Super excited to announce a huge new project we’ve been working on here at Say Yes. It’s a series of intimate retreats for female business owners centered around mentoring, skill sharing, and the holistic needs of women…
The Huddle!
It’s called The Huddle (check out the new site!). It was born out of pure necessity. The reality is that the pipelines available for men that support their business through growth stages and inflection points aren’t available to women, or aren’t happening in female supportive spaces.
Earlier this year I was really craving some time to deep dive into my business and needing the support of other female business owners. So my friend Audrey and I invited up a few female entrepreneurs I’d always wanted to spend time with to her home in Tahoe for a weekend. It ended up being a completely transformative experience for everyone. I’m so excited to open the doors and invite more women to be part of this much needed experience.
The entire journey since February has been so incredible and intuitive for me. It feels like a complete full circle experience with my work here at Say Yes for 14 years as a business owner, and my MA in Counseling. Plus, so so many experiences where I’ve seen how incredible women’s capacities are to share and mentor. That we just need the right intimate spaces to do it with individualized focus and attention.
Each retreat is small (under 12 women) and by application only. Hosted in a beautiful, private home and includes the guidance of a seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist. All women of course. Combined with some serious girls weekend pampering, communing and self care with family style meals and daily in-house massage therapy, mediation, yoga. We’re also really excited to have at our events an executive life coach with us for the weekend to host a workshop and provide individual sessions with each attendee.
The feedback from our inaugural Huddle was that the Hot Seat Mentoring was one of the most valuable parts of the retreat. Each woman has an opportunity to harness the collective brilliance of the group to strategize, knowledge share, and brainstorm solutions to their specific business challenges.
The first retreat has been announced and located just north of here in Sonoma, California from Sept 5-8th. Our retreats are by application only because it’s very important for us to keep the group small (about 10 women), and the right balance of women in terms of their experience, diversity, and type of business. We also have a half scholarship available with priority given to women of color or from another marginalized group. We’ll be accepting applications through June and will be extending invitations by mid July for the Sonoma event.
More Huddles will be announced soon though! You can follow along on The Huddle’s instagram page.
Also, be sure to check the FAQ page on the site to learn more about what you can expect during a typical day, going with a business partner/close friend, our equity practices, and other answers to questions you may have about our events. Anything we’re missing? Let us know!
I’m really excited to introduce you to Dia of Women Commune. She’s part of our Huddle team and helping with a lot of stuff behind the scenes here to ensure things move forward smoothly. You’ll get to know her better if you come to the Sonoma Huddle this September! So excited to have her on board.
A few testimonials from our inaugural event:
“I consider myself a bit of a business retreat junkie. I’ve been to so many workshops, conferences, and mastermind groups, but nothing quite like The Huddle. Imagine the best girls’ weekend ever coupled with some serious business strategy and mentoring from the most dynamic women. I came away feeling inspired and fired up to take my business to the next level. Could not recommend more highly!” –Shira of Shira Gill Home
“The Huddle was a game changer for my business. When something is good (peer mentorship), I’m totally a fan of diving right in for an intense weekend. My favorite part about the retreat were the “hot seats.” It was invaluable to share my current business struggles and listen to the collective wisdom from the group. Sometimes all you need is a change of perspective.” –Hillary of Wunderkin Co
“The Huddle was a big turning point for me as a business owner. I developed relationships with amazing fellow entrepreneurs that has added so much support to my business life. I also walked away feeling more empowered, more sure of what I wanted, and a better game plan for how to reach my business goals and dreams.” –Whitney of Sonnet James
“The Huddle helped me make deep, long-lasting, genuine relationship with the most amazing women entrepreneur. The amount of passion, fun and information shared within my group at the Huddle make it one of the best business retreats I have ever attended. The Huddle is going to have a long-lasting impact on my business!” – Audrey Smit, This Little Street
After the retreat, I felt invigorated about my business. It was just the kind of individualized feedback I needed. I left inspired, with a clearer set of goals, having learned so much from an amazing group of women that I still keep in touch with! – Erin Gleeson, A Forest Feast
This looks so incredible. What a great way to fill the need of intimate retreats.
What a great group of women, the work you do is so amazing! Love the photos too! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com