Retreats are like Yoga

Yoga isn't about pushing yourself into poses your body isn't ready for. It isn't about about stretching yourself so thin that you break. It isn't about doing what anyone else in the room is doing.

Yoga is about breathing. It is about presence. It is about finding resonance with energy around you, and unfolding into a deeper connection with yourself. It is about following your own wisdom, honoring the way your own body wants to move and stretch. It is about creating a new relationship with your body, allowing yourself to slowly evolve in ways you didn't know were actually possible until you started to become your practice.

In these ways, yoga feels like a such a beautiful metaphor for in-person event planning.

The Retreat Roadmap way is *not* about planning something so huge and overwhelming that you're stretched thin and feel like breaking. It is not about doing what anyone else in the room is doing. It is about following your own inner wisdom, pushing into new stretches with ease and grace, celebrating each new breath into an uncomfortable place as a win that gets you closer to your ideal retreat.

You can start now, exactly as you are, and continuously unfold into expanding versions of your dream.

your retreat is not about you.

The #1 SECRET to a gathering that SELLS OUT? Remember that it is NOT ABOUT YOU. It is about YOUR ATTENDEES.

Often we hesitate when planning the retreat on our heart because we are afraid that we are not enough. But if you remember that it is not about you, you can set aside that "not enoughness" and focus on providing your guests with a transformative experience that is about them.

The #1 Retreat Location

When most people start dreaming up a retreat, they jump straight into venue research. Is it Bali? Sedona? Tulum? That boutique hotel on the coast with Moroccan tiles and handwoven hammocks?

Because somewhere along the way, we were told that in order to create a powerful retreat, we need to go somewhere… far. exotic. expensive.

But let me tell you something that will change the way you look at everything:

The most powerful retreat location isn’t a place. It’s a presence.

And the presence is you.

You carry the vibration.

YOU carry the vibration. Not Bali, not Hawaii, not that ideal retreat center in Sedona with the pretty woven blankets set against red rocks. YOU carry the vibration. YOU bring the fire. YOU create experiences that transform and uplift women, because through your practice, you bring your energy everywhere you go, and everywhere you are. There are incredible locations all around you, and women who need your support in your very neighborhood. What if you gave yourself permission to own your beautiful enoughness, exactly where you are, releasing this pre-defined idea that somehow you’ll be able to create magic if only you can figure out how to bring people to a special enough place? YOU are the stars. You ARE going “all out”. YOU carry the vibration.

You want to know the only thing you really need to get started planning your first life-changing and business-transforming retreat?

YOU. You need you.

PS - If this has you as fired up as it has me, take my hand and let me help you get started!

Create the Things You Wish Existed

Walking downtown in my new home of Petaluma, this chalkboard wisdom caught my eye.

I have often struggled with being a bit of a misfit, never quite belonging anywhere (you too?! ;) ). This has led to a life of creating communities, for myself and others; communities that aim to be inclusive, nurturing, and supportive. Communities that I needed to exist. So many of us have felt the same way - looking for a community, a place to just pause and get our bearings with no judgement, a sense of belonging and connection, but often instead feeling isolated or weird or just not quite comfortable or down right from another planet.

Belonging is at the CORE of what I am doing here with Retreat Roadmap. I want to help YOU CREATE what YOU WISH EXISTED.

How will an in-person gathering help you create what you 💫wish💫existed?

Thinking about co-planning a Retreat? Read this first.

Excited about planning a collaborative retreat or gathering with your new biz bestie? Or maybe you connected with someone local whom you think would make an amazing partner for the in-person event that has been growing inside your heart. That is incredibly exciting! There is amazing value in co-creating retreat experiences, especially for first timers. You can share the workload, making it much more manageable to plan – and since you’ll both be connecting with your separate audiences to find enthusiastic attendees, it can double your marketing reach.

Sometimes we can get caught up in awesome energy, which is obviously important when choosing someone to work with on a big project. But I caution against planning a collaborative retreat based on energy alone, without alignment around other factors. It takes a special combination of energetic spark and logistical compatibility to co-plan an in-person event! Developing a successful and healthy collaboration is something that you need to do intentionally.

As a Retreat Planning Consultant, I get a lot of requests to co-plan events. It makes sense – people see me as successful at what I do and imagine I will be their perfect partner. I also have a lot of clients who are considering co-planning – or who are terrified of it (they had too many group project nightmare experiences in college where they did #allthework)! But that’s not going to be you, because you are here reading this, and I have a solution for you. ;) 

Enter stage right: Collaboration: A Wonderful Workbook for Would-Be Collaborators.

It is a super concise and powerful framework nestled in an 8-page workbook that will help you answer the question, “Is this person going to drive me insane or can I really plan a successful event with her?” It reviews what you need to feel clear on BEFORE you schedule a chat with your potential partner, and outlines the conversation you need to have with them BEFORE you decide to jump into planning a gathering together.

This is how to best use the Collaboration Workbook:

1. Sign up to receive Collaboration: A Wonderful Workbook for Would-Be Collaborators.

1. Download the Workbook and send a copy to your potential partner, asking them to fill out the section titled “Questions to Ask Yourself” on page 2 (or send them a link to this page and have them sign up to receive a copy).

2. Fill out “Questions to Ask Yourself” on page 2 with your own answers.

3. Schedule a time to discuss co-planning with your potential co-planner.

4. Let your discussion be guided by the Collaboration Conversation Checklist on page 5. Be sure to make notes so you have something to refer back on when you are assessing your conversation and the viability of your collaboration.

Once you’ve answered the questions for yourself and had this conversation with your potential collaborator, it is time for a GUT CHECK. Pause and listen deeply to yourself. Does this feel like a good fit to you? Does anything feel off? NOW is the time to be sensitive to red flags, and ask hard questions – don’t wait until you have already jumped into planning. Be honest about your own limitations, and get clear on theirs. If it feels aligned, you can begin the next steps such as setting clear expectations, defining roles, choosing an online project management system, hiring a planning mentor to help guide you through the process, scouting locations, securing sponsors, marketing to your peeps - all the fun stuff!

Once you have found your RETREAT PLANNING PARTNER (yay!), it’s time to schedule a 60 Minute Roadmap Intensive. You can split the cost, both show up to the session, and I will help you get clear on your next steps to a profitable, meaningful event.

XO Lizzy