2021 Reach Retreat | Texas
Year two of Reach Retreat was held in June of 2021 at the beautiful White House situated on the Guadalupe River in the breathtaking Texas hill country.
Day 1| A warm Texas welcome
As the ladies arrived they traded their luggage for a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade with a sweet sugar rim, given their swag bag, and shown to their room to allow for some transition time.
As with every retreat we love to kick off our time together with a fun welcome party! The room was filled with the smell of caramelized bacon, cowboy salsa, and the goodness Janice our chef was preparing for our welcome dinner as we all gathered in the living room for a toast and introductions.
As our founder and host, Danielle officially greeted everyone and shared how proud she was of every single woman committing to the experience and making it possible for the woman next to her to attend. That's the beauty of Reach Retreat. When you say yes to being in the room then you make it possible for the woman next to you to do the same. Everyone is equally invested and committed to this experience and that is where the magic happens.
As the ladies gather around the long candlelit tables conversations fill the room. The connection and bonding are already in full play and what better way to get to know each other than over an amazing dinner? Especially, when the dinner theme for the night was a southern meal with a cornbread skillet, and a warm dessert. I mean we were in Texas!
The first night was perfect, the ladies connected, enjoyed dinner together, and topped the night off by gathering in our pajamas, sipping hot tea, and using our fun conversation cards to get to know one another even better.
Day 2 | Pull back the veil and let your hair down
The smell of coffee and breakfast fills the air. The ladies are settling into their intentional space around the white house property.
Our host Danielle believes in the power of pre-paving your day but doing so in a way that feels most aligned. This intentional time and space is something Danielle has been implementing since 2018 and believes that so much growth, healing, and creativity was birthed as a result of it.
The ladies were encouraged to use the time to journal, read, meditate, sit quietly with their coffee, and just give themselves some time and space before meeting everyone elses demands. This time is sacred and can allow you to master your energy before diving head-first into the busyness of life.
Following the intentional time, all the ladies gather for breakfast and then prepare for the content sessions of Reach Retreat!
First up is our host and keynote speaker Danielle Throckmorton, Elevating your Life and Business. As Danielle openly shared the pivotal moments that shaped her you could feel the energy of the room shift. These women could also resonate with moments in their journey where they felt like it couldn't get worse, or it couldn't get better but despite those moments, they each contained a gift. The stage opened up and the women each had the time to share a pivotal moment that shaped them. The beauty of each woman holding space for the other was magical, and the hope was that each woman would start to seek the gift in every situation despite the difficulty that may come with it. As Danielle brought attention back to the message she launched into a hands-on interactive presentation on ways to avoid the BS cycle of entrepreneurship. The overwhelm and burnout that comes as a result of a lack of boundaries, support, systems, and more. The example was as if we are physically playing tug of war with ourselves on the daily. We are so much closer to the life and business we desire we are just missing the clarity and support we need to get there. This was a fun and an enlighting way to wrap up the first presentation and each woman took note and shared what they will take intentional action towards to elevate once they return home. The overall message was for the ladies to feel less defeated when life throws them challenges, and to have the right support and systems in place while navigating the climb.
Following the first keynote, the ladies took a break to reflect and enjoy lunch as our speaker Diana Guintu prepared to pour into them.
Diana takes the floor and is dressed in all white, her energy fills the room, and you can see the excitement on everyone's faces. Diana opens up the floor by sharing her own story as a first-generation U.S. citizen, her struggle of overcoming health issues, being the first in her family to attend college, healing from her sexual abuse, publishing her first book, to now supporting women as a coach, and speaker. Talk about pivotal moments that shaped her but didn't stop her. It was the perfect flow coming off of Danielle's speech.
The theme of her message was The Breaking Free Solution and she dove into the 3 ways to master our emotional health. As Diana continues she asks if everyone is tired of playing it safe, and hands around the room came up. She shared on triggers, the stress cycle, and how it tries to stop us. She gave us tangibles, tools, and ways to take back control, and the power of her message was felt across the room. Day one helped to pull back the veil and the ladies were ready to dive further in and to continue the learning and the conversation in more of a one-on-one way.
The afternoon was open for relaxation and processing. Some of the ladies choose to explore the town nearby and go shopping, others rested on the back patio, read a book, did a yoga session with Delaney, or went for a swim in the river behind the house. The free time is an essential part of Reach Retreat and truly creates the space for connection.
The sun was setting and we all dressed in Reach Retreat colors and prepared for a fun wine-tasting, dinner, and ended with an epic night of dancing, and karaoke with our DJ while enjoying Janice's amazing snack bar. This is where the got to let our hair down, sip margaritas, and play.
Yes, play and fun are for any age we just tend to forget that.
Day 3 | Secret Sauce & Meet Your Future Self
Janice did it again. The house smells magnificent, the ladies are deep into their intentional time, and the weather was perfect. Ladies were outside on the back deck, sitting across the rock walls looking at the river, and it was picture perfect. They were settling in and finding comfort in the quiet.
Following breakfast, everyone gets dressed for Day 2 of our content portion of Reach Retreat.
Our first speaker of the day Ayesha Santos joined us virtually from Canada as the restrictions were not safe for international travel. Her presentation was on Showing up Authentically, Owning Your Story to Create a Strong Brand. Her message was about showing up as your spicy and authentic self because at the end of the day you are the secret sauce to your business. This was a hands-on workshop presentation that allowed the ladies to ask questions and take action in creating the roadmap for owning how they show up in their businesses.
Following the session, we enjoyed lunch, took some free time, and dove into our final speaker session for this year's Retreat. Our final session was presented by our returning speaker Jennifer Armstrong. As a financial coach for women, she wanted to go beyond the surface and pull out what these women truly desired to call into their businesses. We all gathered together, dreamed up our financial desires, dove into the importance of being truly open to receiving, and shared in an intimate exercise where we had the space to pour into one another. This session was deep and impactful and each woman left with a unique takeaway.
Following our group sessions, it was time to play! Some of the ladies opted to explore the town, rest, and do yoga, but others chose to tackle the river by intertube. Yes, we floated the Guataloupe, and let's just say it was an adventure to remember and will be one for the books.
Returning from the river our sweet Delaney hosted a slow yoga session for us to stretch, release, and unwind before preparing for dinner.
Tonight, was our all-black night and these women were not playing around. Our power pose photo was epic, these women were feeling powerful, sexy, and ready to own their empowered identity. We celebrated our final night together over a beautiful plated dinner, shared in a toast, and took a million and one selfies.
Dinner and the celebration slowly came to a close, we were all enjoying our custom tea bar, settled into our comfy clothes, and as with every retreat, it was time to gather for our final ceremony.
This year's ceremony was designed to help the ladies envision their future selves. The future version of this empowered woman leaving the retreat experience and taking intentional action and elevating her life and businesses. Delaney guided everyone through a visualization meditation and led them through what it would look like and feel like to experience the beauty of meeting themselves 3 months from then. As we ended the meditation we set aside intentional time fo the ladies to write a letter to themselves. A letter that would arrive in just 90 days from their return home. This letter would serve as encouragement and motivation to seek after the life and business they desired. it would be filled with positive reminders and encouragement to keep moving forward.
The ceremony was beautiful, the women held space for one another to share, and ended Reach Retreat 2021 with clarity on where they wanted to take action, and how they wanted to show up in the world once returned home.
Day 4 | Until Next Time
Our final morning of intentional time and Janice's amazing breakfast arrived. Many were excited to return home and see their families but also sad to leave. This time together may only be a few days but the bonds you create in such a short time are amazing. You truly find your tribe, your group of women you can count out, that truly understand you on a level that is hard to describe.
At Reach Retreat you feel at home, and a blog is a hard place to share with you all the magic that happens here. It's just something you have to experience for yourself.
