We’re giving you another look into what happened at the Summit Retreat held at Steamboat Springs, Colorado!
In this episode of The Pollen Podcast, we discuss experiences and lessons from the retreat. Erica, Maria, Nicholette, and Alexandra share their favorite parts of the event, the beauty and power of a supportive community, and the importance of injecting more of you into your business! Maria also gives a sneak peek into where future retreats will be held and what you can expect from them.
Tune in and be inspired to join the next Diana Davis Creative retreat!
Create your own creative entrepreneurship story of clarity, professional confidence, and profit.
Join Diana’s 90-day group course Camp Clarity and learn everything you wish you already knew, like how to land dream clients, harness the power of social media, and make the money you deserve. Learn more here.
🔥 Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:
Learn how crucial a supportive community is in achieving your goals and dreams!
Understand why you should bring more of your authentic self to your brand and business.
Discover how retreats create a community of like-minded women helping each other move forward.
📘 Resources
Achieve the life, career, and clients you’ve always wanted (and fully deserve!). Sign up for Diana’s Camp Clarity Course Round 7 now! It’s going to start on October 27.
Excited for the next retreat? Sign up for the waitlist at Diana Davis Creative Retreat! This time, the venue will be somewhere in Europe (likely Greece!). There will be tons of activities, plus you'll get a bonus one-on-one coaching session with Diana after the retreat. 🎁
Here’s another look at what happened during the retreat! Reflections from a Magical Week at the Summit Retreat ⛰.
Access other courses from Diana Davis Creative.
Connect with our guests!
🎧 Episode Highlights
[04:47] Erica and Her Retreat Experience
Erica is a holistic leadership coach, and she is passionate about helping women reach their full potential. She also loves nature and spiritual practices.
There is something special about connecting in-person with like-minded people.
Despite being new to the retreat, she felt included. Erica also felt more motivated afterwards.
Erica’s biggest takeaway is learning to bring more of herself into her business.
Erica: “The invitation that I received from you [and the retreat] was, how can I bring more of [myself] to my business? For me, that was such a beautiful challenge because it feels more authentic when you give yourself permission to fully be yourself and bring all of that.” - Click Here To Tweet This
[12:40] Maria, the Retreat Planner
This is Maria’s first experience planning a creative retreat. She used to plan corporate trade shows.
She felt joy and security being in a room full of supportive women.
Maria: “The people you attract are the people that showed up to this retreat, and you created that energy and space too as a leader from everybody to just learn… The energy was so great, and that was my favorite part.” - Click Here To Tweet This
[16:46] Sneak Peek into the Next Retreat
Maria is also involved in planning the next retreat. It’s going to be in southern Europe.
The retreat is an intimate environment where participants can take time for themselves and join activities.
They will serve nourishing meals and are looking to include fun outdoor activities.
The location for the next September retreat is Ecuador. Maria was born there, and she’s excited to share her culture, history, and food with the participants!
[20:12] Introducing Nicholette
Nicholette is an entrepreneur, video content producer, and coach. She loves helping people be authentic.
Her favorite retreat experience was jumping with other participants at the waterfalls. She loved the community and trust.
When we have people with us on our journey, we can be much more powerful and accountable.
Nicholette: “That extra 1% of having someone else there with you believing in you… The amount of power that is within that to make you reach that next level of then believing in yourself — it’s fucking wild.” - Click Here To Tweet This
[25:13] How Nicholette Expanded Her Business
Nicholette is an Instagram Reel coach. During the retreat, she expanded into creating Reels for women.
The women in the retreat were so supportive and helped Nicholette move through the expansion.
Nicolette travels to help people create their Reels.
She hopes a future retreat can be in Bali.
[29:14] Alexandra, Diana’s Assistant
Alexandra is a systems specialist for creatives.
It surprised her that the retreat participants were so open and committed.
Diana: “[W]e were letting people and giving permission for them to be their whole selves and not just be what they do for a living, or not just be the person that likes the color blue. It's like bring your whole self to the table and show up exactly as you are right in this moment.” - Click Here To Tweet This
Her favorite experience was the hot springs and the dragonflies. Dragonflies symbolize transformation, and she felt that was very apt for the retreat.
She hopes a future retreat can be in a tropical venue or the Portuguese and Spanish coasts.
[35:23] How Alexandra Can Help You
You can hire Alexandra for strategy sessions. She also provides weekday support.
Her work can help you organize and process information, then create a roadmap for your direction.
About Our Guests
Erica Pieczonka is a holistic leadership coach who empowers women. She helps her clients shatter their inner glass ceiling and claim their highest potential! Check out her work on Instagram and her website.
Maria Herrera is a travel and retreat planner and virtual bookkeeper. She is one of the brilliant members of the DDC team who made the Summit Retreat a success! Check out her work on Instagram.
Nicholette Hilbrich is a video content producer and Reels coach. She helps entrepreneurs by creating video content that embodies their brand, attracts soul-aligned clients, and increases visibility on social media. Check out her work on Instagram and her website.
Alexandra Smith is a systems specialist for creatives. She helps clients create a fully-aligned flow in their businesses. Check out her work on Instagram and her website.
Enjoyed this Podcast on the Power of Retreats and Community?
Retreats are a powerful experience to reflect on your business, connect with a supportive community, and become more in tune with yourself! The Summit Retreat is the first of many Diana Davis Retreats to come, so sign up for the waitlist to get updates!
Pollen is a podcast for Creative Entrepreneurs — just like you! If you enjoyed this episode of Pollen Podcast, subscribe and help us spread the word by sharing it!
Leave a review and share it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you enjoyed tuning in to this podcast, we'd appreciate it if you wrote us a review. You can also share it to help other creative entrepreneurs.
Have any questions or want to leave a suggestion? Come say hi on the 'gram @dianadaviscreative! You can also subscribe to my newsletter for travel updates, learn about special projects, and get tips and tricks for the creative entrepreneur life!
Connect with me on LinkedIn: Diana Davis Creative.
Thanks for listening! Stay tuned to my website for more episode updates, exciting programs, and valuable resources.
Transcript
Diana Davis: That extra 1% of having someone else there with you believing in you is like the amount of power that is within that to make you reach that next level of then believing in yourself. It’s good. It's fucking wild
Welcome to Pollen, the podcast for creative entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Diana Davis, multi passionate creative business coach, Gemini, manifesting generator, macha drinker, and travel junkie. I'm also the founder of Diana Davis Creative, where I went from a six figure photography business to coaching creative entrepreneurs like you. If you want to have a career and a life you love, you're in the right place.
On this show, I'll be coaching on all things, creative entrepreneurship, and you'll hear stories from fellow creative entrepreneurs that will show you it is possible to do life the way you want to. They'll share the nitty gritty of their journeys, like the real shit, and how they are doing it differently. I'm stoked to have you along on this journey. Let's go.
Good morning Pollen, we have another retreat episode for you. The first episode that we recorded at the retreat with multiple participants and just their takeaways and who they are, was literally one of my favorite episodes. I think because I got to sit right next to them in person. But also because I love the community.
I think actually, in this episode, I said, maybe let’s just scratch business coach off my title and call me a community builder. Because the containers that I put together are, of course, very impactful in people's businesses.
They make them more money, they get them more aligned, less burnout, more confidence. But one of the big things that I bring to the table is my community, who I attract, who I bring into the room, and who you get to be a part of because of that. So I love that episode, because it encompasses so many different creative entrepreneurs. And this one is the same. So we have four creative entrepreneurs from the retreat and their takeaways that are going to speak today.
You definitely want to get to know these people. They're amazing. We're going to drop all their Instagrams in the show notes. And yeah, it's going to be great. But before we dig into that, I want to make a big announcement that Camp Clarity round seven starts next week. So you should be listening to this around October 21st. We are starting October 27th. So if you are on the fence about it, DM me girl. We can get you in there. It is such an epic container.
The community is everything. Speaking of that, people's biggest takeaways are always that they just felt super held. They felt so accountable. They felt like they weren't alone in this entrepreneurship journey, as well as learning about boundaries, social media, taxes, money mindset, and client workflow, all sorts of stuff, right? So this Camp Clarity is for the creative entrepreneur who is ready to build their foundation or rebuild their foundation.
If you've been an entrepreneur for a long time, a few years or several years. And you're just finding yourself, kind of feeling unaligned, this is for you too. We can rewire your situation. Take what you have already working and really zhuzh the whole thing. I love the word zhuzh. And then if you're a brand new entrepreneur, if you have a side hustle, whatever that may look like, this is perfect to really get your foundation solid before you build your skyscraper.
We started on October 27th. You can apply in the show notes in my bio on the website, or reach out and just DM me with any questions. There's no pressure. I'm never going to hard sell you. I'm here to see you thrive. That is my why. So come ask me questions. If you have them.
Don't be scared that I'm going to back you into a corner. Because I'm not and I know a lot of people do that. So yeah, if that's calling you. We start next week. So very exciting. Without further ado, here's the latest episode.
Erica, Hello, how are you?
Erica: I am amazing. How are you?
Diana: Good. I'm so excited to have you here to talk about the retreat. It's been oh my gosh, like a long time. It's October 5. We had the retreat on August 29th. Time has flown by. And we didn't get to have everyone live on the podcast at the retreat. So now we're circling back because it was such a freaking amazing group of women, I'm sure you can agree. And I want to introduce everyone and hear everyone's takeaways.
It's going to be a little bit different because you've had some time to really integrate. So we're gonna roll right into it. What I would love to do is just hear who you are as a human. Who are you to tell them I love that?
Erica: I love that. Well, from a business perspective, I'm a holistic leadership coach. And what I'm really passionate about is helping women shatter their inner glass ceilings so that they can step into their fullest potential. But as a human, I am a person who loves life. I love adventure. I love nature. I love connecting with spiritual practices, which was so fun for the retreat.
There are so many like minded women who are heart centered leaders, just living incredible lives and inspiring others and changing the world.
Diana: Yeah, you're so good at what you do. I've been to your workshops, and it's so incredible, and just shattering the inner glass ceiling, like mic drop, that's all we need to know. So freaking good. So you mentioned kind of being in a room with like minded people, especially in not just a Zoom room, which is also really powerful. But in real life, like, dine together, lodge together, hike together, do hard things together.
Yeah. Sit around a campfire, smoke some weed. What was that like? Why is that so potent? What kind of things did you get out of that?
Erica: Honestly, the first reaction, as you were talking, was just like full body chills, and warmth. There's such a beauty in having the ability to connect in real life with like minded people. As humans, we just want to feel understood and seen. And in that beautiful retreat that you created, I certainly felt that way. And I think so many other women did too. Honestly, the women in your community are so incredibly inspiring.
I walked away, feeling so lit up, and so motivated to just go out into the world and crush it because these women are just doing incredible things. And for me, it's just so incredible to see that I'm new to entrepreneurship. And many of the women there were in many different walks of life. But it is so supportive and empowering to see women out there doing incredible things.
Diana: Yeah. And you are one of the few actually that's new to my community. Like we're on the side as with most of my people, but it was mostly returning people. And you were one of the few, you and Maria, were kind of brand new. Did you have any feelings around that? Or did you even notice?
Erica: I wouldn’t say I noticed being like, outside of anything. I felt very included. But it was so cool, actually, from that perspective, to see what an incredible community you've created, Diana. I tell her all the time, you're just pure magic. Like everyone is, it's curated in the sense that these are just the most incredible people to be in community with and how special it was to be in their space. And I just felt immense gratitude for that.
Diana: Yeah.
Erica: Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Thanks for that reflection, because one of my big pillars is actually helping creative entrepreneurs work with dream clients. And I really brag about my community. Like, sometimes I'm like, I don't know how I created this, I just am so lucky that somehow I attract these amazing people. But I do know how I created it. And I think it's something I teach about a lot.
It's like, if you are showing up fully as you authentically, full blown unfiltered you especially as a personal brand. And you know your core values, and you are very adamant about that. And you also are willing to say no to people who aren't aligned and say hell yes to the people that are or the clients that are the projects that you do build, like a dream client community. So I just love that reflection, as this group couldn't have been better, literally.
I just love that even like, there could have been 19 people there but 15 people were 15 humans fit around that table perfectly and like fit in the shuttle perfectly and all the things.
The last thing is that all, well not the last thing, two more things. What was your favorite part of the retreat?
Erica: Well, it's funny that you talked about authenticity and like whole humans and all of that. Because for me, that was like one of the biggest takeaways for me was bringing more of me to my business. I think, having spent a lot of time in corporate leadership. They're sort of this compartmentalization that happens, where it's like, this is about the work persona. And then this is who I am in my whole life. And so, Erica is the whole human, is a mother, and likes witchy things like essential oils and tarot cards.
The invitation that I received from you was, how can I bring more of this to my business? And for me, that was such a beautiful challenge, because it feels more authentic, when you give yourself permission to fully be yourself and bring all of that. And I think our clients love that, right? Like, talk about dream clients, like most of my clients, and I'm like, hey, I just started getting into human design. Should we like, look at your chart and see what it says? And they're like, yes. This is so fun.
Diana: I love it. I actually have a human design reading later to do.
Erica: Oh, my gosh, I need to dive more into mine. For sure. It's so it's like, I feel like it's one of those big shifts in your life. And you're like, wow, how did I not know about this thing? And holy shit. Sorry for swearing on your podcast. Like this. I feel so seen. Right? It's like, wow. Yeah. Because you're a man. gen two.
Diana: Yeah.
Erica: I was always a person who had to have my hand in every cookie jar. I remember I think I wonder if it was the conversation with you actually already talking about someone in my life who said, jack of all trades, master of none. But there's like another part to that quote?
Diana: Yeah.
Erica: That's about it actually being a good thing.
Diana: Yeah. I love it.
Erica: Oh, anyway, super tangent.
Diana: Multifaceted humans and entrepreneurs. I love it. All right. So last question. Where's the next retreat?
Erica: Oh, my gosh, it's in Greece. You know how much I love Greece.
Diana: Yes. And we're working on it. We're working on it. So for those of you listening can sign up for the waitlist in the show notes. For wherever it is. It's definitely well, I could eat my words, but it's definitely going to be in Europe. And we're hoping for April or May. So stay tuned. All right, Erica, thanks for being here.
Erica: My absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Diana: Okay, y'all. Next up is Maria, who is actually part of my team. She has also taken Camp Clarity. She actually just graduated from Camp Clarity. But she is the retreat planner of this retreat. So super fun to see and hear her perspective. And I could not have done it without my team, which is Alexandra and Maria. It was so surreal to be able to fly them out to Colorado and meet them for the first time, and see how tall they were. And actually learn their personalities outside of work and all of that.
Maria, welcome, so stoked to have you here.
Maria: Hi, Diana, thank you for having me. And it's been a pleasure to just be able to come along the journey of working with you and also being part of Camp Clarity, you as my coach. It's been so extensive. And following you for almost two years before that. And it's just we're how the universe works. I'm just so grateful. And being actually my first retreat officially planned because the events I planned before were more corporate trade shows related. It's been so extensive and a wonderful experience.
Diana: Yeah. And it was so cool. Because when I interviewed you, “interviewed,” super formal. I said, like, what do you think you could bring to the table, because I want you to grow with us. If we go for this. And you didn't know we're hosting a retreat, we had just started tapping into event planning it and finding the location. And you were like, I want you to do retreats, and I want to plan them for you. And I was like, guess what? We're doing it.
I would love to hear just really quick. What was your reflection from the retreat? Like? Was there a favorite part? What was unexpected for you?
Maria: My favorite part, I'm going to say it's, it's the whole experience, but mainly being able to see so many women in a room, creating space for everyone, and coming from not only different upbringings, but backgrounds and cultures and everything's so different, but at the same time still similar to each other-
Diana: Yeah.
Maria: Being able to connect and hold the space and support without judgment. Because sometimes it's hard to find that type of environment where you feel secure within a group that you have not even met before in person.
Diana: Totally. And powerful. I think I've said, and I think I said, on the retreat, I've been on retreats, I've been in a lot of groups. And there can be — as supportive or like minded as everyone is — there can be just kind of an air of we're actually kind of judging you behind the scenes, or we're trying to make sales to each other behind the scenes.
This really was such a beautiful group. And I think me and you and Alexandra as a team really set the environment and we set that standard of like, come as your whole human, this is a safe space, we're here to support each other and just be an opt in where you want and opt out where you where you don't. So I think that was really powerful.
Maria: Yeah, and it's, it's also the energy, I think the energy of like you said, that the people you attract are the people that showed up to this retreat, and you creating that energy and space to as a leader itself, and it's from everybody to just learn to and then just keep, like I said, the energy was so great. And that was my favorite part. Because in every place you will go, you'll have that energy, you have that space, and especially coming from somebody that 's a little more introverted and social anxiety.
It was wonderful in that aspect and I got to know everybody.
Diana: I would just ask, kind of keeping this short and sweet here, especially because you have all the cards in your hand, because you are our retreat planner, and my assistant in the business, and you do so many other things, bookkeeping and all of the stuff. But can you tell us a little bit about, like, I've been asking people, where is the next retreat as in their voting, but you are actually planning it?
Can you just give us we don't know exactly where it's going to be yet. But can you just give us a little overview of the kind of the vibe?
Maria: Yeah, so we know it's gonna be somewhere in Europe. We're looking in Southern Europe, but it's gonna have a similar vibe. It's just going to be a nice location where we can create that environment, that intimacy, having the space to be part of the activities or take time for yourself, as well as one of our main things is the culinary aspect.
We want to make sure we have great food and great aspects like having nutritious and nourishing meals that also have that fun part of when you go food if you're a foodie, go to a place. As well as fun activities because they know we had hiking, we had hot springs. So we're looking to have some outdoor activities, just because it's part of who you are, a part of the kit of Davis Creative. So we just want to bring something similar to this, that of what we stand for.
Diana: Yeah. So tell us really quickly in our last few minutes here, about Ecuador, and why that's near and dear to your heart. And so we have the European retreat, which we're going to plan a couple of retreats for next year. This is definitely a new pillar for Diana Davis Creative that we want to keep rolling. So Ecuador is the plan for September. Can you tell us why?
Maria: Yeah. So Ecuador. I was born in Ecuador. I lived there at the age of 13. And Ecuador is very dear to my heart because it's where I was born. That's where my family came from. My cultural background and we have so much in Ecuador that I want to share with you. I want to share with the people that follow you.
I want to be able to bring you and host you guys in my country and show you all the wonderful nature but also the culinary aspect because that's a big part of our retreats and Diana David's Creative. So I'm so excited to have you guys there and show you guys a little bit more of my home and my culture and I know you guys will love it.
Diana: I know I’ll love it. I have chills right now. So good. Well Maria, thank you so much. And I'm so excited for planning all of this alongside you, you really being the captain of that ship and I'm so grateful for you. If I haven't told you a million times I could not have done this retreat without you truly and the people need to know about you. So if you need a person to plan your retreat, Maria is all yours. I will share her with you. So hit her up. All of the Instagrams will be in the show notes. And she is your woman. So thanks, Maria.
Maria: Thank you, Diana.
Diana: All right now we have Nicolette in the house. Hello. How are you?
Nicole: What’s up!
Diana: If you needed a caffeine shot to your day, you've got right here, Nicolette got it for you. So Nicolette was actually a collaborator on the retreat, much like Annie and Lisa were, and she did a video and I haven't been able to post these yet, because I really want to use them in a really strategic way. But y'all, the reels! So she basically did video of the retreat, on her phone, and on her pro camera, did some video for every woman there.
She made me a couple of reels that literally make me cry, like I am so obsessed. I just play them and I send them to everyone. And I have them in my favorites album and my iPhone and just like look at this, like it encapsulates my retreat. So well. So Nicolette, who you and I have worked together for a long time. And it's so cool to have you back in the house. Who are you as a human?
Nicolette: As a human, I am human, as a whole human. I am someone who-
Well as an entrepreneur, I'm a video content producer.
Diana: Oh, yeah, snap.
Nicolette: And coach.
With that, and with who I am as a holistic human, I am someone who's incredibly obsessed with helping people love who they are and be who they are both online and offline and in every possible way, just embracing their true self.
Diana: You do such a good job. You're such a frickin cheerleader. And it's like your energy. I just tell people like who Nicolette is online is actually who she is. Almost like 100 times like you think it's performative or whatever, like her energy and like the goofiness.
It's like, no, you're like that. And you're also so deep in other ways. Like I love how you can tap into your emotions and just be you're just your vibe, and I'm so grateful that you were on the retreat. Do you have a favorite part of the retreat that you want to share or reflection?
Nicolette: I definitely do. Quickly, I just want to talk about what you said. So the Gemini in me, I'm just delighted. Yeah, that's Oh my god. Okay. My favorite part of the retreat. I was thinking about this earlier. And I was listening to the first episode. And I think it was Kate said, like, how do I pick a favorite part? And I definitely felt that it was like every single second was my favorite part.
If I had to choose one, I would say when we were at the waterfall, which I know has been spoken about when Shayla, Annie, Elisa, and I believe it was the four of us all like, counted down from three and jumped in together. And it was a beautiful moment, because there was so much trust and love there. And we all knew that we were going to jump in and you got to zero like there was no doubt no hesitation.
It was a million times less intimidating to jump into this ice cold water-
Diana: Ice cold.
Nicolette: Because, like we were doing it together, it was that community and trust within it.
Diana: Yeah, genuine, such a good analogy. The whole hike and waterfall became such an analogy. But it was such a good analogy because we don't need people or a group to like to proceed with our goals and desires. But how much more potent and powerful and accountable are we when we have people beside us?
Doing it with us. If you're going to do it, I'm going to do it too. And you're giving me the energy to believe in myself. Maybe I believed in myself already but I just got that 1% further to really actually take the leap and do the thing. And I think it was so powerful to see in real life but it's also why, for example, me and you, have not stopped investing in ourselves in these containers because it is so just epic to be doing it alongside like minded people.
Nicolette: That's so real. And that 1%, but extra 1% of having someone else there with you believing in you is like the amount of power that is within that to make you reach that next level of then believing in yourself.
Diana: Yeah. It's good.
Nicolette: It's fucking wild. Wait.
Diana: Yes, of course, are you? Have you met me? Explicitly written on our podcast truly we have to be in the explicit category. That's totally fine. Okay, so last little question and then I want you to vote. But what was it like because this was kind of you've been a real coach, which I mean, “reel” on Instagram coach, I've been in your program, it's incredible. But you've sort of expanded your business into creating reels for women.
This was kind of your beta round of that. And you fucking crushed it. How did it feel stepping into that for the first time? Were you nervous? Was it like, let's go? What were the feels?
Nicolette: Oh, my gosh, I was incredibly nervous. I think there was a level of self doubt that I hadn't experienced before, or maybe not a level, but it isn't a category we could say. And I think that being in that space, surrounded by so much genuine support and connection happening, is actually wild.
How fast I feel like I was able to move through that. Like it was pretty, it was very heavy on me at the beginning of the retreat. And granted, I was very tired during the opening circle, but I was bawling my eyes out. And that was a big part of it like I was, I really wanted to live up to my own expectations as well as like, I wanted you to be as stoked as you are about it. So I feel like I'm getting off track. I don't even know if I'm answering your question.
Diana: I think, Brené Brown says fucking first times, like FFTs like you were getting your camera equipment already. And it was like, there was a lot of sort of pressure. And then what I wanted to just reflect with everyone who's come on here is that such a theme word is genuine, genuine support. Not like this fake like we're here for you. It's like, people are really supporting each other, which is so beautiful. So you crushed it. Amazing.
We are so stoked to have you. I can't wait to share more of your content. I can't wait for just more people to experience you and hire you. So are you just quickly, are you like traveling the world to people to create these reels? Are you doing them kind of in person? Because you used to be a nomad too.
Nicolette: Yeah. All of the above all. I mean, all of September, I had shoots pretty much every single week. And one of them was in New York. So I was just in New York City, which is good. But yeah, definitely traveling is something that I want to incorporate within this. And I love to travel. So that's another reason why this is exciting for me and capturing those kinds of experiences. But also yes, definitely networking in the area as well. But yeah, I just fucking love it. I love it. Oh, for sure. I can swear.
Diana: You can. So to wrap up, where is our next retreat? Like what's your vote?
Nicolette: Oh, man. I think Greece.
Diana: Greece is just really-
I feel like Erica put that nugget in. And it's like the thing. So we're working on it.
Nicolette: Thinking about it earlier. And I was like, I mean, Bali is always somewhere I want to go totally. And I was thinking about you and your energy and the environment. And I was like Greece just feels more like you and therefore that would be more of the experience. Like I want you. Right? And everyone. Love it. And I'm there.
Diana: We'll work on it and you'll get some grease content for sure. Nicolette, thank you for being here. Thank you.
Nicolette: I love you.
Diana: Okay. We have the infamous Alexandra with us right now. She is my assistant. We've been working with each other for over a year and she was part of the team with Maria and me that really put on this retreat. And when I say it again, I'm just gonna keep reiterating it. I couldn't have done it without my team. It is so true. So hi, Alexandra. Welcome.
Alexandra: Hello. Thank you. Glad to be here.
Diana: Who are you?
Alexandra: I work with you. I'm part of the DDC team. I'm a system specialist. So aside from doing all this amazing work with you I also work with other folks and other creative entrepreneurs to help them build out their admin systems in their business to manage that information as effectively and strategically as possible, while also feeling really aligned to them and matching their personality matching their organization style matching their brand.
Diana: Oh, yeah. I love it. And you're so much more than that, as what's really cool and a huge takeaway for me, is that having you and Maria in the flesh with me, and for days, we actually flew you and before the retreat, so we could all kind of like settle in and get to know each other in this capacity. You are such a speaker, you're such a comedian, you're such a deep human, like, I loved hearing, being able to hear like the popcorn mind that Alexandra has.
Because on a Zoom call, you're gonna like, not just say the random things you have going on in your head. When we're in person. It's like we're hanging out 24/7. So I get to hear what comes up for you. And I really still am standing by that. I think you need a podcast or a YouTube channel, or something. But I know that that was a huge, just gift for everyone to experience while you were there.
Alexandra: Thank you. I like that description like popcorn brain. That's definitely how it feels.
Diana: That is a Tiffany Swan, who is our chef. That's her phrase, so I have to give her credit.
So what was something that was surprising to you about the retreat?
Alexandra: I think I was surprised by how open everyone was so early on. I think in a way I wasn't because I feel like doing our treat that kind of, I would imagine a lot of time that brings the most committed of most committed. So in that way, it made perfect sense. I know, I just thought there was going to be more like, hi, my favorite color is blue. Like kinda like most often people go straight in.
Diana: Yeah, and I think we all facilitated that, right? Like, we created that space. And that's as a space holder, something that I teach my clients even like, create the space and set the expectations. And I think a theme that keeps coming up and up is that we were letting people and giving permission for them to be their whole selves and not just be what they do for a living or not just be the person that likes the color blue.
It's like bringing your whole self to the table and showing up exactly as you are right in this moment. So I loved that. What was your favorite? Like you as your favorite, like activity or part of the retreat?
Alexandra: Oh, I mean, I'm such a hot springs girl. I never pass it up. So I love the hot spring so much. It also is so magical to have all of the dragon flies all over the place.
Diana: Oh my gosh, we didn’t talk about this.
Alexandra: Like the moment I got back, I looked it up and it's a dragonfly that symbolizes transformation. And just to have them surrounding everyone, like every single person who was there had a dragon so I landed on them. And they were like, everywhere.
Diana: Yeah. And then we had butterflies at the waterfall. Just so interesting. I'm getting chills. I didn't really put that together. But yeah, even I feel like flies everywhere.
Alexandra: Now that I'm looking back at it, like even more so like water and depth and even the concept of baptism, like, transformation. I don't know.
Diana: This is why Alexandra needs a YouTube channel. Her wisdom is so good. And also I just want to note, like, even on the car ride up there, which I know that was the case for everybody because they were like whoa, like people got there.
They were like, whoa, we had the deepest fucking conversations. Like it was like hi, nice to meet you. What's your childhood trauma?
Alexandra: Those are the kinds of spaces I want to be in.
Diana: It's like you're my people like I had that moment. I was you Maria and Haley, my cousin who it was such a joy to have her there and just in the car just being like here are my people. I'm so ingratitude of just being in this energy. So anyway, I know that you are helping plan the next retreat.
Maria was on earlier, she's gave us some spoilers, but if you were just attending, say, where would be like your top three votes for a retreat, trying not to be biased with the locations that we already have in mind.
Alexandra: Okay. It's a hard question. I love the idea of something beachy. Like maybe some Mediterranean vibes, maybe some I don't know, like Portuguese coast, Spanish coast kind of thing. Oh, but also I feel like maybe a tropical thing could be really nice. Like maybe wow. I think my top one would be like Bali?
Diana: Yeah. Maybe 2024 is Bali. Exciting. Love it. Well, I can't say how much I appreciate you. And again, the retreat would not have been even remotely the same without you there. And yeah, so everyone, check out Alexandra. Her Instagram will be in the show notes and set up your system call with her because it's so helpful. I like him a little selfish. I'm like, You can't steal her fully. But she does like the kind of sessions that are what you call them?
Alexandra: So I call them Strategy Sessions. And it's 90 minutes and then five weekdays of Voxer support. So basically, we look at what you currently have going on how it fits into, basically your needs for organization like how do you even process information, taking that into consideration, and then starting to create that roadmap for how we're going to get things to how you want them to be and how they work the most smoothly for you.
Diana: Beautiful, I love it. Thanks for being here.
Alexandra: Thank you
