Episode 105 - How to Use Retreats to Increase Visibility, Trust, and Profit with Valerie Mummert

What if the next smartest move for your business is not more content, not more automation or one more AI tool, but actually getting in the room with your people? Because while AI and digital tools can absolutely support our businesses, they cannot replace human connection. I mean real human connection. And I think that's what people are craving now more than ever.

So I'm so excited for today's conversation with my friend Valerie Mumert. She's a retreat strategist and founder of myretreat.me. Valerie helps female entrepreneurs turn their retreat ideas into repeatable high-impact experiences that build trust, deepen loyalty, and create real profit inside their businesses.

In this episode, we're diving into why in-person retreats matter so much right now, what makes them such a powerful visibility strategy, and where to start if you have a retreat idea sitting in your notes app, just waiting for its moment to shine. Ready to grow your online business without losing your mind? You're in the right spot, my friend. Welcome to Create Your Online Business Success.

I'm your host, Tracy Beaver. And this show is all about practical strategies, creative ideas, and sanity-saving solutions that you can use right now. Let's crank up the dial on your business growth and make it fun. Let's create your online business success.

Hey there, Valerie. I am so excited to have you here on the podcast. So I just shared a little bit with our listeners about you and what we were going to talk about today, but I didn't do the full deep dive. So I would love for you to give them the whole scoop, who you are, who you serve, you know, all of it.

Okay. Thank you, Tracy, for having me. I appreciate it. We always have a good time hanging out together.

Yes. We're kind of companions and shenanigans at times. So like Tracy said, I am Valerie Mummert, and who I serve is I want entrepreneurs to bring back in-person events. Um, we are so saturated with Zoom calls and AI and online stuff, and it's great because we're able to really connect in ways that, you know, a few years ago we we couldn't have or we didn't, but we've kind of swung the pendulum a little bit too far towards the virtual side.

And I think people are really craving in-person connections. So what I do is I help female business owners who want to add retreats and in-person events to their offers and ecosystems so they can really connect with their audience in a whole new way. And um, you know, like I said, bring back the trust factor by meeting face to face. And it's just a different dynamic.

And it yes, it's a sacrifice of time to be able to travel and do it, but there is nothing that can replace that warm hug from somebody and just meaning face to face instead of looking at a screen. Yes, yes. I agree. As much as I love my Zoom room, and as much as I love, as you know, Valerie, not having to fix the back of my hair or put on matching pants, um, you know, there is something about in-person that does energize us in a way that the virtual stuff just can't.

Um, how did you settle in on how did you get into entrepreneurship? And also, what made you settle in on retreats? Um, well, I have been doing retreats and in-person events, um, coordinating conferences, um, doing big events um for decades. And way back, it always started like it could be something really simple, like uh a group of moms want to get together.

And it's like, wouldn't it be great if we could just go away for the weekend to have the dads watch the kids or something? And everybody wanted to do it, but nobody made it happen. So I was the one that always stepped up and said, Okay, let me book, let me find a place to book, let me collect all the money from everybody, figure out how much it's gonna cost. Um, so all of those details is what I geeked out on, and it came really easy to me.

So I thought it came really easily to everybody, and everybody said we'd never be able to pull these things together if it wasn't for you taking care of all the the back end details. Yeah. So um, my husband has always been an entrepreneur. We have owned, I don't even know how many businesses and sold them and moved on to something else.

Um, plus, we have seven kids between us, his mine, and ours. And my kids, um, as they got older, like my my boys as teenagers wanted to make some extra money during the summer when school was out, so they would always go to work with dad. So it was just a lifestyle for our family to be um entrepreneurs. And now um um all of my kids except for one do own their own businesses.

Oh so um there's something to be said for that. Um, we didn't scare them off entrepreneurship, right? But um I just I think you just have so much more control of making sure that you're working at something that is meaningful for you, um other than you know, promoting somebody else's dream. So specifically, um getting into retreats was just kind of a logical thing for me because I was doing life coaching with women in midlife, whatever age that ends up being, and talking to them about, you know, their someday dream.

Everybody says, someday I'll do this or that when when this happens or doesn't happen or whatever. And it was always transition times where I was trying to pull their dreams out of them. And then somebody, one of my coaching clients, says, Well, what's your someday dream? And I didn't even think about it.

I just flippantly said, Oh, I'm gonna host retreats and I'm gonna help other people host retreats. So they can shine as the expert and I'm gonna sweat in the background as the coordinator. And she's like, Well, why aren't you doing that? Oh, she did not.

So the coach got coached. Ever since then, yeah, ever since then, I'm taking what comes easily to me, which is all the planning and the coordinating and the background stuff. And I want to bring back in-person events for female entrepreneurs so they can build community and enjoy their own retreat. And like I said, shine as the expert in the area they're an expert in while I am the background person taking care of all the moving parts.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. I love what you said about um it. I I thought it came easy to everyone else because that's what I said about sales when I was having um problems with the corporation I was working for, meaning that the CEO was monkeying around with commission structure all the time.

And I was thinking, I don't think I can stay in corporate. And my friends were like, Well, you're so good in sales, you need to teach people sales. They're always asking you, you know, about marketing and sales and business development. And I'm like, but sales is easy.

And they're like, no, it's not. And so I love that you said that because like when you said retreats is easy for me, I thought it was easy for everybody. I'm over here, my brain going, no, it's not. Not on your life.

And then it sounds like it was almost like it's like it's just like part of your innate ability because you do have seven children and you do have a husband that's an entrepreneur, and you do go to uh a church that has conferences and stuff like that. And I just think it um it's just goes along with your your gifts and talents, you know, especially if you're raising that many children, you've got to be organized. Yes. How am I gonna be qualified to run a small country?

I would agree. Knowingly, knowing you as long as I have, I would vote for you. Absolutely. Um, so I always like to ask every guest for a fun fact.

What is something really fun that people might not know about you? Oh man. Well, when I was in college, my work study job was um being the statistician for the hockey team. And I went to, yeah, I went to a Northeast university that had a very, very nationally ranked competitive hockey team.

And it was back in the time where I had to sit up in the press box with the newspaper people and the radio people because they were doing the play-by-plays um during the game. And I had to keep track of all the shots on goal and all that, you know, all the fun stuff. So I am pretty much an expert at hockey. I can tell you all the ins and outs and the lines and what this is and what that is.

So um now that I live in Arizona, I don't go to a lot of hockey games anymore. They do have a hockey team here though. But um, yeah, that was my that's how I paid my way through college was working for the hockey team. That's amazing.

I love that. Hockey is something that fascinates me, especially at that. That's one of the only things at the Olympics that I really will watch, especially if the USC is playing. Um but the amount of the amount of teeth that get knocked out.

I'm like, yes, wow, okay. If I were a dentist, I would be uh advertising all over that hockey rink. Um, and and that did happen to me when I was in school. Somebody hit, I was drinking something and they hit the bottom of a bottle and knocked my front teeth out.

And all the guys were like, Don't worry about it. We got a good dentist. Oh my gosh, that is so and they're like, You look just like us. Welcome to the club.

Oh my gosh. Well, I'm really excited you're here for a number of reasons, but primarily because I haven't had anybody on my show come on and talk about retreats yet. And so, I and there's nobody else that I can think of that I would want to do that except for Valerie Mummert. So um tell us, we we both touched on this about why people are craving that in-person face-to-face interaction right now.

Like, do you think there's a couple of reasons for that? Yeah, um, a few reasons. Um, and and it's like Tracy's got an amazing group that I'm part of, and we see each other on Zoom every week, but all of us say, you know, oh, I wish we could get together in person. And if I was ever in Arkansas, I'm gonna look up Tracy and say, let's go have lunch.

Yeah. So I think that we just everybody naturally wants that kind of connection. But um, I think first of all, getting outside of your four walls really unleashes your creativity. So if you're struggling with something, you're trying to accomplish something, you've got a project you want to work on, something you're trying to learn, getting into a different environment for an extended period of time, I would say, you know, not like an afternoon.

Um I think that makes a big difference because you get out of your routines and you're not doing things automatically. So you actually have to think through what you're doing. The other thing is um when you're in person, even if we were at, you know, sitting across the table from each other at a coffee shop, you're hearing things, you're smelling things, you're seeing things, you're touching things. It's like all five of your senses, or for us women, all six of our senses are fully engaged, and that helps you remember things and process things on a different level than you can on a flash screen.

Okay. I did not realize I can tell you that I have a candle burning in the background and it's coconut lime, and it's this and it's that, and you know, the wick is a little bit too long, so there's a little smoke trail. You're you start to imagine what I'm talking about. But when you're when you have shared experiences and all five of your senses can engage, I think that's when it really sticks with you.

And like I said, getting out of your routine um just gets your creativity to jump into full gear. Problem solving becomes easier, and you're bouncing ideas off each other. Um having a conversation that doesn't have to be limited to a 40-minute Zoom call, you know, where you're on to the next thing. Um you process part of that conversation and then you pick it up later that same day, and then you kind of noodle over it a little bit more, and then the next morning you get up and you're like, you know, I was thinking about that thing we were talking about last night, and I think this might work.

So it's, you know, we we not intentionally, but I think when we're just online, you you break those things into little bits and chunks. Yeah, for sure. And when you were speaking, and I was visualizing Zoom, um, the the thing that is um tough is that if you've got a room full of people like we do in the alumni mastermind, um we each have to take turns talking. Versus if we're in a uh we're at a big conference table or something, you can sit and talk to your neighbor, and your neighbor can sit and talk to their neighbor, and everybody can have those conversations without having to sit, you know what I mean, and just listen to one person at a time.

Yeah. Yeah. And think about it too. We we are used to if you're if you're in person with somebody, you're used to seeing their face, facial expressions, their reactions, their body language.

When we're on Zoom, we're looking at ourselves. I mean, even though I'm looking at Tracy, but you are, I mean, come on, be honest. We're all checking out ourselves on Zoom. Yes, if I want to have a conversation with Tracy and I'm looking straight at you know into Tracy's eyes and sharing something with her, I can't really see Tracy.

No, because um I'm looking at the camera. Yeah, for sure. Let's see, hold on. I think we I think we broke up.

Um, okay. I think we're good. I'm getting an an error, I'm getting some sort of a message uh from Descript, but I think we're good. All right, let's keep going.

You gotta love tag, right? Oh my gosh. Okay, let's follow. Yeah, let's talk about people like me who have a retreat idea that has been in their head or maybe even in my notes app for a long time.

Why am I not doing something about it, Valerie Mummer? Because you're probably trying to think of things in the wrong order. Okay. You've got this great idea, you get excited, and the next second you're overwhelmed with all the details and all the things that you have to do.

And wait, I'm gonna have to put down a deposit on this place. And what if nobody comes? What if I lose money? So doing making the essential decisions in the right order is very, very important.

And it starts with your transformation statement, which is probably not the first thing somebody thinks about. So you need to know what you're trying to accomplish. They we pull this retreat together. What do I want my people to walk away with?

What do I want them to have? What how do I want them to change? And every single decision has to be based on that. Every decision.

So most people will start with how much is it gonna cost? How much should I charge? You know, how am I gonna fill it up? Where am I gonna book a place?

All of that stuff. And that's kind of the middle, the middle nuts and bolts. But right, you got to start with the first things first. Gosh.

Okay. So the first thing I need to be thinking, because you're you're it's like you're in my head, because immediately I've been looking at hotels, I've been looking, because I've I've pretty well decided I want to have it here in Little Rock. We have a major airport, it's easy in, easy out. The airport's not far from where we would be in downtown.

So I think the logistics logistically, I think it would be really easy. And and a lot of places are walkable in downtown Little Rock. So um anyway, I've gotten that far in my head. And then I have been looking at venues and trying to figure out are there uh big co-working spaces where we could rent out for a day and then who I would want to do the catering and all that jazz.

But uh, you just dialed me back to what yeah is the most important thing. I need to be focusing on what do I want the my for the listeners? It's the business visibility made easy alumni mastermind people that we're talking about. So for listeners, when you go through the business visibility made easy student program, the eight-week group coaching accelerator that I have, then you're invited into the alumni mastermind.

Um, and so I what do I want them to come away with? Okay, I need to think about that. All right, okay, all right. Well, think about when you, I mean, when you set up BBME, um, the business visibility made easy program, you didn't start with your lesson plans and what you were going to teach and your slide deck.

You started with what do I want to accomplish? What do I want these people who purchase this program to walk away with? Yeah. And then everything else falls into place under that.

But for some reason with the retreats, we're thinking I need to figure out the ticket price and the budget and I need to find a place. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh, you're so right.

I didn't. I felt I wanted to teach visit organic visibility strategies. I wanted to teach entrepreneurs what I know about building a business without paid ads. So you're exactly right.

Yeah. This is good stuff, listeners. I hope you're taking notes. Um, okay, let's talk about some big mistakes so that I can avoid them and so can the listeners.

What are the biggest mistakes the entrepreneurs make when they try to tackle this retreat by themselves and not hire an expert like you? They're gonna DIY the whole thing. Yeah. Um, well, we already covered the first one.

You need to know what you're trying to accomplish because every decision or every option um has to go back to that. Is that gonna, is that going to further that cause or not? Um and the other two of the biggest mistakes I will say that I see is both around money, um, money mindset, and will anybody come? So anybody with a wallet's invited.

Right. It's like you don't do that anywhere else in your business. You know who your ICA is, you know who you're trying to talk to, right? And you target your messaging to that person.

So fear of not being able to sell out your retreat doesn't mean that everybody can come because if they're not aligned with what you're trying to accomplish with your transformation, the energy is gonna be bad. Yeah, you know, it's gonna, it's gonna not be a good thing for them, and that's gonna bleed over to your other attendees too, where it's just not gonna be a good fit for anybody. So you can be very, very picky about who's gonna be invited in. And I always say invite people into your retreat, don't launch it like a funnel.

Okay to anybody that happens to to you know see it, which you know that that is a model for retreats. And a lot of the the ads and stuff that you will see pop up where it's like, you know, I'm an expert in sold-out retreats. Yeah, there's yeah, there's more to it than that, you know, and that is anybody with a wallet can come. Okay.

So that's one of the big mistakes is you know, you you want to attract and you want to repel at the same time to protect the room. Yeah. Okay. And then um, which also goes back to transformation statement, Tracy's able to handle a big group because she showed it with her Facebook group, she showed it with um speaking from stages, she knows from sales, that might fit her um her paradigm for her um retreat.

But somebody else that's trying to accomplish this, they might be like, you know what, 12 is the max, 10's the max. Yeah. So that's one of the decisions is, you know, based on what you're trying to accomplish, how many people can you accommodate and still be able to get them to that transformation, which dictates where your venue is going to be or how big of a venue it's gonna be. The other, um, getting back to your question, the other biggest mistake I find is people, I have a um a calculator and a budget worksheet that's interactive.

So you plug in all the numbers, all your expenses and stuff. And then um you can play with ticket prices or say, you know, what if I charge this much? What if I, you know, added this or took away this? So that helps a lot to shortcut it.

But the one line that everybody, all the retreat hosts that I've done for retreats are always surprised at is I always say, Where is your salary in this? Because most retreat leaders are like, Well, I'm paying myself my profit. Whatever I make off this, this is that's my profit. And it's like, yeah, that's gravy on the top.

But you need to say, Tracy, Tracy can say, if I could make $2,000 on this retreat, then it would be worth it for me. If I can make $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, whatever the number is going to be, you know, it's different for everybody. But what is it gonna make make the retreat worth your while if you make that much? And then that is an expense line in your retreat.

Interesting so you already know that you're not volunteering to do this. And if you paid a guest expert to come in, yeah, you would pay them. You are your guest expert. So why aren't you paying yourself?

Yes, that's a really good point. And I heard you say that on another interview that you were doing, and I thought it was brilliant. I was like, that is so right. We don't think about making sure that we pay ourselves something because we are the guest expert and we are the draw, you know.

Um, when somebody puts a retreat together, you're not only buying the ticket to go to the event, but you're also buying into that person. Right. Yeah. Yeah, you're buying into the whole experience, and the host is the one that has to put that whole experience together.

So you should be paid for your time and your energy and your effort. It's just, and and when you put it into the calculator as a retreat expense, a line item in your budget, then you know how much you have to charge. And the myth of break-even goes away because break-even is your price point that you're, you know, literally breaking even, but you've already paid yourself in that. Yeah.

So you're not losing money. Yeah. You know, and then you can say, okay, well, I want to make this much above and beyond that too. Or you might say, if I pay myself this much and everything else balances out, but I'm promoting a $10,000 program on the back end of it, and people are buying into that, that might be what you want for your profit.

Yes. You know, everybody's is going to be a little bit different. You know, it's almost like your retreat is a lead magnet, but you're not losing money on it because you're selling your $10,000 coaching program on the other side. Got it.

Or you might want your retreat just to be something in your ecosystem that is a profitable option. Offer like all of your other profitable offers. Right, right, right. That makes sense.

So we need to, yes. So we um we need to protect the room and we need to include our salary, our pay into the budget. Yes. Any other big mistakes you see us making?

Um, a lot of them for venue, um, you just have to really do some research or know somebody who knows how to tell you what to look for. Because sometimes you'll think, you know, I think you just mentioned it a minute ago, you know, maybe do it at a hotel or something. So um you it might look like that's the easiest way to do it, but you have to guarantee, like if you want to use a ballroom as your classroom, yeah, they'll throw that in there, but you then you have to guarantee, you know, a room block of so many rooms sold.

And you always have a food and beverage minimum, too. If the hot if the hotel's throwing anything in for you, you're paying for it somewhere in some way. Beverage, yeah, going back to budgets, food and beverage minimums can be like, you know, say it's five thousand dollars for the food and beverage minimum. That doesn't include the server fee, that doesn't include taxes, and food taxes in New York, California, uh, Florida are like 30%.

Holy shit. Yeah, it's all of those little hidden things that if you're not familiar with what to ask and what to look for, um, you will you'll get bit in the bottom, as I say, sometime with something that comes back and haunts you. So you gotta know what to look for for those. And then um, same thing with Airbnbs.

You might find a place that looks beautiful online and it says it sleeps 22. Right. It doesn't. Right.

22 means every every bed, every queen size bed has two people in it. Um every couch has people on it. Yes, every you pull out couches in the middle of your you know, teaching space is not gonna be conducive to to a good retreat. And then you're probably gonna have bunk beds too that are this far from the ceiling.

So once you once you actually count, and I'm glad Airbnb and BRBO now will put exactly what the bedroom setups are. They have the little icons and stuff. So look really closely at that. And when you start counting actual beds that you could sell as a spot, you know, it's probably half of what they say it is.

Yeah, yeah. No, I've experienced that with trying to find an Airbnb for our family for our son's graduation at college. And I was like, now it says it sleeps, you know, 27. And you really look, and there's like four beds, and you're like, okay, no.

Yes, yes, yeah, no. Oh my god. We don't we don't count to that blow up, you know, and most of them, most of them will say um no events. Yes.

So you specifically have to contact the Airbnb host or VRBO. You know, I keep saying Airbnb. It's almost like we call tissues Kleenex now. Yes, yes, so I'm using the brand name, but you know, rental properties will sell.

Right, right. Um contact the host, ask questions. Say, okay, this is what I'm doing. I'm doing a retreat, but I am selling tickets to it.

It's my business group, it's not a bunch of, you know, I'm strangers, I'm gonna have their information and everything. Right. Does this qualify in your mind as an event? Or is this something that's acceptable?

And they'll be able to tell you if it's okay. But don't don't try to just sneak it under like it's a you know family reunion or something if it's a business retreat, because they might not be okay with that if you're charging for it. Exactly. Ask just ask questions.

Ask a lot of questions. That's a really good point. So have you seen, can you think of one specific moment at a retreat that you either hosted or you attended where you thought, yeah, this is why in-person matters. Um yes, I will say, and this goes back to your your question you just asked, Tracy, you know, about big mistakes that you make.

Yeah, don't overstuff your agenda. Don't schedule every single minute because you and this is particularly for in-person, I think. We need time for to process. Yeah.

So, you know, if you're teaching or training or whatever, you need to give people time to process that and not do back-to-back-to-back things. And you can build that in easily into a retreat in-person kind of situation where you can't necessarily do that, you know, on a Zoom call, on a workshop or something like that that's online because you're not gonna just sit there, you know, and be like, okay, I just taught you this thing now for the next 20 minutes or 25 minutes or you know, two hours, I want you to just think it over or something.

It just doesn't work like that. We're we're fast paced and we're on to the next thing. So in-person lends itself to better processing, better learning, better creativity, because we do have that downtime. And you'll just exhaust people if you try to give them so much value because well, they paid to be here, so I've got to give them this and this and this, and then I'm gonna bring this person in and this person in.

And it's like you're on overload, and everything just is kind of like going in short-term memory and right back out again. Yeah. Okay. So more is not more.

More is not more. Yeah. I've always felt that in fact it works against you. It works against you.

And I feel like that with things like uh group coaching programs and memberships. I've seen models where the portal is full of templates and trainings and guest experts and masterclasses and all these things, and it's like, and people are like, I'm overwhelmed and I don't know what to do first. And so, yeah, okay. More and it's decision fatigue.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um, what would you say to somebody who is just honestly afraid they're not gonna fill the room? I would say start start with the right decisions first.

You're not putting any deposits or anything else down. We're gonna make sure that your messaging is aligned and that you have a really clear idea of who this room is for, who's gonna be invited into it. And then you start with your messaging to see who actually is interested in it. And then you can actually, depending on where you're having it, you can actually start selling seats to the retreat before you've got all of those other details taken care of.

Um, you know, if you're going to a really high, high demand area, you know, like if you wanted to host a retreat in Phoenix in January because the weather's perfect, but you're also competing with the Barrett Jackson Car Show and the Phoenix Open golf tournament, yeah, and you know, all of these other huge things that happen here, you're gonna have to book the place a year in advance because everything goes so quickly. Yeah. So, but if you're going to someplace, I know Tracy, you like um what's the name of it in Florida?

Is it 39A? Oh, 30A Seaside. 30A, yeah, and Seaside. Okay, so you'd think that's a really popular location, and it is, it's very much in demand, but they have so much rental inventory.

I do that chances are you're gonna be able to get a place there. So you might decide that's where I want to host my retreat. Yeah, but when you work out your whole budget calculator and everything else, you're gonna know this is still gonna be worth my while if I get six people, and my max is gonna be, you know, 18. Yeah.

Or something like that. So then depending on your ticket sales, which you know, you can do payment plans if you do them far enough in advance, you can take a deposit, non-refundable deposit. You're gonna have an idea of what kind of space you need. Maybe you want to get a huge house, maybe you want to get two houses, yeah, you know, or something like that.

So some decisions can wait until you know that this is gonna be a go. Got it. So that kind of takes the fear out of it, yeah. A little bit because you're like, I'm not putting down deposits until I already know.

And then you've got hard costs and variable costs. So the hard costs are, you know, I'm running this place. Yeah. Um, variable cost might be the per person, you know, what you're buying for food because it's gonna make a difference if you have six or twelve or eighteen people, right?

Yes. Um, so the nice thing is your first ticket sales or your first deposits that are coming in are gonna cover those hard costs where you have to put down a deposit. That's the other thing that you can negotiate too. If you're renting a place, find out what their deposit um policy is and when you have to pay it.

Usually you don't have to pay the balance until 30 days before. Oh, nice. And make sure what that cancellation policy is. How long do you have when you book it?

Do you have to make a payment right away? And what is the refund policy if you cancel? And when is that? And all those things.

So yeah, it's it's kind of a little bit of a dance, but yeah, like I said, when you when you do things in the right order, then it takes away the risk, and then you're paying up front for those hard costs, and then the rest of it is just you know, it just falls into place a lot easier with a lot less stress. Wow. Okay, so I can really see the benefit of hiring someone like you to totally because you know all the things, right? I mean, it's like you know all the details, all the hidden stuff, all the stuff we're not gonna think about.

Oh my gosh. Okay, friends, uh, if you're thinking about doing a retreat, do you need to book a call with your mom? Yes. Oh my gosh.

Okay, before we end this, I have a couple of fun questions for you. Okay. If you could tell your younger self one thing about business, what would it be? Oh gosh.

Um I would say don't be afraid to just get yourself out there and start doing it. Um, because Tracy knows about this about me. I am a master procrastinar. I'll tweak something, I'll tweak the death out of it.

Yeah. And she's told me more than once, just do it. Just get it going, fix it later. You know, not that you want to do shoddy work or anything, but just I think that we're so worried about doing things perfectly that we don't do them at all.

And and that's you know, it goes back to that someday I'll do this and that. It's like when you put the decision out there into someday land, you know, the eighth day of the week, then it takes it takes the pressure off you from actually making a decision, but you don't make any progress either. So I would say try early, fail early, it'll be okay. Yeah, that perfectionism thing can really stump us all, really.

Okay, and then I love this question. If you had to rebuild your business from scratch tomorrow, what is the very first thing you would do? I what would I do? Well, one of the first things I would start with, which I didn't have right off the bat, was my email service provider and building my email list, which I know will make Tracy very happy.

Folks, she said it just like I told her to say it. Yes. So I'm trying to make this a positive thing because what I wouldn't do, I wouldn't spend a lot of money on the things that look really pretty on the outside, but you're paying for them before you need them. Yes.

So you don't have to build the perfect website. No, you don't have to invest in a lot of tech stuff right off the bat. So do whatever is absolutely necessary, do that first. And then get used to that and then add to it.

And now, I mean, I have a whole suite of tech tools that I use and I have equipment that I use, and you know, my website. I've revamped that a couple different times because you know, you you start at the beginning and then you're like, well, I want it to do this and I want it to do this, and you know, you pivot and stuff. So I just don't get lost in those big, big projects before you really know what you're doing. Yeah.

And keep it simple. Just keep it simple. Yeah, yeah. I love that.

We can add the sparklers and the fireworks to it to it later on if we want to. Exactly. Exactly. And I would say one thing I would have done is I would have hired a business coach to walk me through it.

Hire an expert. You don't have to spend a ton of money, just get a little bit of help that you need because it's gonna save you so much time and money in the long run. It's gonna be well worth it. Yeah, for sure.

Somebody that can shortcut that curve and say, okay, this is what you actually need to get going. You know, helping you put things in a parking lot that you can add later. Yeah, knowing what the priorities are, the real priorities. Yeah.

Okay. I was gonna say, a really great coach isn't gonna tell you what to do. They're gonna ask you the right questions. So when you're thinking about doing something, they're gonna draw it out and go, okay, and why are you thinking this is what the next best move is?

And they might totally agree with you that that is the next best move, but they want you to be able to articulate it. And if you can't, maybe it's not such a great idea. So they'll bring that out of you instead of telling you, you know, do this, this, this, this, this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This has been so much fun. Thank you for being here. I don't know why my voice all of a sudden got so froggy. Um, where can everybody find you to connect with you?

Oh gosh. Probably the best place to find me is um go to my website and I'll tell you my website is valerymummert.com. Nobody's gonna remember that, and nobody's gonna know how to spell it if they do remember it.

So go to my retreat.me. Super easy. It'll take you right to my website.

I love that. I love that. And then you can find my connections everywhere else from my website. Um, I've got all your links in the show notes for everybody.

So y'all don't worry, just go to the show notes and you can find Valerie really easily. But you've got two super cool things that you're giving our audience. One is a free thing, and then one is is information about an offer you've got going on. You want to share with everybody what it is?

Yes. So the free thing that um Tracy's talking about, it's my um guide to how to how to host a profitable retreat, the 10 essential decisions you need to make in the right order. And that is a free um fillable workbook. It's got drop-downs, it'll prompt you when you get it to make a copy for yourself.

So you can copy, copy, copy, make as many as you want, and play around with different retreat ideas. Um, but like I said, it'll walk you through the 10 essential decisions in the right order. So you can just start filling in those blanks. You're not gonna know everything, but just start filling in the blanks and you'll kind of see how this thing is coming together.

So that is um absolutely free. And Tracy, I'll have the link for that, um, the 10 decisions workbook. And then my other thing is I'm actually launching a um like a group experience called um retreat experience roadmap, where you're gonna be able to work with a group of other women who want to host their own retreats. And it doesn't matter if you have a date on the calendar or if you just want to put the whole thing together.

So when you're ready to pull the trigger, you can say, okay, I've got my retreat all planned out. I've got this package and I'm ready to start promoting. Because some of us are global learners and we want to see all the things wrapped up in the pretty bow before we say, okay, we're ready to go. Some of you might be sequential learners where you're like, I'm picking November 2026 and I am gonna get this thing done.

And you walk through step by step by step every week exactly what you need to do. And this isn't gonna be just more information, this is gonna be implementation. Love it. So we I patterned it after a road trip just to make it fun.

So we've got different mile markers that you need to hit along the way. It includes my um calculator and budget worksheet and everything else. So we will literally be working through that together hand in hand. Nice.

I love it. So much value. All that's in the show notes for you guys. And so, listeners, here's what I want you to do now before before we leave you for today.

I want you to come join my free Facebook group. It's called Be a Confident Entrepreneur, um, get visible, grow your email list and your income. Great people like Valerie are in there. And one of the cool things about the community is if you were to post something like, I am thinking of hosting a retreat, but I am scared no one's gonna show up, then somebody lovely like Valerie, who's in the community, is going to comment and say, Hey, tell me more about what's going on and to have a conversation with you and help you make the next right decision.

I see it happen all the time, and it's a beautiful community of support. We also offer fun, free networking sessions once a month. Uh, Valerie has hosted a couple of those for me when I wasn't able to be there myself. And we do uh free live QA ask me anything sessions on a specific topic once a month.

So I think it's, I believe it's a Facebook group unlike any other, where you're actually allowed to move around the cabin, so to speak, and make connections and meet with other people. So the link for that is in the show notes. And as always, I want to know what you think about this episode. I want to, I truly want to know, did you love it?

Did you hate it? Not because of Valerie, but maybe because of me. Um, send me a message, a DM, or email me and let me know. Also tell me what you want to hear more of so that I can bring it to you every single week.

And as I close this out, you know what I'm gonna say. Don't go it alone. Being an entrepreneur is freaking hard. Some days everybody wants to buy what you're selling, and other days you can't sell your way out of a paper stack.

And if you think you're alone feeling like that, you're not. You just need to be in the right rooms with the right people at retreats like Valerie does in person or in uh virtual communities like my free Facebook group. I want you to have a great balance of the week and weekend, and I want you to remember that when one of us rises, we all rise. So that is why we've got to keep cheering each other on.

Valerie, thank you so much for being here. Did you want to share anything else before we go? Thanks, friend. No, I was gonna say, you know, and if you are in Tracy's group, and if you're not, you need to be.

So get into her Facebook group and tag me too. Um, I don't know, there's maybe two or three Valeries in there, but if you just start hitting at Valerie, I'll pop right up. Um, yeah, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have. And um, even if you're just kicking around an idea and want to know if it's a good one, love to help.

Love that. All right, my friend. I'll see y'all next week. Hey, thanks for tuning in to create your online business success.

I hope you found today's episode packed with actionable tips and inspiration. And listen, if you want to dive even deeper with me and connect with a community of like-minded entrepreneurs that totally get you and understand what you're building, then join us in my free Facebook group. You get to promote your offers anytime. Network with other entrepreneurs just like you, and possibly find some lucrative collaboration.

Just start with be a confident entrepreneur, get visible, throw your email list and your income over on Facebook. Or if it's easier, just click the link in the show notes. We cannot wait to welcome you in. But stay connected so we can create your online business access together.