Retreats - your questions answered!

Episode #61 - Your Questions (EDITED) Edits

Tue, May 07, 2024 6: 25AM • 23:02

Tue, May 07, 2024 6: SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Tue, May 07, 2024 6: retreat, wellness, love, work, space, facilitator, india, people, travel, episode, run, experience, host, emma, lovely, demographic, yoga, niche, questions, couples

00: 01

00: Do you want to live a life of freedom and adventure? Are you wanting more than the daily grind? Me too. Welcome to the Emma Lovell show, a place where we talk about living a life you love.

00: 12

00: I'm your host, Emma Lovell. And my number one value is freedom. I've spent the last 14 years running a business and traveling the world. And now I take my husband and toddler along for the adventure to it's possible and I know you can create a life doing what you truly love as well. This podcast will inspire, motivate and encourage you to go after your dreams to create a life you love until you get now don't wait for a time and or someday in the future. I'll be sharing episodes weekly about how I harmonize business travel and self care. I'll also bring on incredible guests to share their journeys, wins the challenges and how they're creating a life they love. Let's jump in and get dreaming. This is a space for you to manifest a life you love.

01: 03

01: I would like to acknowledge and recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this place now known as Australia. I am grateful for the continuing care of the land waterways and skies where I work live, listen, learn and play. From here on you can bear country and from wherever you are listening, I pay my respects to the elders past and present.

01: 25

01: Hello, and welcome to today's podcast, I am going to make it short and sweet. Today. I am loving these, by the way, it's for four for the time that I'm recording and 444 has been a bit of a magic number for me. So I just want to acknowledge that for 40 4pm. And today I'm going to be doing a asked me anything about retreats. So I've done a few episodes where I've just talked about retreats and shared things. And then I've got some lovely feedback and questions. One in particular comment or feedback was was lovely from fabulous Angelica to tinggi, who is an Instagram Angelica underscore Hazel underscore nutrition, who just sent me the most gorgeous message after listening to one of my podcasts on retreats. And I said, Well, please let me know if you have any questions. Because, you know, I'm just sharing information. And there's things that you forget that you know, that other people don't know. And you just take for granted. And so of course, if you didn't know I run, retreat on retreat days. So I actually teach people how to run retreats on a retreat, and I just hosted one in gorgeous Melbourne, but I have a few dates coming up. So if you'd like to learn in person, or I have a very special one coming up online very soon my virtual retreat on retreats is on the 17th of May. And it's going to be from 9am to 1pm. So no matter where you are in the world, it's that's based on a s t h e s t is home 9am. I'm in the Gold Coast in Queensland. So it's East Coast time of Australia. But anyway, you're you are you can join in, I've already got a lady from the Philippines joining and someone else from Queensland.

03: 12

03: Love to make that very international. So that one's an online retreat on retreats half day, then my next full day in person is retreating retreats Brisbane, which is on the 29th of May at the fabulous W hotel. And then I've got one in Sydney on the 20th of June. And that's all the ones I have planned at the moment. So those are full day or half day for the online, where I teach how you can run profitable retreats. So I share all of my information, I share my email templates, my website template, my

03: 47

03: mistakes, my learnings, my lessons, and you can have all of that. So the best part of it is about the sharing and the questions that I get. So I wanted to share today a few questions that I've been asked recently that I would love to share some my answers to. Now of course, this is my experience and my expertise from what I've experienced.

04: 14

04: But, you know, others might have a different opinion. So this is how I've experienced it. And this is my feedback based on the successful profitable retreats I've run, as well as the lessons I've learned from ones that I've had to postpone and cancel because I'm very transparent about that. Now if you want to listen to a few other episodes like this, I will just shout them out too. Which I probably should do at the end. But just so you knew. I've also done podcast episodes

04: 43

04: like retreat this conference. So I'm just gonna find the the exact sort of episodes so I did top five mistakes that retreat hosts make. That's episode number 20 I've

05: 00

05: retreat on a podcast about the retreat on retreats and what that's all about. That's episode number 36. Retreat this conference. That's number 38. And I've also got to talk a little bit about it. And you can make money from travel, which is episode 47. I talk about my actual retreats like the retreat rescue receive retreat in northern New South Wales. That's episode 53. And one of my most recent ones, why I'll never run a retreat in Bali or Byron Bay. That was episode 57.

05: 31

05: I'll have to add those in the show notes for anyone who wants to listen to other ones. But obviously, you'll hear on the podcast. So just keep listening. Now, Angelica asked me this great question. She said, Do you feel India is a good destination for a wellness retreat? Or a bit too full on? And I said, Absolutely not, is it to full on India is the perfect place for a wellness retreat.

05: 57

05: It's a country that they do sort of have some very interesting and different approaches to health and wellness.

06: 07

06: Obviously, the food is quite famous there. But they've also one of their traditional medicines is a VEDA. So Ayurveda was developed there. And it's not only

06: 18

06: it's not just like massage, I think a lot of people think of Ayurvedic they think of massage, it's actually about the herbs, in the medicinal treatments that they use, which are more traditional. So they use it for many different elements.

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06: You know, and it's up to your belief as to whether how that works. But a lot of people do use a Vedic medicine, and they're called, they are doctors who treat you. And so when you have a treatment, you actually talk to the doctor about what's happening with your body what you would like. And then they would recommend whether you do this type of

06: 53

06: treatment, or whichever one is going to be good for your body. So I love doing those. Carola is sort of the more specialized place for that. So that's a great place to do a wellness retreat, and I held one, I held a business retreat that with sort of personal development elements in November 2023. But you know, yoga is also something that's really famous that comes from India. So doing yoga in India is kind of like,

07: 22

07: you know, the pinnacle, and we just had another client run her yoga retreat, yoga and meditation retreat in India completely sold out. So that was in March this year, Emma Walkinshaw, and Louise overall. So that was amazing.

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07: But I think there's also the part of India that would make it great for wellness is your spirituality. And, you know, there is that meditation that they do there, but the spiritual connection. So they, you can really, what I love about India is it really strips back everything that you know, and will ask you to focus on yourself. And I think being mindful and being aware of who you are, and what you need is kind of the greatest wellness you can do.

08: 06

08: But then there are like centers and there are lovely resorts where you can go and do things.

08: 12

08: You know, being we could go to the mountains, you can go to the beaches, India is such a diverse country. So long story short, I think it's a great place to go. And I partnered with an Indian travel company called Indus bound and we specialize in bespoke luxury travel. So you can really tailor that and make it your own. And I would really recommend talking to me, but an expert or a Travel Advisor for India, because it is quite full, it can be full on it can be confronting, but when you know what you're doing, and you have local on the ground knowledge, and that goes for any country, like you know, the trick, probably the biggest trick which I'm getting given away from my hosting retreats is having suppliers. I don't often find the venue and the caterers and the facilitators, I didn't. I didn't know somebody who did yoga in Kerala, but my travel provider my expert partner, Indus bound did. I didn't have to figure out all the food I said, this is what the type of experience that we want. They organized all the meals.

09: 15

09: Then, you know, I don't know how to drive from the Kerala airport to our hotel, they have drivers, you know, that's what they do. And in Australia, I have traveled suppliers as well. I have a wonderful organization I work with called Girls getaways, or they also have a corporate getaways.

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09: And basically from them, I buy a package. So I'm like white labeling, so a supplier package. So they find the hotel or the Airbnb or the accommodation for me. They deal with the get the rates and they have a package where I know how much per head it's going to cost me. If I say I want a caterer. I want the venue. I want the yoga person. They might go Do you want some spa treatments? Yeah, sure. And we come back with a quote

10: 00

10: And then I know exactly how much I'm supposed to be spending per head, which means that I can work out my margins very clearly. So, top tip, there are suppliers or providers who specifically do this. And I'm going to keep working on ways that I can help you connect with those suppliers as well as as this retreat area of my business evolves. Now, we had another question that was sent in which I love. So I'm going to tackle just a couple today, we'll do a few of these episodes, I want them to be nice and short and helpful for you. So do I feel that niching helps with retreats. Now, niching

10: 40

10: is complicated in that people think niching of demographics. So they're like, my niche is women over 45, who like writing and live in regional New South Wales.

10: 54

10: It's like very demographic based. The me niching is kind of what I'm doing now with my pleasure, which is combining two things business and travel. It's people who want to run a business and who want to travel, business and travel. I mean, there are corporate travel companies, business travel that people do. But it's not something you typically put together, you're like, Well, I'm going to I'm going to do a business or my travels over here, or my holidays here, my businesses here, I'm doing work, or I'm going to traveling, I'm combining the two and that's become my niche is that I have 15 years experience running a business and have 18 years travel experience. And I have many, many years of where I have done work and traveled. Because that's my niche. So I think finding a niche where maybe there's a few unique factors that bring people together is fantastic. And I do think, Oh, I've got a dog, he's having a scratch next week.

11: 49

11: staying at a friend's house with a dog. That's fun.

11: 52

11: And I think what is lovely is, yeah, you with a retreat, you are kind of bringing together like minded people. So people who've had a shared experience, people who've had a similar experience.

12: 07

12: You know, I've had a few people talk to me about medical retreats, or like people who've been through a same medical experience. Or it could be Yeah, it could be a demographic thing. It could be, you know, I'm seeing menopause retreats,

12: 21

12: which is something that I wouldn't go on, because I haven't been through menopause. However, I could go on it, because I'm going to go through menopause at some point, and I would learn about it. But if their demographic was women over 50, who've experienced menopause, I wouldn't be included. And that is fine. I've seen I would love to explore men's retreats. And I would not offer to be the facilitator, but I would love to organize them. You know, I'd love to see my husband go on. On a men's retreat. There's couples retreats, that's niche like that's, and it might be a couples wellness retreat for people who enjoy high performance workouts, you know, so you're gonna get like marathon running couples who want to go on retreat together is horse riding retreats. So if you don't like horse riding, you probably shouldn't go on that retreat. I do would love to. So I think niche is great. I think as long as you know, you have an audience for that. So as long as you know that you can connect with that type of demographic for me in saying that I do know, people in the menopause demographic who I could really go for. But I don't think it's it fits with my brand

13: 30

13: to run that in. So if I were to come partner with somebody who is an expert in that space, that could work really well. So I think just knowing your expertise, knowing your audience, and if you can meet that niche. Absolutely.

13: 48

13: Working with him is an easy decision to make. her generosity and expertise are only surpassed by her absolute 100% Actually 120% investment in you and yourself your success, your mindset. I cannot recommend working with him highly enough. Hi, I'm Justin McLean. I worked with Mr. Pre my photoshoot she was so knowledgeable, so supportive and really helped me nail my messaging through pictures, I would highly recommend working with Emma, she is kind supportive and someone you need on your team. All right, let me see. Somebody. One other question I had is, is focusing on general wellness is a sort of a similar thing.

14: 35

14: It's focusing on general wellness, more ideal.

14: 39

14: retreats don't have to just be about wellness. You know, I think if you want to have a retreat, and I talked to this about a colleague, and we still want to do it at some point, we want to call like the sloughs retreat. And it was like we're gonna go to a fabulous location. We're going to be we're not going to deliver a program. We're just going to be coaches who are available, and we're just going to enjoy

15: 00

15: We're having some rest and some space, and you can eat whatever you want. And we're gonna have snacks and wine and chat. And you know, there's people who were like, Oh, we kind of want on a retreat. It's like, why not? Maybe that's your what your audience wants. Of course, if it was like a detox retreat, or a, you know, Kickboxing retreat, and you're asking people to do physical activity every day, maybe offering wine as well isn't a good idea. But retreat doesn't necessarily have to be about wellness, to me, and my retreats, I call them rest and receive because I believe when you rest you,

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15: and you prioritize yourself, and you take care of yourself, you're more open to receiving opportunities. And

15: 43

15: when you have space, you can actually see the vision better and think about what you actually want for yourself. And I think giving yourself time and space and rest is a wellness thing. But on my retreats, we'll have a bit of yoga, and in my next retreat, in New South Wales, we're going to have a wellness

16: 05

16: and rejuvenation space that was included with the venue. So always have an element of it, but I wouldn't definitely wouldn't try and promote minors, wellness retreats, because I think that people think then of healthy food, lots of physical activity, probably some meditation mindfulness. So if that's what you want to do, that's fine. But not every retreat has to be a wellness retreat. I'll just say that. All right, I got one more

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16: question, Have I ever been a guest practitioner,

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16: or worked with sort of venue to be the retreat facilitator or host, um, I have been a co host. So I worked with my gorgeous client, Christine can Coonan who is currently running the sheaf rights retreat. So she we ran the first one in February, and the next one is in October. And so for those two, I am the co host. And so my role on those ones is to I'm the connection with India. So I do the itinerary the program, the logistics, and really manage the group, sort of for the vibe and the experience, where she is the expert in freight forwarding sourcing supplying, and the clients are typically coming through her and I'm there more to to be a host, I would love to do more of that in the future to be the host

17: 28

17: of other people's audiences. And we are about to launch another one like that with a gorgeous client called Carla macdemid. And she's running the beauty of India retreat, which at this stage is a private retreat, we'll let you know if that opens up. But looking at having 12 Women who are wanting to spend time with other business owners, be around like one women just really elevate and take space for themselves and appreciate beauty because Carla is a beautician so we'll have some beauty experiences including the Ayurvedic treatments, meeting with a doctor who specializes in Ayurveda to learn more about that, just doing lots of women nourishing filling your cup, things will go shopping, we going to Taj Mahal, just really have it creating an empowering space. And that's something that she dreamed up and she wanted to do. So that's what that retreats about, really just getting a great group of women together, feeling empowered, getting to have really open conversations and coming back with a lot of confidence and energy after a fantastic retreat experience. So but yeah, we're What's something I'm looking at doing with the business moving forward as well is having speakers and facilitators and hosts available because you might want to host a retreat, but you don't necessarily want to say you want to run a retreat, you don't necessarily want to host it or you don't want to be the facilitator of it. And I think there's definitely space to have somebody come in and do those things. It's just a matter of how does that look, what does payment look like? And then in that regard, what does profitability look like? So, I have seen people bring in a bunch of facilitators, and that's great, and they delivered great sessions. But they didn't really leave themselves much in terms of profit, because they spent so much on bringing other people in, or sometimes it works that you pay for the accommodation and pay for the facilitator in that regard. And then they get to take part in the retreat. But again, you're paying for those spots, they're not income producing spots. So it's just something to think about. If you're interested running retreat, I really back yourself and back that your audience and your community want to come with you. I think the lesson that I've learned from each one is

19: 43

19: do less, not that I don't work clearly work but your job is to create an amazing space hold space. You're putting all the things together so that when they get there, they just get to just get to enjoy and experience it. And one of the things that retreats I believe really

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20: need is time and space. So you don't want to overload your program full of stuff so that they don't even get time to talk, they don't even get time to engage, they don't even get time to think, or be with themselves. I think, for me, that's one of the greatest gifts of retreats is having space in the program.

20: 18

20: And then having availability to you, the facilitator or the coach,

20: 23

20: and having availability of the group, because sometimes the biggest breakthroughs or transformations are going to come in conversation, a conversation on the bus conversation, over dinner, or conversation by the pool. Those are some of the greatest, most profound moments I've seen, not necessarily in a workshop or teaching or facilitated session. It's when the AHA comes for them, and simply providing them the space to do that. That's what I think retreats where the magic is. So thank you. For those questions from a couple of people, including fabulous Angelica.

21: 02

21: I really, really love it. I'd love to hear more from you. You can DM me on Instagram at Emma lovell.au You can send me an email American level.au. And tell me what questions you have about retreats. I'll probably do these a bit more, because I seem to be getting a lot of questions. I also get a lot of questions on the host, when I'm hosting my retreat and retreat days. So we're trying to start to document all of those. And essentially, we'll have a bunch of FAQs.

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21: And along with a lot of blogs, apparently Ray, my lovely Ray pastores, who was amazing sponsor, our first sponsor for the lunch of the retreat and retreats in Melbourne. So he sort of advised that one of the great things we could do is to answer FAQs about our retreat. And of course, I have many, so about your offer in blog posts. That's a great, great content for blog posts, and I was like I learned something too on my retreat.

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21: So I hope this has been helpful. Please share your questions with me. And you know, I just love to see people trying and giving it a go. And I think retreats is a really fun space to play in. And something really beautiful that you can create for your audience. So, love to hear how it goes and I'll speak to you soon.

22: 18

22: Thank you for listening lovely one. I hope this has inspired you to dream big and start creating a life you love today. If you love what you're hearing, don't forget to follow and rate on Spotify and rate review and subscribe on iTunes. It helps other awesome people to find this podcast and get motivated and inspired as well. Want to stay connected. Come and join the live a life you love group on Facebook or connect with me on Instagram. Emma lovell.au, the same as my website. But all the details are in the show notes lovely. I'll see you next episode for more inspiration, motivation and freedom seeking. Go out there and live a life you love