3 things I learnt from my first business retreat (and what you need to know if you want to go on one!)

Welcome to the next episode of the LionHearted Marketing Podcast!

What’s this episode about?

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that a couple of weeks ago I went on a business retreat. I've had so many questions from people wanting to know what it was really like, I thought I'd do a podcast episode to spill the beans and give you a behind the scenes insight in to what it was really like.

Whether you want to go on a retreat, or if you are going to run one (or you're just interested!), this episode covers:

• Why I chose this Retreat (and how much it cost 😉)

• What I'll be looking for next time I book a Retreat.

• What exactly we did (work and fun!) - and why having two coaches was such a bonus.

• The 3 things I learnt from the Retreat that I'm trying to bring to my life now I'm home

LINKS:

Sam (Systems) - https://www.instagram.com/samwhizzz/

Coaches who ran the retreat:

Bec: https://www.instagram.com/_rebeccahaydon_/

Jen: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferolsson.co/

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Read the transcript:

NOTE: This podcast was transcribed by an AI tool. Please forgive any typos or errors. LHM 016: Solo - Retreat === [00:00:00] hello, and welcome to Lion Hearted Marketing. This is a podcast for bold businesses who are ready to go from a slightly scattergun marketing approach to connecting everything they're doing to create joyful, repeatable customer journeys, that build connection and consistently convert new clients. That's called a funnel. If you fancy. If you have that nagging feeling, you should have more of a grasp on your marketing, more of a plan, more of a system to support your pretty successful business. You're in the right place. This isn't about trying lows and new strategies. It's about taking what you've got and making the most of it. I'm Sophie your host. Self-confessed tea superfan marketing strategist and funnels or joyful journeys, as I like to call them, demystifier. Join me every Tuesday for my Lion hearted approach to marketing. To help you navigate those big moves, stay focused on your goals and ultimately take your business to the next level. Let's jump in to today's episode. Hello and welcome [00:01:00] to this week's episode of align hearted marketing. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that last week. I was away on a business retreat. Now I did pay some thought on Instagram stories and I have posted about it since. And I've had so many questions and people really wondering how it was. What I learn, what kind of experience I had and whether it's something that I would do again, whether it lived up to expectation. And so what I thought is I would do a podcast episode really spilling the beans, giving you all the juicy details behind the scenes. I know that for me anyway, or a tweet has been on my vision board. For a really long time now. Probably a good three or four years and I've done day retreats. I've been away over nights. I like to day events. And I've done lots of more sort of, conferencey more like structured workshop type in-person events, but in the beginning of 2023, my focus for the year. Was to do more in-person events. [00:02:00] And I thought, do you know what, if I'm going to really make that my focus. I am. This is the year that I'm going to do a retreat. And so as they say go big or go home because I did go all out, it was epic. And it was really, it was really luxurious and that honestly was part of my decision making process. But before I jump into all of that, what I thought I would do in this episode is give you a little bit of an overview of the retreat I went on who it was, where, you know, all the, like the nitty gritty details, because I genuinely think it's really interesting to get this kind of behind the scenes when you're looking to choose a retreat. If you wanted to go on one or even if you were going to run one. You know, what are people looking at when they're buying? What sort of things to keep an eye out for and because there's a lot of money to invest, so I'll give you all the nitty gritty. And then I just was going to talk through the three main things I learned while I was away so that's what we're going to be talking about in this episode. Okay, so let's jump in to the nitty-gritty. So it [00:03:00] was essentially. It was five days away from home. So I left very early on the Monday morning. And got a flight from Gatwick over to nice. Which I have to say, I've never been to niece before, but it's raw. We have the most incredible weather. I don't know whether it's global warming weather or whether that's normal for niece or this time of year, but it was so 26, 27 degrees is two hours away. On the sea, beautiful, beautiful, like restaurants and buildings, and you're kind of quite quickly in the countryside as well. So we actually didn't stay in nice. We were kind of about 20, 25 minutes outside in the Hills. Which was incredible. It was just so beautiful and peaceful. I flew out Monday and got there about lunchtime and there were two of us coming from the UK, one from Amsterdam and then three from Sweden. So we all sort of congregated at the. Avila Michael mid, late afternoon on the Monday the Villa was incredible. I. Didn't know a huge marble, like I [00:04:00] hadn't seen the Vela. I mean, going with the coaches that I went with, I knew that it was going to be incredible. Because they are luxury kind of people. And that was, I'll talk about that in a minute, but that was one of the things that helped me kind of make my decision. Then the three core days of the actual retreat were Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And that's when we were really doing much more of the structured work. There was incredible experiences, which I'll talk about, but like dinners and. Lunch chairs, but also like incredible strategy workshops and, you know, mindset, beliefs. Mindset shifts and subconscious reprogramming. It was really, really intense. It was incredible, but it was really intense. And then Friday I traveled home back to my children and I got home about mid afternoon. So, yes, April, I was away four nights. Five days now I have got a six-year-old and a three-year-old and I probably feel like I'm just about there, where I could do that. And that's obviously just personal to me. And I was incredibly lucky that my husband can work from home and I have [00:05:00] a very supportive. Mum and mother-in-law and sister as well. Because my husband actually traveled to Amsterdam on the Friday morning that I was traveling back. So my sister had to stay over, like on the Thursday night. So, I guess the reason I'm telling you this level of detail is because it wasn't easy for me to get away for five days or that it was a huge logistical process of aligning up childcare and left. And I had to get in, you know, friends from mums, from school to do occasional drop-offs and, you know, taking the girls swimming on a Thursday, you know, it was a lot. And, you know, it won't be like that for everybody. But for me, it was quite a big . Undertaking to go away for four or five full days, basically. But luckily I'm in fact, incredibly supportive family, friends, husband, and we made it possible. And also I think proved to everybody that it could be done. But I do think it's something that would be a consideration for a lot of people when I've spoken to people about the retreat. A lot of people say to me, [00:06:00] oh, I just don't. I don't think I could go away for that long. Oh, I'm not sure how the kids would cope or I'm not sure. I think it would just be too much logistically or just don't think my husband would cope you know, juggling it all and, and, you know, with their job or whatever. And obviously it depends what their job is, but. I just wanted to say, like, I might look really easy, like, oh yeah, I'm just jetting off and everyone's picking up the pieces while I'm behind. But you know, it did take a huge amount of planning and a huge amount of logistics and support from everybody, but it was doable and actually everybody was totally fine. There was no dramas and I would absolutely do it again in terms of that amount of time, I think To be honest, like three days. Of actual retreating was perfect. So what else can I tell you? So the two coaches that were running at. Back and Jen, they Tibet is my mindset coach. She's already been on this podcast episode six, I think. So if you want to have a listen to that, she does a lot of the mindset work. She also does strategy and content as [00:07:00] well, but like mindset is what she leads with. And then Jen is primarily content messaging and strategy, but she also does kind of mindset and stuff. So they both kind of do both, but they had their kind of areas of strength, which was really nice combination. They've worked together for a really long time. And they work in each other's like with each other's businesses now, which I think is really nice because they. They're totally on the same page. So it wasn't like you spoke to one of them and they had one idea and then you spoke to the other one and they had a totally different idea. There was no conflict there at all. And they were also told you on the same page about how they wanted the retreat to run, how they wanted it to feel. It went really smoothly from that perspective, because I think. You know, with two people, two coaches running out. It was the first time they'd run it as well. Which, I totally had the confidence in that they would do it. I totally had confidence. That'd be great because I've worked with back for the last six months. So I knew it was going to be incredible. But I think in terms of looking for. In terms of what to look for when you're looking [00:08:00] at a retreat. It was really nice that there was two of them because one could take the lead and the other could either set something up or, you know organized taxis for the lunch or. Just kind of be there as an additional support or go and have some rest time themselves, because I think running a retreat is incredibly full on. So it was kind of nice not to have the whole thing just on one person's shoulders. So definitely I would, if I saw a retreat run by two people again, I'd definitely be interested in that. So there was actually six of us in total. So two coaches and then four of us on the retreat. Which is actually, I would say quite small in terms of what I've seen from retreats, but it was, I mean, it was so lovely. We were really lucky. We got so much of their time. We had one-to-one sessions. We had small group sessions depending on what we needed. Then we had whole group sessions. Six is a really nice number to go for dinner. You know, you've got really interesting conversation. We had people from the gal all across Europe, which was incredible and the conversation was amazing and just the insight and to think other people's businesses [00:09:00] and how it kind of works in other countries was, yeah, it was fascinating. I'd happily go to one. That was a bit bigger. So I would say maybe up to about 10, but if I was looking for another retreat, I would definitely not want more than 10. Because I just think that once you go beyond that, you looking at them more like subgroups and smaller kind of groups. I don't think you'd be able to get to know everybody as much and it might just feel a bit overwhelming. Another thing I would look at kind of going forward is do I want to share a room or not? So this one there were. Four bedrooms and six of us. So two people have their own room each and then four of us shared like two and two shared. I shared a room. And actually I was absolutely fine with that. I thought I wouldn't want to. But it wasn't a choice we made beforehand. It was just kind of based on how we all felt and the kind of bonds we have with the different people. And I shared with Sam who is a, was an ABM and is now a sort of systems advisor. Oh my God. She's absolutely incredible. I will link to her. [00:10:00] Instagram in the show notes, if you need kind of systems, like And click up and everything like that. So to down your business, she is absolutely incredible. So. I shared with Sam, we had the most incredible room. It was a huge room, on the sweet balcony. So there definitely wasn't an issue with space, but I think in the future, I would definitely be looking at you know, is it shared or not? And like, how do I kind of feel about that because, going away and like, not really knowing anybody else you're going with. Definitely is a leap. And I think that's another thing that I would be thinking about looking at retreat is who are the coaches and who else are they likely to attract? Like, are they likely to be people who are at a similar point in business to me or have similar. Like views to me or values to me . There's six of us got on really, really well. It was a really lovely aligned group. And I think that that definitely came from the fact that We had all pretty much all of us had worked with what either back or gen. So we were [00:11:00] their ideal clients, if you like, which kind of worked really, really well. Another thing people have been asking me about a lot is worth everything included and yes, it was. So we paid for the retreat upfront. And then when we got there, literally I didn't even spend a penny. So taxis food drank. Yeah, literally everything was paid for, which was really, really nice. It was just felt really luxurious. Not to have to worry about money or or getting your hose out or paying for this taxi or how much is that going to cost? Like nothing had to be considered at all. We were just there and everything was included, which was amazing. Having chatted to the others that were on the retreat. It was really interesting. Some of them had been on retreats before. I think what came up was that retreat is a term that can be used pretty loosely for pretty much any kind of in-person event. I mean, you can have day retreats. You can have half day retreats even, or you can have, you know, these five day kind of immersive retreats. A few things that came up when we were chatting about those retreats [00:12:00] was Things like, you know, Hey, how many people are going to be? That was one. So I think one was like, there was like 20 or 30 people there, which is, you know, a huge amount of people to kind of. Navigate and I think would have to be a lot more structured and a lot more kind of boundaries. I can't even imagine how you do dinners and stuff like that. The next is how much time you actually get with a coach. Because I think some retreats that people have been on there was quite a lot of boundaries around when you could have access to the coach who was there and leading it. We were basically with Jen and back the whole time, even when we were in the pool or wandering around the town or going out for lunch, there was still a lot of business chat. I found actually I learned a huge amount just by talking to them about their business. And how they run it and how they've grown it just by having that kind of just by having the access to them to kind of day to day. So that's definitely something that's interesting. Then the other thing is how much actual, business content and structured I [00:13:00] don't know, education, feedback, mentoring, coaching is them. Because another thing that came up was that on other retreats, people have been to, they did, they were there for say four days, and then they had like one business session. For a couple of hours and the rest of it was more just, you know, relaxing and chats and the vibe was very much like, oh, all of the breakthroughs are gonna happen, doing chatting to each other. And absolutely that does happen, but I think that also needs to be some. From my perspective, I was going for more of the structured kind of coaching and Learning as well as the kind of chats . So that's something I would keep in mind if I was looking for one as well. And the reason that I chose this retreat is because back in January, incredibly good at helping you see that anything is possible this retreat really gave me a taste of that sort of. Luxury expensive kind of mindset that I have to be honest, I don't slip into naturally. So one night we went out for a a Michelin star dinner the last night and it was a big celebration and it was. Absolutely [00:14:00] incredible. Before we went in. We had a glass of champagne each and those, the glass of champagne was 40 euros. Now just naturally for me. That feels quite stretchy. And we had this really interesting conversation about. You know, relative levels of what feels stretchy, what feels okay. You know, what your benchmark is for things. Like for me, I don't, even when I go out, I probably wouldn't even want to spend 40 pounds on a bottle of wine, to be honest. Like, it's not something I spend a huge amount of money on. And 40 pounds on a glass of champagne. Not that I was even paying, but for me, that felt quite stretchy and the conversation we had really helped me think about. What is luxury to me? What, what do I want my life to look like? And what does that luxury look like? Is it, is it 40 pound glasses of champagne? Is it 400 pound meals? Is it, is it that sort of thing? Oh, actually, is that my life at the moment? And I've had. Really pondered on that actually for the last week and that really feeds into how I want [00:15:00] to grow my business, what that looks like going forward. The other reason why I chose this one. Is because the combination of mindset and strategy. I. Have seen the benefit of the mindset work that I've done this year. Like, so incredibly clearly. My business has grown in a way they haven't grown at all in the last six years. And I definitely think that that is. Related to the facts that I have done a huge amount of strategy work over the years. And some work on myself, but it was never all gonna come together until like I worked on my mindset and a lot of deep subconscious. Work I've had to do. On beliefs, deep held beliefs that I have, and the way that, that kind of shows up and stops me also in terms of managing my ADHD as well. And how I kind of work within my business. And how I get support, because that has also massively held me back as well, which I spoke a lot about in a podcast. A couple of weeks [00:16:00] ago when I talked about growing a team. So yeah, that was it. I mean, in terms of what we actually did day to day Tuesday, we had the most incredible Michelin star lunch. I am looking at this beautiful view. You know, it was like five courses. We had the wine pairing. We were there for three and a half hours. In the morning, we did a real, really good session on where we were in our business, where we want to take it. What the vision is like short term, medium term, long term. And then why we wanted to get there as well. Why was it so important to us? Because interestingly, a lot of our plans related to you know, I want to grow a membership or I want to do a group program, but when we dug into the why we wanted to do that, actually there was often a slightly. Different quicker. More direct route that you could take to get there. And the sum. I'd say all of us had something we were doing in our business because either we thought we should, because everyone else did it. Because it's just something we've always done. And [00:17:00] actually on reflection. We don't probably didn't. Let me, they need to be doing it. Well, we need to change it to kind of work into a why we're doing it. Then, then we went out for a lovely lunch. Then the afternoon we had a lot of like, we just have really relaxing time that day. Actually, it was really relaxed. We did a very brief session in the afternoon. And then we went into the town and had a wander round and had some dinner. And then the Wednesday, Thursday, where the really kind of heavy days, if you like, we didn't actually leave the Villa. From when we got back on Tuesday night through to when we went out on the Thursday night, which you might think sounds quite might sound a bit claustrophobic, but actually the Villa was laid out in a way that it felt really relaxing. And like, there was lots of space in different areas to go to. And there was a real mix. So we did messaging workshop with Jan. And we really looked at our positioning how we're talking about ourselves, you know, looking at our content, our email, our website I've taken away a lot from that. Actually. and then Then we had some. Small, like [00:18:00] two to one session. So two of us were at one kind of stage of our business and the other two were slightly different stage or different focus. So we basically, two of us had time with Jen and the other tier of time with that. And then we swapped. So that was really good to get those kinds of really small group sessions with them. Then we spent some time in the pool. We had a little bit of a rack rest. Then we kind of built a roadmaps. But when we came back to make sure we actually implemented a lot of this stuff. So looking at the strategy and you know what the next three to six months looks like, which is what I've kind of brought back. And I'm working on with my team in terms of implementing. And then on the last day we actually did do the doing so kind of right. What do we need to implement now? I spent a lot of time working on content and messaging and how I can kind of start to show up. In my social media and in my content in a way that elevates me from more of just like how to do ads into more of what I'm really, really good at, which is connecting the dots, creating these incredible [00:19:00] customer journeys and helping you connect your marketing so that you're not just doing everything in silos. So using Facebook ads, but using ads in a really strategic way, that's kind of much more of a bigger picture thinking way. That's what I'm really good at. And I that's what I struggled to kind of get across in my content sometimes. I was really working on that. And then we had like a really deep subconscious mindset session one-to-one with back, which. Was amazing. I've worked with her for the last six months. So I thought I kind of was a little bit cocky and thought, well, I think I've probably. You know, nailed most of my minds, that stuff. As it turns out. That's not that wasn't the case. I have this very, very deep ingrained belief of Everything will come to an end. Like I said, everything eventually ends and it's really how me back in my business because every time I do well, I have this assumption like, well, everything's going to end anyway. So, and then I do a bit of self sabotage and it does end and it just reinforces that cycle. Anyway, I've done a huge amount of work on that. And I've done. I'm [00:20:00] like, I really am feeling. Less and less like that has a hold on me. Like it feels lighter and lighter over time, but something came up in the deep subconscious work. Where. A much more recent memory in the last 10 years or so where we'd been working on sort of more of the childhood memories. That still was kind of playing into that belief. So it kind of blew me away. Like the mindset work has just never done. But since we did it, I felt, yeah. I felt much, I don't know. Yeah. I felt much better. There's definitely been like a little. A release of some kind that, so that was incredible. As well. So that's kind of how it all ran. We then had a kind of, we pulled it all together with a session and then we went out for this incredible Michelin star dinner and had a really, really lovely time. And then we came home on the Friday. So that's kinda how it ran. That's all the nitty gritty details. I know. I know one thing everyone wants to know is how much did it cost? In total, I think the price was 3000 pounds for the [00:21:00] whole thing, all inclusive. And that included my flights as well. So that's all the, that's all the nitty gritty. I think that's all the stuff everyone's been asking me on my Instagram. One thing that came up a lot was did it meet your expectations? Now, interestingly, I don't even know what I expect there, to be honest, I've never been on a retreat, I guess, next time. I go on a retreat, which I absolutely will do. I guess I will have expectations. And that will be, I don't know if that'll be better because I'll be clear on what I'm looking for and what I want. But also, I think it will be trickier because, you know, I'll be comparing it to this kind of very luxurious, very small group retreat. Which was incredible in so many different ways. So, yes, I think it definitely delivered so much more than I could have imagined just on a personal level, on a business level and just kind of a, like a life experience level, to be honest. I'm going to talk now about the three things I really took away from the retreat. One of the biggest things for me was actually having time to be me. And [00:22:00] I really interesting of the six of us that were there. Four didn't have children. So there's only two of us that had kids. What that meant was that not only was I there I traveled internationally on my own. So I haven't traveled on a plane on my own without my husband or my kids. In years, like years now, I used to work for British airways. I used to travel all the time on my own. But either I normally go away with my husband or I'll have been away with friends. Although even that was quite a long time ago now and just because of COVID and having young kids and everything. So, yeah, so traveling on my own, going to something like this on my own was quite stretchy. Like, I didn't know anybody. And I could just be me. I wasn't even like a friend where there's expectations of like your friendship or dynamics have grown over the years. Like I was just there. As me on my own, we didn't talk about parenting. We didn't talk about kids. Really. I talked a little bit about it, you know, in the context of like, you know, Just sharing what was kind of going on at home or in the [00:23:00] context of my business. But generally the chat was just not about anything parenting related. Which was really, really lovely. And it, I felt like I was in a bubble while I was that, to be honest, like I barely even kept in touch at home. I did try to do one video call and that was a disaster. So it didn't do any more of those. But I messaged my husband a couple of times a day and that was literally it. And obviously you posted stories on Instagram, obviously. But other than that, I couldn't get my head out of it. We felt we were in this little bubble and I was just quite happy there. I didn't want it to kind of engage with the rest of the world. So that was one thing that I really took away from it is how can I create. That space to just be me more on a regular basis rather than having to go away for an entire week. I, when I would like to do that as well, but just in general, you know, how do I create that opportunity for me to kind of have that space day-to-day because it really. It felt like he gave me breathing room and I felt really inspired and relaxed and it was really, really lovely. And that's definitely something I've taken away.[00:24:00] The second thing was, it felt really stretchy to do this, to go away, not just from a. I'm leaving my kids for a week, not just from a, I don't know anyone who's going to be there. Also like the money I'm investing in it. Just, it just felt like a really stretchy thing to do. And I think the second thing I take away from this is that whenever I've done something stretchy, But my gut has felt really good about, and I've kind of feel confident in investing in, okay. Always, always is a positive, no matter whether it's exactly what I expect or not. It always comes back as a positive and the mindset and the strategy breakthroughs I had. Where Willie incredible. And I think partly that's because I was in this bubble and I was just away from everything and it felt really. I had my head just felt really clear and like that's all I had to think about was just working on the business. That was really nice. But, well, I thought was really interesting is that, you know, it was stretchy for back in gen to run a retreat. The first time they've done it, you know, that was something that was really [00:25:00] stretchy for them. And it kind of just made me remember, realize, and kind of be reminded of that. No matter what stage of business you're in, you've got to keep having that stretchy feeling and take to move the business forward, to keep growing, to keep expanding, to keep feeling like that challenge and that. Excitement in your business. I guess the stretchiness feels a bit uncomfortable, but it's also where I'd like the biggest leaps come and. Definitely have had those. While I was there and it just, yeah, I guess it just reminded me talking to all the other people there as well. And back in Jen, over the week. You know, no matter what stage of business you're in, you've got to keep making those stretchy decisions. And that's something that I kind of have come back with and I've come thinking about for the next year or so. Like what would feel good stretchy for me, not just in my business, in terms of you know, retreat or coach they work with, but also investing in systems and a team and And home as well. Like what would feel slightly [00:26:00] stretchy for me in terms of. Find creating that space for myself to just be me. We also got a puppy as well. That feels quite stretchy at the moment. It's quite a lot of Headspace out into our lives, but also, you know we will do her already. So there's definitely that mix between stretchy but incredible rewards. So yeah, that fee, I think the biggest learning that was just keep going with that stretchy feeling. As long as you, it feels you feel that positiveness in your gut. And then the. Last thing. And I took away from it was, everyone has said to me, Oh, you must feel so relaxed. Oh, you must be glowing. You know, you must have had the most incredible time, like resting full night's sleep, which don't get me wrong. I absolutely did. However, I didn't do for myself is really considered the fact that I was going to be with five other people. They didn't know. For a whole week. I was going to be doing, traveling through an airport. I was going to be traveling. [00:27:00] For today kind of days, either end. And that was incredibly draining all my energy. Like I love being around other people and the other women were incredible. And it wasn't like small talk. Like we develop really deep relationships really quickly. But it's, I still find it found it quite challenging being around that many people all the time. And I realized how much I value my space and I follow you. Like just literally being on my own in the house. And I've learned this with in-person events as well. So it's really silly of me not to have considered this think. I thought, cause I was going away for a bit longer. It wouldn't really affect me as much, but you know, with any kind of in-person event or day event what I never do is give myself a day to then. Let my energy come back, you know process what I've been through, like process, all the thoughts and just B what I did was jumped straight back into solo parenting, which I didn't really have a choice, but I, you know, literally came home. Landed. The taxi dropped me off. I got the car and he went and got my daughter from school [00:28:00] and picked up my other daughter. And then I slowly parented until my husband was home from Amsterdam. The next Monday. And then I was back at work and then we got dog on the first day. Oh my goodness. It's, it's been a roller coaster since I've been back and there hasn't really been any time to breathe. Rest and just kinda let it all settle. So I think if I was to do another one, I would definitely make sure that that weekend I come home, it's kind of blocked out. And I mean, obviously I've got kids, it's never going to be totally restful, but making sure that even in the business, the first few days I'm back, I have a couple of days blocked out in my diary just to kind of, we calibrate and rest and not feel like I'm having to jump straight back into everything. That was a really big learning for me and is something that I want to apply to not. Just retreats, but in-person events in general and even intensive, days on zoom and that sort of thing, making sure that the next day I then have a bit of a break. As well. So, yeah, so that I think is pretty much everything download from the retreat. I'm more than happy to answer any other questions if you've got any questions or[00:29:00] you want to ask me anything about the retreat or what I did there or how it was like, please do to send me a DM on Instagram. Like talking about it. It's one of my favorite topics at the moment. I'd love to know if this was useful. if you're thinking of going on a retreat or you're thinking of running one, it definitely has occurred to me. Would I want to run a retreat? I was definitely something in me that feels a bit like, Ooh, That could be something that feels a bit stretchy, like, but would be really exciting. Probably not for next year, but maybe the year after, maybe it's a 20, 25 thing. But yeah, that's definitely in my mind, but I'd love to know any retreats you've been on how you got on with them. I'm looking for one to go on that one next year. So I'm yeah. If you've got any recommend, please do let me know. Cause now I'm like a retreat obsessive. Anyway, thank you so much for listening. And I will speak to you next week. Thank you so much for joining me this week. Before you go, make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you can receive new [00:30:00] episodes every Tuesday when they're released. And if you enjoyed this episode, I'd love for you to rate or leave a review wherever you are listening to it. It only takes a few seconds, but it really does make a massive difference to new people finding me. Thank you again for joining me, Sophie, in this episode of Lionheart Marketing. See you next time. And if I was to summarize this episode and I'm what I would do if I was thinking about this next is, I really would think getting ads up and running and growing your email list. Testing or messaging, testing your ads in a helping Facebook understand who your audience is. And making sure we can get leads are relatively cheap. You know, people are coming on to email less day in, day out and you're feeling confident about where you are with them and then while those lead ads are running, you can start strategically creating this social media content. Which you're going to use in your engagement ads. So you're going to start wanting to create that over time. You might create a podcast episode. You might create some social media content. Maybe you're going to put a blog on your website that you want to send some traffic to, like, that's the kind of thing to think about. You can start doing that while you're testing and learning on your lead ads. And in the background, you're going to be working on your emails as well. Your welcome sequence, strategically sending people to your long form content and that sort of thing. Once you've got all of that in place. That's when you're going to plug in your ads to your low ticket [00:26:00] offer. And see if you can start testing and learning and selling some kind of offer. And the reality actually is as well. I should say you don't have to have a super well tested sales page and offer for this because you're spending such a low amount. Like, yes, obviously you want to be testing that offer and that sales page. And if you can do that organically as well, that is really helpful. But because you're only spending two pounds a day and it's not the core focus of the funnel, you can use ads to test out and get those results. And if you're not converting people, you know, you can start testing and tweaking to see if you can start converting them. And testing your messaging is going to be absolutely key to make sure that when you start selling this a low ticket offer, it's super clear. And it's exactly what your people want. But it's not as critical as basing your entire funnel on the sales page and the offer, which is a totally different kind of shift. So, yeah, so that's where I'd start. If you're at a point where you think, yeah, I really want to do this, but there's [00:27:00] absolutely no way I'm going to be doing this on my own. I am also very excited that in October. I am going to be co-running a group program with Macbeth. She's a messaging and storytelling mentor. There is actually a podcast episode with her. So you can go and have a listen to that. If you want to find out a bit more about what she does. But she is incredible at the messaging side. I've worked with her, she's worked with me and now we're going to come together because we've both seen how messaging and ads are just so crucial together. So what we're going to be doing a beta group of 10 women. A very reduced price for six months to take you through this entire model with support from collat on your messaging. Making sure your messaging is totally on point to help this ads funnel fly. So, if you're interested in that we're doing a very low key launch where we're just talking to people that are interested between the two of us and our audiences. We have quite a lot of people. that have already said they're interested. We're going to be sending out information soon, and then we're going to be doing some compatibility calls just to make sure that [00:28:00] you're right for the program and that we're right for you. And. That's all going to happen at the end of September. So if you're interested and you would like the information when it's ready and we'll send it out to you you just need to DM me on Instagram. So it's at. Sophie Griffis co, which is there's the link in the show notes. Just DME, the word group. And I will send you over the info as soon as it's ready. Thank you so much for listening today. And I will be back. I promise with an interview. Episode next week. Thank you so much for joining me this week. Before you go, make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you can receive new episodes every Tuesday when they're released. And if you enjoyed this episode, I'd love for you to rate or leave a review wherever you are listening to it. It only takes a few seconds, but it really does make a massive difference to new people finding me. Thank you again for joining me, Sophie, in this episode of Lionheart Marketing. See you next time.