Retreat Reflection Part 2

… so after announcing the Joyful Mama Retreat on Facebook and getting oh so many messages from supportive people (thank you all!) I got very excited and although nervous, the excitement trumped everything. And I got to planning more intentionally and ticking off checklist items, making promotional posts and starting to spread the word. I worked hard on my ‘sales page’ which is what we call that web page that contains all the details of an event with a Sign Up button at the bottom (or sprinkled throughout the document in this case). I then published the link to that page on February 4th thereby opening the doors for people to start registering….

And then there were crickets in the registration camp. I had 3-4 potential retreat guests who had been talking about coming from the beginning. Two of them had said they would definitely be coming, but they weren’t officially signing up and I was starting to get nervous. I actually started to worry that this wasn’t going to be the success I had envisioned. What if no-one signs up? What if only 2 people sign up? What should be the deciding factor to cancel the retreat altogether? I can’t afford that location if people don’t sign up! And so on and so forth.

Then impostor syndrome tried to creep in. “Am I really all that to be offering people a life changing weekend long experience?” I am trained to talk people off ledges built on impostor syndrome so I knew what needed to be said but my heart didn’t want to listen to what my brain knew. And boy is that a challenge to overcome! But then someone registered. And you know what message that sends? “I am the real deal. People want to pay for this retreat I am offering. I am enough.” Having one signup meant I could have more. So I got to talking to people, not always feeling confident but trying to sound it. And I considered incentives to offer to people who could offer a service that I would otherwise have to shell out a lot of money for. And little by little as the weeks passed and the retreat date got closer, I got enough sign ups to know that this first ever Joyful Mama Retreat would be a success. I had 5 brave, wonderful mamas put their trust in me and in the experience I had planned for them. With me it made a nice group of 6 which I found to be perfect and a great place to start. I started to feel like this was really happening and I was doing it! That dream I had for one day after I’ve made X amount of money or had X amount of clients was happening NOW. Before hitting those milestones. Because it was meant to be. Because I had taken a moment to pause and listen for my calling; my purpose; the reason I was put on this earth and had been guided in the direction of this particular type of work. I was actually going to be gathering women together in community, as a village, to support one another, grow together, embrace their true self. WOW. This, I was realizing, was a PRETTY BIG DEAL.

The Joyful Mama Retreat, 2019 Edition, was a total success, friends. It was better than I could have imagined. Not everything happened exactly according to plan, but everything happened the way it was meant to happen. I could be here all day if I told you about all of the ways in which every little thing about this retreat was cohesive and almost serendipitous. But I won’t. What I will say is that the immense feelings of gratitude I have towards the wonderful women who came to the retreat, the guest who also cooked delicious food for us (because she’s just a kind, amazing mama of twins who cooks like a chef even though she technically isn’t one!), the guest who also took photos of the event (because she’s a super talented and so generous professional photographer who also saw the value in attending the retreat), the amazing Yoga and Meditation teacher who came to us one morning for a relaxing, sisterhood session (and whom I hope will keep coming back for more… maybe even as a guest!), the weather we had that weekend… everything, are all still so fresh in my mind and heart.

It’s been an interesting transition back into regular day to day life where I’m not planning for the retreat so what am I doing? LOL. But every time I think about it a smile forms on my face and I feel a deep sense of love, gratitude and warmth. I wish I could hug these ladies every day. I can’t, but I think they’ll be coming back for more so there’s that. I also know I can see some of them a bit more often so I have that for consolation. And the Joyful Mama Retreat will be back and even better next year, so that keeps me motivated to continue to show up for my people, knowing that those who will love the retreat will get to know me and realize I’m their person. This way, there will be no doubt in their mind about whether to sign up when I open the doors to the waitlist…. which will be in just a few short months. So stay tuned… and stay in touch! Oh and you know what else… DO IT AFRAID. What’s for you, will make itself known. Don’t ignore it!

Love and Joy to you, Mama. XOXO ~ Angie

Joyful Mama Retreat Reflection (Part 2 of 2)