Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Khederian.
Kristin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been working in the wellness world since 2008, where I started off managing yoga and pilates studios. I have a degree in business marketing and international studies and have always been passionate about fitness, so studio manager was a natural fit for me. After 2 years in that role, and a bit of a hiatus traveling in Nicaragua and Central America, pursuing my other love of travel and exploring new cultures. After my return, I decided to pursue my yoga teacher training in 2010, and soon after that, started my own business teaching yoga and doing freelance online marketing work for wellness industry businesses.
Fast forward to 2014 where I led my first international yoga retreat to where else but Nicaragua. I already had some fantastic contacts in the village of San Juan del Sur, so planning and executing a retreat there felt like a natural fit, plus I really wanted to bring my students somewhere that was like a second home to me. Over the past 3 years, I’ve led Adventure & Wellness Trips with my retreat partner Antonio Aniello to several countries including Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Portugal and Cape Cod.
My retreats have been very popular, and I’ve had a lot of other yoga teachers ask me how I plan them, price them, market them, and get students to sign up. In January 2017 SolSeed Retreats was born! Combining my love for teaching yoga and traveling the world as my full-time job was a concept I had been thinking about for awhile, but once I got clear on how to do it (planning and organizing retreats for others), everything started flowing and I received a very positive response from the Boston yoga community and beyond.
We just wrapped up our first season of leading retreats here in the Azores, Portugal. Over the past 6 weeks we have worked with 5 amazing instructors, and together, have brought 80 people here to experience the magic of this island. We’ve learned a lot, and are feeling super excited for what’s to come for SolSeed Retreats and our tribe of teachers!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve been really lucky that I have a strong community of yoga and wellness professionals that I’ve maintained great relationships with over the past 9 years in this industry. Reaching out to them about leading a retreat with SolSeed felt natural, and I feel grateful that so many teachers I respect have wanted to work with us and have trusted us to plan their international trips.
Every startup has its ups and downs. We’ve been learning a lot about how to make a retreat run as smoothly as possible over the last 6 weeks here in the Azores. It’s been a lot of trial and error, but I’m really proud of us for working with our retreat center partners and teachers on ways to constantly improve and make our services more valuable.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about SolSeed Retreats – what should we know?
SolSeed Retreats offers complete planning and execution of yoga and wellness retreats. We make fitness professionals who want to grow their brand and business, through international retreats, successful.
We take the “dirty work” out of retreat planning so that the yoga and wellness facilitators that we work with can focus on what they are passionate about – teaching and holding space for their students while on retreat.
Our business model is unique because unlike other retreat planning companies who are just trying to mass market retreats, we are focusing completely on the teacher and making them highly successful. Our goal is to grow a global team of teachers who value community and strive to build this part of their business.
We also want to keep adding unique retreat locations into the mix. On the horizon for 2018 we’re going to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Portugal, Morocco…and more! We are also passionate about exploring and giving back to our planet and to the communities in which we run retreats.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
In our business, hospitality is key. We want to make sure that our retreats serve our instructors and their communities at the highest possible level. We want the retreat leaders who work with us to feel completely taken care of with their needs, both financially and otherwise.
We have witnessed in our own business how powerful it is as a teacher to grow a local community of travelers and friends, and want to create that opportunity for teachers everywhere.
Contact Info:
- Address: 20 Kensington Rd.
Hampton Falls, NH 03844 - Website: www.solseedretreats.com
- Phone: 978-505-5453
- Email: kristin@solseedretreats.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/solseedretreats
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/solseedretreats
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/solseedretreats
Image Credit:
Melissa Ostrow of Melo Photo
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