In this episode of The High Profit Event Show, host Rudy Rodriguez sits down with Alison Hannah-Katschkowsky, founder of CU Fitness—The Alison Hannah-Katschkowsky Agency, to uncover the secrets behind filling events, engaging audiences, and creating experiences that convert. With over 30 successful retreats under her belt, Alison shares her journey from the health and wellness industry to becoming a sought-after event strategist. She has helped thousands of people achieve their goals through immersive experiences that go beyond traditional coaching.

Alison’s background in fitness and business strategy has shaped her unique approach to event planning. She realized early on that people don’t just need information—they need a structured, results-driven experience that helps them take action. That’s why she focuses on building events that provide more than just inspiration. In this episode, she reveals the three key elements every event leader needs to master to create high-profit, high-impact experiences.

One of the biggest mistakes event leaders make is failing to define a clear event promise. Alison explains that attendees don’t buy tickets based on the location, the amenities, or even the speakers—they buy the outcome. If potential participants can’t immediately understand what they will gain from attending, they are far less likely to commit. Alison shares how event leaders can clarify their event promise so that attendees know exactly what transformation they will experience.

Marketing is another crucial factor in event success. Too many event hosts rely on hope—hoping referrals will fill their spots, hoping people will spread the word. Alison breaks down her Hand Raise Method, a pre-selling strategy that allows event organizers to gauge interest before officially launching their event. She emphasizes the importance of combining inbound and outbound marketing strategies to maximize visibility and ensure consistent ticket sales.

Beyond selling out an event, Alison stresses the importance of designing an experience that converts. Many events provide great content, but attendees often leave with pages of notes and no real action plan. Alison explains how structuring an event with interactive sessions, implementation exercises, and post-event support ensures attendees leave transformed, not just informed. She highlights how a well-planned itinerary and engagement strategies can turn attendees into long-term clients.

Alison’s biggest takeaway? You don’t need a huge audience to host a successful event—you just need the right audience. She encourages event leaders to engage their existing network, understand what their audience truly needs, and build an event that delivers on that promise. If you’re looking to sell out your next event and create an experience people rave about, this episode is packed with actionable insights you won’t want to miss.

Want to connect with Alison?

Free Masterclass: The REtreat Accelerator https://thealisonk.com/retreat-accelerator-masterclass

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Hello and welcome to today's episode. We have a special guest with us, Ms. Alison K. The Alison K. Welcome, Ma'am.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Yes, absolutely excited to have you here. We recently connected because of a mutual podcast host, Josh Elledge, who's actually been a teacher to both of us. I heard you speak on a recent expert panel and I was so impressed by the learnings that you shared there, with your experience leading live events in the form of retreats. I was like, I gotta have you on our show ASAP. So I am so happy that you're here today. A little background for our audience. You have a background in health and wellness. You've actually helped thousands of people on their health and fitness goals over the years. You've owned two small gyms and you're now a business strategist. So you podcast. You've been podcasting for over six years. You write, you teach at the college level as well and one of your podcasts is actually around creating the world's best client experiences, which I know that you've integrated into events and retreats by not only hosting your own retreats around the world, but also helping your clients.

That's true. Yes, that's correct.

Yes, so excited to have you on here and always like to jump in with our audience right into the deep end with the value and the golden nugget. Maybe share with us a little bit about what brought you to doing events and let's answer the question that people are constantly asking. How do I fill my events?

I love that. Well, thank you for having me by the way and to answer the first question that you asked me, how did I get into doing retreats and events? Honestly, it's something that's been on my radar since I started as a baby entrepreneur back in the nineties when I was just out of grad school. I always sort of saw myself doing at the time, I was thinking more like a workout camp, like a fitness workout camp. That's obviously what my background is. But as time evolved and the more and more people that I worked with, I realized how much of a need there was for a unique immersive type experience where I could actually put on my fitness hat and my coaching hat at the same time and help people really achieve the changes and the goals that they really wanted because as you know, it takes more than just going and meeting a coach for an hour a day, if you're looking at making a lifetime goal or reaching a lifetime goal. So I always saw myself doing these immersive experiences. So over time, it kind of went to the back burner for a little while. Then as I made changes in my own business about 10 years ago, I said, you know what, I'm ready. I'm going to start and that's how long I've been doing them. The second question, how do I fill my event? It's really more about what you're not doing than what you're doing. What I find to be most typically the case when I work with someone or when someone asks me to take a look at their sales page or what they're doing, what I don't see, the biggest glaring thing that I see is there's no, what I call the retreat promise. There's nothing tangible that I know I'm going to walk away with if I come to your event or if I come to your retreat. People want to know not just what they expect or what to expect, but they want to know what they're going to walk away with.

The analogy I like to use is if you go shopping for something, let's say you're going to a jewelry store or you're going to buy a pair of shoes and you leave with something in a bag, that's very tangible. If someone asks you, what did you buy? You can tell them. You need to be that clear about the outcome that you're offering people from your retreat or your event, especially when they ask, well, what can I expect? Because that's ultimately what people buy. They don't buy the location, they don't buy the bells and whistles, they don't buy the private chef, although all of that is wonderful and it's nice, but people buy the outcome that you're selling. The second thing that I see that I always tell people is you need a clear, coherent marketing and promotional plan. That takes a combination of inbound and outbound strategies. Obviously we would love to all be inbound and just have referrals and people tell their friends and the spots just magically fill and sometimes that's the way that it works, depending on what your event or your retreat is about. But most of the time you need to be looking at both, especially as you get to where you're doing more and more retreats and events and you become known for that, then you have to be looking at an inbound and an outbound strategy. Then the third thing that I see is that there's no real clear plan of what people can expect when they get there. So it goes a little bit further than just the outcome. It's like, what exactly are you gonna do? And what does that look like for them? I think the analogy that I used when you and I met is what's in it for them? Can you paint a picture for them and show them how amazing not only your event is gonna be, but what their life's gonna be like when they get home?

So those are probably the three things that I see the most that aren't being done really well and when you dial those three things in, it makes selling your spots that much easier.

Okay, awesome. Thank you for that. Yes, the promise of the event. So let's recap. So we can recap. The promise of the event, a clear marketing plan. And what was the third one?

The plan, the itinerary and the plan. Like what exactly are you gonna do and what does it look like for them?

Okay, what does it look like for them? What's in it for them?

Yes, because before we go on, let me just add one more thing. What I want people listening to understand, whether you're going to a retreat or a live event, most people don't wanna go to another conference. Conferences are amazing. They're wonderful. You're gonna learn a lot. But most of the time, you're just gonna get so much information in your brain that it's not very often that you're able to utilize all of it when you get home. I don't even wanna tell you how many notebooks of notes I've taken at meetings and then the notebook goes on the shelf when I get home. That doesn't really help change anything for me. So I think it's really important when you're explaining and talking and marketing your event or your retreat, that people have an understanding of what they're gonna be doing and why they need that and what that's gonna look like in their life when they leave and they go home and they go back to their normal life.

Yes. Gotta make it like, what are they gonna get out of it? What's the result? What's the thing they're gonna get? Because I agree, I go to lots of events, lots of conferences. I have things and things of notebooks and they're fun to look back at once in a while. But at the end of the day, it's like, what did I do? What results did I get? What actually did I take coming out of this event? And what should I expect? Yes, great. So I know you recently did a masterclass as well on the subject. I think it was Unlocking The Secrets To Retreat Success and in there, you mentioned the three mistakes retreat leaders make, how to plan, design and market your retreat and the fact that you've used a system, you've created a system to help your clients sell out their events before even promoting them. Can you tell us a little bit more about maybe the system that you use? And yes, because I just feel like you have a lot of gold here.

I definitely want to say that we - Yes, and I'm glad you asked about that, Rudy. What I like to call, it's what I call the hand raise method. It's very much just a flat out straight organic method that I use to help sell spots before I even open it up. Because let's be honest, a lot of people who plan to go to retreats and live events, people love what I call the FOMO marketing, the fear of missing out and what I do in my, what I call the hand raise method is, you're literally just kind of teasing and letting people know what's coming. There's really an art to this and there's a process that you want to use because what I see a lot of retreat leaders do is they plan an amazing event, but they don't even bother to see if it's something that their audience might be interested in. So I think it's really important in your messaging and your marketing that you be talking about that, that you be saying, hey, I'm thinking about putting this together. What do you think? Give me your feedback and you kind of want to do that more or less as you're planning it, but you're doing that to sort of get an idea of number one, this is something people really want. And number two, if it isn't what they want, what do they want? So that you design something that they actually want. I talk about that in my free pop-up podcast series.

Okay, great. Yes, so getting people to raise their hand for the event before you even market or promote it. Exactly, right.

Because then you know who your buyers are. Then you know who you're marketing to. It can be really helpful.

Very cool, and you said you talk to us, you talk people through that step-by-step in your four-part podcast. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Yes, it's a four-part pop-up podcast series. If you, I mean, you're welcome to grab a copy of it. It's on my website. You have the link, you'll find it in the show notes. You basically sign up for it, and it's free and all four episodes get sent to your inbox and each one has a worksheet to go with it in which I walk you through exactly how I, this exact process that I use in my own business. I give you samples of an email to send, a text message to send, because let's be honest, there's a lot of people that maybe aren't on social media regularly, and you have to have a way to stay in front of them. So it's really just about giving people personal touch points and just making sure that they know that this is coming. Because really, your existing audience is what I call your low-hanging fruit. These are the people that already know you, they already trust you, and those are obviously, logically, the first people you want to be selling to before you start selling. I mean, you can sell to the public too, but you and I both know that selling to people who don't know you is a lot tougher than selling to people that already know you and trust you.

Mm-hmm, absolutely. Great, great. Yes, we'll definitely include a link to that here with the show notes and around this video so people can come over to your podcast and get access to that four-part series, as well as that masterclass that you mentioned as well. So I definitely recommend taking advantage of these resources. I see here on your website that you've run over 30 successful retreats, and these resources are lessons learned from all the mistakes.

Pretty much, because for people listening, and I know you have a lot of people in your audience who are sold on the event and the retreat experience, but in the beginning, when we're starting out, sometimes we don't always know what we're doing, and we have to sort of learn as we go. So one of the reasons I put these resources together for anybody that wants them is that I want people to know that, yes, I've made a lot of mistakes, but I learned from them, and here's what I find really works well and hopefully, that can sort of make the learning curve a little bit shorter and a little bit faster for them.

Awesome, yes, in this masterclass, I'm just glancing here, the strategies to conquer the fear and the overwhelm, the clear understanding of how to manage all the balls in the air that comes with retreats. I know what it feels like, because I have one coming up in just under a month. Insights into how to fill your retreat and hit your profit goals and tools to level up your current retreats if you're already hosting them. So it sounds like there's something in this resource for anyone listening to this, whether they're thinking of doing one or they're already doing one and I know several of our clients also actually have retreats as part of their packages. They'll offer high-end mastermind programs, and they include retreats.

But I know that in your resources, there's gonna be some knowledge in there that's gonna benefit them as well, even if the retreat's part of their fulfillment model, how to best - Yes, I'm glad you mentioned that, because we actually, that's one of the ways that we offer our retreats too, is that my mastermind that I run, the women in my mastermind get two retreats a year included. I have a beautiful home on Lake Norman, which is just north of Charlotte, and I usually host it there. But what I find is the combination of digital and in-person is really like a complete and total winner. Because there's, I mean, you and I both know that the in-person is just completely different than being on a screen. But to your point about adding retreats or an in-person event as part of an existing offer, whether it be a coaching offer, a mastermind, or whatever, is that it's not just considered part of the experience. One of the things that we've done with that particular model is we've used that as a possible lead generator too. Like I've invited guests to come and join me at the retreat to see if they'd be a fit for the mastermind. I've invited guests to events that I've done to come and meet me and meet my audience and everything and to see if we'd be a good fit to work together. So it's really, I really think that people are looking for experiences where they can almost like try it on for size and see how they think it feels.

Yes, absolutely. Great, awesome. And Alison, I know we're kind of coming back up towards our 20 minute mark here shortly. I'm just curious, any nuggets or tidbits that you feel will be super relevant or helpful for our audience to know as we kind of come to the end here? Like what's your golden nugget here? I know you've shared so much.

Obviously, I can probably think of several, but I can give you a couple right now. The one thing that I want to make clear to everyone listening is that, and this may or may not be helpful if you've been doing retreats and events for a while, but one of the things that I hear a lot from people is, I need more people in my audience before I do that. I need more people in my programs before I do that. I just cannot say how wrong that sentiment is. I don't think you need a huge number of people in your audience to do an event or a retreat. You just need the right people in your audience and this is why it's so important to be communicating with your audience on a regular basis and be asking them what it is that they want. If I did this kind of experience, what would you like to see? I'm thinking about doing this experience in X location, wherever that is. Here's what I'm thinking about doing. What do you think about that? And I think you can be direct about it, but at the same time, people love to feel like they're contributing and people want to feel like they're important too. So it's kind of like, help me understand here. Help me out. I'd love to get your feedback on this. I think it's absolutely genius. I do that every time I'm looking at a new location for something. I go to somebody who's been with me on a retreat before and say, hey, I'm thinking about this. What do you think? People will tell you what they think if you ask them.

Yes. I actually did have that experience a couple of months ago with one of my existing partners, business partners. I was like, I'm thinking about doing this retreat. How would you design it so that you would want to come to this? And he talked me through exactly and then I went and got some, I didn't do exactly there, but I got some ideas and incorporated them. Then I followed up with them and I shared with them and he was like, yeah, I'll be there. So I was able to figure it out.

It makes a big difference because then when people automatically, then when people see you offer it, they identify that that's something that they want and they're much more likely to raise their hand and say, I want more information. Which is really the whole point of your marketing is that you want people to raise their hand so you know who you're talking to.

Exactly. Yes. As simple as it is, get people to raise their hand before you offer it and do the market research, find out what people need. I remember, I'm thinking back to something I remember a mentor once saying, it's a very simple tagline, but it reads, find out what people want, go out and get it and then go give it to them.

Yep. Exactly.

Yes.

Give them what they want. They ask for it, give it to them. It's that simple and follow through with it just because it's the right thing to do.

Yes. Awesome. Thank you, Alison. This has been wonderful to have you on here. I look forward to sharing those resources with our audience as well. Again, go check out Alison. Her website's here somewhere near the video recording. Go check out her masterclass and definitely check out her podcast and her four-part series as well on what she's learned from doing 30 retreats. So thank you so much. This has been awesome.

Thanks a lot. I appreciate your time.

Absolutely.