coaching a Chapter to Greatness (Classic)

Host: Dr. Ivan Misner
Guest: Mark Brevison, President, Founders Chapter BNI
Date: February 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

This classic episode dives deep into practical strategies for transforming a struggling BNI chapter into a thriving, energized group. Dr. Ivan Misner is joined by Mark Brevison, president of BNI’s Founders Chapter, to discuss the coaching, mindset, and actionable steps that led their chapter from stagnation to explosive growth—even through the challenges of COVID-19. The conversation delivers insights valuable for any BNI member or leader aiming to maximize member engagement, accountability, and chapter results.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Backstory: Meeting & Inspiration

[03:29-04:13]

• Mark Brevison recalls attending a networking event led by Ivan Misner at Walter’s Restaurant, Claremont.
  • Mark was inspired by Ivan’s genuine networking skills:
    “You went around and met everybody and shook hands and introduced yourself and you showed everybody how to network. And I thought it was great.” (Mark Brevison, 03:29)
• Ivan remembers the event’s intimate setting and openness for Q&A, which sparked Mark’s curiosity about what made an outstanding chapter.

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2. The Decision to Seek Help and Shared Leadership

[05:06-05:49]

• Mark identified early that his team didn’t have all the answers, so they reached out for advice:
  • Spoke with successful chapter leaders, executive director Mike Adre, and Christine Bond for strategies.
  • Emphasized the value of humble leadership and learning from others.
  • “We don’t know everything, and it would be better to talk to people who’ve had success in BNI and find out what their strategies were.” (Mark Brevison, 05:06)

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3. Honest Member Assessment & The $100,000 Question

[05:49-06:49]

• Interviewed every chapter member to learn:
  • What they liked/disliked,
  • What they wanted to change,
  • Where they saw the chapter in 6 months to a year.
• Used Christine Bond’s question:
  • “If your chapter membership cost you $100,000 a year, what would you be doing differently?” (Mark Brevison, 06:00)
  • Sparked reflection and motivation among members to step up engagement right now.
  • “If you think you should be doing it, why aren’t you doing it now?” (Ivan Misner, 06:44)

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4. Culture of Recognition & Accountability

[06:56-09:41]

• Recognition Initiatives:

  • Weekly “Best Speaker” trophy, passed to the member with the best presentation to encourage quality.
  • ‘Notable Networker’ framed certificates—celebratory, university-style awards presented publicly to recognize referrals and results.
    • Ivan highlights that the Notable Networker concept started in Mark’s chapter.
  • Perpetual plaque displayed for visitors, listing monthly member achievements in referrals and closed business.

• Accountability Initiatives:

  • Tightened adherence to BNI rules, especially regarding meeting punctuality.
  • Initially challenging but soon “everybody kind of fell in line and people were showing up on time and doing the right things.” (Mark Brevison, 09:10)
  • Reinforced the idea that positive peer pressure creates better engagement and productivity.

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5. Education & Meeting Stimulus

[09:41-10:57]

• Focused on member training, recognizing that “well-trained members pass more referrals.”
  • Encouraged attendance at BNI trainings.
  • In-house educational themes to keep skills sharp.
  • Incorporated fun meeting stimulants (interactive exercises).
    • Example: Members themed their weekly “ask” around Beatles songs—e.g., the tax advisor picked “Taxman.”
      • “It was fun to watch people’s faces... It was really good.” (Mark Brevison, 10:22)
  • Stressed not to overuse; suggested using stimulants every 4–6 weeks for best effect.

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6. Adapting & Thriving in COVID-19

[10:57-12:49]

• Swift, smooth transition to online meetings—only one week missed.

  • Biggest challenge: maintaining focus online.
  • Solution: Introduced the “PowerPoint Wheel”—a digital spinner with all members' names. Each person had to recall another member’s “ask,” encouraging active listening and boosting engagement.
    • “If they’re able to do that, they get another ask. So everybody’s focused and it works really, really well.” (Mark Brevison, 11:34)

• Ivan addresses the mindset challenge:

  • “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’ll be right. And people, COVID is not the problem. COVID is a problem. But people need BNI more than ever. It can be an opportunity. You can in fact grow during COVID.” (Ivan Misner, 11:51)

  • BNI grew by a net 700 chapters during COVID, reflecting the power of attitude and adaptability.

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7. Extending the Coaching – For All Members

[13:02-13:39]

• Ivan acknowledges high demand for similar coaching worldwide but notes he can’t work directly with every chapter.
• Announces upcoming podcasts that will distill and share all his guidance to Mark’s chapter, making the coaching accessible globally.

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Notable Quotes

• “If your chapter membership cost you $100,000 a year, what would you be doing differently?”
  — Christine Bond’s signature question, via Mark Brevison (06:00)

• “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’ll be right.”
  — Dr. Ivan Misner, on mindset during COVID (11:51)

• “Positive peer pressure creates better engagement and productivity.”
  — Summation of Mark’s approach to accountability (09:32)

• “Nobody ever recognizes entrepreneurs, and they could hopefully inspire some other member to do the same.”
  — Mark Brevison, on the importance of recognition (07:51)

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Timeline of Significant Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Event | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:29 | Mark & Ivan recall their meeting and early inspiration | | 05:06 | Identifying knowledge gaps, reaching out to successful leaders | | 05:49 | Member interviews and the $100,000 membership question | | 06:56 | Creating a culture of member recognition (awards, plaques, certificates) | | 09:10 | Introducing stronger accountability (showing up on time, following BNI rules) | | 09:41 | Education and meeting stimulants (creative asks, themed meetings) | | 10:57 | Adapting through COVID: digital engagement strategies | | 11:51 | Ivan’s perspective on mindset and thriving through adversity | | 13:02 | Ivan pledges to share his coaching process with all BNI members via the podcast |

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Memorable Moments

• Mark’s humility in saying, “We don’t know everything,” and his openness to learning—not just from Ivan but from successful peers, illustrates the collaborative spirit of BNI.
• The creative use of Beatles-themed “asks” turned routine meetings into something memorable and engaging for all members.
• The PowerPoint Wheel solution during online meetings proved that fun, focus, and accountability can survive—and even thrive—on Zoom.

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Episode Takeaways

• Proactive leadership and humility to ask for help are essential for chapter turnarounds.
• Member recognition, clear accountability, and ongoing education fuel chapter growth.
• Innovative engagement tools and mindset are crucial, especially in times of crisis.
• BNI’s collective wisdom—shared through connections and this very podcast—can enable any chapter to achieve greatness.

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Transcript

[A]

Hello, this is Priscilla Rice, and I'm coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio. This week we're going to have a rebroadcast of one of our earlier classic podcasts. We hope you enjoy it, and thanks so much for listening. Episode number 728, Coaching a Chapter to Greatness.

[B]

You're listening to the official BNI podcast with BI founder and chief visionary officer, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Stay tuned for networking and referral marketing tips from the man who's been called the father of modern networking, along with suggestions and insights into getting the most from your membership in the world's largest networking organization, bni.

[A]

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the official BNI Podcast. I'm Priscilla Rice, and I'm coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. And I'm joined on the phone today by the founder and the Chief visionary officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Hello, Ivan. And how are you? And where are you?

[C]

I am about to head to Santa Barbara for a training. Jack Canfield has asked me to be part of a training program that he's got going in Santa Barbara. And I'm Barbara, and I'm really excited to be there and to work with Jack and many other people and helping to talk about how to be successful in business. So I'm really excited about that. Excellent.

[A]

That sounds great.

[C]

I am also incredibly excited to have a guest on the podcast, Mark Brevison. Mark is the chapter president of the founders chapter of bni. And when I say founders chapter, I mean the number one chapter, 10,300. And you know, I think it's 10, 363 chapters ago. It was the very, very first chapter of bni. Let me just talk a little bit about Mark. Mark spent seven years in Thailand. His family traveled a lot. He returned to California when he was 14. He graduated high school in West Covina. I graduated from Zusa Unified. So very close to you, Mark.

[D]

Yes.

[C]

You went to Cal Poly Pomona to study electrical engineering. I went to Cal Poly and I taught at Cal Poly. And Mark quickly found out that he wasn't real fond of physics, which I can totally get. So he took an entrepreneurial leap and opened a small custom T shirt shop in a mall in Pomona. And I bet you I know what mall that is in Pomona that you opened up in.

[D]

Which one?

[C]

Is it that walk in mall that there's, like in the streets?

[D]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah, I remember it well, and I remember it being redeveloped many years ago. It was exactly when my grandmother lived there. Yeah. So anyway, despite some initial difficulties, like he says, he didn't know how to run a business, he did make a success of it. And today's company is here some 35 years later and making some absolute unforgettable customized apparel in Irwindale. And of course, I know where Irwindale is as well. Mark, it's such a pleasure to have you on this podcast. And you asked me in a note if I recall our meeting at Walters Restaurant in Claremont way back and. Yes, I do. Do you want to give a quick review of what happened at that meeting?

[D]

Well, that's amazing. I mean, we found out you were going to be in Claremont and I couldn't wait to go and check things out and see you in person and hear you talk. And I was very impressed with the way you worked the room. You went around and met everybody and shook hands and introduced yourself and you showed everybody how to network. And I thought it was great. I was very impressed. And there was a great Q and A session afterwards. And I left kind of like, wow, what can a chapter be if we follow some of these strategies? It was great.

[C]

Well, thank you. I really enjoyed doing it and I love meeting BNI members. And I remember this event very clearly because it wasn't huge. I think there was like 30 people, maybe 40 people at this.

[D]

Something like that.

[C]

Yeah. And it was. Was a blast. So you reached out to me afterwards and asked when you became chapter president, if you could. If we could talk and if I could help in any way. And I think I actually even made the offer at that meeting that I'd be glad to help because I know the founding chapter was struggling. And by the time we spoke, you had about 20 members. It's now 35 members. And. And you asked if I would help and I said yes. And so I coached the founding chapter because I really want this chapter to continue to do well. And so what we're going to do today, Mark, is talk about some of the things that you implemented into your chapter to turn it into a 35 member chapter. So the first one was talking to people who, you know. You want to talk about that?

[D]

Yes. One of the strategies was to realize that we don't know anything or everything, and it would be better to talk to people who've had success in BNI and find out what their strategies were. So my vice president coming in, Mark Vigil and I did that. We talked to different chapter leaders and we had you helping us and our executive director, Mike Adre, and the wonderful Christine Bond in Southern California, who love Christine she's great. Yeah, she was very helpful. So we just asked questions, you know, what are some of the things we need to do? How can we do them? How do you get people to buy in that kind of thing?

[C]

And love you, too, Mike. Both great people, Mike. Adric, what was the next thing that you did?

[D]

Well, what we wanted to do is in order to get a feel for where the chapter was with the members, we interviewed every single member and we asked some specific questions to just get a general idea. What do you like most about the chapter? What do you like least about the chapter? Where would you like to see the chapter in six months, In a year? And the answers were similar. And it was just like, well, there's not enough members. There's not enough referrals. We want more members. We want more. Thank you for close business. And I stole one of Christine Bond's signature questions, which was, if your chapter membership cost you $100,000 a year, what would you be doing differently? And they would say things like. They would say, I do more one to ones, or I prepare my presentations a little better. And I would say, well, why aren't you doing that? Now?

[C]

That's a great question. I didn't know she asked that. Next time I see her, I'll.

[D]

Isn't that a great question? I love that question.

[C]

It is. It absolutely is. Because it makes you think, well, yeah, I'd be working a lot harder. Why aren't we now?

[D]

Exactly.

[C]

Great. Great question. All right, give me your next point about helping members realize the chapter's potential.

[D]

Yeah. What we wanted to do is, is basically focus on the core values of bni, specifically the member recognition and accountability, which are two of my favorites. I mean, there's so many that are my favorites, but I thought that one might be a good one. So what we started to do was we did a weekly best speaker trophy award, where we would award that to the member who gave the best weekly presentation. They would hold onto it for a week, come back in a week, and then they would give it to the next speaker. So that was a way to encourage people to up their presentation skills a little bit.

[C]

Love it. Love it. Yeah.

[D]

We also wanted to continue with the notable networker theme. What we did was we created almost like a certificate, like a diploma from a university, where we got a simple frame, framed it, put their name in it in old English letters so it looked real official. Brought them up to the front of the room, said, how did you. How were you able to get that many one to ones? And that much closed business and it gave them a chance to shine. So the goal was they could be recognized because nobody ever recognizes entrepreneurs and they could hopefully inspire some other member to do the same.

[C]

You know, the Notable Networker Awards were started in your chapter and we actually, in the very early days, had a small award, a standing award, and it would sit in front of the member who won the Notable Networker award for the month, and it would sit in front of them for the month. Over time they just kind of grew legs and disappeared. So we went to certificates. But that that concept of Notable Network started in your chapter, as did many, many other things. Nice talk about the top achievers. Is that what you had just covered?

[D]

Sort of, yeah. And we also did a perpetual plaque that we sat in front of the visitor table. So whenever anybody came in, there was this nice walnut framed plaque and it had everybody's name for each month, you know, in terms of thank you for closed business referrals, CEUs, et cetera. So they were all recognized as well. So it gave a little extra, I think, and it seemed to work.

[C]

You mentioned recognition and accountability. Is there anything else you want to say on that or do you want to talk about education?

[D]

Accountability was going to be a little bit challenging. So we implemented a little. We started basically following BNI rules a little more closely and started talking about tardiness and why you want to be on time. And despite a little initial resistance, everybody kind of fell in line and people were showing up on time and doing the right things.

[C]

It's amazing how that effort yields such great results and people are really hesitant to do it.

[D]

Absolutely.

[C]

Education and meeting stimulants. You want to talk about those real briefly?

[D]

Sure, sure. We basically wanted to make sure that our members were well trained because well trained members pass more referrals and ultimately everybody wins when they do that. So we had some chapter in house educational themes we had. We tried to encourage people to go to trainings and ultimately more people participated. And the results, it's kind of a no brainer. The BNI has prepared the roadmap. All you have to do is follow it. The other thing we did in the meetings were stimulants, where we tried to make the meetings a little more fun. One of the last ones we did in person was tie your weekly ask to a Beatles theme, a Beatles song rather. And it was fun to watch people's faces. I mean, the tax guy did Tax man and it was funny, it was really good.

[C]

And just for clarity, he said weekly ask with a K. A S, K. And yeah, that is a fun meeting stimulant. We've got a lot. If you don't know what we're talking about, we're not talking about good drugs. We're talking about these meeting stimulants that have been developed by BNI over the years. And you can find them, the leadership teams have access to them and that's a fun one. I wouldn't do a meeting stimulant every week, but doing them, you know, once every month or six weeks, I think looks great.

[D]

It was once every other month.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I think that's great. Yeah. You wanted to talk about COVID Briefly hit upon that.

[D]

Yes. When Covid came, it sort of changed everything. We really didn't know what was going to be happening. But fortunately BNI came through. We just missed one week. And the initial challenge, once the tech issue were, were resolved, was getting people to focus on the meeting. So, yeah, one of our members, Josh Fisher, sent me a PowerPoint wheel that we use in the meetings to this day. It basically is a round wheel. It has everybody's name on it. Everybody writes down everybody's ask. We spin the wheel. The first person has to recite is up on deck. And then they have to recite the ask of another member. If they, if they're able to do that, they get another ask. So everybody's focused and it works really, really well.

[C]

And Mark, you've been stable or grown during COVID right?

[D]

Yes, absolutely.

[C]

And I want to say this to all the listeners, the members. I recently just had a BNI director. Tell me, what are you thinking, Ivan? You can't possibly grow. Everything's going to go backwards during COVID And I had to tell him, if you think you can or you think you can't, you'll be right. And people, Covid is not the problem. Covid is a problem. But people need BNI more than ever. It can be an opportunity. You can in fact grow. During COVID We've opened more than 700 chapters. I don't know if you knew that, Mark, during COVID That's amazing. Net 700, our membership has gone up. It's all about belief. And what I love about you, Mark, is that you believed when you and I talked at Walter's restaurant, you believed it was possible and you helped other people in your chapter believe it was possible. And I'm just really proud of the founders chapter and I'm proud of you and I'm so pleased to have you on BNI podcast today.

[D]

Thank you. It's a privilege.

[C]

Well, before I leave, I know the question that chapters are going to ask is, hey, can you do this for our group, too? With, you know, 10,400 groups worldwide?

[A]

I can't.

[C]

However, what I'm going to do is take all of the communication that I had with you, Mark, and with your permission, I'm going to do podcasts before the end of the year. It'll probably take about three podcasts to go through all of the different recommendations that I made to the chapter, and so you'll get the same coaching, basically, that I gave to the founders chapter. And Mark, thank you so much again. It's a pleasure having you on.

[D]

Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. And Founders Rules.

[C]

Founder's rule. Absolutely. Well done. Over to you, Priscilla.

[A]

Okay, perfect. Thank you both. That was just great. Well, I'd like to tell you that this podcast is sponsored by MeisnerAudioPrograms.com these audio programs are going to provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your B and I experience and help you boost your business. So check out the great material available to [e-mail] and use the promo code IVAN5O for 50% off all audio programs. And all of the proceeds are going to the BNI Foundation. So thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of the official B and I podcast.