Running a business is a team sport with a solo scoreboard. Your employees see one version of you. Your customers see another. Your spouse hears about the hard days, but not always in the language of someone who's sat in the same chair and faced the same decisions.
That gap — between the weight of the choices you carry and the number of people you can actually talk to about them — is one of the most common things I hear from business owners across Minnesota. It's also the problem that Coalition9, a Twin Cities-based peer advisory community, was built to solve. I'm a member, and it's one of the better investments I've made in my own growth as a leader.
What Peer Advisory Groups Actually Do
The concept isn't new. Peer advisory groups — sometimes called mastermind groups, CEO roundtables, or business peer groups — have been around for decades. The premise is straightforward: gather a small group of business owners or leaders who don't compete with each other, create a confidential space, and work through real challenges together.
What makes them effective isn't the format. It's the honesty. In a well-run peer group, you're not performing for investors or managing employee morale. You're sitting across from people who understand what it feels like to make payroll by a thread, let go of a longtime employee, or turn down a deal that looked great on paper but felt wrong in your gut.
The accountability matters too. When you tell eight other business owners you're going to do something, you do it. Not because anyone is keeping score, but because you don't want to show up next month having talked a big game and done nothing. That kind of productive pressure is hard to find anywhere else.
How Coalition9 Approaches It
Aaron Eggert founded Coalition9 in 2020 with a premise that sounds simple but turns out to be uncommon: bring good people together based on character, not title or company size. As he puts it, the goal was to "bring good people together and be the future of Minnesota business."
Five years in, the community has grown from a pandemic-era idea into one of the largest peer advisory communities in the Twin Cities metro. Members meet in groups of nine — small enough for real conversation, large enough for diverse perspective — through Coalition9's LeadForward™ facilitation process. Monthly half-day sessions are supplemented by quarterly SPARK Series events, an active online member community, and cross-group mentorship that connects leaders at different stages of their journey.
The membership model is perpetual rather than annual and affordable— a deliberate choice to keep the barrier lower than national peer advisory organizations. Eggert's reasoning is straightforward: if the community is only accessible to established executives, you lose the emerging leaders who often bring the most energy and fresh thinking to the room.
What Coalition9 doesn't do is equally telling. There are no mandatory referral quotas, no hard sales pitches, no expectation that every meeting produces a transaction. The value is the room itself — and the people in it.
What It's Actually Like Inside a Group
My group is made up of CEOs, founders, and leaders who run their own businesses. The industries are different — which is the point. A construction company owner can learn something from a marketing agency founder, and vice versa, precisely because they're not fighting over the same customers.
The conversations are confidential and substantive. We talk about the things you can't talk about with your team: the hire you're not sure about, the partnership that's drifting, the growth decision that keeps you up at night. The diversity of experience in the room means someone has almost always faced a version of your problem before, and they'll tell you what they actually did — not what a textbook says to do.
Members consistently describe the experience the same way. One put it this way: "I've finally found 'my people.'" That's not a networking group talking point. That's what happens when you put character-driven leaders in a room and give them permission to be honest.
For business owners in Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities who've tried networking groups and found them too transactional, or who've considered national organizations but wanted something more rooted in the local business community, Coalition9 occupies a distinct lane.
The Power of Nine Podcast
Coalition9 also produces The Power of Nine Podcast, hosted by Eggert, which profiles Minnesota entrepreneurs and leaders. The show digs into what drives local business owners — the turning points, the failures that became lessons, and the habits that stuck. Each episode closes with nine rapid-fire questions that have nothing to do with business, which turns out to be where some of the best moments happen.
The podcast has become a resource well beyond the Coalition9 membership. If you're curious whether a peer advisory group is right for you, a few episodes will give you a clear sense of the culture Eggert has built and the caliber of leaders in the community.
Why We Support Coalition9
Security Bank & Trust Co. has been Coalition9's banking partner since its founding and is a Community Supporter of the organization. That's not a sponsorship decision made by a marketing committee — it reflects a genuine alignment in how we think about business relationships.
Community banking and peer advisory communities run on the same fuel: trust built over time, long-term thinking over short-term transactions, and a conviction that the people around you make you better. The business owners in Coalition9's groups are the same business owners who walk into our offices across McLeod, Carver, Hennepin, Isanti, Anoka, Sibley, and Ramsey Counties. They're building companies, managing cash flow, planning exits, and looking for partners who understand the stakes.
If you're a Minnesota business owner exploring peer advisory groups, Coalition9 is worth a conversation. You can learn more and apply at coalition9.com.
And if your business is at a stage where the right banking relationship could make a measurable difference — whether that's financing for growth, succession planning, or simply having a banker who picks up the phone — we'd like to hear from you.
FAQ: Peer Advisory Groups for Minnesota Business Owners
What is a peer advisory group? A peer advisory group is a small, confidential group of business owners or leaders from non-competing industries who meet regularly to share challenges, offer perspective, and hold each other accountable. Think of it as a board of advisors for your business, made up of people who've faced similar decisions.
How much does it cost to join Coalition9? Coalition9 memberships can be found on their website and through direct outreach to Aaron Eggert and his team.
Do I need to be a CEO or business owner to join? No. Coalition9 accepts professionals at all stages of their leadership journey. Membership is based on character and commitment to the community, not title or company size.
How is Coalition9 different from a networking group? Traditional networking groups often focus on referrals and transactions. Coalition9 is structured around leadership development, honest conversation, and long-term relationship building. The groups of nine are intentionally small to create space for deeper connection.
Where is Coalition9 based? Coalition9 is based in Minneapolis and serves leaders and entrepreneurs across Minnesota. Meetings are held in-person and via video, depending on the group.
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