If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that I went on a business retreat. I've had so many questions from people wanting to know what it was really like, I thought I'd do a podcast episode to spill the beans and give you a behind the scenes insight in to what it was really like.

Whether you want to go on a retreat, or if you are going to run one (or you're just interested!), this episode covers:

• Why I chose this Retreat (and how much it cost 😉)
• What I'll be looking for next time I book a Retreat.
• What exactly we did (work and fun!) - and why having two coaches was such a bonus.
• The 3 things I learnt from the Retreat that I'm trying to bring to my life now I'm home

LINKS:

Sam (Systems) - https://www.instagram.com/samwhizzz/

Coaches who ran the retreat:

Bec: https://www.instagram.com/_rebeccahaydon_/

Jen: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferolsson.co/

If you enjoyed the podcast, here are some ways you can be a part of my world:

Social:

Love Instagram? Click here to watch a video I made on the Warm audience trap (hint, it's something almost every client struggles with!)

More of a LinkedIn fan? I'm there too! Come and follow me here: Sophie Griffiths

Free Resource:

Ready to grow an audience of people who WANT you to sell to them? Radical idea I know, but it shouldn’t be! Click here to get access to my step by step guide to using simple, effective ads to build & nurture a community of superfans,

Work together:

Ready to build an audience of superfans who are excited and ready to buy from you?

Whether you are just starting with Meta (Facebook & Instagram) Ads, you have dabbled but want to build your confidence with your first funnel, or you're already killing it and you're ready for fast growth - I can help! Click here to choose the best option for you

Got questions?

DM me on Insta or LinkedIn

Email me here: hello@sophiegriffiths.co 

hello, and welcome to

Lion Hearted Marketing.

2

This is a podcast for bold businesses

who are ready to go from a slightly

3

scattergun marketing approach to

connecting everything they're doing

4

to create joyful, repeatable customer

journeys, that build connection and

5

consistently convert new clients.

6

That's called a funnel.

7

If you fancy.

8

If you have that nagging feeling,

you should have more of a grasp

9

on your marketing, more of a

plan, more of a system to support

10

your pretty successful business.

11

You're in the right place.

12

This isn't about trying

lows and new strategies.

13

It's about taking what you've

got and making the most of it.

14

I'm Sophie your host.

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Self-confessed tea superfan marketing

strategist and funnels or joyful journeys,

16

as I like to call them, demystifier.

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Join me every Tuesday for my Lion

hearted approach to marketing.

18

To help you navigate those big moves,

stay focused on your goals and ultimately

19

take your business to the next level.

20

Let's jump in to today's episode.

21

Hello and welcome to this week's

episode of align hearted marketing.

22

If you follow me on Instagram, you

might have seen that last week.

23

I was away on a business retreat.

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Now I did pay some thought on Instagram

stories and I have posted about it since.

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And I've had so many questions and

people really wondering how it was.

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What I learn, what kind of

experience I had and whether it's

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something that I would do again,

whether it lived up to expectation.

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And so what I thought is I would do

a podcast episode really spilling

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the beans, giving you all the

juicy details behind the scenes.

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I know that for me anyway, or a

tweet has been on my vision board.

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For a really long time now.

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Probably a good three or four

years and I've done day retreats.

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I've been away over nights.

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I like to day events.

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And I've done lots of more sort of,

conferencey more like structured workshop

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type in-person events, but in the

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Was to do more in-person events.

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And I thought, do you know what, if

I'm going to really make that my focus.

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I am.

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This is the year that I'm

going to do a retreat.

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And so as they say go big or go home

because I did go all out, it was epic.

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And it was really, it was really

luxurious and that honestly was

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part of my decision making process.

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But before I jump into all of that, what

I thought I would do in this episode

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is give you a little bit of an overview

of the retreat I went on who it was,

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where, you know, all the, like the nitty

gritty details, because I genuinely

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think it's really interesting to get

this kind of behind the scenes when

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you're looking to choose a retreat.

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If you wanted to go on one or

even if you were going to run one.

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You know, what are people

looking at when they're buying?

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What sort of things to keep an

eye out for and because there's

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a lot of money to invest, so I'll

give you all the nitty gritty.

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And then I just was going to talk through

the three main things I learned while

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I was away so that's what we're going

to be talking about in this episode.

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Okay, so let's jump in

to the nitty-gritty.

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So it was essentially.

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It was five days away from home.

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So I left very early

on the Monday morning.

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And got a flight from

Gatwick over to nice.

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Which I have to say, I've never

been to niece before, but it's raw.

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We have the most incredible weather.

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I don't know whether it's global warming

weather or whether that's normal for

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niece or this time of year, but it was

so 26, 27 degrees is two hours away.

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On the sea, beautiful, beautiful,

like restaurants and buildings,

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and you're kind of quite quickly

in the countryside as well.

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So we actually didn't stay in nice.

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We were kind of about 20, 25

minutes outside in the Hills.

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Which was incredible.

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It was just so beautiful and peaceful.

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I flew out Monday and got there

about lunchtime and there were two

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of us coming from the UK, one from

Amsterdam and then three from Sweden.

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So we all sort of congregated at the.

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Avila Michael mid, late afternoon on

the Monday the Villa was incredible.

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I.

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Didn't know a huge marble,

like I hadn't seen the Vela.

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I mean, going with the coaches

that I went with, I knew that

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it was going to be incredible.

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Because they are luxury kind of people.

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And that was, I'll talk about that in a

minute, but that was one of the things

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that helped me kind of make my decision.

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Then the three core days of the actual

retreat were Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

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And that's when we were really doing

much more of the structured work.

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There was incredible experiences, which

I'll talk about, but like dinners and.

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Lunch chairs, but also like

incredible strategy workshops

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and, you know, mindset, beliefs.

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Mindset shifts and

subconscious reprogramming.

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It was really, really intense.

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It was incredible, but

it was really intense.

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And then Friday I traveled

home back to my children and

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I got home about mid afternoon.

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So, yes, April, I was away four nights.

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Five days now I have got a

six-year-old and a three-year-old

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and I probably feel like I'm just

about there, where I could do that.

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And that's obviously just personal to me.

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And I was incredibly lucky that

my husband can work from home

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and I have a very supportive.

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Mum and mother-in-law and sister as well.

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Because my husband actually

traveled to Amsterdam on the Friday

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morning that I was traveling back.

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So my sister had to stay over,

like on the Thursday night.

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So, I guess the reason I'm telling you

this level of detail is because it wasn't

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easy for me to get away for five days

or that it was a huge logistical process

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of aligning up childcare and left.

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And I had to get in, you know,

friends from mums, from school to

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do occasional drop-offs and, you

know, taking the girls swimming on

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a Thursday, you know, it was a lot.

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And, you know, it won't be

like that for everybody.

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But for me, it was quite a

big . Undertaking to go away for

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four or five full days, basically.

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But luckily I'm in fact, incredibly

supportive family, friends,

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husband, and we made it possible.

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And also I think proved to

everybody that it could be done.

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But I do think it's something

that would be a consideration for

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a lot of people when I've spoken

to people about the retreat.

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A lot of people say to

me, oh, I just don't.

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I don't think I could

go away for that long.

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Oh, I'm not sure how the kids

would cope or I'm not sure.

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I think it would just be too much

logistically or just don't think

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my husband would cope you know,

juggling it all and, and, you

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know, with their job or whatever.

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And obviously it depends

what their job is, but.

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I just wanted to say, like, I might

look really easy, like, oh yeah,

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I'm just jetting off and everyone's

picking up the pieces while I'm behind.

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But you know, it did take a huge

amount of planning and a huge

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amount of logistics and support from

everybody, but it was doable and

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actually everybody was totally fine.

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There was no dramas and I would

absolutely do it again in terms

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of that amount of time, I think

To be honest, like three days.

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Of actual retreating was perfect.

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So what else can I tell you?

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So the two coaches that were running at.

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Back and Jen, they Tibet

is my mindset coach.

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She's already been on this

podcast episode six, I think.

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So if you want to have a listen to that,

she does a lot of the mindset work.

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She also does strategy and

content as well, but like

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mindset is what she leads with.

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And then Jen is primarily content

messaging and strategy, but she

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also does kind of mindset and stuff.

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So they both kind of do both, but they

had their kind of areas of strength,

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which was really nice combination.

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They've worked together

for a really long time.

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And they work in each other's like

with each other's businesses now, which

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I think is really nice because they.

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They're totally on the same page.

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So it wasn't like you spoke to one

of them and they had one idea and

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then you spoke to the other one and

they had a totally different idea.

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There was no conflict there at all.

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And they were also told you on the same

page about how they wanted the retreat

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to run, how they wanted it to feel.

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It went really smoothly from that

perspective, because I think.

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You know, with two people,

two coaches running out.

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It was the first time

they'd run it as well.

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Which, I totally had the confidence

in that they would do it.

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I totally had confidence.

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That'd be great because I've worked

with back for the last six months.

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So I knew it was going to be incredible.

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But I think in terms of looking for.

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In terms of what to look for

when you're looking at a retreat.

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It was really nice that there was

two of them because one could take

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the lead and the other could either

set something up or, you know

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organized taxis for the lunch or.

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Just kind of be there as an additional

support or go and have some rest time

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themselves, because I think running

a retreat is incredibly full on.

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So it was kind of nice not

to have the whole thing just

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on one person's shoulders.

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So definitely I would, if I saw a

retreat run by two people again, I'd

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definitely be interested in that.

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So there was actually six of us in total.

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So two coaches and then

four of us on the retreat.

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Which is actually, I would say quite small

in terms of what I've seen from retreats,

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but it was, I mean, it was so lovely.

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We were really lucky.

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We got so much of their time.

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We had one-to-one sessions.

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We had small group sessions

depending on what we needed.

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Then we had whole group sessions.

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Six is a really nice

number to go for dinner.

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You know, you've got really

interesting conversation.

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We had people from the gal all

across Europe, which was incredible

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and the conversation was amazing

and just the insight and to think

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other people's businesses and how

it kind of works in other countries

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was, yeah, it was fascinating.

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I'd happily go to one.

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That was a bit bigger.

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So I would say maybe up to about 10, but

if I was looking for another retreat, I

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would definitely not want more than 10.

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Because I just think that once you go

beyond that, you looking at them more

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like subgroups and smaller kind of groups.

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I don't think you'd be able to get

to know everybody as much and it

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might just feel a bit overwhelming.

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Another thing I would look at

kind of going forward is do I

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want to share a room or not?

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So this one there were.

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Four bedrooms and six of us.

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So two people have their own

room each and then four of us

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shared like two and two shared.

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I shared a room.

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And actually I was

absolutely fine with that.

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I thought I wouldn't want to.

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But it wasn't a choice

we made beforehand.

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It was just kind of based on how

we all felt and the kind of bonds

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we have with the different people.

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And I shared with Sam who is a, was an

ABM and is now a sort of systems advisor.

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Oh my God.

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She's absolutely incredible.

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I will link to her.

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Instagram in the show notes, if

you need kind of systems, like And

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click up and everything like that.

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So to down your business,

she is absolutely incredible.

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So.

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I shared with Sam, we had

the most incredible room.

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It was a huge room, on the sweet balcony.

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So there definitely wasn't an issue

with space, but I think in the

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future, I would definitely be looking

at you know, is it shared or not?

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And like, how do I kind of feel about that

because, going away and like, not really

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knowing anybody else you're going with.

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Definitely is a leap.

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And I think that's another thing that

I would be thinking about looking at

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retreat is who are the coaches and

who else are they likely to attract?

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Like, are they likely to be people

who are at a similar point in

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business to me or have similar.

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Like views to me or values to me . There's

six of us got on really, really well.

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It was a really lovely aligned group.

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And I think that that definitely

came from the fact that We had all

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pretty much all of us had worked

with what either back or gen.

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So we were their ideal clients,

if you like, which kind of

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worked really, really well.

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Another thing people have been

asking me about a lot is worth

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everything included and yes, it was.

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So we paid for the retreat upfront.

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And then when we got there, literally

I didn't even spend a penny.

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So taxis food drank.

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Yeah, literally everything was paid

for, which was really, really nice.

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It was just felt really luxurious.

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Not to have to worry about money or or

getting your hose out or paying for this

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taxi or how much is that going to cost?

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Like nothing had to be considered at all.

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We were just there and everything

was included, which was amazing.

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Having chatted to the others

that were on the retreat.

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It was really interesting.

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Some of them had been on retreats before.

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I think what came up was that retreat is

a term that can be used pretty loosely for

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pretty much any kind of in-person event.

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I mean, you can have day retreats.

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You can have half day retreats even,

or you can have, you know, these

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five day kind of immersive retreats.

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A few things that came up when we

were chatting about those retreats

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was Things like, you know, Hey,

how many people are going to be?

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That was one.

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So I think one was like, there was like

20 or 30 people there, which is, you

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know, a huge amount of people to kind of.

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Navigate and I think would have

to be a lot more structured and

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a lot more kind of boundaries.

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I can't even imagine how you

do dinners and stuff like that.

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The next is how much time you

actually get with a coach.

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Because I think some retreats

that people have been on there was

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quite a lot of boundaries around

when you could have access to the

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coach who was there and leading it.

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We were basically with Jen and back

the whole time, even when we were

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in the pool or wandering around the

town or going out for lunch, there

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was still a lot of business chat.

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I found actually I learned a

huge amount just by talking

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to them about their business.

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And how they run it and how they've

grown it just by having that kind

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of just by having the access

to them to kind of day to day.

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So that's definitely

something that's interesting.

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Then the other thing is how much

actual, business content and

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structured I don't know, education,

feedback, mentoring, coaching is them.

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Because another thing that came up

was that on other retreats, people

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have been to, they did, they were

there for say four days, and then

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they had like one business session.

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For a couple of hours and the rest of

it was more just, you know, relaxing and

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chats and the vibe was very much like,

oh, all of the breakthroughs are gonna

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happen, doing chatting to each other.

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And absolutely that does happen, but

I think that also needs to be some.

276

From my perspective, I was going for

more of the structured kind of coaching

277

and Learning as well as the kind of

chats . So that's something I would keep

278

in mind if I was looking for one as well.

279

And the reason that I chose this

retreat is because back in January,

280

incredibly good at helping you see

that anything is possible this retreat

281

really gave me a taste of that sort of.

282

Luxury expensive kind of mindset

that I have to be honest, I

283

don't slip into naturally.

284

So one night we went out for a a

Michelin star dinner the last night and

285

it was a big celebration and it was.

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Absolutely incredible.

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Before we went in.

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We had a glass of champagne

each and those, the glass

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of champagne was 40 euros.

290

Now just naturally for me.

291

That feels quite stretchy.

292

And we had this really

interesting conversation about.

293

You know, relative levels of what

feels stretchy, what feels okay.

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You know, what your

benchmark is for things.

295

Like for me, I don't, even when I go out,

I probably wouldn't even want to spend 40

296

pounds on a bottle of wine, to be honest.

297

Like, it's not something I

spend a huge amount of money on.

298

And 40 pounds on a glass of champagne.

299

Not that I was even paying, but

for me, that felt quite stretchy

300

and the conversation we had

really helped me think about.

301

What is luxury to me?

302

What, what do I want my life to look like?

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And what does that luxury look like?

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Is it, is it 40 pound

glasses of champagne?

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Is it 400 pound meals?

306

Is it, is it that sort of thing?

307

Oh, actually, is that

my life at the moment?

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And I've had.

309

Really pondered on that actually for

the last week and that really feeds

310

into how I want to grow my business,

what that looks like going forward.

311

The other reason why I chose this one.

312

Is because the combination

of mindset and strategy.

313

I.

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Have seen the benefit of the mindset

work that I've done this year.

315

Like, so incredibly clearly.

316

My business has grown in a

way they haven't grown at

317

all in the last six years.

318

And I definitely think that that is.

319

Related to the facts that I

have done a huge amount of

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strategy work over the years.

321

And some work on myself, but it

was never all gonna come together

322

until like I worked on my mindset

and a lot of deep subconscious.

323

Work I've had to do.

324

On beliefs, deep held beliefs that

I have, and the way that, that kind

325

of shows up and stops me also in

terms of managing my ADHD as well.

326

And how I kind of work within my business.

327

And how I get support, because that has

also massively held me back as well,

328

which I spoke a lot about in a podcast.

329

A couple of weeks ago when I

talked about growing a team.

330

So yeah, that was it.

331

I mean, in terms of what we actually

did day to day Tuesday, we had the

332

most incredible Michelin star lunch.

333

I am looking at this beautiful view.

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You know, it was like five courses.

335

We had the wine pairing.

336

We were there for three and a half hours.

337

In the morning, we did a real, really

good session on where we were in our

338

business, where we want to take it.

339

What the vision is like short

term, medium term, long term.

340

And then why we wanted

to get there as well.

341

Why was it so important to us?

342

Because interestingly, a lot of our

plans related to you know, I want

343

to grow a membership or I want to

do a group program, but when we dug

344

into the why we wanted to do that,

actually there was often a slightly.

345

Different quicker.

346

More direct route that you

could take to get there.

347

And the sum.

348

I'd say all of us had something we

were doing in our business because

349

either we thought we should,

because everyone else did it.

350

Because it's just something

we've always done.

351

And actually on reflection.

352

We don't probably didn't.

353

Let me, they need to be doing it.

354

Well, we need to change it to kind

of work into a why we're doing it.

355

Then, then we went out for a lovely lunch.

356

Then the afternoon we had a

lot of like, we just have

357

really relaxing time that day.

358

Actually, it was really relaxed.

359

We did a very brief

session in the afternoon.

360

And then we went into the town and had

a wander round and had some dinner.

361

And then the Wednesday, Thursday, where

the really kind of heavy days, if you

362

like, we didn't actually leave the Villa.

363

From when we got back on Tuesday

night through to when we went out

364

on the Thursday night, which you

might think sounds quite might

365

sound a bit claustrophobic, but

actually the Villa was laid out in

366

a way that it felt really relaxing.

367

And like, there was lots of space

in different areas to go to.

368

And there was a real mix.

369

So we did messaging workshop with Jan.

370

And we really looked at our

positioning how we're talking about

371

ourselves, you know, looking at

our content, our email, our website

372

I've taken away a lot from that.

373

Actually.

374

and then Then we had some.

375

Small, like two to one session.

376

So two of us were at one kind

of stage of our business and

377

the other two were slightly

different stage or different focus.

378

So we basically, two of us had time with

Jen and the other tier of time with that.

379

And then we swapped.

380

So that was really good to get those kinds

of really small group sessions with them.

381

Then we spent some time in the pool.

382

We had a little bit of a rack rest.

383

Then we kind of built a roadmaps.

384

But when we came back to make sure we

actually implemented a lot of this stuff.

385

So looking at the strategy and

you know what the next three to

386

six months looks like, which is

what I've kind of brought back.

387

And I'm working on with my

team in terms of implementing.

388

And then on the last day we actually

did do the doing so kind of right.

389

What do we need to implement now?

390

I spent a lot of time working on

content and messaging and how

391

I can kind of start to show up.

392

In my social media and in my content

in a way that elevates me from more

393

of just like how to do ads into more of

what I'm really, really good at, which

394

is connecting the dots, creating these

incredible customer journeys and helping

395

you connect your marketing so that you're

not just doing everything in silos.

396

So using Facebook ads, but using ads in a

really strategic way, that's kind of much

397

more of a bigger picture thinking way.

398

That's what I'm really good at.

399

And I that's what I struggled to kind

of get across in my content sometimes.

400

I was really working on that.

401

And then we had like a really

deep subconscious mindset session

402

one-to-one with back, which.

403

Was amazing.

404

I've worked with her

for the last six months.

405

So I thought I kind of was a

little bit cocky and thought,

406

well, I think I've probably.

407

You know, nailed most

of my minds, that stuff.

408

As it turns out.

409

That's not that wasn't the case.

410

I have this very, very deep ingrained

belief of Everything will come to an end.

411

Like I said, everything eventually

ends and it's really how me back in

412

my business because every time I do

well, I have this assumption like,

413

well, everything's going to end anyway.

414

So, and then I do a bit of self

sabotage and it does end and

415

it just reinforces that cycle.

416

Anyway, I've done a huge

amount of work on that.

417

And I've done.

418

I'm like, I really am feeling.

419

Less and less like that has a hold on me.

420

Like it feels lighter and lighter

over time, but something came up

421

in the deep subconscious work.

422

Where.

423

A much more recent memory in the last 10

years or so where we'd been working on

424

sort of more of the childhood memories.

425

That still was kind of

playing into that belief.

426

So it kind of blew me away.

427

Like the mindset work has just never done.

428

But since we did it, I felt, yeah.

429

I felt much, I don't know.

430

Yeah.

431

I felt much better.

432

There's definitely been like a little.

433

A release of some kind that,

so that was incredible.

434

As well.

435

So that's kind of how it all ran.

436

We then had a kind of, we pulled

it all together with a session and

437

then we went out for this incredible

Michelin star dinner and had

438

a really, really lovely time.

439

And then we came home on the Friday.

440

So that's kinda how it ran.

441

That's all the nitty gritty details.

442

I know.

443

I know one thing everyone wants

to know is how much did it cost?

444

In total, I think the price

445

whole thing, all inclusive.

446

And that included my flights as well.

447

So that's all the, that's

all the nitty gritty.

448

I think that's all the stuff everyone's

been asking me on my Instagram.

449

One thing that came up a lot was

did it meet your expectations?

450

Now, interestingly, I don't

even know what I expect there,

451

to be honest, I've never been on

a retreat, I guess, next time.

452

I go on a retreat, which

I absolutely will do.

453

I guess I will have expectations.

454

And that will be, I don't know if that'll

be better because I'll be clear on

455

what I'm looking for and what I want.

456

But also, I think it will be

trickier because, you know, I'll be

457

comparing it to this kind of very

luxurious, very small group retreat.

458

Which was incredible in

so many different ways.

459

So, yes, I think it definitely delivered

so much more than I could have imagined

460

just on a personal level, on a business

level and just kind of a, like a

461

life experience level, to be honest.

462

I'm going to talk now about

the three things I really

463

took away from the retreat.

464

One of the biggest things for me

was actually having time to be me.

465

And I really interesting of

the six of us that were there.

466

Four didn't have children.

467

So there's only two of us that had kids.

468

What that meant was that not

only was I there I traveled

469

internationally on my own.

470

So I haven't traveled on a plane on

my own without my husband or my kids.

471

In years, like years now, I used

to work for British airways.

472

I used to travel all the time on my own.

473

But either I normally go

away with my husband or I'll

474

have been away with friends.

475

Although even that was quite a long

time ago now and just because of COVID

476

and having young kids and everything.

477

So, yeah, so traveling on my

own, going to something like this

478

on my own was quite stretchy.

479

Like, I didn't know anybody.

480

And I could just be me.

481

I wasn't even like a friend where there's

expectations of like your friendship

482

or dynamics have grown over the years.

483

Like I was just there.

484

As me on my own, we didn't

talk about parenting.

485

We didn't talk about kids.

486

Really.

487

I talked a little bit about it, you know,

in the context of like, you know, Just

488

sharing what was kind of going on at

home or in the context of my business.

489

But generally the chat was just not

about anything parenting related.

490

Which was really, really lovely.

491

And it, I felt like I was in a bubble

while I was that, to be honest, like

492

I barely even kept in touch at home.

493

I did try to do one video

call and that was a disaster.

494

So it didn't do any more of those.

495

But I messaged my husband a couple of

times a day and that was literally it.

496

And obviously you posted

stories on Instagram, obviously.

497

But other than that, I

couldn't get my head out of it.

498

We felt we were in this little bubble

and I was just quite happy there.

499

I didn't want it to kind of

engage with the rest of the world.

500

So that was one thing that I really

took away from it is how can I create.

501

That space to just be me more on

a regular basis rather than having

502

to go away for an entire week.

503

I, when I would like to do that as

well, but just in general, you know,

504

how do I create that opportunity

for me to kind of have that space

505

day-to-day because it really.

506

It felt like he gave me breathing room

and I felt really inspired and relaxed

507

and it was really, really lovely.

508

And that's definitely

something I've taken away.

509

The second thing was, it felt

really stretchy to do this,

510

to go away, not just from a.

511

I'm leaving my kids for a week,

not just from a, I don't know

512

anyone who's going to be there.

513

Also like the money I'm investing in it.

514

Just, it just felt like a

really stretchy thing to do.

515

And I think the second thing I take

away from this is that whenever I've

516

done something stretchy, But my gut has

felt really good about, and I've kind

517

of feel confident in investing in, okay.

518

Always, always is a positive, no matter

whether it's exactly what I expect or not.

519

It always comes back as a

positive and the mindset and the

520

strategy breakthroughs I had.

521

Where Willie incredible.

522

And I think partly that's because I

was in this bubble and I was just away

523

from everything and it felt really.

524

I had my head just felt really clear

and like that's all I had to think

525

about was just working on the business.

526

That was really nice.

527

But, well, I thought was really

interesting is that, you know, it was

528

stretchy for back in gen to run a retreat.

529

The first time they've done it,

you know, that was something that

530

was really stretchy for them.

531

And it kind of just made me remember,

realize, and kind of be reminded of that.

532

No matter what stage of business

you're in, you've got to keep having

533

that stretchy feeling and take to

move the business forward, to keep

534

growing, to keep expanding, to keep

feeling like that challenge and that.

535

Excitement in your business.

536

I guess the stretchiness feels a bit

uncomfortable, but it's also where

537

I'd like the biggest leaps come and.

538

Definitely have had those.

539

While I was there and it just, yeah,

I guess it just reminded me talking

540

to all the other people there as well.

541

And back in Jen, over the week.

542

You know, no matter what stage of

business you're in, you've got to

543

keep making those stretchy decisions.

544

And that's something that I kind of

have come back with and I've come

545

thinking about for the next year or so.

546

Like what would feel good stretchy

for me, not just in my business, in

547

terms of you know, retreat or coach

they work with, but also investing in

548

systems and a team and And home as well.

549

Like what would feel slightly

stretchy for me in terms of.

550

Find creating that space

for myself to just be me.

551

We also got a puppy as well.

552

That feels quite stretchy at the moment.

553

It's quite a lot of Headspace

out into our lives, but also,

554

you know we will do her already.

555

So there's definitely that mix between

stretchy but incredible rewards.

556

So yeah, that fee, I think the

biggest learning that was just keep

557

going with that stretchy feeling.

558

As long as you, it feels you feel

that positiveness in your gut.

559

And then the.

560

Last thing.

561

And I took away from it was, everyone has

said to me, Oh, you must feel so relaxed.

562

Oh, you must be glowing.

563

You know, you must have had the most

incredible time, like resting full

564

night's sleep, which don't get me wrong.

565

I absolutely did.

566

However, I didn't do for myself is

really considered the fact that I was

567

going to be with five other people.

568

They didn't know.

569

For a whole week.

570

I was going to be doing,

traveling through an airport.

571

I was going to be traveling.

572

For today kind of days, either end.

573

And that was incredibly

draining all my energy.

574

Like I love being around other people

and the other women were incredible.

575

And it wasn't like small talk.

576

Like we develop really deep

relationships really quickly.

577

But it's, I still find it found

it quite challenging being around

578

that many people all the time.

579

And I realized how much I value

my space and I follow you.

580

Like just literally being

on my own in the house.

581

And I've learned this with

in-person events as well.

582

So it's really silly of me not

to have considered this think.

583

I thought, cause I was

going away for a bit longer.

584

It wouldn't really affect me as

much, but you know, with any kind of

585

in-person event or day event what I

never do is give myself a day to then.

586

Let my energy come back, you know process

what I've been through, like process, all

587

the thoughts and just B what I did was

jumped straight back into solo parenting,

588

which I didn't really have a choice,

but I, you know, literally came home.

589

Landed.

590

The taxi dropped me off.

591

I got the car and he went and

got my daughter from school and

592

picked up my other daughter.

593

And then I slowly parented until

my husband was home from Amsterdam.

594

The next Monday.

595

And then I was back at work and

then we got dog on the first day.

596

Oh my goodness.

597

It's, it's been a roller coaster

since I've been back and there hasn't

598

really been any time to breathe.

599

Rest and just kinda let it all settle.

600

So I think if I was to do another

one, I would definitely make

601

sure that that weekend I come

home, it's kind of blocked out.

602

And I mean, obviously I've got kids,

it's never going to be totally restful,

603

but making sure that even in the

business, the first few days I'm back,

604

I have a couple of days blocked out in

my diary just to kind of, we calibrate

605

and rest and not feel like I'm having

to jump straight back into everything.

606

That was a really big learning for me and

is something that I want to apply to not.

607

Just retreats, but in-person events in

general and even intensive, days on zoom

608

and that sort of thing, making sure that

the next day I then have a bit of a break.

609

As well.

610

So, yeah, so that I think is pretty much

everything download from the retreat.

611

I'm more than happy to answer any

other questions if you've got any

612

questions or you want to ask me

anything about the retreat or what I

613

did there or how it was like, please

do to send me a DM on Instagram.

614

Like talking about it.

615

It's one of my favorite

topics at the moment.

616

I'd love to know if this was useful.

617

if you're thinking of going on a

retreat or you're thinking of running

618

one, it definitely has occurred to me.

619

Would I want to run a retreat?

620

I was definitely something in me that

feels a bit like, Ooh, That could be

621

something that feels a bit stretchy,

like, but would be really exciting.

622

Probably not for next year, but maybe the

year after, maybe it's a 20, 25 thing.

623

But yeah, that's definitely in my mind,

but I'd love to know any retreats

624

you've been on how you got on with them.

625

I'm looking for one to

go on that one next year.

626

So I'm yeah.

627

If you've got any recommend,

please do let me know.

628

Cause now I'm like a retreat obsessive.

629

Anyway, thank you so much for listening.

630

And I will speak to you next week.

631

Thank you so much for

joining me this week.

632

Before you go, make sure you

subscribe to the podcast so you

633

can receive new episodes every

Tuesday when they're released.

634

And if you enjoyed this episode, I'd

love for you to rate or leave a review

635

wherever you are listening to it.

636

It only takes a few seconds, but

it really does make a massive

637

difference to new people finding me.

638

Thank you again for joining me, Sophie,

in this episode of Lionheart Marketing.

639

See you next time.