This business started with me offering full-service retreat planning before anything else came along and I still absolutely love to give that level of support to my clients.
For the most part they know that “Erin takes care of all of the logistical and administrative details” but I thought I’d give you a sneak peak into the things they don’t see me doing..
𝟭.) 𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵: It takes me hours (sometimes a few weeks) to communicate with all of the possible venues to get the actual information that I need. Getting all my questions answered and sometimes having to get on phone calls or zoom calls takes up a lot of time⏱️
𝟮.) 🏃♀️𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆: My clients don’t have to deal with asking their students to stick to payment plans or emailing them continuously in order for them to pay their invoices. Having me as the middle man eliminates a potentially awkward exchange with teachers and their students and keeps them in neutral territory.
𝟯.) 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: There’s always someone who requires extra attention 🙃
𝟰.) 𝗘𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘀: I’ve had to refer to my terms and conditions with every retreat and I had to stay strong in my enforcement of them.
𝟱.) 𝗪𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀: This requires a detailed trip to the bank 🏦 and isn’t always straight forward, especially if you’re sending funds to developing country. And it’s not just one trip (for the deposit), or two trips (for the first 50% down), it can be up to 3 or 4 trips (to pay the final 50%, shuttles, tour operators).
𝟲.) 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀📧: I send out personalized emails to each client that signs up and make sure to confirm their rooms and give them information on travel insurance, etc. I receive multiple emails with questions from people throughout the planning period and then when it’s time to send out final invoices and prepare people for travel, my inbox is SWAMPED with correspondence from participants, the venue, tour operators, shuttle drivers, etc.
𝟳.) 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲: Google translate has been a great help and I need to make sure I double and triple check the currency exchange to make sure I’m aware of what numbers we’re dealing with .
𝟴.) 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀💁♀️: People change their minds all the time- they want to change rooms, they want to add a roommate, they don’t want to go anymore, they want to arrive early, they want to stay late, they’ve changed their flights, they want me to refund their card so they can use another card instead, etc…
Many people enjoy full-service retreat planning because it not only eliminates their worry about whether or not they’ll forget something or do it right, but it saves them precious time.
So often people get so overwhelmed with everything that goes into planning a retreat that they never pull the trigger and that is a shame for everyone who can benefit from your offerings! Whether you go the “done for you” approach or learn how to do it on your own, I’ve made it my mission to show other teachers and healers what’s possible for them and how they can expand into the role of a retreat leader.
✨𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹?
5 Things I’ve Changed About The Way I Run Retreats
Some changes came from watching how guests actually move through a retreat. Others came from realizing that a beautiful property and itinerary aren’t enough to make people register 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯. These are five things I do differently now.
