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What you’ll learn in this episode:
Over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about retreat and how to use them to diversify your income, work with your clients on a deeper level and more immersive way, and how adding retreats to your offer suite is one of the most fun and fastest ways to grow your business.
In today’s episode, I share the results of my most recent Business and Rejuvenation Retreat at the Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA. I share the results our clients got from attending, what we learned from hosting, and how you can use our insights and best practices as you think through your own retreats and working with your clients.
We also share what we have in store next for our retreats and how you can get special access to our next event, so stay tuned until the end!
Here’s a glance at this episode:
- How identifying the gaps in your business is one the fastest ways to grow, and how we leveraged our retreat to create fast and powerful results
- Why curating your retreat intentionally, including who you have in the room, is key to having a retreat that is cohesive and powerful
- The power of a network, and how being in the right space with the right people supercharges your growth
- Why having an environment that fosters sharing, support, and safety is essential to access the insights that help you create what you want in your business
- How having a clear strategy and plan for your attendees both during and after your retreat is essential for creating a seamless transition for both their business and yours
Mentioned in this episode:
Canyon Ranch Fall 2023 Retreat
Work/Connect with me:
Consults That Convert FREE Training
[0:01] Hello, everyone, and welcome to the It’s Your Offer podcast. How are you all doing? I am so excited to have you here. For this week’s episode, I am coming off of an incredible retreat that I have run at the Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, which is in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains, in Massachusetts, right on the border of New York State. And my heart is so full, I feel so grateful and so excited to share this with you. Because I think that there are so many things that came out of this experience for me and my attendees. And I believe for all of you too, that you need to hear about.
[0:46] So if you have been following my podcast over the last couple of weeks, you know that I have been talking a lot about retreats, about how to think about retreats in your business, how to use those retreats to grow your business and generate income and create a big impact and touch the clients that you want to work with in a really incredible, incredible way. And so last week, we talked about how to use retreats as a business stream as an income stream in your business. This week, I want to talk to you about the results that we saw at this retreat, after having done it coming back here, and now being able to share this with all of you. One of the most important things as a business owner is that you are doing things in your business, to create value and impact for your clients. At the end of the day, holding your clients at the heart of your business, and in the center of your mind, when you are doing anything in your business. Creating any content, offers, etcetera is the most important thing that you can do in your business. It’s also the most impactful because when you do that, you end up creating everything in your business in a way to touch them to increase the experience and the value for them. And when you have your heart in your place in that business, you create incredible things, it always ends up working out positively as a win-win for everybody.
[2:21] So over the course of my journey as an entrepreneur, I discovered that retreats are one of the things that make my heart soar. It encompasses everything that I love about my work, it allows me to go and touch my clients in a very deep way. It allows immersion to be with them over several days, which I think really, really increases the outcome. It allows me to bring incredible people together in a way that either they’ve never been before, or that I know will benefit them and create things in the future for them. They never could have experienced outside of that space. And transformation and results that we are able to create in this retreat are incredible. And I knew this going into this retreat, but coming out of it, it just is even more amazing than I would have ever expected. And so if you’re a business owner, thinking about your business in a way that allows you to create offers that touch your clients in this way, is crucial. And it’s important to keep it fresh and fun and great for you and them. And so I have found that retreats are those things. And what I wanted to share with you today is some of the results that we’re seeing now after this retreat.
[3:38] So, as I mentioned, you know, we talked about how to use it in your business, we put all these pieces together and we move through it. But now we’re on the other side of it. And I want to let you peer into what it was like and what kind of results that we created so that you can get a sense of what this could look like for you as well. And I also want to share some of the best practices that we incorporated into this retreat that I think made it so powerful for us. And frankly, doing this in your retreat would make it powerful for you too. So this is that peering behind the curtains, looking at what we did, and then sharing with you the results and things that we saw after it so that you can get a sense of how that all worked out, and how it can work out for you too.
[4:25] So let’s dive in here. So just to give you all a context and overview of this retreat, and I mentioned this in the last episode, and if you haven’t listened to that, I really encourage you to do that. It’s a great episode around how to think about this model in your business. But for those of you that aren’t familiar with the retreat, the retreat was a four-day business and rejuvenation retreat. It took place as I mentioned in the case at the Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, which we specifically picked because we wanted to create a retreat that allowed our attendees to both create breakthroughs in their business, from the information that we were giving them. So the sessions and the topics and the frameworks that we shared that we knew would create results in their business, as well as providing a space for them to rejuvenate, and to really nurture their most important asset in their business, which is you, it is you that comes together and makes that business grow your business, I will go out on a soapbox and say would be nowhere without you. And so giving people that space, to go into the white space allow all that wisdom to percolate up to the surface. And to marinate in these ideas that were coming was equally as important as sitting in the sessions with us. And when we curated this agenda, we created it so that we would give people information. And we would send them on their way to go and enjoy themselves and take advantage of the property and all of the things knowing that all the magic is going to come up when they’re in that white space, when we’ve given them some of these things to think about. And we’ve had them sort of dreaming and scheming. And looking at these practical pieces in their business as well at the same time.
[6:21] So we curated this over four days, three nights, we made the agenda, a combination of session time, and also whitespace time, we were really serious about people taking advantage of this trip and relaxing and working on themselves and their wellness and their health, we gave them a $600 Spa credit to use, they could use that on a variety of different things, whether it was a massage, or maybe something health related with their nutrition, acupuncture nourishment, you name it. The facility we picked, had all of these services that we knew would nurture them, which would nurture their business. So we made this agenda, a combination of both of those things. What we did not want is people that were going to come into the space, sit in a conference room for four days, hustle their way through, absorb a bunch of information that did not translate into action and result that they could do in an easy way that did not feel like hustling. And we didn’t want them to leave with more information, but not actual results that they would then have to do. After they left. We wanted to make sure that we gave them things that were actionable, that they could actually take advantage of. And we want it all tied up with a bow before they left. There is nothing worse than leaving an environment and feeling like you had more work, more overwhelm, more to do than you did when you started. So we curated this agenda in that specific way.
[8:02] And one of the things that we really focused on was helping people look at their business, and identify those places where they could take what they’ve already spent time creating in their business and optimize it. So it created more outcomes, more results. In business, that means more clients, more money, more flow, more time, more sanity. And so we really, really focused on, let’s look at what you’re doing. Let’s take those pieces that are working and optimize them, so they work more for you. And let’s look at anything that is surrounding that. And look at how we can tighten that up and fill those gaps. So that that also has a very positive impact on your business overall. Without you having to add more and do more. It was mind blowing. And it was mind blowing not only for the clients, but it was mind blowing for me to watch those clients have those transformations. And for every single person that was sitting there to get an insight regardless of where they were in their business, what business they had, how long they’ve been doing it how much money they were making. It was universally something that everyone can benefit from. And it was amazing.
[9:24] So one of the first results that we saw was exactly that, that we really went into this space. And we looked across these businesses and different business owners and different people in different industries. And we were able to look at their business and identify those gaps. We were able to say to them, hey, let’s take a look at this client journey. Or let’s take a look at all of these pieces and not determined what you could do like all the things but to determine the most important and most powerful thing that we could change in your business, that’s going to create better results, increase your bottom line, and also give you this sense of more without doing more and hustling. So one of the results was looking across those businesses and looking at those gaps. And using our model, we were able to really identify what is the best opportunity for you. Not all the opportunities, not let’s do everything and do it mediocre. It’s what is the best opportunity for you right now, to help you grow. And it was amazing to watch those aha moment to do it in tandem with people and their wisdom, to tap into what they really wanted when they were looking at those opportunities. And then to create that plan, so that we could help them move that needle.
[10:54] Which brings me to the second piece, we identified solutions, we identified things for people to do that we’re going to fill those gaps. So as I mentioned, we didn’t want to just turn the rock over and say like, hey, here, it is, like, here’s something that you can do more, we wanted to say, if we’re identifying this gap in your business and this opportunity, what are some of the best ways for you to fill it? What is the solution? And how can you go and do that right now? And so we held the space for people to really feel into that. What does it look like for them? How is it gonna affect their business? What does that, you know, shift look like and feel like for them? And then what are some ideas of how best to fill this gap? And not only did I weigh in on that, but in this room of 10 to 11 other business owners, there were so many expert eyes from so many different angles, helping to form this solution, helping to give guidance on how to do this in an easy way and to leverage the expertise of the other people that were in the room to not only fill that gap, but fill it in the best, easiest, most powerful way to do that. And it was incredible.
[12:17] Some of the solutions and results that we saw from this particular group are things such as this, someone said, I got so clear on where my business is headed, I feel like I’m going to explode. They said I can’t believe I signed a new client already and we haven’t even left the retreat yet. I can’t wait to implement everything I’ve learned in this business; it feels so good and spacious. I was reminded of the importance of filling the gaps in my business. And I want to focus right there. I love to have time to finally relax and feel refreshed in my business. So these were really powerful results that people had when they created these things. And those solutions that we were giving them were creating value for them before they even left the room, which was also something that we wanted to see with people. We wanted it to be quick and actionable. And to feel, dare I say, effortless.
[13:19] Another thing that was leveraged during this retreat was, as I mentioned, they were in a space with 10 other incredible people. We had people from all different industries in all different walks of life. We had people who are focused on data and SEO and really driving your business from an analytics perspective. We had coaches, transformation coaches, wellness coaches, business coaches, career coaches in the room, who are looking at the business of others from both that coaching lens and business lead. We had accountants in the room so we could talk about the finances. We had lawyers in the room so we could talk about that legal aspect. We had people from network marketing business that had incredible business where she was looking at growing her brand, and how this was touching the lives of other people. We had high end real estate, and we also had design and construction work where people were coming in and looking at that high end market. There were so many different lenses, and different years of experience in the room. And the network that was connected with those people was incredible. You would have thought that these women had known each other for decades. The way that they gelled the way they supported each other the way that they came together and brainstormed and also just held the space was amazing. And part of us really curating that invite list is to make sure that we always have a space where people come together, and they create connections in that way.
[14:58] One of the most important things about out a retreat, in addition to your venue and your agenda, and all of the things, are the people that you invite to the table. In a world that we live in now, where we can feel more disconnected than ever, spending our time in a space with others is a hugely valuable resource. And when you create a space where you bring together incredible people that are going to help each other, support each other, both in a very practical way, as it relates to your business, those hard pieces, those hard data pieces, that you’re promising around your brand promise, as well as all of those emotional and intangible things that happen, when you truly curate an invite list is really important. And the magic that happens in that space between people, real human people, is something that is so important, and you can’t measure it on a stick. But I promise you, when you’re in that space, you feel it, and it creates your result in a big, big way.
[16:08] So part of this was bringing together that network of people and making sure that we were very intentional about who we were targeting with this retreat, and who we were giving invitations to when people approached us wanting to come to the retreat. We were really speaking to them and knowing, are we comfortable with this person coming in? Is this the right fit? Can we really help them so that the people around that table, were really meant to be there? And that is really, really important when you’re thinking about your retreat. And it was hugely important for us. And this group was incredible. I also shared with them when it comes to my business personally, and I think this is true for many of you as well. So I want you to really take a minute to think about this. I really care about who I work with. I care about the people that are in the ecosystem of my business. I really am diligent about who I connect with, both from the perspective of can I help you, and is this work going to give you the return on investment that you’re paying for? But also from the connection piece? Is this someone that I am really lit up to work with? Does it feel like a love fest? Is there a connection? And what I have realized over the years is I have honed the skill so importantly, in my business, that I am 100% confident that every time I bring people together, it is going to be an awesome group. It doesn’t matter if it’s at my retreats, or it’s at my 10k accelerator, or I bring together a bunch of my one-on-one clients, it is always going to be awesome.
[17:50] And I know for many of you, you are also high-touch business owners, you curate your client list as well. And so I want you to really think about this when you’re thinking about the results to create and the results that you could create in a retreat. Because you’re kind of doing it on a hyper level, right on a level that’s so much more potent when you bring people together in this space. And if you’re one of these people that does this in your business, the ability to do it in a retreat and connect that network in that way, is really powerful. And I am confident that the relationships that these ladies created, and not only those, those personal relationships, but the business relationships that they’ve created as well, will live on far after they’re gone from this retreat. And I can already see it out in cyberspace and from the messages that I’ve gotten from them, that it is already happening, those relationships are bringing them together in a way that they never would have experienced had they not been at this retreat. And it is awesome. And it is really a powerful piece.
[18:54] The other result that we had in this place is what happens when you bring people together in an immersive space. You let them get out of their day-to-day routine. You let them take a deep breath and breathe and go inward and just be with themselves in a space where they’re being held is that all sorts of things come up. All sorts of emotions come up. All sorts of insights come up. And those things are shared around this table. And they are shared in a way that is so powerful. Because what happens in that space is people feel like they are being heard. They feel like they are being seen. They also know on a very deep level, based on what is being shared that they are not alone. And as entrepreneurs sometimes it can feel like a very lonely road. And we need each other to be successful. We need to come together. I know sometimes in this world where it’s like we can all do it on our own and it feels very divided. We’re in that headspace but I promise you it is never as powerful or as fun as it is when you come together with others. And so what happens in the space and what happened at the retreat is people had this place to emote, and there was a catharsis that happened in that space. And there was a group of people that really held that space for each other. And that emotion, that emoting also just opens up so much expansive energy for people to create from, it’s like, they’re kind of unplugging something, and letting all of that flow kind of come through. And that is where all the big breakthroughs come through. That is where all the insight comes, it is that marriage of letting you really decide and access all of that want and wisdom and desire, and then you marry it with all the practical ways of making that happen. That’s like, it’s a secret sauce.
[20:49] So we had so many beautiful opportunities to share with one another, to learn from one another, to hold the space from one another. There was also that ability to go and, you know, break out and have, you know, a small conversation with somebody and do that in different ways. We also mixed up the areas of the venue that we were in, so that people were in a different immersive environment, which also brings up different feelings, and it’s a different experience. And so it let people have that space. And if you are someone who works with female entrepreneurs, or female clients, or you are a female entrepreneur, I want you to know that also, I think this is especially important for female entrepreneurs, I think we need the space to emote and be held in that way. I also think it is very important for, you know, male entrepreneurs as well. I think everybody needs the space. I think specifically, again, on this retreat, it was a female retreat. You know, we really saw it here. And I think for my female clients, and for myself, I think we especially need that. So it’s something just to keep in mind as you’re, again, you’re putting together these offers, you’re thinking about this retreat, it’s really important, but it was something that was a big part of what it was that we saw in our particular program.
[22:14] And so the last and definitely not least, is to help people determine what are their next steps? What are they going to do after they leave? For many events that I’ve been to, it’s like you’re in this container, and you do all the things and then now you’re going back into real life. And it kind of feels like you’re falling off of a cliff, which I hate. And so we wanted to make sure that we gave people that sort of off ramp, where are they going? What are those next things? You know, how can they take what they’ve learned here and keep that momentum going? And how are we going to support them and make sure that they’re getting what they need in order to take what they’ve learned, and those insights that they’ve seen, and actually pull it through to their business in a powerful way that keeps on giving to them. One of the goals that we had for this retreat, and we literally set it in the landing page, is that we wanted our attendees to leave this retreat different than they came. They would be a changed person after they left, we wanted to make sure that there was transformation that happened, and that they were going to be able to carry that with them. So when we sent people on their way, we gave them resources so that they could pull through some of the things that they learned. They had clarity on what was that most important opportunity that they could really start to work on. So we had them identify their priority so that they could go out and do that thing, not do all the things but do that thing. We helped make sure that with them, we created ways to support them. So we share with them, you know, this is what we have in our business, this is what we’re working on, here are other opportunities we can support you, here are ways that we can connect with you and be in your ecosystem. So we weren’t kind of just pushing them out the door and then letting them go fend for themselves.
[24:12] So we made sure we connected that to other opportunities. And because it was a small group, it could be very customized. We looked at our own business and the way we support people, we looked at what they needed, and we could really customize those offers to them once they left. And it made it, so it was a very, very, you know, it was very tight. It was very nurtured. It was very focused on getting them the result that they needed, moving on. And then we made sure that there was a very deep level of trust. One of the most powerful ways when it comes, I think in any business to working with your clients is you have to be in a situation where they trust you where they think that you have their best interests in mind and frankly, you should not be working with them. If you don’t have their best interests in mind, but that that’s coming through in the way that you’re touching people and in the way that you’re interacting with them, both within that space and after. And so for me, personally, it’s touching my clients in, you know, direct messages and thinking about their business and offering them insights and all of those pieces that are really, really important. It also fed very largely into what is going to be our next retreat. So we’ve learned so much from our clients being in this space, we learned so much from ourselves, we really took all of the best things, and we’re now baking it into another retreat, which we are going to hold at the same location at the Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, in November.
[25:50] So we are putting all of this together, and we’re now doing it in a way that is even more powerful. And so it has given us that insight into how do we take everything that we’ve learned, and how do we make it better, more powerful, more valuable, more soul filling, more fun, all of those things. And so that next step for us in our business, really encompassed all of the results that our clients got. And now it’s allowing us to take our business to the next level as well. And it feels so amazing, and so aligned. And we know, it’s just gonna get better and better and better each time we do this. And so we’re so excited about that, as well.
[26:37] So just in, in summary of all this, you know, some of the biggest results that we saw from this retreat, and what I believe you will see from your retreat too, should you implement this is, number one, the ability to look at people’s business. And to really see where those gaps were, we wanted to go in there and determine what is the best opportunity for people to book out in their business, that is really going to move the needle for them to create the outcomes they want, and to do it in a robust way. And for me, in business coaching that looks like more clients more revenue, and it looks like more ease and less overwhelmed. That’s what we’re looking for, we really believe you do not have to do more. To get more, it’s really about optimizing your business, taking what you’ve already spent all your hard-earned money and time to do it to make it work for you optimize that offer, optimize the things around it, and you will have people moving through your business with ease, it is the way to go.
[27:43] Second, we wanted to make sure they walked out of there with solutions. We don’t want you to just identify what to do, we wanted you to come up with a solution. And we wanted you to come up with a solution from our expertise, but also from the amazing people that we curated in the room to help you look at your business in a lens that will help you see things you wouldn’t have seen before.
[28:05] Third was the network, we really, we really curated that table, we knew the people that were going to come with us, we made sure that they were the people we wanted. Some of the people that approached us that weren’t the right fit, we were okay to let them go or to push them to something else that might be a better fit. But we wanted to make sure that that network was really powerful, both while they were there at our retreat, but also far beyond. And as I mentioned, they are creating results. And they are creating relationships in ways that they never would have done if they weren’t in that retreat, whether it is tweaking something and signing a client before they even left partnering with some of the other members that were at the retreat, they’re now doing joint, you know, programs and things like that, just having those business besties and accountability partners for life that come out of these types of situations.
[28:59] Fourth, was really holding that space for all the emotion and the catharsis that come up, that is needed. As entrepreneurs, we need a space to be seen, to feel like we’re being heard, to really feel that it is a safe space, and we are trusted. And when you bring people into these immersive spaces, that is what happened and absolutely happened for us at our retreat. And we loved it because it is part of the journey. It absolutely is part of the journey. And it is something that we need to do as entrepreneurs come together in that safe space.
[29:31] And then last but not least, we made sure that we had next steps for people to really be sort of off boarded and to continue that journey that they created with us when they were in the space. And one of the most incredible things that came out of it is this next version of this retreat, it’s looking at all these amazing client results, what we experienced what we want to create more of how do we want to make it more soul-filled, more valuable, and really take these results and just amplify them. And as such, we now have the next version of our retreat, which we know is going to be equally, if not better, it’s going to be that next level. And we’re so excited to do that again and again and again. And that is one of the best parts of all that it is such a win-win. So holding these retreats can be super powerful in your business, creating results like this are really important, doing that back-end work that comes from creating the space and the container that you want so it creates the results that you want is really, really important. And that is something that we feel very strongly about when we’re putting these things together.
[30:47] So take a look at your business. Where can you allow for those opportunities to, you know, put a retreat in there or put in some sort of a mechanism or offer that you can pull people together around that immersive space, that deep dive, all of those things are hugely valuable? And the results don’t just happen in the space. They keep repeating on and on and on. I also want to offer that when you are immersed in a space with someone else, whether you attend these retreats or you’re in a in a space where you’re coming together in that immersive space, you also learn how to do more of what it is that you experienced in your own business. So for many of the people that were at this retreat, they’re thinking about doing retreats, too. So going to a trip retreat, being in that space, and really experiencing it all for yourself also can help you create retreats in your business in a more powerful way.
