Benefits of Attending Harvest Retreats
This post is sponsored by Harvest Retreats. All opinions expressed are my own.
If you’re a woman and a small business owner looking for a business retreat, Harvest Retreats may be a great option for you. This past Memorial Day weekend, I attended the Bloom Retreat hosted by Harvest Retreats’ own Dara Laine Murray, and it was EVERYTHING! The Bloom Retreat is a business retreat designed to create “a sacred space for small service-based business owners to deepen their roots and create growth opportunities.” That is precisely what I got out of it. I was able to do this through meaningful workshops on creativity, mindfulness, and content pillars. There were also opportunities for meditation and downtime to connect with the other business owners. Additionally, each participant had the opportunity to participate in a branding photo shoot on the last day, complete with a professional photographer, hair stylist, and makeup artist.
The Bloom Retreat wasn’t your typical business retreat; it was better! The Bloom Retreat centered on three values: Community, Clarity, and Rejuvenation. During my three-day stay, I created a community with the other participants that will extend beyond the retreat. I certainly gained clarity on how I should move forward in my business. Lastly, I left feeling rejuvenated by the work we did and by the beautiful place we stayed – The Fassit Mansion. There were so many wonderful components to this event. Let’s get into everything the retreat entailed:
Prework for the Bloom Retreat
One of the best things about the Bloom Retreat was the prework we completed before we arrived. All of the participants had an opportunity to meet with our keynote speaker Arianna Valle of Valle Creative Consulting, creativity coach Kelly Laughlin and Fern and Fountain photographer Emily Wilkerson in the weeks leading up to the event. They sent us surveys about our business ventures and met with us via zoom to flush out our business values and goals. Doing this prework was helpful because all the facilitators came into this business retreat having a good idea of what our businesses were about and what we hoped to gain from this experience.
Day One at the Bloom Retreat Hosted by Harvest Retreats
Location – the Beautiful Fassit Mansion
I really can’t say enough about the Fassit Mansion, which was the backdrop of the Bloom Retreat. The Fassit Mansion was built in 1845 and is located in the heart of Amish Country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The home’s décor was a blend of rustic and eclectic styles, and it was beautifully renovated. There are seven bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms. Each of the bedrooms had names; I stayed in the Colonial room which also had an en suite.
Fun Fact – The Fassit Mansion was a stop on the Underground Railroad. 32 enslaved people came through the Fassit Mansion on their journey to freedom. The owner showed me a trapdoor in one of the bedroom closets, leading to a secret room. The trapdoor is in the Freedom room.
The property sits on two acres of rolling farmland. The grounds, which included gardens, open fields, and farm animals, were the epitome of tranquility. The property had many instagrammable locations, such as the massive front porch, gazebo, playhouse, and the visually appealing interior. The food was superb! Everything was farm to table, and it tasted like God made the food himself. There was literally not one bad meal.
Retreat Opening
The retreat opened with a family-style dinner which created an opportunity for all participants to connect before we began our work together. Unfortunately, due to the weather, I missed the dinner, though they put some aside for me. Still, I arrived just in time for our host Dara Laine Murray to facilitate the opening session of the retreat. She welcomed us and encouraged each participant to reflect on why we came to the retreat and what we wanted to get out of it. Then, we all went around the circle and discussed where we were in our businesses and where we hoped to be. Together, we set our intentions about what we wanted to receive during our time together. We also stated what we were letting go of.
Day Two at the Bloom Retreat Hosted by Harvest Retreats
Cultivating Creativity
Our creativity session was led by Kelly Laughlin. Her session led us through some reflection, intentional journaling, creative movement, and play. As someone who doesn’t journal often, I found this session challenging yet very useful. As a content creator, I write a lot; however, writing with the intention of reflection is very different. Having participated in the session, I will likely begin to incorporate more journaling into my daily life. Kelly also talked a lot about how the body and mind work together and how it relates to creativity. We took several opportunities to move and dance, and we talked about how we could incorporate movement into our creative process.
Establishing Content Pillar
Our keynote facilitator, Arianna Valle led us in a workshop that helped us develop our content pillars. We did the hard work of determining and defining the values of our businesses. We discussed the purposes of our companies and our “Why.” She helped us identify who our target audiences are and how we can use content marketing to connect with those audiences. She helped us get clarity on our current offerings and gave some ideas on how we could scale them.
Hands down, this was my favorite session. While Arianna did a fantastic job facilitating this session, the part that I found the most valuable was the feedback that the business owners gave one another. We talked thoroughly about each of the businesses represented, and we all gave insightful feedback to each other about ways that we could each grow our businesses. Everyone’s insight was thoughtful and invaluable. I’ve never had an experience before where I have been able to talk about my business with several entrepreneurs and get their insights on how to improve my business. This experience was transformative.
Fireside Meditation
We ended our day at sunset at the fire pit. Dara asked the participants to reflect on their work that day and think about what they hoped to achieve the next day. We expressed gratitude for everything that had already transpired. We also set our intentions for the duration of the weekend. I ended my day by listening to a podcast in my beautiful bedroom.
Day Three at the Bloom Retreat Hosted by Harvest Retreats
Content Creation Day
Our last day started early for me, at 8 am. It was our branding photo shoot day. Most of my photo shoots are done with my family as a motherhood content creator. So it was nice to only worry about getting myself ready for once. Due to having braids, I opted not to get my hair done by the stylist, but I did get my makeup done by makeup artist Jackie Johnson. Each business owner was charged with choosing places on the property for our branding photo shoot. I decided to do my pictures in the beautiful dining room, kitchen, and front porch. During our prework, the photographer Emily and I talked in-depth about the look and feel I wanted for my photos. Then, we came together and made magic. She allowed me to get a sneak peek at some of my pictures, and the images were exactly what I had envisioned.
The schedule for the rest of Sunday was self-guided. Dara made it clear that we should use that time to implement some of the things that we had previously spoken about in our sessions. I decided to use that time to create some additional content that could be used for my social media accounts and my blog. I stayed around for lunch and tea and headed home shortly after that. Due to having to get home to my children, I had only planned to stay at the Bloom Retreat through Sunday afternoon. However, the retreat was scheduled to end on Monday, and most participants remained through the end.
What am I taking with me from this Harvest Retreats experience?
There are several gems that I gained from this Harvest Retreat. The first is that while I am a solopreneur, it doesn’t have to be a lonely space. I need to utilize opportunities like the Bloom retreat to create community. Another gem I am taking with me is the importance of having content pillars and using them to intentionally grow my business. The last thing that I am taking with me is the importance of rest. One of the things that I valued about the Bloom Retreat was that downtime was built into the schedule. We were encouraged to take a peaceful walk or even take a nap when we needed it. I am someone that doesn’t give rest its proper place in my life, and the Bloom Retreat was a reminder that I need to.
There were so many significant aspects to this event. What part intrigued you the most?
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