If you a coach, spiritual teacher, health & wellness practitioner, or transformational leader, then you would likely have attended or interested in hosting your own retreat at some point. Running a retreat can boost your business, it can also accelerate the outcomes for your clients/students when they immerse in deep experiences with you.

For this week's podcast, I talked to Tamara Golden, who is the go-to person if you want to craft your custom retreat to grow your brand and business. We recorded this interview during the COVID 19 lockdown time, which added extra desire for me to think about attending or hosting retreats in the near future. Imagine yourself being in a beautiful surrounding, connecting with like-minded people and doing deep transformational work. It is one of the most wonderful things I can think of to do!

I hope you will enjoy our interview. I surely loved our conversation as I learned so much from Tamara. If you don't feel you are ready to run a retreat, she also talked about how she helps business owners to "get ready" and strategically plan how to run a successful retreat further down the track when it is the right time.

Tamara Golden is the owner, founder & CEO of Journeywork Retreats, a full-service retreat strategy and planning company operating across the US and worldwide. From do-it-yourself courses to done-for-you services, Journeywork Retreats supports coaches and transformation leaders in creating custom retreats that grow their brand. Tamara has combined her 20 years in travel, event planning and coaching into creating Journeywork Retreats.

If you would like to get in touch with Tamara, please visit her website at www.journeyworkretreats.com or email her at [email protected]

Interview Highlights

* Tamara’s journey from working as a life and career coach for 20 years, then moved into the travel industry and eventually focus on retreats.

* You'll need to strategize before planning a retreat. It is important to align with goals that promote long term business growth, increase revenue and client retention.

* How to create a high-value experience, think about what are the outcomes for the facilitators and participants.

* Crafting custom retreat to grow your business and brand.

* Set up for success, how to get to a level that is “retreat ready” for your business.

* Getting Retreat Ready online course - similar to a mini business coaching course, in the sense that you need to really know your target audience, target client and strategic marketing plan.

* To run a retreat, you need 2 fundamentals: 1. Some clients under your belt and 2. Content materials to cover. Without that educational piece, it becomes a vacation.

* Three key components for a retreat: 1) Educational content 2) Interaction with the destination and with the other members of the group and 3) Downtime - the part that many people forget to plan into. People need time and space for rejuvenation, for relaxation, but also to process what they're learning.

* The difference between running a retreat and conference/boot camp and the business of bonding.

* A retreat offers an opportunity to do more experiential inner work, it also provides a more intimate atmosphere, more access and time with the facilitator.