A few weeks ago, I spent four days doing some of my favorite work in the world. We began with two days at my Equine Vision Journey Retreat, where the horses invited us into a deeper kind of listening.
There were insights about leadership, boundaries, focus, relationships, and what each woman wanted more of in her life and business. There was laughter and emotion, quiet moments and big realizations, and space to hear the wisdom that can be hard to hear when we’re moving quickly through our everyday lives.
In between our two retreats, the women stepped in front of the camera for a professional photo shoot with Candace Smith. It felt like the perfect bridge between the two experiences, an opportunity to bring their light to life and allow themselves to be seen through the lens of everything they had just uncovered.
Then we moved into two days of my VIP Business Alchemy Retreat, where we took all of that inner knowing and brought it to the business table.
Nine brilliant women gathered together, each bringing years of experience and different perspectives. Each woman had dedicated time to bring forward the questions that mattered most to her, and then we went to work.
We talked about leadership, business models, offers, pricing, positioning, relationships, visibility, and where each woman wanted to take her business next. There were those wonderful moments when someone would say something and you could feel the whole room recognize it. A question would open a new possibility. Someone would see a thread another woman hadn’t seen. We’d put numbers around an idea and suddenly it felt possible.
As I’ve reflected on those two days, four lessons have continued to rise to the surface. And I think they’re worth considering in your business too.
1. Knowing what you want changes the strategy
We often approach strategy by asking, “What should I do?” During Alchemy, we kept going deeper. Who do you really want to serve? What work do you most want to be doing? What conversations do you want to lead? What do you want your business to make possible?
The more specific the desire became, the more focused the strategy became. Business development, offers, visibility, relationships, and even how someone spent her time began to look different.
Power Question: What do I really want to create in this season of my business?
Let yourself answer that before deciding what you should do next.
2. Look at what is already here
I was struck by how often possibility was already sitting right in front of us. Years of experience that could be brought together in a new way. People ready for greater leadership. Relationships that could open doors. Offers that belonged together. Intellectual property and ideas that had been quietly developing for years.
As accomplished women, we can be so quick to look for the next thing. Yet there is tremendous richness in looking at what we’ve already built and considering how we might use it more fully.
Power Question: What have I already built, learned, or created that I’m ready to use more fully?
There may be far more possibility there than you realize.
3. Your role gets to evolve as your business grows
Several of our conversations came back to leadership. As a business grows, the woman leading it gets to grow her role too.
Maybe your greatest value is shifting toward vision and relationships. Maybe you want fewer offers and deeper client work. Perhaps you’re ready to lead bigger conversations, empower other people on your team, or bring decades of experience into a bigger body of work.
You have agency in how you lead your business. You get to decide where your wisdom and energy create the greatest value now.
Power Question: What does my business need most from me at this stage of its growth?
Your answer may be very different from what your business needed from you three years ago.
4. There is power in being deeply known
One of the things I felt most grateful for around the Alchemy table was the depth of relationship in the room. These women know one another. I know their businesses, their visions, the decisions they’ve made along the way, and the bigger possibilities they’re building toward.
That kind of partnership changes the conversation. We can go deeper more quickly because we’re building on work we’ve already done together. A question isn’t being considered in isolation. We can see how it connects to the business model, the message, the leadership, the life she wants to create, and the vision she has shared with us over time.
I love communities that bring women together. There is tremendous value in meeting new people, expanding your circle, and being exposed to fresh ideas. I’ve also experienced the extraordinary value of having people in my own business who know me and my work deeply. They can see what I can’t always see for myself, remind me of what I’ve said I wanted, challenge my thinking, and hold the bigger vision with me.
I’m deeply honored that I get to be that kind of partner for my clients and create spaces where they can become that for one another. There is something powerful about building a business alongside people who are invested in your success and have enough history with you to recognize the significance of what is unfolding.
And perhaps one of the best reflections of what happened in that room came from the women themselves. Before we were finished, they were already asking for more. They asked if we could have two Business Alchemy Retreats next year. I’m listening. So in 2027, we’ll be adding a second Alchemy Retreat to the Movement Maker Mastermind experience. I love that this next evolution of the program came directly from the women in the room and what they knew they wanted more of.
Power Question: Who knows your business deeply enough to help you see what you can’t see on your own?
The inner work changes the business work
There were powerful decisions made during Business Alchemy too, and I’m saving that conversation for another day because I think decisions deserve an article of their own.
With the horses, we had spent time listening first. The women had connected with what they wanted, what mattered, what they were ready for, and how they wanted to lead. Then we brought that knowing into a room where they were surrounded by women who knew their businesses, believed in their visions, and brought their own wisdom and experience to the conversation.
I’ve had this kind of partnership in my own business, and I know how valuable it is. There are times when someone else can see a possibility you haven’t fully seen yet, ask the question that changes your perspective, or remind you of the bigger vision you’re building toward. Having a coach and trusted community who understand the deeper context of your business creates room for conversations that can shape what comes next.
This is the heart of Soul+Strategy™ inside my Movement Maker Mastermind. We do the inner work, we bring smart strategy to the table, and we build relationships deep enough to truly know one another’s businesses and visions. It is one of the greatest honors of my work to walk alongside these women as they grow their businesses, expand their leadership, and bring more of their wisdom into the world.
So as you look at your own business this week, consider one final power question:
What do I already know, and who do I trust to help me build from there?
That’s where the alchemy happens.
Want to know more about the Movement Maker Mastermind and what it could look like to have this kind of support around your business? Contact me, I’d love to start a conversation.
