Welcome to Episode #240 of the Own Your Best Life Podcast

I have been creating, attending and leading retreats, conferences and events for the last 25 years and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. Yet they are an investment of time, energy and resources to attend, so the question of getting your ROI or return on investment from an event is often top of mind whether that’s when you’re thinking of attending one, during the event itself or after you return.

Today’s topic on how to 5 ways to 10X the ROI of retreats, events and conferences are the real and tangible ways that I have practically and energetically created that much value each time.

Create events
Facilitate a workshop
Shift your identity
Create new connections
Integration afterwards

1. Create events

Creating events themselves is a massive lift in terms of energy and resources and it teaches you so much about how to marshal and leverage resources. It is a tremendous outlay when you put together an event whether it’s a retreat or conference. There are many logistics at play and it is a project that must be managed no matter the size of the event.

The first time I created an event was when I was in college and I led the organization of a career event for my business school. It was a job fair for the Logistics, Transportation and Supply Chain Management students at the University of Maryland. I can still see the rows of data and the spreadsheets in my mind of who was attending and I remember just how much mindshare it commanded at the time on top of going to school.

Creating that event allowed me to learn what it took to put on events at scale. From managing costs, organizing attendees, developing topics and themes, and creating flow so people could achieve the objectives of the event.

Being part of the organization allows you to meet people you never would have met before and builds confidence in leadership and decision-making skills.

Those connections helped me get recommendations and build expertise that transfers across industries when looking for work or establishing credibility. It’s a leadership role and it takes leadership to drive events, retreats and conferences and to get live humans to come.

Each time I create an event, there’s a ripple effect of more ideas, more connections and more opportunities. That alone has 10Xed my income, connections and life experiences.

2. Facilitating a workshop

When you facilitate a workshop or the entire event, it immediately demonstrates your expertise. Even if it’s a tangential domain or you have multiple areas of expertise, you now have an audience and exposure.

When you deliver well at an event, people ask more questions and relationships deepen. I’ve had people sign up for my coaching programs or attend the next event or retreat because they had a chance to see how I work.

This has happened after people attended a live workshop, met me at a conference or joined a retreat. That kind of relationship often becomes a return that goes far beyond the original investment because these relationships have value that extends well beyond money.

Similar to job interviews, it’s natural to want to see people live before you offer them a job so that you can vet them. I’ve received job offers after meeting people in person at events where I was able to demonstrate expertise.

When you’re in-person facilitating, there is no hiding. People are experiencing you and your work in real time so they are able to evaluate, benefit from and form their opinions of you more quickly and deeply than if you were simply an attendee.

3. Shift your identity

Shifting your identity at an event is one of the fastest ways to 10X your ROI from retreats, events or conferences. Whether you’re facilitating or attending, you get to show up as the version of yourself that you want to be, so why not be the version that gets more from the experience?

I remember one of the first retreats I attended as part of a business mastermind I was in. That was the first time I allowed myself to be seen as a spiritual person with intuitive gifts, as a healer.

That space allowed me to step away and nurture that part of me while I was developing the intersection of business, high-performance, spirituality and leadership, what I now call the Spiritual Achiever method.

In those early years, while I was at home, I felt strange shifting identities in a space where others knew me differently. Even my close friends didn’t know about this side of me in that way because I didn’t outwardly talk about it. I would gloss over my spiritual practices like meditation and yoga and remain the easy, outwardly successful version of myself that people knew.

But inside, there had been a reckoning between spirituality and success. I was learning what it meant to be outwardly achieving and inwardly spiritual. How to spiritually achieve was still something I was learning how to talk about with others, and when you’re in those newer spaces, you’re not always strong enough in your own understanding to explain it clearly.

Yet in these more spiritual spaces and retreats specifically, I could just be myself. No one needed me to be anyone else and that changed my internal compass.

It allowed me to start orienting toward and loving all parts of me first before asking the outside world for validation. That kind of identity work allowed me to craft a life that truly suits me.

I’ve since attended events and conferences that shifted how I saw myself in corporate spaces or how I thought about income and leadership. Being surrounded by others who have similar ambitions or journeys is life affirming and can easily 10X your income.

Starting a business and being surrounded by entrepreneurs handling the same uncertainties has also multiplied what I have been able to create. Each type of event focused on different outcomes like healing, embodiment, money, somatics, entrepreneurship and leadership. They gave me firm footing to support the visions I had in my mind.

Identity work can shift the trajectory of your life, so anchoring a new identity with real world experiences can quickly move you into believing that what you want is possible.

4. Creating new connections

I was at McKinsey as a summer intern during my Columbia MBA and I remember attending an event they were hosting for summer interns in Key Biscayne in Florida. It was at the Ritz Carlton and you could bring significant others. They wanted to encourage you to stay with the firm and accept their offer.

One afternoon, I was accidentally included in an email from several partners to each other. They were asking about each attendee and checking to make sure every person had someone who connected with them.

While they realized and apologized for including me on the email, I was grateful to see how intentional they were about relationships.

We often take people for granted. This was a prestigious company and it was difficult to even get an internship, yet they were still focused on connection.

I have taken that mentality with me to the events and retreats that I’ve run or attended. Being thoughtful about creating moments to connect with each person. If I’m facilitating a workshop, trying to find a moment to say hello to each person so that they know I appreciate their participation.

With larger conferences, I am intentional about the people or vendors that I want to meet while staying open to new connections.

These relationships have led to returns well beyond what I can quantify. Being seen and creating memories matters more than we often realize.

One conversation can unlock new business opportunities or partnerships that last years.

Your network is your net worth is a phrase we hear often, and it reflects the environments we place ourselves in. Exposure and proximity to the right communities accelerates your growth.

5. Integration Afterwards

When we are at a retreat, event or conference the energy is high and we are motivated to do new things and meet new people. But what happens afterwards?

It’s a common experience that when we get home and the energy wears off, we go back to our old ways of being.

Changing our environment has a large impact on what we do, which is why events that take you out of your day-to-day life can be such a catalyst for growth.

To continue the growth from these experiences, I take action and commit to a new path. That is what has consistently 10Xed my return.

For example, I went to a Millionaires of Color event and made sure to sign up for a year of coaching and the next live event so it was already in my schedule.

Financial health is a priority for me, so doing things that support my income and income-generating activities has created significant results.

I’ll connect with individuals and set up time after the event. I’ll sign up for things and commit time and resources toward a path that I was interested in during the event.

Getting help and reconnecting with people is another way to integrate. I have committed to asking for more help each time I attend an event.

In order to be the CEO of my business and life, I need more help, not less.

Knowing our tendencies helps us stay committed to our own path instead of drifting back into old habits.

I’ve also brought tangible things back into my life after each event. New recipes, books, changes to my home, wellness practices. These are ways that we integrate and make the experience part of our lifestyle rather than a one-time event.

Closing

These are the five top ways I have 10Xed my ROI from retreats, events and conferences.

I have three more conferences, two more retreat experiences and several live events coming up this year, so this is something I continue to think about.

Making sure that these investments are truly worth the time and effort.

Invitation

I’m currently planning my next one-day immersion event, a Design Day intensive where we build out your next 90 days, figure out what needs to stay or go and create space for what’s next.

It’s going to be in New York.

If you want to leave with clarity on your gifting, your next 90 days and what you’re doing next, this is the event to attend.

Spots are limited and we’re already mostly filled, so this May 9th session is not to be missed.

If you’re a client, it’s included.

And if you’re thinking of joining the coaching program, this is a great time to do so.

If you are navigating this season and want support figuring out what is next without burning yourself out, come check out Spiritual Achiever Coaching.

It is my year-long coaching experience for professionals who want clarity and capacity while being coached at the highest level.

You can learn more or start a conversation at:
www.mayempson.com/contact

Start Here: Free Training

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STAND OUT AND LEAD– How to use spiritual and high-performance strategies to achieve time and financial freedom.

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Risk-free: If you don’t start seeing results in your first month, you’ll get your money back.

Want to know more about what happens when you join?

1. When you join Spiritual Achiever® Coaching you’ll be supported for a full year: Career Revelation Academy: A 5-step career change process (if you have a job you want to stay in, I’ll show you how to love it even more) that can launch you into your next career chapter in 30 days.
2. 2x/month group training and coaching on Spirituality, Achievement, Earth Energy and Harmony. You’ll know how to design your days for breakthroughs, create a personal brand and community, lead yourself and others through change, become more physically and mentally fit, reduce stress and reinvent what’s possible in this next chapter of your life.
3. Discover your Leadership Strengths and Branding Workshop: Increase your awareness of what makes YOU different from others and how to become even better at your genius zone.
4. Your Best Year workshop: Create your one year plan and design this next year, no matter what time of the year it is.
5. Your Next 5 Years one-day virtual retreat: Vision what’s possible 5 years from now and break out of your old routines so you can step into new habits, behaviors and routines.
6. Tickets to all in-person Spiritual Achiever retreats (discounted rates): Highly immersive and intimate gatherings where we spend time in nature, experience energy work, eat and move well – all while making big decisions and committing to what’s next for us.
7. Monthly 1:1 Coaching Sessions: To help you break through obstacles, define your individual path, and to work on both strategy and mindset.