Retreat Me Happy

00:00:01: Do you want to live a life of freedom and adventure?

00:00:03: Are you wanting more than the daily crowd?

00:00:06: Me too!

00:00:07: Welcome to The Emma Lovell Show, A place where we talk about living a life you love now.

00:00:12: I'm your host, Emma Lovelle And my number one value is Freedom.

00:00:19: I've said that love for whom he has run his business in travel which is fantastic.

00:00:55: Let's jump here & get dreaming.

00:00:57: This Is Space For You To Manifest A Life You Love.

00:01:02: I would like to acknowledge and recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this place, now known as Australia.

00:01:09: I am grateful for their continuing care of land waterways in skies where our work live listen learn play from here on Ugenbeur country and wherever you are listening i pay my respects to elders past present.

00:01:24: Hello welcome to the Emma Lovell Show today!

00:01:27: I'm your host Emma Loveell And I will be talking with you about Retreat Me Happy And that is my new business, New to Me Not New To The World.

00:01:38: I might have talked about it a little bit on here but i wanted to dedicate an episode to Retreat me Happy because It's going to become A big part of My world and you will see More & more About it.

00:01:48: But um...I hope You like my new setup If your watching the video.

00:01:52: Im in our lounge room.

00:01:55: We haven't had a dining table for years Because with a little person it was not really making sense and we decided, We need a bun.

00:02:04: So I'm sitting at our dining table.

00:02:06: It's just small dining table but Just trying to get some more family connection time You know do activities on the table.

00:02:11: Get a bit of structure for my five-year old And its nice because i can have different backgrounds.

00:02:16: so Im not sure how that audio is Cause you're meant to do in like quiet places and la la la.

00:02:21: My office is kind of reverberating anyway.

00:02:23: But Its Nice To Be Out In The Light.

00:02:25: Its Nice For You See My Back Drop.

00:02:29: So anyway, let's dive in.

00:02:31: Retreat Me.

00:02:32: Happy is actually a business that has been live for seven years.

00:02:38: so it was founded in two thousand nineteen by wonderful Sarah Wilmot and she couldn't find her retreat.

00:02:47: She needed one desperately but found more people could go on amazing retreats, but she'd found it so difficult to find one.

00:02:56: It's particularly for Australia and New Zealand um... And was like why is there not something that people could find a retreat more easily?

00:03:06: Now they are Retreat directories around the world.

00:03:08: But some of them have like forty thousand listings.

00:03:11: So you may as well just go Google Like its so much!

00:03:15: Um..and yeah Its not A new thing There's so many people who don't know about it or didn't know.

00:03:23: Yes, she created the directory in two thousand nineteen.

00:03:27: Of course unfortunately twenty-twenty brought COVID so that was not ideal.

00:03:31: but over the course of time there's been more than twenty five thousand listings which is insane.

00:03:36: like The traffic at this site would get was wild especially because um She was specializing with Australia New Zealand and Bali And so they're a lot people who work around retreats.

00:03:48: Who knew about it?

00:03:49: But the focus was on Retreat hosts So as a place where retreat could be listed and then guests can come in find a retreat.

00:03:59: There are blogs, there were articles... And also social media channels but they're places for venues But not so predominantly.

00:04:10: So anyway Life does life.

00:04:13: Like me Sarah had a number of businesses.

00:04:17: It's just funny.

00:04:17: I think i have told this story here before.

00:04:20: In twenty-twenty five You know, take another step back.

00:04:26: I started hosting retreats officially in twenty-twenty two and then it became a big part of what i was doing.

00:04:33: you know as hosting...I wanted to be hosting three year but i was hosting approximately two a year.

00:04:37: But i was talking about retreat so much that people think i run them a helluva lot more than i did.

00:04:41: um..but when i started get asked because i guess i talked about it So openly with how do how did you get this off the ground?

00:04:50: How to do, and more importantly I made them profitable.

00:04:53: A huge profitable part of my business um... And i ran a couple in Australia then went into India also ran away with Sri Lanka and had one booked for Nepal.

00:05:02: we had to move.

00:05:02: it was another long story.

00:05:04: that's on another episode at this podcast!

00:05:07: So yeah.. Then I realized that the retreat side of the business is becoming more than Emma Lovell and included chapter about Retreats In My Book The Art Of Pleasure.

00:05:17: but It was like, I don't want people to just think that the only way to do business leisure and self-care is retreats.

00:05:26: I think it's an amazing weight to do it!

00:05:28: I think its been a huge growth part of my business And i think there should be opportunity for a lot of business owners To bring in their travel and self care element and offer them to other people with retreat.

00:05:39: But um...it needed its own space.

00:05:42: So..I created The Company Rest & Receive In January twenty twenty five Parted out could be a directory at some point And I could see this big ecosystem and all of what i do fits under leisure, like business or leisure.

00:05:55: Like still...I'm always going to find a way to travel!

00:05:57: I'm always gonna find a I guess a structure for that and i didn't, wanted each audience to be served.

00:06:08: As with anything it took little bit more time get set up in everything than thought would created.

00:06:12: the course of host profitable retreats.

00:06:14: course have consulting office had VIP days was running retreat training day.

00:06:19: so for last few years are three is been running in-person training days, consulting privately with clients about how they can do their retreats.

00:06:29: The course was awesome.

00:06:31: but again you know life takes over and... But around I had been looking actually probably even before that i've been looking at Retreat Me Happy and thinking oh!

00:06:43: I wonder if she would ever sell?

00:06:47: And um..I actually thought about approaching Sarah.

00:06:52: I started to see a bit more activity and thought, oh...I don't want tarnish the relationship.

00:06:56: And quite frankly in that time when i was thinking about it didn't have really resources or the time to give it.

00:07:02: so let's go.

00:07:03: but January twenty-five sorry!

00:07:05: January twenty five started Rest & Receive officially June twenty-twenty-five Sarah came to me.

00:07:11: she slid into my DMs said hey Emma would you ever be interested in purchasing Retreat Me Happy?

00:07:17: So yes hundred percent took us just finalized the set, like how it would work.

00:07:23: Took us a few months of handover and yeah I officially became the owner in August twenty-twenty five.

00:07:30: but as i said life be living!

00:07:32: And um...I just didn't have the capacity at the time to give it what it needed.

00:07:37: so we sort of just coasted along for almost a year which is not ideal.

00:07:43: It's certainly not ideal for.

00:07:45: But people like listings kept coming and people still were using this site because of the way it was Like it was setup that people could just access it, which was great in terms of a pretty easy you know I guess content model.

00:08:00: but um i had a different direction for Retreat Me Happy and I think it took me time to get that vision clear.

00:08:08: But what I really saw with both Rest & Receive as well Um, and so rest and receive that retreat me happy is kind of a sister company to rest and received.

00:08:16: you know people want To learn about retreats.

00:08:18: And one of the biggest thing they wanna learn Is how to promote and market their retreat?

00:08:22: So I now have A vehicle for That in that we Have a website that promotes that.

00:08:26: but what are The other things that People kept asking Me?

00:08:29: people come to me all the Time hey Emma do You Know any Retreat on the Gold Coast?

00:08:32: Hey Emma wins your next Retreat.

00:08:34: hey Emma Are there Any Retreat going On In India like an?

00:08:37: i have Quite A few Clients and I know quite A Few People But I only know so many.

00:08:42: and of course, i'm going to put forward my clients first in their retreats.

00:08:45: But that's not gonna serve everybody.

00:08:46: And So...I Know there is a lot more out There but just can't keep them all In My Head.

00:08:51: Having A Place Where These Are Our Trusted Sources Our Trustered Clients.

00:08:58: you can see their retreats here.

00:08:59: It was so great because on Rest & Receive, we do have an events page where we showcase anybody who's done training or our course.

00:09:06: anyone whose come through us and I guess is almost like certified rest and receive host profitable retreats were certified.

00:09:13: We don't have a certification...I would love the certification but that doesn't exist yet.

00:09:18: putting it out into the universe what?

00:09:20: You know..we could do that.

00:09:22: well i'm sure exists somewhere But not with.

00:09:25: So we already had a place where I could promote those people and send people, go check out our events page.

00:09:31: These are the retreats that were happening but... ...I knew there was more!

00:09:35: And then it's always people coming to me saying hey Emma can be speaker at your event or if you ever need massage therapist If you have any photographer Or i do videography.

00:09:46: All services under the sun Sure.

00:09:49: But like In the moment somebody says Do You Know A Photographer?

00:09:54: Of course, I'm going to recommend the people who are top of my head or who i've used before But they can't be everywhere at all.

00:10:00: once and then you know speakers.

00:10:01: It's like well.

00:10:02: I don't necessarily have speakers in my retreats but other people do?

00:10:06: Again!

00:10:06: I can always just go.

00:10:07: You know...I am only one person And I need to promote my own business.

00:10:14: So that is what Retreat Me Happy.

00:10:15: Is That actually exactly What it is for?

00:10:18: All we Do is Promote Other People Like this is my promo.

00:10:21: girl days are like coming back, you know?

00:10:23: My PR social media copywriting background.

00:10:26: It's all coming back All these skills that come in and it was so perfect.

00:10:30: I had a moment when i was on the birth day actually to sleep.

00:10:33: Oh my god!

00:10:36: You know its just full circle moments or spiral moments where im like oh wow Im Back To Owning A Blog.

00:10:42: I started on blogging.

00:10:44: I'm back writing content but we can put up content.

00:10:50: I have another place where we can do video and podcast, content.

00:10:55: And sometimes they're worried on my other channels that when you are promoting a retreat you need to talk about it alot.

00:11:02: so again i didn't want all of the other work or activities in events but Retreat Me Happy and Rest & Receive are purely about retreats.

00:11:13: Rest & receive is for people who are hosting or want to work with the industry and want to make their business more profitable.

00:11:20: And Retreat Me Happy is a place to promote it, so once you have your services ,you have your venue... You have your retreat set up we will promote it for you!

00:11:30: That was something that's really important to me was connecting The Retreat Industry.

00:11:35: I don't feel like there are.. Like Is Really A Body Or A Core Place?

00:11:40: It' s like a bit of Wild West And we don't really fit into a category because a lot of people think retreats are wellness and yes, quite a little treats our wellness but some or not.

00:11:51: the business retreat.

00:11:53: There are family retreat couple retreat spiritual retreat education retreat parent-and child retreat dance retreat.

00:12:04: there's so many different.

00:12:05: does online you know retreat is only different types of retreat.

00:12:09: I wanted to showcase the breadth and depth of the industry.

00:12:13: Um, i wanted to make it global.

00:12:15: so a lot of my network you know...I specialize with South Asia.

00:12:20: we have our travel partners Indisbound.

00:12:22: We're working like that.

00:12:23: business is growing and growing..we've got amazing clients running retreats in India Bhutan Sri Lanka um Nepal....We service that part of the world And so of course we want to showcase the globe.

00:12:36: I have a lot of contacts in Mexico and suppliers who are going to get enlisted on site, people inquiring for Italy... People from UK working in this industry!

00:12:47: I know an amazing venue up there is awesome place at level Wyoming.

00:12:54: you know that she's gonna be hosting, having retreats.

00:12:57: come to her and I will host a retreat there one day.

00:12:59: I promise i'm definitely taking it there.

00:13:01: see the Wild Mustangs in The Big Horn Canyon and hang out at level.

00:13:06: so that'll happen just totally like the level of retreat!

00:13:11: It would be the Level Retreat!

00:13:14: That'd be so fun...it will happen.

00:13:16: anyway.

00:13:17: all this is needed to be global across industry not just retreat Retreats, but people who support the retreat industry.

00:13:27: And then of course that other question we get asked all the time is where can I host it?

00:13:32: What are the venues?

00:13:33: and whilst a lot of venues could host retreats there is this...I think venues need to understand how to specialise with the treats and how work with retreats and they don't always-and not every venue should be touting them as a retreat venue.

00:13:47: So if their listed on Retreat Me Happy you know that they know how take care of a retreat and thats really important.

00:13:53: So everyone in this is specializing in it.

00:13:56: We straddle industries as well, we stradgle tourism wellness business and I want to bring them all together!

00:14:03: There are a few conferences around the world that i would like to start attending really sinking my teeth into.

00:14:10: But who knows, Retreat Me Happy conference.

00:14:14: Retreat me happy.

00:14:14: live events, retreat me happy.

00:14:16: community and network.

00:14:19: so at the moment what we talk about is that we have launched our founding memberships.

00:14:22: So again if this is appealing to you If want go on a retreat come to retreatmehabit.com And find your retreat.

00:14:29: You might also like venues because sometimes they just host their own Just knowing venue.

00:14:34: I wanna go there.

00:14:35: That's beautiful place.

00:14:37: They in-house host retreats But if you're a retreat host, and you've got to retreat on then You can be listed single retreats Or you can get an annual membership.

00:14:52: Then we have If your hosting more than two I'd be going the annual.

00:14:55: then We have our industry supplier.

00:14:57: so we have people across you know at the moment?

00:15:01: We've got photographers gift suppliers yoga instructors, meditation specialists coaches and we've also got like business support consulting support myself.

00:15:16: you know speaker emcee me um And we will be getting more and more of those soon.

00:15:21: So some people who offer services for the retreat industry?

00:15:25: Then we have the venues so You could be one two or all three Um.

00:15:32: Or you might just as I say be looking to come.

00:15:33: so there's a lot for everyone, and there's a lot to communicate because it has changed.

00:15:38: So those founding memberships are available till the thirty-first of October.

00:15:43: we have discounted rates.

00:15:46: The prices will be going up on the first November.

00:15:48: We wanted this as kind of relaunch reintroduction And educate everybody about what Retreat Me Happy is going forward.

00:15:59: I hope in the next week we'll be launching our YouTube channel and that's gonna really fun doing a lot more video content, opportunity for our members to come and be interviewed.

00:16:10: To showcase their offerings but also for us too.

00:16:14: yeah show you around.

00:16:15: so what's going on?

00:16:16: And talk about The Retreat Industry!

00:16:18: That is what i want the channel do as well.

00:16:21: So will We YouTube Lead Podcast Supplementary?

00:16:26: But to be across channels, I know people like listening or watching on different platforms.

00:16:29: So it's good to choose your channel and we're going to be popping up on TikTok.

00:16:35: so that's gonna happen!

00:16:37: And you know personally i've just had a lot going on...I was sick then i traveled overseas while still not fully recovered..and its taking time....i have influenza A which if u've had it because it really knocked me about.

00:16:54: Yeah, it's just taking me a little bit of time.

00:16:56: and So we've been kind alive officially for two months But that time has gone fast.

00:17:02: And also like... It's just weird- Time is weird at the moment.

00:17:06: so That's why I also extended The founding memberships because We wanted to give people more time To come find us, reconnect with Us.

00:17:13: If you're listening Please do me a favour.

00:17:15: Head on over to retreatmehappy.com.

00:17:17: Just take a look Extra love.

00:17:20: if you would sign up to our newsletter so, You can see it'd be the first to hear about our listings and offerings And any specials or any events?

00:17:27: Or any activations of things that we're gonna.

00:17:29: Be doing which will definitely becoming.

00:17:32: We Will be having more blog content coming as well.

00:17:35: So those who come out through new new content will come out Through their blogs.

00:17:40: a new tube channel is Well.

00:17:42: what's new?

00:17:42: we'll be doing That.

00:17:44: And if you would like to show us some extra love, we are on LinkedIn as a company page RetreatMeHappy.

00:17:51: We're on Facebook Retreat Me Happy and Instagram As Retreat me happy underscore.

00:17:57: So I'd love it.

00:17:58: If You Come Give Us Some Love On The Socials Just Connect With Us.

00:18:04: If Your Curious About How You Can Get Involved You can email us info at retreatmehappy.com.

00:18:10: Of Course You Can Always Come To Me But As I said, it's not a new business.

00:18:15: It has been around for seven years but it is new to me.

00:18:18: and when you're starting something You know, acquiring a business and making your own when it's already existed under somebody else's leadership is challenge.

00:18:35: And there has been a lot of behind the scenes work that we've done.

00:18:38: my beautiful team Rachele and Louise have just gone over above.

00:18:42: I could not do without them.

00:18:45: We are growing.

00:18:46: we are bringing on more people which is amazing.

00:18:48: I just have the most amazing crew and team that will help me, And i'm so excited for the co-creation in collaboration like every time somebody joins and joins as a member?

00:18:59: And it will be wanting to do more four members!

00:19:01: We have some really exciting things.

00:19:03: So if you are buying an annual membership ,we're gonna Have some really cool offerings To support our members too better...to host better retreats..To Be A Better industry member.

00:19:15: to To get more support too.

00:19:17: Yeah, just like showcase and it's a really special thing retreats our life changing.

00:19:22: they are transformative.

00:19:23: They are just so.

00:19:25: They've been really important in my life And I have seen them make changes than other people.

00:19:29: So I want to make sure that i'm taking care of this industry giving back as well and sharing My skills and support.

00:19:35: but I don't do it alone and every time somebody adds and contributes to the website That helps us brings in beautiful new energy and also my team, any partners or collaborators.

00:19:48: It's amazing!

00:19:49: I'm really happy and you retreat me?

00:19:52: Happy?!

00:19:53: So can we retweet YOU happy?

00:19:56: Go on a Retreat, participate in a retreat... Retreat!

00:19:59: Retreat!!

00:20:00: Retreat!!!

00:20:02: Anyway if i leave with one message please come check us out at www.retreatmehappy.com.

00:20:06: You'll be seeing more of my face over that channel.

00:20:07: as im the custodian I feel like the host will retreat me.

00:20:14: happy to show you around.

00:20:16: That is my role, so i'm not hosting retreats but i'm hosting Retreat Me.

00:20:20: Happy!

00:20:21: You see?

00:20:21: I've always got to be in a hostess's role.

00:20:24: um...I love it.

00:20:25: uh..my Leo gets to shine anyway.

00:20:28: Abwafeldon thankyou for listening today.

00:20:30: lovely to see you.

00:20:31: um...lovely to hear you or hear me.

00:20:34: please reach out and connect.

00:20:35: I love hearing from you.

00:20:36: And if you liked this episode, Or think somebody needs to hear it Please pass it on.

00:20:40: um...and again one more time visit RetreatMeHappy.com.

00:20:46: Thank You for listening.

00:20:47: Lovely One!

00:20:48: i hope This has inspired you To dream big and start creating a life that you loved today.

00:20:53: If you Love what your Hearing don't forget to follow and rate on Spotify and Rate review and subscribe on iTunes.

00:21:00: It helps other awesome people find his podcast motivated and this fun.

00:21:07: Want to stay connected?

00:21:07: I'm enjoying being live online at my level dot age, the same as on website but all details are in the show.

00:21:18: It's lovely!

00:21:19: See you next episode for more information about motivation and freedom seeking.

00:21:24: Go out there.