In the March Issue:
Who loves retreats? You do!
You love attending them. You love them so much you do them in your business. Or maybe you are an aspiring retreat leader.
Running and leading retreats is extremely rewarding, but it’s also challenging. It requires a certain skill set. Skills that include forecasting, being organized and somewhat of a visionary, an event planner, a networker and a marketer as a start. And that’s a short list. :)
In spite of what are your very best intentions and organizational skills, retreats and events always come with lessons.
I have created, facilitated and led more than 20 retreats since 2017, and I have not been part of a retreat yet, as a facilitator and leader, or a participant ,where I didn’t learn a lesson or two.
I have learned to adopt the mindset that lessons are simply opportunities for growth. Each one can help you not only up-level as a leader, but help you build your transformative ability and get results for your clients.
Here are 5 of my TOP lessons from leading retreats:
1. When designing your agenda and itinerary–LESS is MORE.
As a participant, I love a good, structured program with lots of opportunities for growth. Who wouldn’t?
But a BIG mistake I see a lot of retreat leaders and facilitators make is they try to do too much in a single event.
Where does this mindset come from?
There are two ‘tricky thoughts’ that retreat leaders have generally, when it comes to planning their programs.
*They believe that if their participants are taking time off work and travelling, they are expecting a LOT of things to do. In other words, retreat leaders often think they have to justify their program with MORE scheduled in each day.
OR
*They think that having MORE planned means a better program.
Both schools of thought are wrong.
When I first started out doing retreats, I believed I needed to get as much planned as possible too.
But what I learned, was that it left me feeling a little too anxious and scattered in my thoughts each day to lead and teach.
More activities and a bigger schedule doesn’t mean a better experience. In fact, it often dilutes the overall experience.
It takes a certain skill set to strike the right balance of activities, teaching and learning with your group, and at the same time allowing time for processing and transformation to occur.
Remember, people come on retreat to DISCONNECT from the ‘busy’ of everyday life, not step into another experience that feels like a busy meeting, conference or workshop in a pretty place. :)
I now schedule my days in a retreat solely based on the experience I want my participants to have, and that means always having open space and transitions. I allow for no more than 1-2 activities in a day and have come to believe this is a good benchmark to use, regardless of where you are going and what you are teaching.
My rule of thumb is, when in doubt of what to schedule, leave the space blank.
Less is MORE.
2. Don’t underestimate the power of a personal invitation. The little things always stand out the MOST.
Read that again. :)
It’s easy to believe that our people will always follow our emails and see our public invitations for our events. We carefully create our retreat promise, think about for whom the experience is best suited, and write our copy with that thought in mind. We make it part of our marketing strategy.
But a personal invite always goes MUCH farther.
When I began doing retreats, I wanted to appeal to as many possible attendees as possible–and that meant being very public with my message and my invites. I would send emails and do a lot of social media posts, and use my network of people to help me spread the word.
There is a thought that if you don’t advertise widely, then no one will know what you are doing.
And as I talked to more people with every retreat, I realized that personal service NEVER gets old.
When I reached out to people personally to invite them, they were not only flattered, but they told me how much they appreciated me taking time to personally invite them. It’s a bright light that stands out in a world where we rely on volume, technology and non-human interaction to do our work.
I follow this plan for every retreat. I still plan my marketing campaign, and I still do the public posts, but I always take time to reach out to people I think would love the experience, and I’d love to have in attendance.
3. Go into every retreat you do with the intention you will become a better leader than you were for the previous one.
Where do I begin with this one? There is so much here to point out, but I’ll keep it simple. Approach every retreat like it can be an amazing opportunity for you.
Because it can be.
I have found that there are often golden opportunities in each day, and in each activity, with your participants, that can help you reinforce your message and help you deliver more on your retreat promise.
In one of my retreats I did back in 2021, two of my participants had recently lost a good friend, and the location where we were had special meaning for them as a trio.
They had both shared in one of our sessions places they had gone and conversations they had. Unbeknownst to me, they had brought some of their friend’s ashes in a small vial to scatter while they were where we were that week sometime.
Once I became aware of this, I began to think about how I could work this in with one of our activities so they would feel more connected, and at the same time, have it worked into our theme. I knew our group would benefit as a whole. I saw it as a win.
So in one of our last activities, we formed a vision circle at a place they chose, and we all participated in their moment so they could ‘leave a part’ of their friend there. This provided closure, but it also was a real connection moment for us all on how the circle of life is always connected, regardless of where we are.
It was a moment you absolutely couldn’t script or plan.
My takeaway for you is to be open for the opportunities daily to confirm what you know, and to help you teach your objectives. Spotlight your participants when they share or have something come up you can use in your program. It only adds more to the program for others, and your people will feel even more special and heard.
4. You can NEVER talk about your events enough.
Do you ever think that you are ‘oversharing’ or that you are coming across as being pushy?
I know I have.
But there’s the reality.
You can NEVER share your events enough. In fact, about when you think you have just gone overboard is likely about right.
The internet and the online space is LOUD. There are THOUSANDS of people sharing events and ideas similar to yours.
We never know when we are being seen sometimes, or when people are reading our messages. People are busy and have competing priorities. We must keep reminding people and giving them every opportunity to say yes.
One of my beliefs I tell myself every day, is that people are always watching me, looking for me and can’t wait to see what I have going on.
That means you must share often. :)
5. Always leverage your connections. People WANT to help you.
Like the other takeaways I have shared above, this one is SO TRUE and so often forgotten.
If you are a coach or are in sales, you know to leverage your network often. In fact, when you have an event or something going on, it’s always best to put it in front of your ‘warm market’ first, because you have already built a rapport with them.
In business, we want to work with people we know, like and trust.
And that includes people in our network who are also in front of our ideal client.
People love getting a referral from someone or being recommended by someone.
When you are doing retreats and events this one thing will take you far.
I learned this early in my career, and have found more often than not, when I need a marketing boost or are in a promotional period for something I’m doing, I go to my network first.
It’s a strategy you can use to build your audience, because if you play it right, you can have multiple opportunities to get in front of new people regularly.
People want to help you. And if you ask and get a ‘no’, know that that often means ‘not right now’, at which point you can ask ‘who do you know that might be interested in an opportunity like this’?
You will likely find that you have your own lessons from doing retreats, some will stand out more than others, and some may just re-affirm what you already know.
I always believe I can learn something new with each and every retreat I lead, participate in, and plan.
So I’ll leave you with this one thought;
Doing retreats and events can transform you as a leader, as much as your participants, if you are open to it.
Are you ready?
Meet ALISON K
FOUNDER OF CU FITNESS, INC.
A native to North Carolina and a veteran swimmer, her interest in sports and athletics led her to a competitive swimming and bodybuilding career through school, and is largely responsible for directing her to the health and fitness field. During graduate school at East Carolina University, Alison became a group fitness instructor and fitness expert, and throughout her 30+ year career has enjoyed working with others, both privately and in group settings, to help coach and inspire them to achieve a higher level of health, fitness and longevity through a number of practices—including self care.
Now Alison helps to serve entrepreneurs in the fitness and health space, to innovate and grow their offerings with her signature business program—The Innovate Academy. Alison owns her own fitness business (CU Fitness, Inc.), enjoys writing for several health and fitness publications, and will eventually write a book. As a busy entrepreneur, she feels a calling to help serve her clients through customized fitness and self care programs online, and holds destination fitness retreat experiences in various locations. Tune in for her podcast ‘The Ultimate Journey of Self Care’ across most platforms.
Find Alison K HERE!
