Podcast Episode: Rebecca Eisenberg - retreat creator and marketing professional on wellness and empowerment

Entire Episode Transcript

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This transcript was edited with the removal of most filler words for readability. 

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (00:00)

Bekah, hello, welcome to the podcast.

Becca Eisenberg (00:04)

Thank you so much for having me, Melanie. It's such a pleasure to be here.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (00:08)

It is such a privilege. We're talking about what you do for work, and you do so much. It's an inspiration, all of it. So let's start with what you do.

Becca Eisenberg (00:19)

Yes, so I am the founder of a retreat company called Thrive Collective. And I love that name because I really do believe that we as human beings and as souls that chose to be here, we're not just meant to like survive this life and white-knuckle this life. We were meant to thrive and really be living in our joy and inspiration. So, the Thrive Collective is what I came up with, and I am a retreat host.

So what I do is I partner with different teachers in the most incredible sacred locations of the world. Most of them are different each time, and we host retreats. I think all different types of modalities and healing, everything from yoga to nutrition workshops, I'm actually leading a retreat next month in Costa Rica with a dating coach and hypnotist.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (01:18)

Who is it?

Becca Eisenberg (01:20)

Her name is Shana Richardson. She's absolutely incredible. I can tell you a little bit, but you know, the short of it is I went through a horrifying breakup and actually started working with her as a private client. And actually, this breakup, while extremely painful, was like my biggest breakthrough and actually led me to post-retreats. But I started working with her, and this woman is amazing. like, you know, she coaches clients on like, yes, helping the woman get the partner, but it's so much more than that. She really teaches you how to empower yourself and, like, create a life that you're so lit up by that you just magnetise everything, right? Like, so that's what we're gonna be doing.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (02:05)

So curious. Let's learn right now because you learned from this person, and we all need to know frankly, so many people had breakups after the pandemic or in the last while in these economic times. Maybe we would have had breakups anyway, but the various stresses don't help. So, but then the empowerment afterwards, that is really crucial, especially for women in particular to own our empowerment. And it sounds like such a greeting card, you need to really, what did empowerment mean to you?

Becca Eisenberg (02:40)

I want to go back to that because you make such good points. It's also like, you know, you consider like where we're at when we're in stress, we might not be operating from like our like highest selves, we call it right. And therefore we wouldn't because we attract what we are. So, therefore, at that, you know, operation of kind of stress and kind of from fear and kind of from lack, which is totally normal after a breakup or a trauma or anything, you're not actually going to attract the soulmate that is a match for your highest self, right? So it's like, have to learn, like to your point, like to become empowered, to love ourselves, to be so gentle with ourselves, to give ourselves so much grace and compassion. And from there, we can attract a match. I mean, empowerment to me, and it's something that I've personally worked on, is like just really, yeah, it's like being so loving with myself. I am like a recovering perfectionist who also really has learned to tie my worth to my achievements. If I do something perfectly, if I look a certain way, I mean, like that's what society tells you to do. And as women, I think it's even an added layer, but just like cherishing myself for existing and buying myself a chocolate chip cookie, not because it's a treat, not because I deserve it. I mean, yeah, because I deserve it. Just because I exist. Just because I love myself, and I want to give myself a treat. So I think empowerment is that. It's kind of like removing the ties from, like, I am worthy and deserving because I am successful in my business. And really, it comes from within you, right?

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (04:44)

Yes. And we want to be successful in business. It's better than being not successful. However, we are still valuable human beings regardless. And it sounds like part of what you reminded yourself of is that we need to value our humanity and then also become the type of person that we want to meet.

Becca Eisenberg (04:50)

Exactly, exactly. And also that at the end of the day, like, everything comes from within you, you know, for a long time, I would reach outside of myself for validation and for worth and for you know, and with like social media culture, it's really, it's really difficult. It's easy to do that. It's easy to compare yourself to other people. And like, you know, try to try to get that validation from outside, but it's it doesn't work long term. So I really believe that we actually have to kind of get rid of the noise and all the external kind of BS and go within to find our answers because I believe that all of us have the answers within us. And that's one reason why I created retreats, because when you step away from your daily life and you're immersing yourself in a beautiful, different culture and a wonderful community of like-minded people, and you're just pouring love and caring to yourself, you really reconnect with you. And from there, from that place, you feel full and you can, you know, get a lot of clarity and yeah, it's amazing.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (06:22)

Do you think part of the clarity on a retreat is that you're not absorbing the views, the preferences of the people who know you, and you have space to just ask what is there beyond what our current circle demands?

Becca Eisenberg (06:42)

I think yes, I think yes, that's huge. I think also, in addition to just slowing down and giving ourselves space. When I, so I've moved to Paris, and I moved from New York City. And when I was in New York City, my entire day and night was scheduled. It was like meeting to meeting, right? And in that rat race, whatever you want to call it.

There's no time to reflect on how I feel. I mean, like, even just connecting with our bodies and saying Does this feel right to me? You know, like so, I think I think your point is spot-on, and it's like giving ourselves space and time to kind of sit and reflect on our lives. Do we like this? Does this you know person serve me?

Do I maybe want to do something different in my career? What does that look like? I mean, when I went on my first yoga retreat, and it was a three-night yoga retreat, and also I had a lot of biases before I was like, yoga retreat's not for me, you know, but I'm so happy I went. I don't know, I think I had this idea, and maybe it was because of the media of what a yoga retreat was like, you know, it's for like vegans and hippies and like, you know, the people that have done 200-hour yoga training, like I'm not a, I'm not a yogi. I'm, I was like a gym girl, you know, but it was all totally wrong. And I remember so specifically, there's this one moment that stands out on the third day. I went to the beach. We were, you know, doing movement and just like meeting the most incredible women and so supported and eating beautiful plant-based foods and just like, you know, it was in Mexico, the sun and the sea and sunset swims. And I went to the beach by myself with a little journal, and I sat down, and I had a lot of space, and I literally wrote a letter to myself, my present self, from my future self. Dear Becca.

I love you so much. So grateful for you. This is what you need to do to achieve your dreams. And I literally wrote out like the steps that I then took to create this retreat company, which is like absolutely lighting my heart on fire. But it was so crazy. It was like, I think it was the space to be able to like, you know, just be like, my God, like these are the answers. I'm like, literally wrote step one.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (09:28)

The answers came to you.

And I wanted to really reflect on something that you said, the myth-busting. Now, I became a vegan in 2019, and you mentioned the hippies as well. What have learned, because I'm also very mainstream, you're not offending anybody. The thing is, I can't, that's so good.

Becca Eisenberg (09:52)

I'm a hippie now, thinking about being a vegan.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (09:56)

And you're also from the marketing world. I feel like we can end up very proper, a bit woo-woo at the same time. And I think the reason why that's so appealing to us ambitious types is because no one is telling you to hold a sign campaigning for anything. Having more leaves in your meal will help you have the brown.

Becca Eisenberg (10:19)

Also, such a freak about gut health. I mean, you know this, Melanie. Your brain and your gut are always communicating. I actually, a while back, I saw an herbalist. His name is Hector. He's an absolutely incredible human being. He's based in New York. And I remember that when I started applying what he was telling me, which was what you said, more leaves, more seeds, more nuts, more plants in my diet, my mental health improved.

Like drastically, my bloating went down, like my whole like shape of my body changed too. Not that that's the most important thing, but it was incredible. It’s incredible.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (10:50)

Yes.

It shows that you're healthy. We're not looking like Barbie here. It's that we're healthy.

Becca Eisenberg (11:04)

No, we're healthy. And also all the different, like, there are so many different, like, microbes in your system that want all of these different leaves and nutrients. And when you don't eat enough plants, you're robbing them, you know? Like, yeah, so I'm with, I'm totally with you.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (11:24)

Totally. It shifts your mindset, and seriously, it will make you so much more attractive to your career and the world. It's wild. It's great to see that it clears your mind. I'll let you know, Becca, that I dropped 20 kilos by just switching to whole plants. 20 kilos.

Becca Eisenberg (11:49)

So wild.

I mean, that's, that's insane. It's also like, everybody's different. Like I, I actually do like really enjoy meat and like fish, and you know, eat like, you know, everybody's different, but when you start listening to your body and giving it what it wants, and for you, it sounds like this is the perfect diet, your body responds. You drop, you drop excess weight, you drop the bloat, you feel clearer and you know, like,

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (12:19)

Yes. And it becomes your normal. So I think the one thing everybody should agree on is to just eat real food at a minimum. Real food.

Becca Eisenberg (12:19)

Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah.

Yes.

I will say one thing, though, just like a fun little devil's advocate. I got a little bit too crazy on the, you know, diet culture. I mean, I've been, actually, I was pretty heavy growing up, and it kind of messed me up a little bit. And in high school, you know, I dropped a lot of weight. I got the braces off, and all of a sudden, the world opened up to me and

I was getting attention from different, you know, it was like everything was easier, and it kind of went, oh, I get it now. So be beautiful in order to be thin and beautiful in order to have an easier life. So from like, you know, I want to say 15 to like maybe my late twenties, early thirties, I was like, okay, this is me. This needs to be a priority. And so I got very into like tracking my macros, weighing things on the food scale, being very almost like over, over obsessive about it. And one thing that has been so beautiful about this transition to Europe, moved to France, I moved, I moved in, my gosh, beginning of September, I have completely like, cut, cut all of that. I'm not tracking anything. I'm like really intuitively listening to my body, which

Before I was terrified of, because, Melanie, I was like, I have this limiting belief that like, okay, if I don't control every little aspect, like I'm gonna be, you I'm gonna blow up, I'm gonna gain 50 pounds, whatever. And it's not true. So the other day, I just wanna like celebrate myself here in your presence. The other day, I was at the Boulangerie getting a baguette, and I was like, ‘These chocolate chip cookies look really good.’ And I got a chocolate chip cookie.

And I had it at noon or whatever, right before lunch, and I totally celebrated it. And I would have never done that before in my old New York control life. But here, it's like, so for most people, yes, eating whole foods, and even for me, eating whole foods is gonna be like 80 % of the time you wanna do that. But it's also important to have the yummy thing. Eat the treat, make it, you know, not like a shame thing. And so anyway, it was a very small act, but a big breakthrough.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (14:43)

Yes.

I see where you're coming from. I didn't measure things a lot.

But although I wasn't measuring things, I went to the extreme, as in I never ate fries ever for a while. And there's a point where I think even at the start of this year, I was bragging in a podcast that I was turning down fries, and it's good that I'm not having a plate of fries, but the extreme is eventually you'll be somewhere on a trip, whatever is happening, and that's all there is. I mean, life will happen eventually. And if you're saying, okay, I'm still not going to do it. I mean, how far are we going to take this? You know, you just have to be in the world.

Becca Eisenberg (15:36)

I'm picturing you with all the fries. Like I'm picturing you like in a restaurant. They're like, I'm sorry, ma'am. We only have fries.

But it's true, it's like we, it's really important to like not restrict and like, yes, like that doesn't mean don't be healthy, of course, like, but it's really important and coming from a place of like over restricting, which I did in New York City for so many years and just like in the States for so many years and coming here where it's like, it's not really a thing to have like this much protein at every meal, you know, I'm like,

Yeah, so I'm like, I'm doing what I can, and I'm feeling really good, and I fit in all of my jeans. like, crazy, you know.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (16:20)

I wish everybody could see if anyone is listening to the audio, you had the most relieved look on your face just then.

Becca Eisenberg (16:26)

And I did eat fries two nights ago. They were amazing.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (16:32)

You know what, I love sharing with people because if I'm having a treat, a treat fries, I shared with mates recently, and I had seriously four fries and I was okay. That's all I wanted.

Becca Eisenberg (16:43)

I'm so proud of you, Melanie. I'm really proud. And how were the fries? We all want to know.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (16:48)

It was fine. You need decent fries if you're going to do it. But I think I'm starting to understand why the Americans go so far in that direction. Maybe I'm just speculating here, but for a long time, the plates and the portions have been larger. So I went to Disneyland when I was what, 10, something like that, around that age. And my understanding was that your smallest McDonald's meal was the size of our mid-sized one. Everything was just one size up. So it sounds like you really do get more food over there, but then you're getting more calories. And it's still McDonald's as well, which is an issue.

Becca Eisenberg (17:23)

Yeah.

Yeah, yes. Yeah, that is true. That is true. I hate to be the person that you generalise all Americans from. But yeah, yeah, portion sizes are much bigger. I even in terms of like desserts, I'm noticing like the dessert in France.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (17:44)

No, no, no, I...

Really?

Becca Eisenberg (17:57)

versus the desserts in New York, when you order like a slice of cake or something, it's probably like half, probably like half the size, which is really interesting. think it's like, I think America, you know, there's this like notion that like you wanna get more for your money. And like, that's not always the best way to do things, right? In my opinion, I'm learning this now, I wanna get the most value for my money, not the most like excess, right? But yeah, people are different. I think people see more substance as more value often.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (18:40)

Perhaps more calories as well, because I found that if I'm getting a big pile of roasted cauliflower that didn't have too much oil on it, I don't know if that's going to make me fat.

Becca Eisenberg (18:52)

Yeah, yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (18:55)

But it's funny because we've ended up just talking about food so much, and it is really important. But, but I mean, I just, I'm amazed by how many things aligned and I just, I know you're focusing on your retreats, but it's worth acknowledging that you work in corporate marketing. I did work in corporate marketing even a couple of years ago. I kind of miss it, and I'll still do that a bit, but you're doing all this wellness stuff. And I feel like we have all these parallels.

Do you find that dedicating yourself to the wellness space is helping you to thrive more everywhere else?

Becca Eisenberg (19:36)

Yeah. I mean, like, first of all, like, I can't, I can't turn away from wellness anymore. I can't turn away from like my own healing journey anymore. It's like, I've seen, I've seen the sign, you know, it's the only option is to like move towards it. And I've always been so passionate about my old, my own wellness. I have always loved personal development and growth, and like learning about why, why do I do this, this specific pattern, and where does it lead me? And how could I, maybe, make some changes? I mean, excuse me, my real goal is to like, what is the shortest distance to more love, joy, inspiration, and just like living a life of like, just lit up lit up ness. That's not a word, but you get it, you know? And I lit up, light, joy, inspiration, passion, I want to live like passion on fire. Like that is how I want to live every day in inspiration. That is what I want. And I find that the answer, or rather the path to get there, is healing, healing yourself and feeling well and feeling happy. mean, just like take an example when you're

When you're in a bad mood and you're looking down and you're walking the street and you're grumbling and whatever, you notice that not a lot of beautiful opportunities happen. Or maybe you have a little scuffle with someone, maybe you bump into someone, and it's like, the world, everybody sucks. It's like what you focus on expands. Or this just happened to me yesterday. I was like, I don't know, walking along and.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (21:13)

Yes.

Becca Eisenberg (21:22)

Looking around, I saw one beautiful building that I'd never seen before on a street I always walked by. I mean, Paris is pretty beautiful and romantic, so it's hard not to miss. And then I was looking up, and I was smiling at this church, and I looked down, and there was a woman walking towards me, and she acknowledged my smile, and we just smiled so brightly at each other. It was just a beautiful, beautiful moment. And I felt like it kept contributing to like...

And then I got a text from my friend that I was thinking about, I miss you so much. You know, was like, that's the way I want to live. So focusing on feeling well and happy, I think, is the answer. And when you're feeling well and happy, it ripples out to everything that you touch and everyone that you touch, I believe. And then, yeah, so the short, the long and the short answer is yes. I absolutely believe that focusing on wellness helps everything else. But what I'm most passionate about, and yes, Melanie and I talked about my marketing company also, which I'm still doing, and I do PR as well. But the thing that's really lighting my heart on fire is this retreat company because I went on a retreat at a very dark point in my life, and I just found so much healing and transformation and creating more space in the world for I have two retreats on that are women only, I'll start to do co-ed pretty soon. But for now, it's like creating space for women to come and feel safe to be themselves and show up authentically, so they can then share their gifts and just like creating more spaces for transformation and shifting, but in a fun way, with travel and excursions and adventure that feels so important to me.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (23:19)

It sounds like a sense of awe comes into it because you're going to places that I can only right now imagine, and you're having gratitude for how good the world is.

Becca Eisenberg (23:32)

And how beautiful the world is, and how beautiful different cultures are. I mean, like, I think there's also nothing better than travelling far, far away from home and meeting someone who really sees you. And you're like, my gosh, like we're all just like in this together. Like we're all just like beautiful human beings that are like seeking happy lives. It's really something special.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (23:57)

Yes. And I think more people should go on retreats because that connection with people from anywhere, I get that feeling with the podcast, but we can only simulate that so much from a distance, but to just relate to it as much as I can, it's an amazing feeling when you talk to someone who's in a totally different part of the world and we have the same things going on essentially. I mean, you said that you came to retreats and yoga healing after a split. And I feel like, hang on, how many of us are having parallel lives? Honestly, and yoga, I wanted to bust the myth about yoga. And I've done this in other episodes. Look, I'm not a yoga teacher either. And that's the thing. We can comment on our personal experience with it, our lived experience, and…

Becca Eisenberg (24:40)

Do it.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (24:49)

I assumed I had to be flexible. thought that if I had an injury, I couldn't do it, but anyone can do it. And it really does clear your mind. So what have you seen with that and the other modalities that you have in your retreat for how the women are shifting their mindsets?

Becca Eisenberg (25:09)

My gosh, such a good question. Also, like, I'm not a yogi. There was a period of time where I did yoga a lot, and I was like, Wow, I get it. I really get it. Because the whole thing with yoga is it's almost like a meditation where you tire your body out and you're so present and you're thinking about your movements so much and focusing on your breath that you're really giving your mind a break. And then, someone told me that kind of like shifted my whole mentality on yoga, but someone told me that the most important part of yoga is Shavasana. So you tire your body out and you're like trying to, you know, clear your mind and focus on the present moment. And then at the end, in Shavasana, you just completely let things go. And that's the most important moment. And it's like a meditation where you are actually able to clear your mind. And when you're able to clear your mind, because our thoughts are not us, our thoughts are a lot of like monkey mind stuff. When you're able to like fully clear your mind, that's you knowing yourself, which I think is so beautiful. And so it's like, you know, in this course of an hour or however long you practice yoga, you're like at this end, these few moments at the end, like really meeting yourself,f and how beautiful is that? So I think yoga is incredible. And also just to like make your body feel like you have a healthy body is really important because we're gifted with these bodies and we get one, one shot at making them the most healthy to come with us our whole lives and continue being in the world. And yoga is beautiful for stretching and elongating our muscles and improving mobility and flexibility. When I was doing yoga a lot, my gym improved.

I could lift heavier weights because I was more flexible. So, it's just, you know, and posture improved and all that. So that's like the basic stuff. I think movement, yeah, please, please, please, sorry. Rambling on and on, please stop me.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (27:17)

Do you mind if I pop something in? It's all good to do. I did that too with two rambling people. Okay. So I will clarify that we're talking here about the yoga asana, the physical practice, because yoga has a philosophy behind it. And frankly, it's important, everybody should trust in something beyond themselves. We all need some sort of framework. So if you have no spirituality, then it's a great starting point. Here are a few ways to be nice to the planet and humanity, things like that. So that really helps. So, things like that, or even the breathing, the way you breathe, that could help your gym anyway, but I know that you're partly talking about the very physical practice on the mat, where you're moving around the sort of thing you'll see on Instagram, but it does, it does really help.

Did you find that you improve over time? And I'll let you know my experience. And I'm curious if you saw anyone else having this experience. I was the opposite of sporty my whole life. I mean, I just could not stick with it, I couldn't throw a ball, couldn't do anything. Full stop. I was a bit puffed out running. It was so bad, but there's something about yoga. You can be completely not athletic and yet you end up really improving and feeling stronger. And when you feel physically stronger, you feel like you can handle life a bit more.

Becca Eisenberg (28:55)

Yes, and also connected to your body, which I think is really important. I struggle with this too, this kind of like disconnection, like going back to like the macro counting. I wasn't paying attention to my hunger cues because I was prepping what was appropriately weighed, and I was eating it. That was so like, and you can't go through life without being connected to your body. That's some crazy.

So yoga also, and again, I'm talking about the physical because this is kind of like what I know. I haven't done too much practising or studying about the bigger picture of yoga. So I don't wanna, you and I've learned a little bit of it, but it's not my expertise. So I don't wanna speak on it. I'm not qualified at all, but I am qualified to speak about, like, you know, how I personally have experienced it and just like, a reconnection to your body. And yes, we had one or two on our last retreat who did not do yoga at all. And through the week, I could see them feeling more and more confident and more connected and more excited to come to class, which was really…

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (29:38)

I'm not qualified. I followed it too much and got nerdy like a teacher's pet.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (30:11)

So they had not done yoga until the retreat, and then they started doing the retreat.

Becca Eisenberg (30:17)

Exactly, exactly. And you could see it, it was like a little bit of fear and anxiety, the first class, and like not really knowing, you know, looking a lot, looking around a lot. And then by the end, it was like they were just on their journey, you know, like just fully like confident in their practice and also like not caring if you do it perfectly right. That's the other thing that I love about yoga. It's like, you know, as I mentioned a while back, recovering perfectionist.

So I used to try to do the movements perfectly. And now when I go to yoga, I set my intention at the beginning of class, which is something really simple. It's to like, not like push too hard. Cause I also am like a chronic like over pusher, like overdoer, not to push too hard, to have fun, to like really honour my body and like feel like, know, juicy and whatever it wants to do. And that's what I try to do, and not have it be perfect.

So yoga has been very healing in a lot of ways in terms of mindset as well.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (31:21)

Yes. And it teaches you attitudes that will help with the rest of life because there's a feeling of physically working hard at getting through the practice and doing the things, even if you're not going through the perfection and in work and life, we're going to put effort in, but it's more important to do something than than not do it at all. And the phrase that the teacher uses where I go is any amount of the pose is the pose. So that's so crucial because let me know if, if you agree with this, just as much as we might not be able to completely do some sort of advanced odd bendy thing quite yet.

Becca Eisenberg (31:56)

Mm.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (32:13)

And we might not be Oprah yet as much as we both probably wanted to be. I wanted to be the next Oprah. Let's try. We're trying, but any amount of all of those poses is something, right?

Becca Eisenberg (32:28)

Yes, and we're like, I think like showing up is way more than half. I think showing up is more than half. I think showing up is like 90%. The rest is just like doing the thing.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (32:36)

Good. Show up and do the thing.

Becca Eisenberg (32:43)

Show up and do the thing. Nike's new slogan. Just kidding.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (32:46)

Yes.

Show up and do the thing. Actually, it's so funny because I love how important it is to just do it, whatever it is, but I don't want that phrase to be just owned by a fashion label that has this whole context behind it.

Becca Eisenberg (33:06)

Listen, listen, if it inspires people and motivates people, who cares? Who said it? Whatever, it doesn't matter.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (33:11)

Wherever we get it from, that show up and absolutely. And I think, you know, part of what I had to learn is to basically ease up on some of the fear. And sometimes fear is real, but push through the fears and the emotions. And for you, it was, you look up and see the buildings, and you hear from someone you care about, you're connecting with the world.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (33:43)

And so, it sounds like part of how we are going to show up is to not look down at the ground and disconnect. And we are having conversations like this one right now. So, part of taking the next step is showing up anywhere and being open to things, right?

Becca Eisenberg (34:00)

Yeah, and I'm not saying like to be delusional and not look at the dark things in your life because that's really important too. It's important to look at the shadows and like feel the fear that comes up. It is like you got to acknowledge it. But I really do believe that whatever you focus on expands. So when you're in that place of fear, like it's your choice. If you want to shift to feeling grateful, it's your choice. It's also your choice to stay in that fear. But I find that, you know,

Okay, I acknowledge you fear - can't remember, maybe it was Brene Brown or something, but it was like

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (34:36)

Liz Gilbert talked about some sort of anxieties around creativity. It was something like, okay, you're welcome to sit here, but you're not steering something like that.

Becca Eisenberg (34:42)

That's it, that's it. I was gonna say, you're not gonna drive the car. Listen, you, you are allowed to sit here and be here with me and go on this road trip, but you are not driving the car. And I just always remembered how impactful that was. Yeah, there's always gonna be anxiety and stress and stuff that comes up, acknowledge and then redirect your focus because it is just not helpful to move and live from that place of fear. It's unproductive.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (35:20)

Yes. And you still, I think that you need to sharpen to do what you can and be kind to yourself for what you are doing, because you are doing so many different types of work, and it's amazing. And you don't put the pressure on yourself to do only one type of work. And no, and I'm not going to say I'm going to only do the podcast. I'm doing other things as well. So I think we all have something that we sort of have emotions about. And it's so important to say, okay, we can keep some perspective, but we're still going to aim for more. I do want to say that we are still aiming for more, even though we are being granted ourselves.

Becca Eisenberg (36:04)

Yes, and I think that's really important. Yes, and I think also, you know, when I get caught up in, so I actually took a proper like retreat coaching program. The first retreat that I ever went on was hosted by a company, a husband and wife, they're absolutely incredible people called Revamp.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (36:17)

Nice.

Becca Eisenberg (36:26)

And they have a program for people who want to lead retreats. I took this proper program. They just break everything down. It's incredible. I highly recommend it's called the retreat leaders Academy. I have to have to plug them, Corey and Christian, cause they led me to achieving my dreams. And one thing that goes, yeah, yes, please, please, always French fries. Just kidding. And what they always say is when you start to get caught up in like…

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (36:41)

We're the things we love. Sorry for diving in. We're plugging the things we love.

Anyway.

Becca Eisenberg (36:54)

I don't have enough signups, or things aren't going right, to lean back into your why. Why am I doing this? Why am I so inspired when I went on my first retreat? How did it feel right? Like leaning back into that. It's not like it's shutting down the success. The is important. The money is important. This is a business, right? But it's not the most important thing. And as long as you're inspired by something, you're going to keep doing it regardless of whether it's working in that moment or needs an adaptation.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (37:32)

You are a guardian angel, and I'll explain why, because I feel like I'm right now in that life stage with things like, I paid keynote stuff like that, that you were in when you started retreats. And I think what I'm getting from what you're saying is that the purpose is the journey.

Becca Eisenberg (37:49)

Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (38:00)

The money and the success are a reward for that journey. And I saw that mentality about other awards and titles, because previously I saw more of those than money. That's how I grew up. saw a of more titles than dollars. I'll say that. But even then it was, it was really the people who set out to make a difference. Who happened to end up getting a few extra titles?

So did you find that the more you just try to make a difference and serve and help, then things are growing and getting better?

Becca Eisenberg (38:36)

100%. And also it's like law of attraction vibes. Like when you're like desperately clinging to something, it always runs away. It always doesn't work out. It always crumbles, right? But when you're coming from a place of like, I'm just doing this because it really lights me up, and it's so, it's making me so passionate and excited. Like, and I, and I actually am detached from the outcome.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (38:44)

That explains a lot.

Becca Eisenberg (39:04)

Then I have found that things just rush in. And it's hard. It's hard to do because you're like, I really want this thing. I'm unattached from the outcome. Like it sounds crazy, but it's the only way to do it if you don't want fear to drive the car.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (39:23)

Yes. And part of the detachment, part of what would help for you, is that you're not entirely relying on the retreats. You're not the one way that you are surviving. And so you're not in that survival mentality. So that's really crucial. And we need to still create those things with the podcast. sat down and decided we're having these conversations.

Becca Eisenberg (39:31)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (39:50)

One conversation isn't going to put a roof over my head for a week right now, but I'm going to have a conversation anyway. And some people out there will say whatever it might be, whether it's visual arts, some people, a lot of people do that. Don't, but whatever creation it might be, they sort of don't even get started unless it's going to be giant instantly, but things take time.

Becca Eisenberg (39:55)

Yes. I believe I did this very purposefully. I typically am not the kind of person that just jumps full on into something without a backup plan or supplementation, right? And I actually like, I don't know, I kind of encourage people that are starting something new to kind of walk the same road, like have either kind of like a nest egg or a savings or some other part-time job.

So you are not coming from this place of just lack and worry. But also, I feel like there are people like that that just have this inner knowing that this is gonna work, and they just jump and free-fall. And I have so much admiration and respect for those people. It's not my choice. It's not mine.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (41:05)

And it depends on the situation. I suppose if someone is 19, living with parents, then sure.

Becca Eisenberg (41:12)

Yeah, or, I mean, listen, we've all heard these incredible success stories of someone that just kept trying and kept trying and kept trying and put everything on the line and then succeeded. It happens. It does happen. I want a little bit more security than that. Just a little bit more, yes.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (41:36)

Yes.

You are looking after yourself, and keep in mind that quite a few of the tech companies started in a garage, right? You were thinking that.

Becca Eisenberg (41:46)

After I was thinking about, I was thinking about that.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, sure. Sure, sure. And they didn't, you know, I don't know, I have a lifestyle that I, a specific lifestyle that I like to live. I like to take myself out for nice meals and buy beautiful clothes, and you know, so I want to make sure that I'm able to continue living and travel a lot and stay in beautiful hotels.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (41:51)

And they were young though. Weren't they all sort of young?

Becca Eisenberg (42:19)

You know, so yeah, I want to make sure that that's covered, and I'm creating something new, and you know.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (42:28)

think that's a part of looking after yourself. You are caring for yourself and your needs to the point where you are able to provide more value to people in your retreats.

Becca Eisenberg (42:36)

Exactly, exactly. And I'm so, I'm so excited. It's interesting, actually, after moving to Paris, I don't lead retreats with anyone that I haven't worked with, or, you know, like really love and know, because it's a big undertaking. And since I've moved to Paris, I'm having a lot more experiences with teachers that are excited to do retreats. So, I did this amazing breath work class, and I'm talking to her about doing a retreat in the south of France, and

There's this woman who is like a psychic and she teaches people how to get more in touch with their psychic abilities and then, like, you know, create these beautiful. She's also a florist. So meditating and creating this beautiful floral arrangement, and then painting. Like, I'm just finding that being in this place, also having just moved to Paris, I'm finding so many more opportunities, and I'm really leaning into this thing, and it just feels so juicy and exciting.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (43:34)

You love it.

And a lesson there, go to the places where you will find the people who can collaborate with you. You are, the parallels are mind-blowing because you've found your people in Paris after moving from New York. And frankly, going from those, going between those two cities, that's a whole story in itself. A lot of people would love to be in one end than the other, but going to the place where your people are,

Becca Eisenberg (44:00)

Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (44:04)

That's crucial. I can tell you that I went back to the city and saw people who were really guiding my direction, and you're saying the same thing.

Becca Eisenberg (44:17)

Yeah, I would say though, like take one step back, like before you find your people, like go to the place where you feel home, peace, love. Like you, I think you can also be your own internal guide, like, okay, I'm going to this, but to your point, like I think community is one of the most important things. I mean, you know, I've read all these articles about the loneliness epidemic and how everybody's obsessed with their phones, and it's like virtual is not as fulfilling as real-life experiences, another reason why I love retreats. And it's so important to find your people and find your community. That's how you live longer and enjoy your life better, in my opinion.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (45:03)

You need to find your people for sure. How cool would it be to one day have a motivated collective event somewhere I get often?

Becca Eisenberg (45:11)

100 % say the word Melanie, I'm in. Also, you know what's so funny? I've been… Sydney and Australia have been like kind of circulating in the back of my mind. And I'm really looking for an excuse to go, to come to you and your side of the world. So I think maybe we need to have another discussion about that.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (45:27)

Okay.

We will talk. Okay. That is such a sign because, seriously, just in recent weeks, a bunch of signs were telling me I have to make an event in Sydney. And I actually moved out of Sydney at the end of 2017. I regret it, but that's how life happened. And now, seriously, a string of people, I had someone on the podcast who's in Sydney, and I knew I needed to do an event for her, and then other people were saying, ‘Get back there.’ And now you're saying you've been thinking of coming to Australia. feel like, hang on, we're all just lining up neatly. Here we are.

Becca Eisenberg (46:19)

Here we are. And I'm ready. You say the word. I'm serious. I like, I really feel called to do more, more events, more events, more in-person events that also like combine wellness and healing and collective and travel. I mean, it's like such a passion.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (46:37)

I can only pitch that because, you know, we're recording, but we could co-host. Okay. my goodness.

Becca Eisenberg (46:42)

Yeah, let's do it. I'm in. I'm in.

Making magic happen in real recorded time.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (46:50)

We'll do it!

I can't believe this. Seriously. I was thinking, I know that I need something with the right person. And I mean, we're both chatty and on the same wavelength, and you know, you need an extra person. I, and we're saying this before we started recording that, sorry, as the next recording can wait a moment. So I was saying before we started that

Becca Eisenberg (47:08)

Great team.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (47:23)

We both knew that when you are guiding a group and a community, it needs to be more than one person because you'd been doing the retreats, and I was supporting a community group earlier in the year, and you really need to have extra people. It's not a one-person show.

Becca Eisenberg (47:46)

Especially like when the when the person who's actually like teaching we need to like really protect that person's energy in order to provide the best experience absolutely so yeah Melanie you and I will talk offline I know I know we're right we're right at time but can I just say two more things about my upcoming retreats if anyone is interested to please get in touch with me I have four spots left for the November one it's November 20th it's coming up very soon in Costa Rica

I have another one also in Costa Rica in the end of February. So I'm just so excited to meet anyone who's interested in adventure and travel and healing and wellness and beautiful community. So, I'm here. I'm here for whoever is listening, whoever feels called.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (48:32)

Okay, Becca, thank you so much for being on the show.

Becca Eisenberg (48:36)

Thank you so much for having me and we're going to talk offline about this event. Yes!

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (48:39)

Yes.