Are Women in Business Retreats really worth it? In this episode of the Business & Life Conversations Podcast, I’m going to share my opening welcome in my recently concluded retreat and some insights from attendees on their “aha!” moments and takeaways. My goal here is to give you an idea of what it’s like to attend one and to have a true understanding of whether or not this is right for you and your business.
Important Links Mentioned in the Show:
Women in Business Retreat 2020
Australian Business Collaborative Facebook Group
Angela Henderson Active Business Facebook Group
Angela Henderson Facebook Business Page
| ATTENDEE | BUSINESS NAME | WEBSITE ADDRESS |
| Caroline Partridge | Social Strategy Mum | https://socialstrategymum.com |
| Marissa Courtney | Marketing Info Hub | www.marketinginfohub.com.au |
| Cath Fowler | The Digital Laneway | https://thedigitallaneway.com.au |
| Debbie Munn | The You Project | https://www.theyouproject.net |
| Amy Mingin | Amy Mingin | www.amymingin.com |
| Leigh D Walker | Leigh D Walker Artist | https://www.leighdwalkerartist.com |
| Emma Gilchrist | Karma Dharma | www.Karmadharmaonline.com |
| Molly Lancashire | Motherhood Unplugged | www.motherhoodunplugged.com.au |
| Sharon Chisholm | Sharon Chisholm | https://www.sharonchisholm.com.au |
| Sam Winch | Sam Winch | https://www.samwinch.com.au |
| Marissa Towndrow | Renovating Mums | https://www.renovatingmums.com.au/ |
| Lyndall Guinery-Smith | The Professional Writer | https://www.professionalwriter.com.au/ |
| Shari Brewer | Teenage Survival Coach | https://www.teenagesurvivalcoach.com |
| Zoe Buckley | Learning Boosters | www.learningboosters.com.au |
| Kym O’Gorman | Kym O’Gorman Marketing Solutions | http://www.kymogorman.com.au/ |
| Lyndal Harris | Podcast VA | http://www.podcastva.com/ |
| Makaela Moore | Deliberately Transformed | https://www.makaelamoore.com/ |
Prefer to read Women in Business Retreats Are They Really Worth It? Here’s the transcript:
ANGELA:
You’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, Episode 72.
Hey there, you’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. My name is Angela Henderson and on this show, we talk about improving your business, life or both, by having amazing and rich conversations with brilliant guests who will inspire you and who will give you tips and tricks to help you grow both in life and in business. You don’t need to do business alone. Join the conversations. Be part of my community. Get inspired and let’s rock together; www.angelahenderson.com.au.
Well, hey there and welcome back to another awesome episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. I am your host, Anj, from Angela Henderson Consulting, where I am a Business Consultant and Coach who has helped hundreds of women business owners from around the world to get all the pieces in place to have consistent five-figure months and then go on to six-figure years without burning out in the process.
Now, today, we’re going to be talking about Women in Business Retreats and are they really worth it? So many positives, but could there equally be so many negatives? We’ll soon see.
But before we hop straight into this amazing episode, I’d like to remind you that if you enjoy this episode, I would love for you to share it or even share your thoughts about this episode especially on your Instagram stories and don’t forget to tag me @angelahendersonconsulting because I may have a slight addiction with Instagram.
Now, let’s get started. Two weeks ago, almost to the date, I was preparing for Australia’s leading 4-Day, 3-Night Women in Business Retreat that I created a few years ago. Nerves were high. Excitement was in the air. 50 women from all over Australia were preparing to fly in or drive in or walk-in, whatever form of transportation they were coming in to the Gold Coast and hang out with some of the top leaders in this space like Cherie from Digital Picnic, Steph from Steph Taylor, Anita from Wordfetti and so many other amazing speakers, but equally, so many other amazing attendees. I knew this was going to be another year of epic transformation. And that my friends, it was. There were tears, there was laughter, friendships were formed, transformation took place, epicness happened. And yes, my friends, epicness is a word.
So in this episode, I want to share with you my opening welcome that I had shared with those that had attended the event. You really got to feel about what happens at these things and then, I also have a few sound bites from the attendees sharing their own experience. This way, you have a true understanding of whether or not Women in Business Retreats are really worth it for you and your business.
And what I can say is this, tickets have already gone on sale and 40% of tickets have already sold out. So if you’re wanting to secure your ticket, I suggest that after you listen to this episode, you head to angelahenderson.com.au and click on Retreat to secure yours today.
So imagine you’ve got 50 women in a room, super excited to be there, some of them not really sure what’s about to happen; they’ve never been to a Women in Business Retreat. And so, I wanted to do my opening welcome and it goes a little something like this. You see I’d chosen the theme for the year to be “Choose to Shine,” and I wanted those women sitting in those spots to understand why that title came about. And so, my presentation went a little like this:
10:45, New Year’s Day. I was getting ready to hop on a call, actually, to Jerusalem to speak with this guy about his podcasting agency. And like I said, 10:45 P.M. I was trying to be super quiet so I didn’t wake up the family. I was in my office, putting my headphones in for the podcast interview. And I kept getting a phone call from my family in Canada, Face Time, actually. They kept ringing and ringing and I said, “Those assholes are drinking right now. It’s New Year’s Eve.” I can’t really be present with them right now. I don’t want that phone call to be too quick so I thought, “You know what I’m going to do? I’m not going to answer. But as soon as I’m done this call, I’ll give them a call back because that way, we can laugh and giggle and they’ll show me everyone on the video.”
But the phone kept ringing. So something was in me to pick up that phone call and that’s what I did. I picked up the phone call and it went something like this, “Henny,” Henny is what they call me, obviously, Henderson, and they call me Henny for short and have for over 20 years now. “Henny, Henny. It’s Dad. His heart has stopped.” Now, these guys aren’t my biological family but I call them my family and have, like I said, for over 20 years. So, Dad is a very close person in my life and she said, “Henny, Henny, it’s Dad. His heart has stopped. And they’ve revived him once but his heart has stopped again and they’re trying to revive him. They’ve got him in an ambulance.” So I was trying to calm. I’m trying to process this and I’m trying to speak with Stacy about everything and they have to drive about two hours to get to where the hospital was. It’s night time, the ice is slick, roads in Canada aren’t great. So I was just like, “Listen. Just drive safe. There’s nothing that we can do right now, but it’s going to be okay, no matter what happens.”
So, I hopped on the phone call with this Josh guy from Jerusalem. I mean, it was really too late to cancel. He would have thought that was a complete dud if I did that because it was like one minute before we had jump on. So I’ve kind of composed myself, get myself together, hopped on the call with him. And shortly after that phone call was done, I received a call from Canada to let me know that Dad had passed.
So I’m sharing this with a room full of women. And I said there that again, choice. Choice came on the screen and I wanted them to know that in the last year, I’ve lost my grandmother on Christmas Day, my brother on Mother’s Day a few months before that, and then, now, Dad on New Year’s Day. And I was thinking, “F U universe.” Three significant holidays; Christmas, Mother’s day and now, New Year’s Day, and you’re going to throw me this? Come on, I was pissed. I was so blatantly upset about what had just happened, but it was choice.
I knew when that happened I needed to make a choice that I would get through this grief and I wasn’t going to let it consume me. Now, please hear me out, there are days where I will just start crying out of nowhere. Even now, slightly teary. But I allow that grief to happen when it needs to. But you see, I also just gotten out of depression and anxiety that had been going on for a while. So I had been about six to eight months in remission and I did not want to go back to that. I’d worked far too hard to come out of that; get off my medication, etc.
So choice. I had choices just like the women sitting in that room had choices to make over the upcoming days. But also, there are women in that room who had gone through divorce in the last 12 months. There are women in that room who have gone through enormous physical health problems in the last 12 months. There’s equally women who had gone through mental health problems in the last 12 months. There are women in that room who were getting their children assessed for a variety of reasons. There were women in that room who had moved state. There are women in that room who have equally lost loved ones. There are women in that room that had pivoted their business. There are women in that room who had done a variety of things that wasn’t on their plan.
Regardless, each of those women had chosen to shine. And thus, chosen to shine was the theme because as I was looking and getting to know these people as they were buying tickets to the Retreat, I got to know there is more to them; their stories were rich, and there is pain there, and there’s decisions. But they still showed up in their business, they still showed up for their families and they still chose to shine. They chose to show up, they chose to grow, they chose not to give up. Again, they chose to shine.
And that is how I started off the conference, as I wanted those women to know that they can continue to shine, they can continue to make great choices that allow them to. Because the only people in that room that are driving what happens or what doesn’t happen is them. And it is just like you listening to this podcast right now, you can choose to complain about life and get the shits or whatever or you can choose to get up and try to find a way to make it work. And thus, that’s how we started the overall Women in Business Retreat for this year.
Now, I would love to share with you some amazing, really short, and concise clips of those women that attended the Retreat over the four days and what their key takeaways are to give you a better understanding of whether or not a 4-Day, 3-Night Women in Business Retreat is what you need to get your business to the next level.
ZOE BUCKLEY:
Zoe Buckley here from Learning Boosters, www.learningboosters.com.au. I came to the Retreat for an insertion of community; that human-to-human contact is really, really important and that’s one of the things I’ve picked up at the Retreat is that that human-to-human contact, people are wanting more and more of that.
My big “Aha!” moment is that procrastination is in the disguise of fear or I should say fear is in the disguise of procrastination. And to tell myself some different stories that my life before now is not necessarily, well, actually, is not my story for the future.
CAROLINE PARTRIDGE:
So, I’m Caroline Partridge from socialstrategymum.com. And I chose to get on this Retreat because I wanted to start making human connections with actual people rather than always doing that from my computer.
My biggest “Aha!” moment was listening to Anj talk yesterday about the old model of marketing versus a human model of marketing and that that connection just ends up in profits even if it feels like it takes a little bit longer.
My number action item is to take imperfect action on a particular offer that my members are asking for that I’ve been stalling on because I didn’t know how to create it. And now, I know that I just need to get out there and do it and it will come together.
LEIGH D. WALKER:
I’m Leigh D. Walker. I’m an artist and my website is leighdwalkerartist.com. And I wanted to come along to meet lots of other businesswomen and connect with other people in a similar place to me. And I also wanted some help to deal with fear surrounding my business. I tend to feel quite overwhelmed and yes, I just wanted some support and to find some ways around that so that I can move forward in my business and in my life.
And I would say my biggest take-home thing has really been about changing my mindset, feeling successful in the now and I really kind of feel that some of that fear has begun to shift already. I’ve also had some real help with organization, which has also really helped to shift that fear and the overwhelm, just some practical solutions to that. Yes, definitely, my biggest take-home has been about my mindset and my beliefs and my story that I’ve been telling myself that isn’t necessarily true. So it’s been an absolutely fabulous conference. Loved it.
SAM WINCH:
Hi. I’m Sam Winch from samwinch.com.au. I came, I guess, because I was ready off the back of two maternity leaves, I needed something that marked me coming back to the world and this was for me as much as for my business. I think that was really important.
My biggest “Aha!” is there is a big difference between just thinking you know something and really understanding how that fits for you and your business and then there is an even bigger difference between knowing and understanding and actually doing it. So I think that’s the biggest thing.
And my number one action item for walking away is I actually need to stop doing some of the things I’ve been doing. The first thing I’m going to do when I leave is close those that I currently offer. So that’s it.
SHARI BREWER:
Hi. It’s Shari from teenagesurvivalcoach.com. I’m here on the Gold Coast at Angela Henderson’s Women in Business Retreat and I chose to come to this because I always find such wonderful value in getting together with like-minded women and nodding out some great business ideas.
My biggest “Aha!” moment of the weekend was probably from Lisa Corduff about the stories we tell ourselves and choosing to get rid of bullshit stories and tell ourselves our new truths. And my takeaway from this and the first thing that I’m going to do is take steps forward with imperfect action.
KYM O’GORMAN:
I’m Kym O’Gorman and my website is kymogorman.com.au. I came to the conference ready to take some real action on my own business rather than focusing more on my clients’ work. It’s time to actually treat my business as if I’m a client and give it some attention.
Biggest “Aha!” is definitely looking more from a mindset perspective; looking at the self-belief and self-worth to give myself permission to concentrate on my business and really value everything I can bring to my clients.
Actions item; so the next two months in my business will be creating really solid foundations and getting everything in place so that when I step up in 2020 and create the new activities and programs that I want to create, that everything is ready for that to go to the next level.
CATH FOWLER
Hi. I’m Cath Fowler and my business is Regional Roar. You can find me at regionalroar.com.au. I chose to come to the Retreat; I actually came last year to the first Retreat and I’ve decided I learned a lot from that and I wanted to come back. It had a great speaker line up and I really just love the environment that Anj managed to create and the people she manages to bring together. So for me, it was more about just networking and meeting other like-minded people.
My biggest “Aha!” moment and this is what I found so valuable from the Retreat was the Mastermind sessions. So I sort of knew the direction I wanted my business to go in and I knew what I need to do next but I almost just needed to talk that through with a few people and get some validation around what I needed to do. So that was my biggest “Aha!” moment that actually, I had the answers, I just needed to trust in that.
And my number one action item is to just get a lot clearer with my systems and processes. This is something I sort of known but I just haven’t been making the time to do it and I really know that it’s going to change a lot for my business if I can get that right.
MARISSA TOWNDROW:
Hi. My name is Marissa Towndrow. My business is Renovating Mums and you can find me at renovatingmums.com.au. So I decided to come to Angela’s Retreat. I’ve been working with Angela for six months and I just found her so transformer as to where my business was fitting and the Retreat offered me the opportunity to talk to other business owners and connect with them on a level that allowed me a few days to talk through their successes and talk through how it is that they’ve managed to move forward.
Number one action item is to step into my success because at the moment, I haven’t had that belief in myself so I haven’t been able to own my business and even being able to talk about family and friends with what it is that I do, I haven’t been able to do that. It’s been so separate from who I am as an individual.
EMMA GILCHRIST:
I’m Emma Gilchrist and my website is karmadharma.com. And I wanted some inspiration and some motivation. My biggest “Aha!” moment was probably during Lisa Corduff’s presentation, the fact that perfection is an illusion. To believe and trust in myself and streamline my business to move forward from here.
DEBBIE MUNN:
Hey, this is Debbie Munn from The You Project. You can find me at www.theyouproject.com. I came to the Retreat really, I needed to connect again, I’ve had a very big personally and I really needed to find myself back in my business rather than looking at my business from the outside. So I came to connect with myself and with other women and I knew I was going to learn and grow. I’ve only ever really done a lot of events that pertain to my industry, so this is the first time I’ve put myself in a space with all these people from those sorts of area. So that was brilliant for me and I’ve got so much growth that I get from hanging around different people.
My “Aha!” moment was really, even though I know this, and I used to play big, it was when I really realized that I have started playing small and probably have been for the last two and a half years. So that was a great moment. And now, I’m very excited, so that my number one thing that I’m going to implement is to embrace technology, to stop hiding and to stop saying that, “I can’t do it and that I’m afraid to be on social media.” and I’m just going to get out there and get in front of people.
LYNDALL GUINERY-SMITH:
I’m Lyndall Guinery-Smith. My website is professionalwriter.com.au. And why I came to the Retreat is to get some clarity around my business and to look on the business instead of just working in the business.
My “Aha!” moment is when Lisa said, “My success is 100% my responsibility.” So I really need to take ownership of my success, let go and step up. And the action that I’m going to take is to secure VA and to define the processes that I need to work with her perfectly.
SHARON CHISHOLM:
Hi. I’m Sharon Chisholm from sharonchisholm.com.au. I decided to come to Angela’s Retreat because I really need to move my business forward and I was feeling some resistance about the steps that I need to take and exactly how to get to where I want to be.
My biggest “Aha!” moment I think is that I just need to stop overthinking things and just get out from my own way, which has been a really good thing to think about; a good realization. The first step I’m going to do when I get home is actually make a strategic plan for 2020 and get my podcast launched by the end of next month. So I’m really excited about it. It’s been a very really long time in the making.
AMY MINGIN:
I’m Amy Mingin. You can find me at amymingin.com. The reason why I came to the Retreat is because I’ve been wanting to step out of my particular niche and meet other female entrepreneurs and learn from some of the best minds where I’ve been watching and following on Instagram and Facebook for ages.
My biggest “Aha!” moment; there are many, but it was probably today is where the stories that we tell ourselves are most, almost always not the truth. And so, we can just create our own destiny by writing a new story. That is super powerful and that is going to be my action step to start writing some new stories and start being in those stories.
MOLLY LANCASHIRE:
It’s Molly from Motherhood Unplugged. The reason why I came to the Retreat was really to build connections and to, I guess, step back into the role as a business person after having a break.
My big “Aha!” moment was definitely with Lisa Corduff when I realized how I am definitely; I have been definitely living as a victim and the action that I’m going to take from that is definitely to start being the person that I want to be.
MARISSA MARSCHKE
Hey there. It’s Marissa Marschke from marketinginfohub.com.au. I came to Angela’s Retreat this year, my second year because I really appreciate stepping outside of my business and my life and taking time away to actually focus on my business and what’s next for it.
My biggest “Aha!” moment was understanding that fear is always going to be there, but you just have to drive forward; irrespective and acknowledge that but don’t let it control you. And moving forward, I think with that fear in mind, just push in forward with all the plans and all the ideas and everything that I’m going to go forward with, believing that I’m already there.
LYNDAL HARRIS:
My name is Lyndal Harris from podcastva.com and I have just returned from Angela Henderson’s Retreat on the Gold Coast. The reason I decided to go to this Retreat is because I am ready to scale up my business and step it up to the next level in 2020 and I felt that being in a room with 50 motivated and inspired businesswomen as well as amazing speakers would really be a good opportunity for me to learn and mastermind some of those next steps that I need to take.
My biggest “Aha!” moment has taken me a little while to work out because there were a few, but was when Lisa Corduff was talking about the fact that failure and perfection are both an illusion. My action item to take out from it or my first action item is to really make sure my systems and processes are solid and ready for the team to scale up with the additional work and clients that we take on next year.
MAKAELA MOORE:
I’m Makaela Moore from Deliberately Transformed and The Midlife Awakening Podcast and makaelamoore.com. I went to Angela Henderson’s Women in Business Retreat basically so that I could just immerse myself in business with like-minded women for a few days. To network, to learn and to kind of weigh with all sorts of goodness. I made some truly amazing friends there. I feel like I finally found my people, which is an amazing feeling.
My biggest “Aha!” moment; there was so many to choose from. Lots of things on social media, lots of things on systems, etc. And the first action I’m going to take: outsourcing baby. So many things that I need to outsource that I’ve been previously trying to do all myself. I’ve already got my tickets for next year and I can’t wait. Such an amazing Retreat. Thanks, Anj.
ANGELA:
How amazing is the feedback from those awesome women and business owners? So awesome and so much growth happened for each and every one of them but in different ways. So if you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether or not a Women in Business Retreat is actually worth it, I hope this episode has clarified it for you that these are absolutely amazing. These Retreats are amazing for so many reasons and those reasons will be dependent on what you need for you and for your business.
I would love to see you at the 2020 4-Day, 3-Night Women in Business Retreat next year. I would absolutely love it. And as I mentioned earlier, we have already sold 40% of tickets. So if you do want to hit this particular Retreat for next year, then I strongly encourage you to head to angelahenderson.com.au and secure your ticket immediately because you don’t want to miss out in 2020.
I can also confirm that we do have six-month payment plans, which has made it so affordable for people to come and also equally to help with their cash flow. So make sure you head to angelahenderson.com.au to secure your ticket today.
And before we sign off, just a few reminders, my team and I will also be putting together the whole transcription for this episode at angelahenderson.com.au. And as I mentioned earlier, if you enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to share it, especially in your Instagram stories and tagging me @angelahendersonconsulting or share it on whatever social media platform you love.
I’d also love if you could take a minute and subscribe to this episode so you don’t miss out on any future episodes. And lastly, I wish you a beautiful, beautiful day and I look forward to you joining me next week for another amazing episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, women in business retreats. www.angelahenderson.com.au
