How Alyah built a values-led retreat business all about responsible travel and powerful impact — without needing a huge online following.
How to Create a Retreat Business & Bring More Soulfulness into Your Work
If you’re ready to positively impact the world with your business, this episode is a must-listen!
How do you create a retreat business that feels ethical, soulful and actually aligned? Alyah shares her story of how she organically built and launched Soulful Retreats.
I love her background because she left 15 years in corporate in Advertising, Branding and Communications to create something that empowers her clients AND the world around them.
This episode isn’t just about wellness retreats or responsible travel, it’s also how to create core values in business that attract the right people no matter what you build or whatever industry you choose.
Alyah shares everything from starting that first retreat to walking that tricky line between sustainability and profit. We also go into how what matters is your message and not a massive following, if to truly make a difference.
What you’ll learn:
- How to create a retreat business that balances profit and purpose
- Why responsible travel matters when hosting retreats
- How Alyah built Soulful Retreats while still working her 9–5
- Why your core values in business are everything
- You don’t need a big following
Listen For:
Inspiration to build a business that feels more like you..and helps the people around you!
TIMESTAMPS
01:49 — From corporate burnout to soulful entrepreneurship
06:09 — Launching the first Soulful Retreat in Sri Lanka
08:12 — Responsible travel and doing business differently
15:05 — Powerful marketing through your core values in business
22:43 — Why you don’t need a big following to start retreats
MORE ABOUT ALYAH AL-JASSER
Alyah Al-Jasser is a Women’s Mindset & Cyclical Living Coach and Retreat Leader. After her own mental health journey and experiencing burnout in the corporate world, she became a certified life coach to support women navigating similar challenges.
After five years of coaching alongside her executive 9–5, Alyah made the conscious decision to leave corporate and create Soulful Retreats — unique wellness retreats for women rooted in travel, community, sisterhood, personal growth, and self-love. Since 2024, Soulful Retreats has taken 60+ women to destinations including Sri Lanka, Spain, Mexico, and Scotland.
Connect with Alyah & Soulful Retreats
Website: https://www.soulful-retreats.net/
Instagram: @soulfulretreats.co
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MORE ABOUT THIS WOMEN IN BUSINESS PODCAST EPISODE
“Identify your values because they don’t change and then market based off of that.”- Alyah Al-Jasser, founder of Soulful Retreats
- How to create a retreat business that feels soulful, ethical, and actually sustainable
- Why responsible travel should be part of the retreat experience — not an afterthought
- How your core values in business can become your clearest marketing strategy
- Why you don’t need a huge following to launch a meaningful retreat
- How to balance impact, profit, community, and integrity as a retreat leader
How to Create a Retreat Business That Feels Soulful, Ethical, and Actually Sustainable
What if the most powerful part of your business isn’t your offer, your funnel, your content plan, or even your follower count?
What if it’s the way you move through the world?
That question sits at the heart of this episode of Her First Three Years, where I’m joined by Alyah Al-Jasser, founder of Soulful Retreats. And honestly, this conversation is such a refreshing one for any woman entrepreneur who wants to build something with real impact… without accidentally turning into a spreadsheet goblin or a sales-page robot.
Because yes, we want businesses that work.
We want money coming in. We want sustainable models. We want clients, customers, bookings, and actual proof that our ideas aren’t just floating around in the “wouldn’t it be nice?” folder of our brains.
But we also want our work to mean something.
And if you’ve ever wondered how to create a retreat business that feels ethical, values-led, and profitable without needing a giant audience or abandoning your soul at the altar of Instagram, this episode is going to feel like a very needed exhale.
Why Retreat Businesses Are About More Than the Destination
It’s easy to look at a retreat business from the outside and think it’s mostly about the location.
The villa.
The views.
The food.
The “look how peaceful we are while secretly checking WhatsApp” energy.
But Alyah’s perspective immediately challenges that.
Her work with Soulful Retreats is rooted in the belief that travel can become a portal. Not an escape hatch. Not a glossy backdrop. Not a way to borrow another culture’s beauty for content and call it transformation.
A portal.
A way for women to step out of their usual surroundings, reconnect with themselves, gather in community, and return home with something deeper than a cute group photo and a linen outfit they may or may not ever wear again.
That distinction matters.
Because if you’re thinking about retreats, events, community experiences, or even a more intimate service-based business, the question is not just, “What am I selling?”
A better question is:
What kind of experience am I responsible for creating?
That’s where the whole conversation changes.
The Emotional Shift From Corporate Life to Purpose-Led Business
One of the most relatable parts of Alyah’s story is that she didn’t leave corporate life in one dramatic, movie-trailer moment.
There was no desk-flipping scene.
No slow-motion walkout.
No “I quit and booked a one-way flight” montage with inspirational music.
Instead, the shift happened slowly.
She had a 9–5, and then she had her 5–9. While working in advertising, branding, and communications, she started coaching women, exploring mental health work, bringing mindfulness into office spaces, and noticing something important:
Her side work gave her energy.
Her corporate work drained it.
That is such an important clue for early-stage entrepreneurs.
Not every business begins with a perfectly formed vision. Sometimes it begins with noticing what gives you life again.
The thing you keep returning to.
The conversation you can’t stop having.
The work that makes you feel more like yourself instead of less.
Alyah eventually recognized that her legacy wasn’t going to come from climbing higher in a world she no longer wanted to build inside. Her next chapter had to reflect who she was becoming, not who she had trained herself to be.
And that is often where a meaningful business begins.
Not with certainty.
With honesty.
The Role of Core Values in Business
Here’s where this conversation gets especially useful for entrepreneurs who don’t want to build a brand that feels like a costume.
Alyah talks about the importance of identifying your core values in business before getting overly attached to the exact shape of your offer.
This is such a grounded reframe.
Because your offer may change.
You may start with one-to-one coaching and move into retreats.
You may run in-person experiences and later create a course.
You may begin with one audience and discover a sharper niche along the way.
That’s normal. It does not mean you are flaky. It means you are building something alive.
But your values?
Those become the roots.
Alyah’s values around travel, community, respect, ethical exchange, and women’s healing shape how she markets, where she hosts retreats, who she partners with, and what kind of experience she wants participants to have.
That is the difference between a business with pretty branding and a business with a pulse.
A values-led business does not ask, “What will look good online?”
It asks:
What do I want this work to stand for when nobody is watching?
That question will take you much further than another scroll through someone else’s launch graphics.
Responsible Travel Is Not a Trendy Add-On
One of the most powerful threads in this episode is Alyah’s perspective on responsible travel.
She speaks honestly about the retreat industry, especially the parts that can feel extractive. The beautiful destinations. The local communities kept in the background. The ancestral practices borrowed without context. The content that makes a place look magical while barely acknowledging the people who live there.
And listen, this is where the conversation gets uncomfortable in the best way.
Because it invites us to think about our businesses as ecosystems.
Even if you do not run retreats, you are still making choices about who you hire, whose work you amplify, where your money goes, how your clients experience your values, and whether your business takes more than it gives.
For Alyah, responsible travel means working with local initiatives, learning from the communities connected to the land, respecting cultural practices, and building retreat experiences that do not reduce a destination to scenery.
That level of care is not just “nice.”
It is part of the product.
It becomes part of the transformation.
It tells participants: we are not here to consume and leave. We are here to listen, learn, gather, and return changed.
That is a much richer promise than “come relax somewhere pretty.”
Ethical Marketing Starts With What You Actually Believe
So many women entrepreneurs struggle with marketing because they think they need to become louder, more polished, or more persuasive in a way that feels slightly… itchy.
You want to sell your work.
But you do not want to manipulate people.
You want your offer to be clear.
But you do not want your content to sound like it was assembled in a launch-bro laboratory.
You want people to understand the value.
But you also want to sleep at night without wondering if your last post needed a small apology.
Alyah’s approach offers a different path.
Market from your values.
That does not mean every post becomes a manifesto. It means your values shape the stories you tell, the objections you address, the way you invite people in, and the kind of trust you build over time.
If your business is rooted in community, show that.
If your work is rooted in emotional safety, let that be felt.
If your offer is built around ethical travel, local partnerships, accessibility, inclusion, or personal transformation, speak about those things with clarity.
People do not only buy what you offer.
They often buy because they trust the way you think.
That is especially true for retreats, coaching, healing work, and intimate group experiences. A retreat is not a $17 impulse purchase. People need to feel your values before they pack a bag and meet you in another country.
Fair enough, really.
You Do Not Need a Huge Following to Begin
Can we all take a collective breath around this one?
Because one of the biggest myths in online business is that you need a massive following before you can launch something meaningful.
Alyah’s first retreat had six people.
Some came from her existing community. Some came through real-life connections. Some came because they already had a sense of who she was and what she stood for.
And yes, that first retreat made a small profit.
Not a private-island-profit. Not a “buy my course and I’ll show you how I made seven figures while drinking mushroom coffee” profit.
A real, grounded, first-test kind of profit.
More importantly, it gave her evidence.
Evidence that the concept worked.
Evidence that the experience mattered.
Evidence that she could build from there.
For early-stage entrepreneurs, that is such a helpful reminder.
You do not need the whole stadium. You need the right room.
Your first version does not have to be enormous to be valid. Sometimes a smaller container gives you better feedback, deeper connection, and more confidence than trying to scale something before you understand its soul.
That may not sound glamorous, but it is how strong businesses often grow.
Quietly. Relationally. Honestly.
A Simple Framework for a Values-Led Retreat Business
This episode points to a high-level framework for building a retreat business that feels aligned rather than performative.
1. Start With the Transformation
A retreat is not just a trip. It is not just an itinerary. It is not just yoga at sunrise and a very photogenic breakfast situation.
Ask yourself what people are really coming back to inside themselves.
For Alyah, travel is the portal, but the deeper transformation is self-connection, community, and personal growth.
2. Build From Your Values
Your values shape the experience long before anyone arrives.
They influence the location, partnerships, marketing, pricing, rituals, conversations, and follow-up. When your values are clear, your decisions become clearer too.
3. Treat the Destination as a Relationship
Responsible travel asks you to consider the local community, culture, economy, and wisdom of the place you are entering.
The destination should not be a backdrop. It should be respected as part of the experience.
4. Let Trust Build Over Time
Retreat businesses often grow through connection, referrals, smaller experiences, thoughtful content, and a sense of emotional safety.
People may watch your work for months or years before they buy. That does not mean your marketing is failing. It may mean trust is forming.
5. Allow the Business to Evolve
Alyah’s business began with coaching, moved into retreats, and may continue evolving into education, retreat leadership support, or even a future retreat center.
Your business is allowed to change shape without losing its essence.
That is the beauty of building from values instead of trends.
The Bigger Lesson for Women Entrepreneurs
Even if you have no desire to run retreats, this conversation still has something for you.
Because the deeper lesson is about building a business that feels like an honest extension of who you are.
Not a performance.
Not a personality you put on.
Not a brand voice that sounds nothing like you when you’re making tea in your kitchen.
A real business.
One with values, edges, opinions, care, and responsibility.
Alyah’s story reminds us that business can be profitable and principled. Strategic and soulful. Clear and human. You do not have to choose between having impact and making money, but you do need to build with intention.
Your work creates ripples.
In your clients’ lives.
In your community.
In the people you hire.
In the way you speak about your industry.
In the standards you quietly refuse to lower.
That is not small.
And maybe this is the part we do not say enough in the early years of business: your way of doing things matters before the numbers look impressive.
Your values count before the big launch.
Your care counts before the audience grows.
Your integrity counts before anyone claps for it.
Listen to the Full Episode
If you have been thinking about retreats, ethical marketing, responsible travel, values-led business, or simply how to bring more of your essence into your work, this conversation with Alyah Al-Jasser is one to listen to slowly.
We talk about building Soulful Retreats while still in a corporate 9–5, launching without a huge following, using business as a force for impact, and creating work that feels deeply rooted instead of endlessly performative.
Listen to the full episode of Her First Three Years with Alyah Al-Jasser wherever you get your podcasts.
FAQ: Creating a Retreat Business With Values and Responsible Travel
1. How do you create a retreat business?
To create a retreat business, start with the transformation you want to facilitate, then build the experience around your values, audience, location, partnerships, and trust-building strategy. A strong retreat business needs more than a beautiful destination; it needs emotional clarity, ethical planning, and a clear reason for people to say yes.
2. Do you need a big following to run a retreat?
No, you do not need a big following to run a retreat. Many early retreats fill through personal connections, referrals, existing communities, local networks, and trust built over time. The quality of the relationship often matters more than the size of the audience.
3. Why are core values in business important?
Core values in business help guide your decisions, marketing, partnerships, client experience, and long-term direction. When your values are clear, your business feels more consistent, trustworthy, and aligned.
4. What is responsible travel in a retreat business?
Responsible travel means considering the impact your retreat has on the local community, culture, economy, and environment. It includes working with local partners, respecting cultural practices, avoiding exploitation, and creating experiences that give back rather than simply take.
5. Can a retreat business be profitable and ethical?
Yes, a retreat business can be both profitable and ethical. The key is to price sustainably, partner responsibly, communicate honestly, and design experiences that support both participants and the communities involved.
6. What makes a retreat business feel soulful?
A soulful retreat business usually has a clear purpose, strong values, meaningful facilitation, ethical partnerships, and a participant experience that goes beyond surface-level relaxation. It helps people reconnect with themselves in a thoughtful, intentional way.
7. How do you market a retreat without feeling salesy?
Market a retreat by focusing on the transformation, values, story, and trust behind the experience. Instead of relying on pressure or hype, speak clearly about who the retreat is for, why it matters, and what kind of experience participants can expect.
8. What should first-time retreat leaders focus on?
First-time retreat leaders should focus on creating a clear experience, building trust with potential participants, choosing aligned partners, understanding costs, and making sure the retreat reflects their values. A smaller first retreat can provide valuable proof, feedback, and confidence.
TRANSCRIPT WITH ALYAH AL-JASSER, FOUNDER OF SOULFUL RETREATS
Chardét Ryel (00:00)
How do you balance wanting to grow a business that is successful but also really soulful? Something that has impact on the world, on the community and really aligns with your values. This is one of the hardest things to do and that is why I am so excited for you to hear from this next guest. And she is the founder of Soulful Retreats.
I found her in the most odd ways. So I was on Instagram and she wrote such a beautiful comment to a problematic social post. And I was thinking about, wow, this person really has thought about how they want to have it back in the world. And so I wrote her and I was like, please come on. I think you’d have a great story. And she did not disappoint. I’m so excited for you to hear this one because not only will it give you inspiration to think about all the power that you have in your business,
to make a difference.
but also who did it while she was still in a nine to five, which I know has been a big struggle for so many people listening or maybe for people that you know. So get ready to hear it. We’re gonna be talking all about business, the healing power of travel, retreats, all of it is coming in in this one episode. I will see you inside.
Welcome to her first three years. From breakdowns to blunders, learn what worked and what didn’t. I’m your host Shardé and whether you’re a new entrepreneur or you’re just starting something new, this is your space to learn and feel a little less alone.
Alyah Al-Jasser (01:49)
entrepreneurship with somebody that was like really good at business and sort of the behind the scenes, the budgeting, the money, somebody that was really money focused or someone that was really good at maths. kind of had ⁓ this connection where you have to be excellent at sort of spreadsheets and mathematics in order to be an entrepreneur. And I think I fought with myself about starting my own business because I thought I’m very weak in that respect.
And it stopped me from a long time. And I climbed a corporate ladder for well over 15 years in advertising and branding and communications, thinking that that’s what grownups do. I came to realize that like, I did not want what I was doing to be my legacy. And I was finding more purpose and meaning in the work that I was doing in my, had my nine to five, and then I had my five to nine.
and that I was coaching women online, like everybody. went through like a massive shift as you grew up. But essentially I moved into a mental health aspect of kind of trying to involve that into my work, my own personal work at my office, like in doing mindful Mondays at my office while I was getting my coaching certifications and inviting people into my office on lunch breaks to do breath work and things like that.
And I was like, looking forward more to that than quarterly meetings or presenting my achievements throughout the year or whatever it was. Very softly happened over a long period of time, opening up something on my own. didn’t happen in a vacuum where like, I was kind of like, you know, fuck this, I’m going to start my own business. It didn’t happen like that.
Chardét Ryel (03:32)
This is the beautiful way you made the decision to do your nine to five and then your five to nine and you brought in what you could into your work and you slowly built that up. But was there a point where something forced your hand or you just thought, okay, I’m ready to go into this fully.
Alyah Al-Jasser (03:51)
Well, I kind of checked out of my corporate job mentally for a long time before, you know, that quietly quitting that they call it, like where you’re just like, you’re turning up, you’re doing, I wouldn’t say I did the bare minimum because my work ethic isn’t like that, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was far more concerned about the wellbeing of my team, like their mental wellbeing, like classic, like millennial manager, like don’t answer your phone after five p.m. Like trying to enforce all these boundaries for them and support them. And because I know what it was like to be totally burned out when you were.
you know, in your mid twenties and like a mid level of your career, corporate career. And I just got to a point where I realized like, I was really looking forward to going home and working on my side hustle that it overtook everything. And I just, it was giving me more energy. The more time I spent working on it, the more energy I had. And I’d been relatively smart in, you know, preparing a cushion for myself to step out of corporate. So it wasn’t like it happened.
overnight, it was something that I had been thinking about. And the retreats themselves, so now I run so full retreats, I’m in my third year, which is, you know, incredibly coincidental. But that happened also in parallel to when I was coaching online, I’d been coaching online for a good few years alongside my nine to five, that was my five to nine. And then the retreats happened because I wanted to have more in person, you know, after COVID, everything went online.
and I’m somebody that I really feed off in-person energy and it’s very important for me to create spaces like that. Well before I got into retreats, I used to organize dance weekends. I used to bring different instructors from different parts of the world to Kuwait and host dance weekends for styles of dance that weren’t widely available in this part of the world. And I was like, wow, I really love this. Like I love these projects where I bring women together and we’re moving and we’re healing and we’re…
And then that, was like, well, you know, I can take that and take my coaching and take my love for travel and fuse it all together and take my clients away and retreat with them. And that shape shifted and became what is today for me, Soho Retreats.
Chardét Ryel (06:02)
When did it have the first retreat ever? When was the first one that you started?
Alyah Al-Jasser (06:09)
February 2024 was my first one in Sri Lanka. So I’ve been going to Sri Lanka for 20, now like 26 years. I’ve been going with my family. Super simple to get to. Hospitality is fantastic. Venues, vendors, whatever, have a network. They’re already fabulous. At the time I was like, oh, I shall just try it. Shall we just try and do a retreat? Okay, I’ll just give it a go. And at that time I was only ever coaching. I hadn’t even really stepped out and done retreats full time. And six people signed up.
I was like, my goodness, I made nothing. I think I made like $300 or something profit. Like it was just a total test run.
Chardét Ryel (06:44)
per year one retreat.
Alyah Al-Jasser (06:46)
Yeah.
But I didn’t lose any money, right? Like I made all my money back. I made a little bit of profit to stay a couple of extra days to kind of like integrate the process and the experience that had just created for these women. And it was beautiful. That for me was like, I can really see myself here doing this and I wonder how it can grow. I wonder where else can we go? What else can we do?
How can I add value? How can I bring in women of different ages? How can I make this more inclusive? How can I make this more accessible?
Chardét Ryel (07:19)
This is where I’m very curious to ask you about the vision for it, but I want to make sure to really focus on the essence of it and how the positioning came to you because you’re doing it differently. And this is kind of how we connected was that there was a controversial reel that went up around a bit of cultural appropriation, but even beyond that, the idea of not really
empowering local people, but you’re in their space. And I think you, that’s a very fine line when you run a live event in another country and you have done it in a way which seems really respectable and really trying to involve people who are already there living and working. Was that conscious from the beginning or what was the thing when you said, okay, I’m going to do a retreat. How did you then think about how you would position it differently?
Alyah Al-Jasser (08:12)
Thank you so much for this question because this is something that is, makes my skin kind of go goose bumpy because it’s, my business is based on my personal values and I will never take more than what I’m giving in any aspect of my life. When I built Swapoo Retreats, know, Sri Lanka was really the catalyst for everything. Sri Lanka is a very important place to me in my personal history and my family. And so the idea of respect in terms of when you’re visiting another country.
came really from personal values that I’ve learned through travel with my family, et cetera, et cetera. I think anyone can do a retreat. Anyone can book a villa in a beautiful place and take advantage of cheap labor and pretty sunsets and plentiful fresh fruit and produce and whatever, and do a movement practice and have a meditation practice and host women’s circles or group therapy or whatever it is.
take people away to do that and then never actually learn from the place that they’re in. And for me, that’s very exploitative. And I see a lot of retreats around like that and it gives me the ick. It really, really inside gives me the ick. I don’t like it. I find it really cringe. And that doesn’t mean that that facilitator or that coach or that therapist or that yoga teacher is a bad person or a bad teacher. That’s not what I’m trying to get at. But that model,
only keeps whoever you are being served by in a place of servitude. Like the locals are only serving you or the locals don’t have enough knowledge or enough aesthetic to be on your Instagram or on your platforms. And that for me is like, it’s really bullshit. And especially because there’s this tendency when you think retreat, you think tropical Island, you think beach, you think ⁓ nestled in the foothills of XYZ mountain range.
And typically those places are maybe an economy that is dependent on tourism, catered to be part of your, what fits into your retreat model. And that’s just not what I go for. There is a deeply rooted sense of stewardship when visiting somewhere else. There’s no excuse in 2024, 2025, 2026 and beyond to not be a responsible traveler. Integrating the local community.
whether that’s in terms of wisdom keepers, elders that hold the real roots and origins of ancestral practices, or your peers that are coming in to teach you more contemporary art forms, if that’s painting, music, art, whatever that is. I think that as retreat facilitators and spaceholders, you have a duty to incorporate the people that are from that land. We want to create containers where
ancestral practices from that land are continued in a way that is ethical and in a way that really nourishes the people that are giving us those practices. Especially in a place like Sri Lanka, you know, because it’s really taken a different turn, especially like in the South coast, it’s become really ⁓ being touted as quote unquote, the new Bali, which is like so cringe worthy. It, I can’t even, I don’t use that phrase often, but.
Really, I can’t even. How diluted that you go there and you want to do a cacao ceremony in Sri Lanka. Like, why? There is so much richness and so much depth in the practices of a place like Sri Lanka, but equally in other parts of the world as well. And so I make an effort to work with organizations and initiatives that are Sri Lankan owned, Sri Lankan operated, that are also really doing their part. Like I’m not an expert at all. I’m not trying to say that, but I do make an effort.
to with different initiatives in every country that I take my women to, to make sure that we are doing the most that we can to provide, yeah, provide income for these kinds of initiatives, but also for cultural exchange to learn and to have that as part of the healing process, right? As part of the retreat experience. Otherwise, book a villa where you are and do that where you’re staying. You don’t need to travel.
Chardét Ryel (12:35)
This is true. mean, this is, there’s so many layers that you touched on with it that are, this is why I wanted to make sure that we had this conversation and talking about your journey because it’s a fundamental part of doing business differently, knowing better and doing better. And especially for those that are going to be therapists or coaches in the healing space, whether you choose to do live events or online, all of this comes into play. How do you.
respect the traditions that you’re learning from, how do you involve it, how do you keep it authentic is a really overused word, but you know what I mean. How do you keep it, I guess, real?
Alyah Al-Jasser (13:14)
Yeah, I think it’s the origin stories as well. Like there’s all, it’s all based in really great intentions, you know? And recently when we, when we went to Mexico, I was in my own bias came into play a little bit. was like, I don’t want to do a Hakao ceremony. They’re too, they’re too done all over the world. I want to do something else. And then I was like, well, who am I in the land of this place to say what I want and what I don’t want? Like, and someone said to me, somebody that is
sharing cacao, not in ceremonies, because what I came to understand is this kind of new age also. But the idea of sharing cacao, for example, this is just one example. And this is somebody from the community that said to me, well, if it’s just nice for people, why are you trying to stop people from doing it? Okay, I understand that makes me look like a bit of a bit of an asshole, which is not what I want, right? But but it’s just about okay, but you need to tell the story behind it.
It doesn’t, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum, right? And it doesn’t necessarily, we can share it, but it doesn’t belong to us. So yeah, I just, think my concern mostly is always about not diluting any practice.
Chardét Ryel (14:20)
Not everyone listening is going to necessarily have a business in the same space as you or necessarily run retreats, cetera. But I’m curious how you then take something like this and you market it. Because earlier on you were saying that there was this kind of hesitancy around being an entrepreneur because that involves the money thing. And then there’s this healing thing. And I think a lot of people listening do struggle with that of I want to have impact.
but I need to mark it. I wanna convey my message, but I need to do it in a way that is, conveys what it needs to, but also converts. Have you found this to be a struggle at all, or do you find that what you put out mostly just calls people in?
Alyah Al-Jasser (15:05)
Yeah, great question. I think that different parts, it shape shifts, because I think that sometimes you’re like, okay, I feel like I’ve got the recipe and other times you’re like, it’s just not landing. And I think that’s also like part and parcel of entrepreneurship as well. Like you’re evolving. And so your marketing and your messaging is going to reflect where you are in your business. I came from a marketing and advertising background. So I understand the importance of storytelling, which I think is helpful.
But I think one of the key things and what I believe actually is one of the key things is what are your values as a business? Because those are not going to change. Once you identify those, that shapes how your business takes form. because what your product might change, right? Maybe I stop offering retreats and I start offering just an online course on how to build your own retreat, for example. The values are based in the same thing. So.
If I even if I returned to exclusively coaching one-to-one online, my values haven’t changed. So identifying what are your values and often your business values and your personal values are similar. So you don’t really need to move far from the marketing of the self to market your business as well. And people want this connection with you and what your product is and the story behind why you built your product. And if I could share anything from my experience, it would be identify your values because they don’t change and then market based off of that.
Chardét Ryel (16:27)
You have basically identified the thing that overcomes the objections so many people have where a lot of, a lot of people, especially earlier in entrepreneurship, but in general, like I don’t want to start a personal brand. And I understand not everyone needs to start it, but just by nature of you running that company with your values, it has that personal aspect. So you starting with what they are, even if you’re not going to be the main face on it. It’s so critical.
Alyah Al-Jasser (16:57)
Yeah, absolutely. think as well in the age of social media, it’s a really fine line. Like how much do I add my face to the brand and add me to the brand? And I’ve personally really struggled with that. Like I don’t know how much do I make it about the retreats and how much do people need to see what I’m doing? And I really honestly, I flip flop between that because I really don’t know what is the right percentage or what’s the right mix, but I’m trying to go as organically as I can.
And I always bring it back to what I am promoting, selling, et cetera, whatever it is. I always try to bring it back to that in a holistic and authentic way, because I’m not out here just to sell. You know, I also, believe in retreats as a movement. believe in my business as a movement. Like, please go and visit somewhere else. Even if you’re not on a retreat, please understand that your privilege of being able to travel comes with a certain responsibility to support the community where you are.
Even if that’s something as small as, please don’t buy this crappy fridge magnet at the airport. Go and buy a handmade something instead and spend a little more and put the money directly into the pocket of someone from that community. Please don’t stay at a chain hotel. Please stay in a boutique place owned and operated by locals. Tip. My God, tip. This is just my values and I will…
live for this. This is how, so it’s easy for me to say it from that perspective, you know, because it goes beyond what my business is. It’s how I hope that people choose to use their free time intentionally also, you know.
Chardét Ryel (18:32)
When you were speaking about this, I was thinking of how not just with travel, but in general, when you have a business, it’s an ecosystem that you are creating. Even if it’s just you in the beginning and maybe once in a while a freelancer or someone who you go to as an, I don’t know, intern, but you have the ability to really support people in values that you hold. So for example, like if you’re about supporting women-owned businesses or women, then
going with the person who is the woman that’s doing the providing of something, right? What your value is in even tiny aspects of your business, I think is a way to create that authenticity, that feeling of this represents what I believe in and you seem to have done that really, really well.
Alyah Al-Jasser (19:21)
Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s really to do with, I believe in travel as medicine. One of the reasons that it feels so energizing to create these experiences is because a lot of my aha moments have come when I’ve been out of my normal surroundings and have been able to either practice more gratitude because you see the different ways in which people live, or you’re in this sense of, wow, this world is incredible and I get to
enjoy it and see it and experience it, your mind is open to so many possibilities and so much potential. And you can really absorb and bring in all of that and bring it back home with you. And really that’s what Soulful Retreats is. We don’t travel for the sake of travel. They’re not retreats just to get on a plane and disappear somewhere else and escape. It’s actually to come back to these possibilities that live within you all the time. But through the portal of travel, through
gathering with other women intentionally through having real intentional experiences, you come back to your essence as a person, as a woman. And really this is the mission that I have in Soulful Retreats, to bring women back to this space within themselves using the portal of travel so that you remember that you carry that with you all the time.
Chardét Ryel (20:39)
the deeper transformation you have is coming through travel, as you’re saying. I love the wording you use, that it’s the portal, because what you’re giving them is that transformation, and it just happens to be through retreats right now. But it could be through something else later. And I think so many times we forget that, right? We get lost, we’re like, this is the product or this is the service.
then we get stuck on that and the details that don’t actually really emotionally resonate with people when it’s about what you’ve said is this connection between women and themselves and you could do this anyway. It just so happens that right now it’s travel.
Alyah Al-Jasser (21:21)
100 % because I just remembered when I was making the shift, I had been coaching one-to-one online and I was convinced, convinced, convinced, convinced that I shouldn’t and couldn’t was not a good idea to do retreats. And I had a coach at the time and she was like, your whole tone of voice and your face changes when you start talking about retreats. Cause I was like, oh, I’ll just do one, but what am going to do? How am going to make income if I stop coaching and
What are people going to think? How am I supposed to take people? I don’t have any experience, this, that, and the other. I won’t be able to do that. And she said, look how excited you get when you start talking about where you’re going to go next. It really fuels you. So just run with it and see what happens. It was almost like a permission slip from her to explore another idea. And then, you know, I wasn’t always Soulful Retreats even on Instagram before I was like the Soulful Coach.
And then when I changed it, I was like, my God, here I am, sofa retreats.co. And I was like, well, it’s real now. I’ve changed it on Instagram. There’s no going back, you know? And then I changed my website name and totally shifted all of my messaging that it was just about retreats. And I remembered then like kind of, I’m free to do whatever I want, it’s my business. If I want to then later on change it, I can totally do that.
Chardét Ryel (22:43)
How many of the people in that first retreat, the six people that came, were from your original community versus they came after you made the switch?
Alyah Al-Jasser (22:53)
I had had an Instagram, but I was doing a lot of coaching word of mouth. was being doing it through referral because I had a lot of, I don’t want to sell myself on Instagram. I don’t know how to do that. I’ve gotten a lot better at it recently. I’m like talking to camera and all of these things that look so natural for everyone else. I found really cringy and I couldn’t do through my original community, through the dance events that I had run to came and then someone else was like my neighbor and someone else was somebody that I had met at an event. And so
I realized that kind of my community was beyond what I had just had on Instagram or on social media. It was really kind of how I was interacting. I figured out kind of later on retrospectively that it’s just who you are and how you move through the world really, because again, it’s based back to your values. So I was always inside of communities where my values were able to be showcased either from a facilitator point of view or an attendee and people pick up on your vibe.
You know, and that vibe, by the way, you’re able to convey it either through your messaging, online when you’re on social media or through your platforms on your website, whatever it is. Like that’s what I’m saying. Identify your values and your community will form itself. You know, it might take time. I’m super fledgling. Like I’m not here trying to talk like an expert at all. Like it’s just purely my experience. And now, you know, things are growing, you know, it’s.
Also, you don’t need some crazy amount of following to have a business.
Chardét Ryel (24:25)
That’s the biggest misconception ever is because you are even saying, you know, this first retreat, you were actually profitable. know that it was a smaller amount, but it’s like profitable. And most retreats do not do that the first year. And it was through the connections that you already had. And I think that’s such an important point of everyone listening, have community online and offline. And even though those people are not buying from you right now.
If you’re representing the values and how you shop, cetera, maybe you create something they want later. And that is so forgotten so often. So I think it’s such a good example of how you had all these different people from these many experiences where you were just being you.
Alyah Al-Jasser (25:10)
Yeah, I think, yes, this is one part of it. And another part of it is people take time, know, like money is important. Not everybody has the same budget. People need to get to know you. I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility and honor to create the best that I can do. And I realized that it takes time. It’s not something that they can part with. ⁓ In some cases, immediately they need support and they need to trust you. And that comes when you show up for them.
you know, either online when they’re interacting with you more or through maybe smaller offline events where they get to meet you because they’re going to get on a plane and go and another part of the world with you. Like, come on, man. It takes a little bit of effort. It’s not like, oh, I made a nice post. I look cute in this post. Come on, give me your money. Like, no, it doesn’t work that way.
Chardét Ryel (26:00)
Although I will say, I used to run wellness retreats when I was still in the wellness industry. And I will say that I found it was much easier to convince someone who didn’t know me to fly across the world than it was to convince someone to do ⁓ a small monthly membership online.
Alyah Al-Jasser (26:22)
That’s the one. Because the amount of money that you pay is kind of like, ⁓ it’s the commitment and all of that stuff is like compared to the output that I’m going to get. I will say that like, there’s, you know, I have a wonderful coach mentor. And she said to me like, never forget the, the importance of compound interest. They might really be interested in you for three years and then they will be kind of like your big ticket buyer. I don’t have that present a lot because
I’m not very money driven by the way, that’s not, it’s just not inside me. think that’s why I find corporate such a struggle because ⁓ I don’t like it. But here I’m like, I’m so driven when somebody tells me like, I had such a great experience, I want to bring my mom next time. And then they come with their mom and I’m like, I’m getting it right.
Chardét Ryel (27:12)
You can see the passion you have for it and I’m sure just by the way that you speak about it that it has impacts for the people who come and join you. What is the vision or things you’ve been playing with as an idea for the future of it? Or are you just kind of right now in it, building it, seeing where it goes?
Alyah Al-Jasser (27:31)
Both. So I am in it and it’s kind of, cause when I started, it’s almost like I didn’t have a vision. was kind of like, just needed to create it and get it out of my body and out of my mind and create it and let it happen. And I have to always kind of step back for a moment and remember that this is really what I dreamt about for so long, to be autonomous, to create things based on my values and not the values of like a company or an organization.
and to apply a work ethic that I think is correct and the right way to do things. So this for me is already like a really big achievement in terms of realizing my vision. And then further down the line, I have an idea to create my own retreat center that aligns completely with my values to have something that is contributing and also, know, really contributing to the
the place where I eventually end up building it. And something that I’m actually actively working on is a program to help others, other teachers, therapists, performers, writers, whoever, to create retreats that are aligned with the soulful values that I believe are really important and that are missing in a lot of these destination retreats.
Chardét Ryel (28:44)
I feel like that would be an incredible, it just seems like that is something that is so missing in this industry. And maybe, I don’t know, maybe one day you are the certification to indicate to someone that this is a retreat that empowers people. That’s what people look for going forward. I really see there’s so much potential when you’re creating like this. Where can people connect with you to see this vision come to life and just
also to see what you’re doing now and maybe join you in another part of the world.
Alyah Al-Jasser (29:19)
Instagram, am at soulfulretreats.co. You can just reach out to me, DM me, and I’m happy to share the calendar for the rest of 2026, upcoming retreats in 2027.
Chardét Ryel (29:32)
I’m to encourage everyone listening to connect with you, whether it be online or offline. just think it’s a really beautiful example of bringing your soul and your values into your business. If you laugh, learned, or felt a little less alone, please leave a review on Apple or Spotify and subscribe. Come back for more. We’re building a community of women to tear down the BS around business and grow in real authentic ways together.
