Masterminds Unleashed: Retreats - Ultimate Connection with Clients with Alison K

Catharine O'Leary: 00:00:00

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to kickstart the conversation. I am so excited to have the one in the only Alison K with us in the house today. Alison is a native of North Carolina. And she is somebody that has a long standing relationship with health and fitness. She was a competitive swimmer, which I was up back in the day as well. So I understand that, as well as bodybuilding through school. And that is that largely directed her to that health and fitness field. She's been doing that for a number of years with that self care, wellness. And she's gotten into coaching for personal training, as well as wellness and and is now kind of branching out into retreats, and so on. So I'm happy to have you here, Alison, and I can't wait to talk more about kind of the the way that you approach customer experiences, because that's, that's kind of your zone of genius. So welcome to kickstart the conversation.

Alison K: 00:00:57

Thank you so much, Catherine, excited to be here with you. Perfect.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:01:01

So what, what is going on right now, like, tell us a little bit about who you serve, and what you what you do for them what your zone is genius is?

Alison K: 00:01:11

Well, actually, when people asked me that, I like to tell them, I have two arms of my business. So I built my business in the health and fitness space by coaching individuals privately I started as a college student, it helped me actually get through school. And so I sort of had my own unique approach, if you will, I never told my clients for one that they could they needed to invest in equipment or anything, I'll always I'm super creative and innovative when it comes to putting something together. And so about 10 years ago, I started feeling the pull to help other business owners create innovative offerings within their business, because that's basically what I've done and how I built my business. And one of the best ways I think to do that is to add some type of retreat or event type experience. I really feel like since the pandemic taught us anything, it's that we need to be with other people. And I feel like when we're in person in particular, it just changes the dynamic on everything. So to answer your question, I really serve two different groups of people, I'm still always available for people who want to better their health and fitness. That's how I got started. It's where my roots are. But on the other hand, I'm an entrepreneur at heart, I always have been. And I feel a big calling more and more now to help other business leaders step into their brilliance and offering client experiences not just in the health and fitness space. But people in the healthcare space, people in the Allied Health Professions, people in the service space professions, travel, that type of thing. So that's really, I think, where the opportunity is over the next few years.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:02:43

And I think that, you know, you brought up a really good point that we are still trying to figure out really what post COVID looks like. Absolutely and and what you know how much of travel is going to come out. And honestly, the economic repercussions are still being felt. So the travel industry is still trying to figure out how to recoup some of the losses and pricing is still kind of wonky. Don't know if it's gonna go up or down and so on. So, but the, I think, and I've seen events are coming back in a big way. Those in person events that you used to see those great big, huge kind of 1000 2000 people going to see, you know, Tony Robbins or Grant Cardone or whatever. And the and, and I think actually, what I've seen is a resurgence, if not even more so of that retreat space of that more compact, more personalized, more like just a little less formal, a little more, you know, intimate.

Alison K: 00:03:49

Oh, I completely agree with you. And to your point, if I can just piggyback on one quick thing. I think the big events are coming back. But I do think that one thing you're going to see over the next two or three years in particular, is the big events aren't going anywhere. But what you're going to see is what I call the beautiful hybrid experience of having a small group, but yet not really a small group experience. I'm talking less than 500 people in person with a select program, extremely customized. I think that's really where the real opportunity is when you're talking about events in general. That you're a lot of people that like I was just interviewing someone on my show this week, who said part of her big vision is to have a huge event like a Tony Robbins style event. Right. And while I don't think that's going anywhere, I think people are looking for different experiences now. People want to feel the energy of being with other people but they also don't want to be in the room with 20,000 other people there. I think there are always going to be people that want to do that. But I really think the opportunity now is in the smaller events.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:04:55

I like that because I don't think I I'm trying to trying to think There are very few events that are that medium space quarterly exactly like the the not the 10, or 12, or 15. People mastermind,

Alison K: 00:05:08

because the tricky thought is, is that a, it won't work. And B, you can't make any money doing it, which, you know, is just a load of BS, pardon my French, but it is because I feel like it's all about how you set it up. Yeah, obviously, the coach and me says, What's the outcome you want? Right? That always has to be considered. But you have to be able to think differently about it and get creative, get innovative, what is going to give you that edge and offering an experience like that that's different from what everybody else is doing. That's what people want?

Catharine O'Leary: 00:05:41

I think I completely agree, completely agree. Because I do think that people want to get out and, you know, get into the events. I don't think that they necessarily want to be in a stadium. Some do, you know?

Alison K: 00:05:57

For that, right? It'll always be a place for that.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:05:59

And even the people that do want to do those big stadium events, I think that there's still a need to have a little bit of a closer knit. Yes, you know, that, that 200 to 500 people where you can be breaking out into networking groups, you can have, you know, more intimate excursions and event. So one of the things that I've seen Allison coming up, and I've been, you know, being invited to a lot of our, this idea of cruises, so people are getting two to 300 people maybe even less than that, but you know what, like, I know the the one cruise and I'm on in January, the marketers Cruise has probably about 400 people that actually attend. And is that the kind of I mean, that's, that's a closed environment, obviously, it's about as well as, you know, the ability to have excursions, but it's not, it's not 1000 people, it's not 5000 people. So I'm seeing more and more of those, like the there's, you know, podcasters cruise or authors, cruise or speakers,

Alison K: 00:07:02

you're gonna see more of that. I think that's really where the opportunity is, if you're designing experiences, I think the intimate experiences are definitely a huge opportunity. Because I think there's a tricky thought that unless it's to a fantastic place, or you know, fabulous tropical location, or something. Look, a retreat isn't a getaway or a vacation. It's a you, retreats are about change. And I think when we talk about regardless of what size your event is, that should be front and center and what you talk about, that shouldn't be, Hey, let's go out of town and have a good time. And then when we get back, let's hope that our world is different. Right? So, but to your point about the 400 people, I've done, I've been to two events this year one was 350. And one this past weekend that I went to in Northern Virginia was 200 people fantastic event, you felt like you were more than a number, you got time with the speakers, you got time to bond with other people, it was the perfect thing for someone that wants something just a little bit bigger. And I think we have to think about that. I

Catharine O'Leary: 00:08:04

love that. And so what, what are some of the maybe the mindset traps or the limiting beliefs that people need to consider getting over to think, Oh, I can't have it. You know, I

Alison K: 00:08:17

mean, if you want to do one in your business, yeah. Yeah, I think I think the biggest limiting thought that I hear and that I talked to about people is, I'm afraid nobody's gonna come. Which is 100% mindset. Because if you're afraid that people are not going to come, then you're either not in belief about what you do, and how you can deliver a result. And B, there's that thought that everything has to be just right. And it doesn't that's the beauty of doing an experience like that is that you can be different, you know, you don't have to follow the Tony Robbins template or somebody else who when people think of large events, that's what people think about. You can do it any way you want. You can do it your way.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:09:00

Okay, so we got we got, you know, being afraid no one will come up, is there anything else that that kind of stops people from thinking of, of a retreat, even if it's a smaller retreat,

Alison K: 00:09:10

it cost too much money, and I won't be able to see a good profit from it. Okay, which the the tricky thought around that is, is that they either have, they haven't thought it through enough, or they don't have a template plan that they can simply rinse and repeat when it comes to doing a schedule. It's not math, it's not magic. It's very logical, and it's not emotional. And the problem when we talk about making a profit, making a certain amount of money, cannot cover all my expenses. It's, it's because we've got tricky thoughts attached to that. And when we change what we think about that, and how we create it, then we come up with a different strategy to create it. And that's one of the things that I do is is that I have a five step process that I always use in my own retreats and events that I now teach other business owners how to do because That's where I find is one of the biggest pitfalls

Catharine O'Leary: 00:10:03

is, is in the in the creation of like the innovation,

Alison K: 00:10:07

designing it and pricing it. So that, you know, you end up at the end of the day having making a reasonable amount on it. It's, it's, I have talked to so many people this year who have said, Well, I'm not going to make any money doing that, which leads me to believe that they just had a bad experience doing it. Or maybe they just threw something together and just hoped that it would work out. Which honestly, if you're trying something new in your business, everybody's done that. Yeah, nothing wrong with that. And I think there's a certain learning process that goes with that, but but I think at the end of the day, you have to face facts and say, Okay, what's possible here? What's the outcome I want? How much do I want to make and go from there? You have to begin with the end in mind, right?

Catharine O'Leary: 00:10:48

Always. And then I, everyone who has ever listened to me ever knows that I've started with the end in mind, right? Yeah, you have to know where you're leading them before you can start taking them on the journey. And I love this, because this is, you know, this, I do believe that there is something next for people to understand how you work in your business. So, you know, the webinars and the summits and the gift giveaways, those are still great tools, but they're getting a little oversaturated. Let's face it, you know, they are they are getting, you know, a little tired. And they're, I just feel like, as we come out of COVID, there's also a change in the way that people want to be talked to, or spoken to about about, you know, they want to be it's customized, it's personalized, it's, I'm not a number, I'm not one of to 20,000 people that were in the room, I'm I got to talk to the event host and I got to, you know, network with people, and I've got my calendar full of potential clients, because this this was so good. And I think people are actually looking for that. And and I think that that's where this, you know, these experiences, whether you call it a retreat, or a mastermind, or you know, but you know, a way to maybe take your high level course or your high level program and put it into it or add or put it into an experience, I think is is something that everyone you know, who is trying to be innovative and creative and get into this is less of a push energy, less of a sales energy and more of a relationship energy. Is that fair?

Alison K: 00:12:30

Absolutely. No, I think you're totally right. And I think to let me just piggyback on that with one additional thought. And that is the pushing energy that you talk about is what I call the hustle energy. It's the energy that I need to get a certain number of people to sign up rather than Wow, I've got this amazing opportunity for for people to join me, it's like it's a completely different way to present it, right. And that's the kind of thing that people want to feel invited to. That's the other thing is that we're not selling them. We're inviting them to join us.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:12:58

Right. And I think that that's a really big difference. Really big difference. And you can invite 200 people to come join you.

Alison K: 00:13:06

Oh, totally, totally. You can invite 500 If you want. Absolutely, you can invite four or five people if that's what you're thinking. Right.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:13:13

Right. And there is I mean, the so for service providers in particular, who are used to very low overhead very low, you know, ways to put events together in the sense of being virtual, and it's a Zoom account or right. There's not a lot of cost of goods. So don't be afraid of that, though. I think, yeah, I think that there's, there is a way to approach things so that you are not out of pocket. And I think that's, that might be what people are a little afraid of is like, gosh, I'm gonna have to, you know, put this money down, and I'm not going to get it back. And what if I don't sell? And that just sounds like a big thing? Well, it's a big thing, because you made it a big thing. Exactly have to be a big thing. They're always innovative and creative ways to Well, I

Alison K: 00:14:02

mean, let's be honest, we're entrepreneurs, and we're business owners, we can go make money tomorrow. So, you know, if something doesn't sell, it's not it's not you. There's just it's an opportunity to look at what isn't working and to change it. Right. Yeah. And the only way that we know that is to talk to people and ask questions is one of the things that I tell them entrepreneurs all the time, I said, the best way to find out what people want is to talk to them and ask them.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:14:28

Exactly. So really getting into as I as I constantly talk about here, the 3am question, what is the 3am question that your clients are waking up trying to figure out? And that might be you know, how do I attract more clients to my business? Or it might be you know, how do I get fitter or how do I eat better or it might be how do I you know, how do I make my my high end program or one of my programs does, like whatever the program is more customized, more personalized. How do I get in touch? How to build those relationships?

Alison K: 00:15:03

And how, how can I create an amazing experience that will just sell itself? You know what I'm saying? It's, it's all about the energy that you're putting into it and what's behind it, if you approach it to your point from the, okay, I've only got five spots available. You gotta get in on that now all kind of thing versus, Hey, have you thought about what this might look like for you Come and join me? Let's find out kind of thing, right? It's completely different, you know, is

Catharine O'Leary: 00:15:29

that just give me goosebumps it is. It's completely different. And it's and it's something that, you know, when you say, Oh, I've only got five spots, I immediately turn off, like my blank is immediately turned, like you're

Alison K: 00:15:42

expecting the sales lawn that if you don't join me, now the spots might get gone and look as a business owner. To some degree, you have to create that urgency. I think the big opportunity is how do you do it? And can you do it in a way that feels authentic to you, and really speaks to your ideal person.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:16:02

So it's urgency without salesy, exactly. Or hustling, or Huxley? Yeah. We're just making words up. Now, folks, it's just well, you know, I just,

Alison K: 00:16:14

I'll just throw this example in there. I mean, look, I built my built my business in the health and fitness industry. And, you know, I got started working in a big gym, talking to people. And when people think about buying a gym membership, what do they think about? They think about a used car salesman approach, the deal is only good for today. If you sign up today, you can save this much money if you walk out the door that deals overwhelmed. Well, you know, what? Talk to the hand. I don't think so that's not going to work. Right. So that's what people think about. So I think what we have to think about as business owners is, look, we need to be communicate with people in a real way. But we can do it without selling our soul. You know.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:16:51

And I think that that's the shift that's happening is that it's more about communicating and building relationships, and less about, you know, the, the, the, you know, as seen on TV, kind of infomercial thing.

Alison K: 00:17:09

Yeah, totally. So, I mean, that's not going anywhere. That's like, what a colleague of mine calls the bro marketing, right, that's not gonna go anywhere. Right? If anything, we're probably going to see more of that just because the virtual space is getting so much bigger. Yeah, but, but I feel like if you're a real, if you really want to make yourself stand out and be different, no matter what your business is, okay, no matter what you do, and look, there's plenty of room for all of us in here. Right? Is that, you know, we have to be willing to say, how can I make this so unbelievably amazing for my people? That, you know, what does that look like? And we start asking questions there, you know, the way to the way to make more sales in your business is to help more people is to solve more people's problems. And do it with a mindset that, look, I don't care if you sign up or not, here's what I'm going to help you with. Right? It's like, we have to have that mindset too.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:18:04

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's because we're not. We're not for everyone. Like, I'm not for everyone. Right? No, nevermind. Because I mean, you know, attract the best release the rest or somebody else's best. That's fantastic. I love it. Yeah, I'm so so on the second part of the interview, Alison, what I like to do is kind of brainstorm a little bit about a quiz that might work for for your business or for businesses that your clients have. And it's just a, like, a fun kind of a way to, to brainstorm and kind of come up with, with a framework. And what I'm hearing is that there might be a framework around what's stopping you from creating your own, you know, retreat or your own customer experience. So what what is, you know, for your, for your clients that are looking to switch it up, to get a little bit more of a relationship focus to be a little bit more experience focused? You know, maybe the 3am question for them is, I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to do this without losing my shirt. I, you know, this sounds like a lot of work. You know, like, I just I can't I can't quite get by the, you know, the hard costs, if you will. Yeah. And, yeah,

Alison K: 00:19:21

I think both of those things are factors. I think it's to your point, I don't want to I don't want to lose my shirt. Right. But I also want to create something that works, you know, so the, I think that thought that I don't know if I can do this is always there.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:19:37

And that's actually kind of goes across a lot of different things. Totally. So you can there's two ways that you could do a quiz for for something like this. There is kind of the, like the hurdle that the hurdle that people have to get over. So what's stopping you from creating your, you know, ultimate customer experience? is retrieved. Right? So what what, you know, what's the hurdle? What's one thing stopping you? So when they wake up in the morning and think, like, I wish I could I just don't know how well what's stopping you? What is it? What can we identify as stopping you? And then how do we help you overcome that? So maybe some of the outcomes that you have are things like, cost or like, like how do I how do I cost this? Or how do I price this to include the cost include profit, so there's the pricing is a hurdle, maybe there's mindset around, you know, people coming to the event? And you know, how do you get over that imposter syndrome? Or that nobody will want to join me mindset? And then how do I make this experience stand out from others? Right, so those those might be like, I'm not sure how to how to praise it, I'm not sure how to make sure people are gonna come.

Alison K: 00:20:57

There's also a question, where do I begin? Because it can be it's very overwhelming. An event together? And look, it doesn't matter if you've been in business for two years or 20 years? Because when you start adding something that's different, it's a whole new ballgame. For sure. Right. And so I think a big question is, where would I begin? You know, how do I Right? Yeah. So that's, that's a 3am question. For sure. I think,

Catharine O'Leary: 00:21:24

yeah. So what you could do is, is have a quiz that actually has that within the quiz. So you can have the quiz saying, you know, what's stopping you from, you know, exploring or putting on your, you know, kick ass, you know, ultimate experience? And then in the quiz questions, you can say, Okay, which of the following is, is, you know, are you kind of challenged with most at this time, you know, getting started filling the event, pricing the event, or making the event really stand out, and, and be creative. And those are the four outcomes that you can use that then if they say, I don't know where to start, you send them to a results page, saying, okay, you know, what, you're not sure where to start? Here's the checklist, right? Here's what you do to start, if you want more help, let's get on a call, right? Whereas the people that are worried about pricing it, maybe they get, you know, some some key tips and tricks around pricing. And then they get invited to the call. And then the people that are thinking about like, how do I make this innovative, creative and stand out, they get separate, you know, okay, here's your tips and tricks, and everyone gets invited to the call. That doesn't mean that everyone doesn't need all four of those they do. But what the what you're doing is you're meeting them where they're at. Right? So my biggest challenge right now is even getting started. Great. Let's help you do that. Right. Yeah. The flip side of doing a hurdle like doing what's stopping you? Is a is it like more like a type question or questionnaire saying, you know, what does? What's your customer experience retreat type? Or, you know, something along the lines of, you know, like, what's your retreat superpower, or like, where you can say, Oh, you want to have a really small, inclusive, you know, maybe two to 10 people like in a house in the mountains kind of retreat, or you are really looking to based on, you know, the questions in the quiz can be, what are you trying to accomplish? What are you trying to teach? How many people do you want, things like that, and then you could have, you know, small, medium and large kind of, quote unquote, retreats or, you know, intimate, you know, kind of medium versus higher level. So, those are just some ideas for you to think through. So, two ways to do it, you can do it as a type and they can find their perfect retreat type, or they can find out the one hurdle that's stopping them and get help with that hurdle. All of them however lead to you and either call or webinar or masterclass or, or something along those lines. So, yeah. Okay.

Alison K: 00:24:10

I think the big the big thing that I hear the most from the people that I speak with is, it's it's how do you the hurdle to get them started doing it? I think once they get over that, and they start really thinking about it, then I think it can bleed into that the other area that you were talking about, about the type of retreat, right, yeah. So I think, I think by and large, when I talk to people, it's I don't know where to begin, right? How do I begin to go about planning, you know, it's that introductory stuff, right?

Catharine O'Leary: 00:24:40

So maybe maybe the quiz is what's your first step to your ultimate retreat? And yeah, or

Alison K: 00:24:46

what? Or what would what is main to your pony? What's your number one concern? Right? Yeah, about beginning you know, to do one, and then where do you think you need to start? That kind of thing. And then going from there, because when people tell you, I don't know where to go, I don't know how to price it. I don't know how many people it's like each of those are are different pieces.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:25:10

Yep. I'm just saying the same question. Right. So so it's really what's stopping you from starting? Yeah, that's,

Alison K: 00:25:18

that's really what I hear from a lot of people that I talk with.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:25:21

Right? So stopping you from creating the ultimate customer experience retreat. And then you can ask them a few questions around. Okay, well, tell me about your business. Tell me what you what you're trying to do with a retreat? Have you done one before? Or not? Like, there are some questions that you probably asked, you know, people to get started with. And then, you know, through that, and through those questions, you can say, oh, you know, what you're really hung up on, or your number one, the number one thing stopping you from what you've said, is really understanding the pricing. Or it's really understanding how to, you know, pick the size of the retreat, or is really understanding how to pick a location? Maybe, maybe it's not tactical? Yeah.

Alison K: 00:26:07

Yeah, I really think the tactical questions are secondary to I don't know where to begin. And I don't know how to proceed. I think those are the big ones for people. Yeah.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:26:16

Yeah. Pricing, filling, filling the retreat, pricing the reality. And, you know, being innovative and different.

Alison K: 00:26:25

Yeah, I guess people just, I think people just get hesitant and kind of cringe when they think about selling something. I think people don't want to come across as that buy today, or else kind of mentality, which, honestly, is what you see a lot online.

Catharine O'Leary: 00:26:39

And that's Yeah, 100%. And that's what you could have actually, if you if somebody says, you know, I'm afraid nobody will come or like, you know, they're kind of their hurdle is filling the retreat. You can talk about, well, you know, it's not a sales, it's an invitation, right like that. Those are the types of things you can talk about within that, you know, okay, let's talk about filling the retreat. And then for somebody else, they get, okay, let's talk about pricing, your retreat. And then for somebody else is like, okay, let's talk about the format of your retreat and the innovation. And so, you know, filling pricing and format might be the outcomes. And the quiz question is, what's stopping you from creating your killer return? Yeah, there you go. Sounds good. Done. Brilliant. All right. Alison, thank you so much for joining us. We've gone a little over here. I appreciate your time. And for everyone listening, please check the show notes. If you are looking to think about a retreat or looking to add a retreat, or want to figure out your next retreat. There is a checklist there that you're going to want to check out and and do download. So unintended, right? No pun intended. So check the show notes for that. Alison, thank you so much. Where can people find more information

Alison K: 00:27:56

about you? They can go to my website, just just head over to my website directly WWW dot the Alison k.com. You can connect with me directly there.