It’s a retreat like no other as 28 formidable, entrepreneurial South Pacific women from seven EO chapters in Australia and New Zealand, including one from the USA, gathered for four days in the inaugural retreat of the Women of EO ANZ.
Participants from various EO chapters, including those from EO Melbourne, travelled to the unique and beautiful Kuku Yalanji Country, which is the land of the Kubirriwarra people, as they held the Women of EO ANZ 2022 Retreat on 25-28 August at Silky Oaks Lodge at The Daintree, Queensland. With the theme of “Connect with Self, Others and Nature,” the retreat was for the Women of EO ANZ to take stock, re-invigorate and connect with themselves, each other and the natural environment.
Staying true to its theme, the retreat was structured in a way that provided the participants with the time for reflection, connection, learning, feeding the soul and a sense of fun. The idea of a retreat stemmed from the Women of EO ANZ’s September meeting, where members expressed being overwhelmed with exhaustion and mental and emotional fatigue. They embraced the suggestion for a retreat as it aligned with the group’s goals of creating greater connections and encouraging retention of women members across Australia and New Zealand.
The retreat was facilitated by Kylee Stone of The Performance Co., who is a very successful and respected facilitator and personal development coach. The program consisted of a formal learning day, yarning circles to articulate and process learning, meditations and reflections to embed learning, and informal yarning circles to further explore topics of interest. Participants also enjoyed various activities, such as river drifting, lunch in the rainforest, indigenous art lesson, life story through song, and a silent disco.
“(It’s) such a pleasure to meet in such an incredible location amongst these beautiful women. We are truly privileged to have access to these life-changing experiences,” shared EO Melbourne Member and Mentorship Chair & Key Executive Chair Jeni Clift.
Other participants were also very satisfied with the whole experience. Here are some of their feedback:
“This was my first women’s event and I really get the value that this community has.”
“I’m going to tell every woman in my Chapter that she should join WoEO!”
“What a blessing to meet women from around Oz and NZ! – Loved our friends from across the ditch!!”
EO promotes diversity in its membership and encourages various interests among its members. In fact, EO has a program called MyEO that enables EO members to curate a tailor-made curriculum of groups and events. With MyEO, members get the exact experience they want and value and desire.
MyEO Women is a MyEO Premier Group dedicated to supporting the retention and recruitment of women to the Entrepreneurs’ Organization through building a collaborative, diverse and supportive member community that offers rich networking and learning opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
(Photos from Women of EO ANZ.)