Meet the Women Behind the The Retreat Leaders
There are plenty of things you can Google about leading a retreat.
How to build a budget.
What to charge.
What questions to ask a venue.
How to create an itinerary.
But there is another layer of retreat leadership that can only be learned by doing the work.
By leading the retreat that fills—and the one that doesn't.
By navigating the flight delay, dietary request, room change, weather shift, nervous participant, unexpected expense or last-minute change.
By learning when to stick to the plan and when the best thing a leader can do is let the plan go.
And by understanding that a meaningful retreat is never just a beautiful location and a great itinerary. It is the result of dozens—sometimes hundreds—of thoughtful decisions that allow guests to feel cared for, connected and fully present.
That is the kind of experience Sheri Colosimo and Anna Colosimo bring to the Baja Retreat Leader Immersion.
Two different backgrounds. One shared body of work.
Over the years, their professional paths have taken them into different corners of the retreat, wellness, travel, education and leadership industries.
That combination is one of the greatest strengths of their work together.
Sheri brings the retreat leadership + facilitation lens.
Sheri has been creating and leading retreats for nearly two decades through Más Bliss Retreats.
She has led experiences close to home and around the world, worked with hundreds of guests, partnered with venues and facilitators, built budgets, marketed and enrolled retreats, facilitated groups and navigated the many unexpected moments that come with bringing people together.
She also brings more than 20 years of experience as a teacher, educator and mentor, along with her work as a leadership coach.
Her approach asks retreat leaders to go deeper than logistics.
Why are they creating this experience?
Who is it truly for?
What do they want people to feel, experience and carry with them when they leave?
Sheri helps leaders create retreats with clarity, intention and a strong sense of purpose.
Anna brings the business + operations lens.
Anna's career has spanned fitness, wellness, hospitality, programming, education, partnerships and business development.
She created and managed the Retreats Department at Fit Bodies, developing retreat experiences while working closely with retreat leaders and international resort partners.
Anna understands how to take an idea, make it operational, and bring it to life.
She sees the moving parts: the partnerships, financial model, venue relationships, guest experience, timelines, communication and systems that turn a strong concept into a retreat that actually works.
As a yoga teacher and wellness practitioner herself, she also understands both sides of the experience: the heart of the retreat and the business required to support it.
Then they brought those two worlds together.
A few years ago, Sheri and Anna began talking more seriously about retreat leadership and the gap they were seeing in the industry.
There were talented teachers, coaches, facilitators, entrepreneurs and community leaders who had meaningful ideas and strong communities—but often didn't know how to move from:
"I would love to lead a retreat someday" to "Here is my retreat. Here is my budget. Here is my plan. And here is what I need to do next."
Sheri and Anna realized they had a lot to share.
So they began teaching what they had learned.
They co-created their Retreat Leader Certification and eventually built The Retreat Leaders as a place for deeper education, mentorship, resources and community because they believe there is room for more thoughtful, capable retreat leaders in the world.
And they don't believe the knowledge required to become one should be guarded.
Supporting others is at the center of the work.
While their professional backgrounds are different, one of Sheri and Anna's strongest shared values is simple:
They both genuinely want other people to succeed.
They want leaders to ask the questions.
They want to share the lessons that came from the retreats that worked beautifully—and the ones that didn't.
They want to talk openly about money, enrollment, marketing, fear, logistics, leadership, venues, contracts, guest dynamics and the realities of this work.
