Fall in love with your business again with the Her Brand & Co. Business Renaissance Retreat
May 19th-24th, 2024
Get yourself to Italy and we take care of the rest!
Retreat experience + all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and transportation is included.
When was the last time you felt creative as a business owner?
Really creative. Like - that inexplicable, overwhelming enthusiasm for what you’re building, and where it’s headed?
When was the last time you had *full body chills* because of how excited you were to launch your idea and grow your business?
We get it. Life happens. You get bogged down by the day-to-day and your business becomes a sludge.
And though we may love our lives and our families and our routines (we do! we really do!) - we can still admit that the realities of our day-to-day might be stifling our creativity.
Exhausted
Like you want to ghost your business
That you never have the time or space to think bigger
Uninspired
Stuck
Like you desperately need a break from the mundane. From your routine, from your kids (even tho we love them), from the grind.
If you feel…. burnt out
The good news is - you’re not alone.
And the better news is - we’re going to Italy, and you’re invited!
We’ve planned six incredible days (May 19th-24th, 2024) in Sicily - a sunsoaked, coastal paradise where you’ll reclaim your creative flow. This retreat will integrate deliberate discovery, play and immersive learning to help you fall in love with your business again.
Why Sicily?
Why Sicily?
“You may have the entire universe, just as long as I have Italy.”
– Giuseppe Verdi 
Mari with her Italian teacher friend, and native Sicilian, Valeria. With extensive experience in Italian retreats, she'll help lead this incredible experience. Beautiful and dramatic landscapes, amazing culinary delicacies, fashion, arts and history, culture, and la dolce vita — enchanting Italy has it all.
Italy is a full body, sensory experience. From the beauty of the language, the scenery, the history and the food — Italy is the perfect place to break away from the mundane and reconnect with what matters to you the most.
What’s more:
Mari, our Co-founder, has been traveling and working from Italy for the last few years. She knows Italian (incredibile!) and has a vast network of tour guides, connections, go-to destinations and vetted activities to leverage and share with this incredible group.
6 Days. 8 Founders. Endless Wine & Pasta.
6 Days. 8 Founders. Endless Wine & Pasta.
Did you know…
Mari’s maternal grandparents are Sicilian and immigrated to Venezuela after getting married in the 50’s?
In 2023, Mari was able to visit her grandparents hometown near Syracuse, see where they got married and walk the streets they grew up and often shared stories about.
Couldn’t I just plan my own trip to Italy?
Sure, you could totally do this! But will it be all the more rich with us, Valeria and Vita Semplice as our native guides!
Relax, Recharge, and Reignite your Creativity
Here’s how you’ll transform during your time with us in Italy.
Go from feeling overwhelmed by your business and struggling to “get it all done.”
↬
To more acceptance and calm with a stronger sense of what to prioritize.
Go from struggling to show up for your customers or team with the attitude and energy that drives revenue.
↬
To feeling recharged and reinvigorated, and eager to liaise with customers and manage your team.
Go from feeling burnt out and uninspired. Your business has hit a rut, and so have you.
↬
To seeing real optimism and possibility due to changing your surroundings and environment.
Stressed about scaling and scared of working harder.
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To feeling empowered and prepared with tools, tips and techniques from our experts to scale responsibly and sanely.
We’ve designed this retreat to help you relax, recharge, and reignite your soul & creativity through 3 experience pillars.
We’ll enjoy a cooking class, an elaborate wine tasting, hands-on ceramics painting class, yoga and hiking in nature, island excursions, views from an ancient Greek theatre, and unforgettable, Instagrammable moments with world-class views.
Inspiration
Activate all of your senses to help you go from creatively stuck to creatively unlocked and untethered.
This retreat is deliberately designed to activate the senses.
Why is this important?
Research shows that changing your environment can drastically modify your outlook and help you see things in a whole new light — leading to sharper focus, creativity, reduced stress, and higher productivity.
Play
Explore like a child and reactivate your sense of wonder with us to get your creative energy flowing in abundance.
This trip is full of perfect opportunities to freely play.
Why is this important?
Adult play is vital to boosting your creativity, sharpening your senses, and significantly helps with stress. We’re eager to reactivate our sense of wonder together, and get our creative juices flowing in stunning, engaging, and breathtaking environments throughout the island.
Collaboration
Have real and vulnerable conversations with Jess + Mari, fellow guests, and top experts in the business and personal development space.
We will have many opportunities for intimate, connective, and meaningful collaboration.
Why is this important?
Community, vulnerability and friendship are markers of healthy relationships. When was the last time you really let your guard down, stopped performing and unshielded your biggest insecurities? Let us, your retreat leads, and fellow founders be the rock you need to rely on.
Pricing
Get yourself to Sicily, and we’ll take care of the rest!
Retreat pricing is all inclusive and includes all meals, activities and transportation (once you land in Italy)*.
*this includes scheduled pick up & drop off times from the Catania airport. If you’re extending your stay or need to coordinate different pick up times, we can do so at an additional expense.
$4,998
*Does not include airfare. Get yourself to Sicily, we’ll take care of the rest!
Early Bird Rate before 01/31/24 ($500 off)
$5,489 after January 31st, 2024.
Due Jan 31st, 2024 for early bird!
$1,500
Non-refundable deposit to reserve your seat
Balance is due by April 15th, 2024
Payment plans available upon request.
Retreat highlights
You’ll experience verdant olive groves, warm and welcoming locals, breathtaking views, history galore, the beauty of the sea, and quaint hilltop towns.
These environments and experiences provide us with the raw materials needed for our thoughts and expand and bubble up to the surface. By tapping into our senses, we can stimulate different areas of our brain and unlock our full creative potential.
Full Agenda*
May 19th-24th, 2024
Get yourself to Italy and we take care of the rest!
Everything below + all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from airport pick-up to drop-off will also be included.
*agenda is subject to change at the organizers’ discretion due to weather or other factors
Your retreat leaders
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A leading marketing executive with 10+ years of experience working with creative agencies, small businesses, nonprofits and global enterprises, Jessica is a powerhouse brand strategist and two-time entrepreneur having built both of her companies from scratch.
In her tenure, she has led marketing strategies for Red Bull, TedxWomen, Girls Who Code, Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, and many others. Jess is a proud mompreneur who’s been featured in Entrepreneur Women, Girlboss, Thrive Global, The Lean Startup Co., IFundWomen, The Female Founder Collective, The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), and many others, and she commonly speaks on topics relating to helping women build, brand and bring their businesses to market.
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Mari has worked in marketing and communications for over 10 years, and has an MBA from Rollins Crummer Graduate School of Business. She is a ninja in all things operations, is uniquely gifted at marketing systems, goal setting and accountability, and has a distinctive ability to lead teams and mentor talent.
Previously, Mari spent 10 years in higher education in program development, operations, and marketing for student affairs. She also led community development for the University of Central Florida (60k+ students), a Hispanic serving institution since 2019. Originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, Mari now travels full time.
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Ali Kriegsman is the Co-founder and COO of Bulletin, a B2B wholesale marketplace that was recently acquired by Emerald, the largest B2B Events Company in the U.S. Her mission in life is to help founders and small business owners navigate the murky waters of ideating, launching, and scaling their companies. A recipient of "Forbes 30 Under 30" and named one of Fast Company’s "Most Creative People in Business," Kriegsman has helped thousands of brands expand their distribution and sell in both offline and online stores all around the US and Canada. She is a salesperson, self-taught publicist, marketer, and growth strategist and has experience scaling both bootstrapped and venture-backed businesses.
Her first book, How to Build a Goddamn Empire, is the straightforward, no-nonsense book on entrepreneurship entrepreneurs have been searching for, and it is available in both hardcover and audiobook formats world-wide. Using the questions she's most frequently asked as her guideposts, Kriegsman writes about her experience launching and growing Bulletin directly from the trenches pre-acquisition, and features words of triumph, failure and wisdom from 30 other women-owned businesses. The book has since been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine,The Today Show, CBS News, The Information and more, and has been celebrated for its candor, sense of humor and direct, actionable advice.
She is now running a part-time consulting business while working diligently on her second book.
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Kimberly is a total bad ass who has grown and scaled several companies to millions of revenue, and we’ll drop her bio in here shortly!
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Valeria is a native Sicilian, culture enthusiast, language teacher, and experience guide. She is the founder of Vita Semplice in Italia, and has nearly a decade of teaching experience. Her true passion is leading language and wellness retreats in her hometown of San Piero Patti, Sicily where she focuses on immersion and experiential learning. Valeria is fluent in Italian, English and Spanish.
She is also Mari’s Italian teacher & good friend!
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Nicole has grown in the marketing field since 2015 and has a master’s degree in Business Management with a track in Entrepreneurship from the University Central Florida. She enjoys the creative side of marketing, leading small teams and collaborating with other women on ways to level up their marketing. She is also a passionate photographer who enjoys taking photos of scenery, events, and especially giving others the space to feel confident in front of the camera.
She feels extremely lucky to be a part of HB&C where she gets to continue creating an impact and working with such inspiring women who have been instrumental to her growth.
“Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life.”
More things to know:
Booking Flights
Please book your own airfare to arrive in Sicily, Italy at Vincenzo Bellini Catania Airport on Sunday, May 19th between 9am and 5pm. You will depart from Vincenzo Bellini Catania Airport on Friday, May 24th after 12pm to return back to the U.S.
If you need support finding a flight or need help talking through your itinerary, please email [email protected]
Sicily entry requirements
U.S. citizens must have a passport which is valid for at least 90 days after your return date, though we strongly recommend at least six months. As of 2024, all U.S. passport holders will not need an ETIAS Visa to enter Italy for stays up to 90 days, if this changes we will let you know.
Where you’ll be staying + getting there
We’ll be lodging at Agriturismo Il Daino, a boutique and beautiful modern farmhouse (Agriturismo). You will have a private room and share a bathroom with another founder (2 to a bathroom).
Transportation to and from the Vincenzo Bellini Catania Airport and Vincenzo Bellini Catania Airport is included and will be accommodated at 2 predetermined pick-up times. Just get to Sicily, and we’ll take care of the rest!
Weather + what to pack
What to wear:
Comfortable clothing (jeans) and layers (it will get chilly at night)
2 athleisure outfits
1 cute outfit for our day in Taormina (we’ll be taking pictures!)
1 dinner outfit for our ‘Goodbye Dinner’
Rain jacket/small umbrella
Sun hat and accessories
Bathing suit — there is a pool where we’re staying, but it may be too chilly to jump in!
Sneakers/hiking shoes (*optional)
Comfortable walking shoes
Don’t forget your PJs and toiletries!
Misc:
European converter adapter for your electronics
For growth work:
Notebook / Computer / Tablet
Weather:
Daytime temperatures can fluctuate between 70 and 85 degrees, breezy and often sunny, and will likely drop 10-15 degrees at night (bring layers!). Expect some showers (itinerary will be adjusted accordingly).
We don't want you to have to think about anything other than enjoying and recentering yourself - and falling in love with your business again.
Get yourself to Sicily, then we’ll take care of the rest!
Have more questions? We’ll make sure you’ll all set and have everything you need to ensure a life-changing trip! Email [email protected]