Ina Coveney
Welcome back to the podcast. Today we're talking to Scott Joseph, who is the CEO, founder, and creator of the Me Plus Ultra Mastermind. We're going to be talking all about that, and I am so glad to welcome my friend Scott to the show. Hi, Scott, thank you so much for being here.

Scott Joseph
Thank you for having me.

Ina Coveney
I am so excited to get to talk to you. But before we start, why don’t you tell everybody what it is that you do right now and who you serve right now?

Scott Joseph
I serve entrepreneurs and business leaders with Me Plus Ultra, which is a mastermind group that I started a year and a half ago.

Ina Coveney
Okay, and how’s it going?

Scott Joseph
It’s going great. It’s going great.

Ina Coveney
And full transparency—I am a member.

Scott Joseph
Yes, you are.

Ina Coveney
So I know how amazing it is. Why don’t you tell everybody a little bit of where did you come from? Can you tell us, first of all, which area of the United States should we picture you growing up in?

Scott Joseph
Well, growing up, Cincinnati, Ohio. But most of my life I’ve been in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ina Coveney
Which is super near and dear to my heart because I spent time over there in the early aughts. And I just love Louisville so much. I got to go there, and I have to say that my life completely changed when I went to your event in Louisville. So before we get there—because I know I’m totally going to overshare here about everything that has happened in my life because of your event—why don’t you tell everybody what event I’m talking about? Where did the idea for those events come from?

Scott Joseph
Well, that’d be Business Bourbon and Cigars. I started this mastermind group kind of in reverse of the way this normally works. I actually started with the event, Business Bourbon and Cigars, and worked my way backwards to the group. It started during COVID. So what happened was, in those first couple of weeks when everybody was shutting down and we were forced to lock in, we weren’t allowed to go anywhere.

Scott Joseph
We had a lot of different dealers—because back then, it was all focused on automotive. A lot of dealers, depending on what state they were in, really had no clear game plan as to what they were going to do. Some states weren’t even allowed to sell. In Pennsylvania, you weren’t even allowed to sell cars online for a period of time. Some states allowed you to service vehicles because that was an emergency-type situation.

Scott Joseph
And so the rules were changing all over the place. So, you know, Sandy Cerami—

Ina Coveney
Yeah, I do!

Scott Joseph
Good friend out of New Jersey. Him and I discussed, hey, let’s do virtual meetings. We’d do it once a week, call it DWIN—Dealer Weekly Information Network. We brought in attorneys, HR people, marketing people, CPAs—we covered all topics: PPP loans, how to do layoffs, furloughs. Everybody was trying to understand the best way to navigate all this.

Scott Joseph
So we did that for a period of time, and it was going well. I think people appreciated it. But then, if you go back in time to 2020, people started getting a little stir-crazy. We were missing going out and socializing. So I think Sandy goes, “Hey, let’s hop on a Zoom Friday at 5 o'clock. We’ll call it a happy hour.”

Scott Joseph
He goes, “Bring a bourbon.” I said, “Yeah,” and he said, “Let’s do a cigar.” So we did that. It was just a meeting on how we were going to make the weekly virtual meetings better. But we had a blast. What bourbon do you have, what cigar? We were talking about all that. We ended up with five pages of notes on how to improve DWIN.

Scott Joseph
So we were like, wow, that was really productive. We did this a couple of weeks. That became a normal thing for us because we enjoyed it and were productive. Then we invited Jameel Zabenet, the CEO of my marketing agency, J&L. And we noticed there was a box missing—because on Zoom you see three people—and we said, “We should have one of our dealer clients or prospects come in. We’ll call it the Fourth Box.”

Scott Joseph
It was invite-only. We told people on DWIN, “Hey guys, we’re inviting someone once a week to the Fourth Box. We do a bourbon, a cigar, and we talk business. You don’t have to do all three—just check two of the three boxes.” And people were like, “I want in. I want in on this.”

Scott Joseph
These were people that weren’t even clients. When we did these, we were having so much fun and the meetings were so productive. I mean, people were just taking all kinds of notes. These Fourth Box meetings—some of them lasted two or three hours. We couldn’t get these people off the phone. These were people who, prior to COVID, wouldn’t have given us the time of day. So we thought, ah, we’re onto something.

Scott Joseph
Fast forward to October, Sandy and I said, “I think people just want to do something in person.” So in three weeks, we planned our first event. Back then it was called something else, but we later renamed it Business Bourbon and Cigars. Thirteen people showed up. We did true mastermind sessions—real ones.

Ina Coveney
We can get into that if you want.

Scott Joseph
Yes, we did real mastermind sessions in the business part of the retreat. It went really well. And then the second half of the day, we did bourbon tours—we’ve got Buffalo Trace and other cool spots in Louisville—and cigar action. That’s how it started, and it just kind of grew from there.

Ina Coveney
This is a message for my editor—I’m going to pin it right here because we’re going to come back to this exact point. Talking about masterminds, we’re going to put in something first, which is this question: How did you get into the automotive industry?

Scott Joseph
Oh my.

Ina Coveney
I’m making you go way back in time.

Scott Joseph
Way back. I’m 56 years old, so… I was—this is not the politically correct term—I think today they’re called lot attendants, but back then I was a lot boy.

Ina Coveney
What does that mean?

Scott Joseph
It means I moved cars around, cleaned them. That was my job while I was in college. My dad was the general manager for a large dealer group—Jeff Wyler, out of Cincinnati. He ran Green Tree Toyota, down in Clarksville, Indiana, which is right across the river from Louisville.

Scott Joseph
While I was in college, I’d go in during lunch and I was the only one watching these sales training tapes—VHS tapes, back then. I’d be eating lunch, watching how to sell cars. And the reason I did that is because my dad used to sell vacuums at Sears. When he eventually started selling cars, he did very well. Within two years, I think he was ranked in the top 10 nationwide for Lincoln Mercury. Then he went on to sell Chevrolets at Jeff Wyler and then ran Green Tree Toyota.

Scott Joseph
So my lifestyle completely changed when I saw him get into that industry. He was my hero. I thought, all right, I’m going to follow in his footsteps.

Scott Joseph
He was out in California on a 20 Group meeting—where 20 dealers get together, share best practices, and try to level up. And I kept saying, “Dad, let me sell, let me sell.” He said no, no, no. So while he was gone, I called up one of Jeff Wyler’s stores up in Cincinnati and said, “I want to sell cars.” They said, “When can you come for an interview?” I said, “I can be there in an hour and a half.” I drove up, got the job, moved out of the house, moved to Cincinnati, and started selling cars.

Ina Coveney
Why didn’t your dad want you to sell his cars?

Scott Joseph
He wanted me to finish school. And probably didn’t want the dynamic of me doing it in his store.

Ina Coveney
So what happened next?

Scott Joseph
Well, I dropped out of school, started selling cars. I knew the interview would be easy. But it was much tougher than I thought. I was 19. And I quickly realized that selling cars is one of the true sales professions. You're not only selling the vehicle—you’re also persuading them to trade theirs in, you’re selling all kinds of things. It teaches you there might not be a tomorrow, so you’ve got to close the deal today.

Scott Joseph
A good salesperson creates internal pressure—the kind where the buyer wants it so much they feel the urgency, but it comes from them, not from you. Bad salespeople use external pressure.

Ina Coveney
Like what? What does external pressure sound like?

Scott Joseph
Things like, “You need to sign today, this deal is off tomorrow,” or overused tactics that aren’t sincere. I focus on asking the right questions to create clarity for the buyer and lead them to sell themselves.

Ina Coveney
Can you give me an example?

Scott Joseph
Sure. Let’s pretend you haven’t joined Me Plus Ultra yet. I’d ask, “What are some of the reasons you're considering joining?” Then I’d go deeper: “What makes that network valuable for you?” “What were you doing before this?” “How would your business be different if you’d had access to this 10 years ago?” You tell me the answers, and suddenly you’ve sold yourself—without me having to say a word.

Ina Coveney
That’s exactly what happened! I realized all the benefits by answering your questions. And you never had to sell it to me—you just led me there.

Scott Joseph
Exactly. That’s internal pressure. Now, if I go the other route—telling you I’ve got five spots left, you have to act now—that’s external pressure. It doesn’t feel good. When you answer the questions, it’s your truth. You own it.

Ina Coveney
Mind blown. You’ve just walked us through a real masterclass in authentic sales.

Scott Joseph
And by the way, when I asked you what you liked about your previous masterminds, I also asked you what they could’ve improved on. That’s a technique too. I let you tell me what mattered to you and what didn’t work before—so when I describe my program, I just talk about how we do the things you care about and avoid the things that didn’t work for you.

Ina Coveney
That’s brilliant. Because if you had just gone in saying, “Here’s how we’re better than them,” I would’ve felt the need to defend those programs—because I paid for them, I chose them.

Scott Joseph
Exactly. People get defensive when you criticize their past decisions. But if they point out the flaws themselves, then I don’t have to say a thing. I just show how our program does it differently.

Ina Coveney
Okay, I have to pivot for a second. With social media being such a huge part of everyone’s lives now, how do you think social media has changed the car sales industry?

Scott Joseph
Well, let me ask first—for who? For the dealer? The salesperson?

Ina Coveney
Let’s say for dealerships.

Scott Joseph
I think it gives dealers a huge opportunity—especially those who are willing to go all in. It levels the playing field. Even if someone has a smaller marketing budget, social media lets them compete. But it takes time and effort. It’s not free—just not the same hard costs as TV or radio ads.

Scott Joseph
Also, social media gives you a way to tell your story your way. I once read about a business executive who didn’t like the way former employees or others talked about him. Social media lets you control your own narrative. Your audience can judge who you are for themselves.

Ina Coveney
That’s a huge deal. Because there are dealerships out there that don’t take social media seriously—they don’t see immediate returns from it, so they don’t invest the time.

Scott Joseph
Right. The biggest challenge in automotive is short-term thinking. Back in 1991 when I started J&L Marketing, digital didn’t exist. It was TV, radio, newspaper, and direct mail—which was a distant fourth. But we made it work. I could walk into a dealership with half the newspaper budget and triple their car sales. Why? Because we were strategic, and we understood timing and messaging.

Scott Joseph
But even now, many dealers want immediate results. They look at sales today, this week, this month. General managers are paid monthly, so that’s their time horizon. Long-term thinking is rare.

Ina Coveney
Which is why social media feels like a low priority to them.

Scott Joseph
Exactly. And they give up too soon. They can’t get away from, “Well, I sold the same number of cars this month as last month, so I’m not going to keep doing this.” But if they had a long-term vision, they’d realize social media is about building relationships, brand awareness, and loyalty.

Scott Joseph
Honestly, if I could go back in my career, the biggest thing I didn’t do well early on was build relationships that weren’t just transactional. My relationships today are completely different.

Ina Coveney
You’re a perfect example of what a genuine relationship-builder looks like. We met at a podcasting convention, we stayed in touch, no selling involved—and now here we are.

Scott Joseph
Exactly. That’s how things happen. And social media, to me, is a brand play and a relationship play. If dealers could just see that, it would change the game for them.

Ina Coveney
I love what you said about how most people on social media have small audiences. That’s where I come in—I help people monetize a small audience. It’s the exact skill set dealers need to adopt.

Scott Joseph
Totally agree. And it’s all about relationships and understanding how to work those relationships the right way. It requires a mindset shift. But when they get it, the results are huge.

Ina Coveney
Okay, I’m going to splice this part back to the Business Bourbon and Cigars conversation. So I’m going to ask a question you’re not going to answer.

Scott Joseph
Got it. I'm not answering this one.

Ina Coveney
So how did the idea for these events—these Business Bourbon and Cigars events—come about?

Scott Joseph
Exactly. That’s the splice point.

Ina Coveney
Let’s now talk a little bit about the mastermind model. You started as a car salesman, then into marketing for dealerships, and now you’re running this community. Tell me the ten-second version—how did you transition from direct sales to building a mastermind community?

Scott Joseph
Ten seconds is a challenge. So I was selling cars, and like I told you, my hero was my dad. But my second hero was the guy who owned all the stores, Jeff Wyler. As a kid, I was so impressed by him. We got great seats to wrestling, Bengals games, Reds games—because my dad was always a top performer.

Scott Joseph
I dropped out of school to follow my dad’s path. I said, “I don’t need school. He didn’t go to school, and look at him.” A few months in, I started having success selling cars. I thought, this is it.

Scott Joseph
Jeff Wyler calls me into his office one day and says, “Why’d you drop out of school?” I told him my plan—become a general manager. And he says, “In ten years, when I consider you for a GM role, I’m going to want someone who understands currency exchanges, like the value of the yen versus the dollar.”

Scott Joseph
I completely zoned out after he said “ten years.” I thought, “I didn’t drop out of school to wait ten years!” Looking back, it was naïve and entitled.

Scott Joseph
So my friend Pat Luck—who’s the L in J&L—was doing well selling direct mail sales events to car dealers. He said, “Why don’t we start a company doing that?” And I said, “I’m in.”

Scott Joseph
Told my dad, who was now my boss at the time. He said, “You’ll be back in three months.” It was a challenge. We started off slow. But then we had one dealer who sold 65 cars in one day, and that opened the floodgates.

Scott Joseph
I started studying what made some events successful and others not. I interviewed top GMs and salespeople. I identified seven things successful stores did differently. I taught that to every client. We improved results across the board.

Scott Joseph
I built a database, started doing A/B testing before digital was a thing. We trained people on how to ask questions properly, gathered data from the field, and used it to refine marketing. All of that made us unique.

Scott Joseph
Our three key differentiators became marketing strategy, data, and support. None of this was part of a grand plan—it all came from focusing on delivering results for clients.

Ina Coveney
That is wild. And you eventually bought dealerships yourself?

Scott Joseph
Yes. At first I never thought I’d own. I just wanted to run a store like my dad. But through relationships, the opportunity came to buy one. That store today is worth 12x what we paid for it.

Ina Coveney
How many dealerships do you own now?

Scott Joseph
Three. We just sold one—Honda. But I’ve stepped away from the day-to-day. I’ve got managing partners running them. Same with J&L—Jameel runs it now.

Ina Coveney
And that leads us to how Me Plus Ultra came about. You told us the event side of the story. But what was the personal turning point?

Scott Joseph
The truth? I stayed too long at J&L. My passion had moved on, but I didn’t have a plan. It was my identity. When something that used to light you up starts to feel mundane, that’s the universe telling you, “This isn’t your path anymore.”

Scott Joseph
I worked with Jay Tepley—a guest on your podcast, I think—and she helped me realize that I loved connecting people. That joy I got from helping other business leaders, just talking strategy over cigars and bourbon—that was what I wanted more of.

Scott Joseph
But doing just events didn’t pencil out. I didn’t want 5,000 people at Business Bourbon and Cigars. I wanted quality. So the idea came—why not form a group? A mastermind. That’s how Me Plus Ultra was born.

Scott Joseph
The bigger the group gets, the more I get to focus on helping the right people come in. I don’t have to worry about filling events anymore—they fill themselves. And through that, I’ve seen so many powerful relationships form. Just like what you described earlier with you and John and Mike.

Scott Joseph
I realized, introducing and bringing people together, and making sure they understand why I brought them together—that's what I love doing. That’s where I’m supposed to be.

Ina Coveney
Well, let me just say, the power of that event was palpable. It opened a completely new door for me—one I wasn’t even looking for. When you invited me to Business Bourbon and Cigars, I didn’t even realize I was walking into a room full of people in the automotive industry.

Scott Joseph
It’s about half automotive now.

Ina Coveney
Right? But at the time, I was a business coach serving online coaches. I walked in and thought, “What am I doing here? What do I have to offer them? And what can they offer me?”

Ina Coveney
Then came the mastermind tables. The first one, I just said, “Jesus, take the wheel. I’m just going to share my truth.” My biggest challenge was selling my digital academy, so that’s what I said. And everyone was really kind, gave great advice, but they weren’t in digital products.

Ina Coveney
Then came someone who said, “I have a dealership, and I know I should be on social media, but I have no clue how to do it.” And I looked around the table, saw no one else really in that space, and I just raised my hand.

Scott Joseph
And that’s why I asked you. I knew you could help people with this.

Ina Coveney
And that became my first dealership client! At that moment, I realized I wasn’t there to take—I was there to give. I made a decision right then to spend the rest of the event just giving, just showing up and offering what I had.

Ina Coveney
At the second mastermind table, I sat next to John Traver. I shared my new challenge: “How do I sell social media services to dealerships?” And he looked at me and said, “I can see this becoming a company you could sell.” I had never thought about my business like that before. That moment changed everything.

Scott Joseph
You’re giving me chills here. I believe in all that universe stuff too. Jay Tepley always says, you have to recognize where the universe is trying to take you. Water always gets where it needs to go—it finds the easiest path. You have to recognize it and go with it.

Scott Joseph
And when you said that about turning your business into something sellable—you’re going to love Charleston in March. I’ve got an expert speaker coming in who specializes in how to structure your business so it’s scalable and ready to sell, even if you never intend to sell it.

Scott Joseph
The point isn’t just the sale—it’s that building with that mindset makes your business stronger, more efficient, and more valuable.

Ina Coveney
That’s amazing. All the pieces just keep coming together. That event didn’t just give me a new path—it gave me a new vision.

Scott Joseph
And I love that. I could tell story after story just like yours. Some are huge deals that came out of it. My entire network has changed. You know Mario?

Ina Coveney
Of course! He’s a good friend of the podcast. We had him here not too long ago.

Scott Joseph
Well, I met him through all this. We’re doing a book together now. He asked me how long I’ve known some of the people I’m closest to now, and I realized—three years or less. They’re all from this group. These are my best friends now. First people I call when something fun happens. First people I want to help. That tells me I’m on the right path.

Ina Coveney
It’s amazing. You’ve found a way to bring joy not just to yourself, but to others. You’ve completely changed my life. We met at a random podcast event. No sales involved. Now, there’s a whole new business that was born out of that connection.

Ina Coveney
So I just want to say, very publicly—thank you. Thank you for putting these opportunities in front of me and for creating that space for everyone in your group.

Ina Coveney
Before we go, I always ask my guests two final questions. First one—what is the biggest misconception people have about you as a successful business person?

Scott Joseph
Hmm. I think there are two. One doesn’t really exist anymore, but I’ll share it. First half of my business career, I was hard. Cold. Very isolated. Not selfish, but over-the-top demanding. “We’re going to get this result, I don’t care what you think.” That’s changed for me.

Scott Joseph
Maybe it’s easier to change when you’re not in the day-to-day anymore. But the second one—and I kind of like this one—I think a lot of people don’t think I do anything.

Ina Coveney

Laughs That’s amazing.

Scott Joseph
And I’m okay with that! I don’t want to be the guy who grinds. Of course, if you’re building a business, you’re going to work harder than most people realize. That’s a given. But it doesn’t have to feel like a grind. Right now, I’ve never been busier—I’m involved in more things than ever before.

Scott Joseph
We’ve got the dealerships. J&L. Me Plus Ultra. Business Bourbon and Cigars. I’ve got a real estate project—something I know nothing about. And I’m about to launch a new business, my biggest yet.

Scott Joseph
If these had come five years ago, I would’ve said, “Someone should invent this.” But now, because of my network, it doesn’t scare me. I know who to call for help. It’s just about capacity and time now.

Scott Joseph
But even though I’m working harder than ever—it doesn’t feel that way. I feel like I don’t do anything, and I almost feel guilty about that. But that’s a great place to be.

Scott Joseph
Dave Boyle—someone you know—he came up for Derby last year, got in my car, and said, “I think I figured you out. You don’t do anything.” If that’s the perception, I’m doing something right.

Ina Coveney
That’s amazing. Okay, final question. If every dealership owner listening to this had to do just one thing in the next 24 hours to grow their business or improve their life—what should that one thing be?

Scott Joseph
It comes back to people. If I only had 24 hours, I’d focus on strengthening relationships. Go to the relationships you already have, and make them stronger.

Scott Joseph
And I don’t mean, “Give so you can get something later.” You can’t even think, “If I give enough, eventually something will come back to me.” That’s not it. You do it because you love it. Because you want to help. And ironically, the more you give without expecting anything, the more you get.

Scott Joseph
Look for opportunities—introduce someone to someone else. Help solve a problem. Spark an idea. That’s what I would do. That’s how you create powerful relationships. And those relationships? They always lead to more business in the long run.

Ina Coveney
I love it. And I can totally vouch for you having that completely genuine approach. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you over the past couple of years.

Ina Coveney
So before we go, can you tell everyone where they can follow you, find you, and get more of you? Plug the podcast too.

Scott Joseph
Sure! The easiest way to find me is at meplusultra.com—that’s “me” like M-E. It’s a play on “ne plus ultra,” which means “nothing beyond.” So meplusultra.com. You’ll also find the podcast there—Business Bourbon and Cigars. The events are also called Business Bourbon and Cigars. And of course, the podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. I’m also on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Ina Coveney
Perfect. We’ll put all of those links in the show notes. Thank you so much, Scott, for being here. This has been a total pleasure.

Scott Joseph
Thank you.