An Inside Look at Our 5-Year Visioning & Business Planning Retreat at Alderbrook

Oct 13

This past weekend, my friend and collaborator Marguerite Martin and I got away for a night at Alderbrook Resort on the Hood Canal in Union, WA, to work on our individual 5-year visions and 1-year action plans. (You can check out the video BTS over on my Instagram.)

The PNW was really showing off. Fog lingered over the water in the morning, the Olympic Mountains peeked out on the horizon, and the water was absolutely serene. I'm a summer girlie and always feel a little blue when summer ends, but I guess fall isn't so bad…

*Alderbrook is so peaceful and cozy. We did a Sunday to Monday stay, so the lodge was pretty quiet. Perfect!*

Over the past decade, I've learned from Marguerite that you shouldn't do your business planning until you've done your visioning first. Start with the big picture. What is the life you actually want to live, and how can your business support that? And then my personal favorite part (I'm biased!)—how can your marketing support your business?

We brought our Lock In workbooks, notebooks, and a rainbow of sticky notes and went through the same visioning and planning process we guide our Lock In attendees through. We revisited last year's visions, reflected on what still resonates, and thought about what we want the next five years to look like.

And while business is a big part of this process, we look at so much more: relationships, health, personal growth, financial goals, and all the other pieces that make up a fulfilling life.

Some of these pics are kind of blurry because they’re screenshots from videos we took. But anywho, this is the huge table we spread out on in the lodge. Each color of stickie note represents a different area of my life.

Visioning isn't always easy. It's not woo-woo. And it is essential IMO.

For me, there is definitely a “manifesting” element to it all—I believe there is a lot of value in writing things down and articulating what you want. Put out into the universe! But I also believe that there must be an action plan.

The whole process is as tiring as it is rewarding. It's exciting and fun to dream, but it can also feel overwhelming, or even a little unpleasant at times, because there might be some hard but crucial things you need to look at and change. TBH, I think that's why a lot of people avoid doing this work.

That's also why I believe getting away from your everyday environment is so important. You need the space to really think. Reflect. Contemplate. Stare off into space for a while. (It helps if the view is gorgeous.)

We filled pages of our notebooks and started turning our reflections into concrete 1-year action plans. What do we actually need to do over the next year to move closer to our 5-year visions?

In between all that brain work, we enjoyed walks, water views, amazing food Alderbrook’s restaurant, hot tub talks, and quiet time by the big fire in the lodge. I didn't even open my computer the entire time, although I hauled it around in my backpack like some kind of security blanket, lol.

*This is at breakfast. Marguerite read the lifestyle section, I read the comics. The most important part of the paper!*

It was the perfect combination of productive and restorative, and I felt very spoiled and grateful for the getaway. (Great idea, Marguerite!)

Next up for me: Finalizing my Q4 and 2027 business plan and figuring out the marketing that needs to happen to support it all.

This is also the process we facilitate during the retreat portion of Lock In, our retreat and 12-week group coaching program for real estate agents. The retreat portion of the program is at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, WA, and this is where we step away from the noise of daily life and focus on the bigger picture. Then, over the 12 weeks that follow, we get into the nitty-gritty of business planning, marketing, and actually making those plans happen. And while everyone's vision and plan is completely unique, nobody has to do it alone.

One of my biggest takeaways from our getaway at Alderbrook is something I already knew but needed to experience again: Your vision deserves your time and attention BEFORE you fill your calendar with goals and to-dos.

So if you've been putting off thinking about the bigger picture, I highly recommend giving yourself the gift of time away in a beautiful place. You might be surprised by what comes up when you finally have the space to think. ❤️

Here’s an Instagram Reel with some more BTS from our getaway: