What I Learned Walking the Ligurian Coast on Our First Women's Leadership Retreat in Italy
On our first women's leadership retreat in Italy, one of the women pulled out her phone and opened a trail app. In the welcome note I'd written in her retreat journal, I had invited her to use this week to let go and let someone else lead for a change.
Within a day, her default had kicked in. She was mapping the route and trying to find the trail before we'd even set out.
I gently reminded her that finding the way was my job. She didn't need to navigate. She didn't need to watch the clock, confirm the reservation, or make sure everyone showed up on time. I had all of that handled. Her only job was to walk, take in the coastline, and notice what came up.
That moment is why I built this retreat.
Why I Created a Women's Leadership Retreat in Italy
NAVIGATE is a small group leadership retreat for women on the Ligurian coast, near the Cinque Terre. Our first retreat had five of us in total.
Before we arrived, each woman shared some of her story with me. That let me write a personal welcome note in each retreat journal, and it became our starting point. From the first page, they knew they had been heard.
These women are capable, respected leaders. They are also quietly running on empty. Some came for a break or a change of scenery. But I'd argue most of them got what they really came for: a clearer sense of their next steps as leaders, and freedom from feeling boxed in. Once you see the new path forward, you can't unsee it, and you go home ready to do something differently.
That isn't something you can do in a conference room. There, you write an insight in a notebook that ends up at the bottom of your bag, never to see the light of day again. It never really landed, so it quietly fades once you're home. On a hiking retreat in Italy, it's different. When your body is tired from the trail, your mind finally has room to surface what you've been carrying. It lands in your bones.
What Surprised Me
Even the women who came mostly for the travel experience softened by the end of the week.
Together, we looked honestly at the patterns that keep high-achieving women feeling stuck: quiet, high-functioning burnout, overfunctioning at home and at work, and the guilt that comes with setting boundaries. We took an audit of where their time was going and where they weren't protecting it.
At the start, some of those patterns felt fixed, like a truth that couldn't be moved. By the end, I had planted enough doubt that they were thinking about doing something differently. Taking some time back. Making fewer decisions for everyone else and easing their decision fatigue. Offering themselves self-compassion instead of pushing harder. Or my personal favorite: just saying no.
I don't believe they would have gotten there without the structured movement of the retreat. Their bodies needed to be tired before their minds could surface what they felt, what they wanted next, and what they wanted to carry forward.
Four Lessons From Our First Retreat
1. Planning everything doesn't mean controlling everything
I planned this retreat meticulously. I still had to learn to let go. Some things weren't going to work out perfectly, even when I had planned them ‘perfectly’, and that was okay. Some would call this a taste of my own medicine, since one of the modules is on perfectionism.
2. Overfunctioners will always choose to move
If you give women who are constantly in motion the option to move, they'll take it, even when they need rest. Part of me wonders whether I pushed too hard and left too little time for rest and integration.
For the next retreat, I'm building in stillness on purpose. It almost feels like setting a gentle trap, so there's no choice but to be still. Strange as it sounds, I think the balance works best: challenging movement to shake things loose, then some deliberately boring time to let it all settle. But don't worry, the “boring time” is looking out at the shore from an abbey you can only reach by boat. Whether you take a dip in the sea from the secluded beach or read a book on a shady beach chair, it's still going to be a wonderful day. It's simply a day with nowhere to rush to.
3. Flexibility is part of the design
Some days, a woman couldn't do the trail or simply didn't want to. Some were recovering from illness. Others needed a break. I learned to truly honor that and make space for it.
Some took the day off. Some walked the trail on their own and met us afterward. In the end, it didn't matter. The movement still worked for them, and they still got what they came for.
4. The group becomes the coach
The most magical moment was the one I didn't plan. These women started coaching each other. They guided one another through challenging moments and held space for whoever needed it most.
That included me. Even as a coach, I don't always notice what my own brain is offering me. These women kept me honest, making sure I was walking the walk and not just talking it.
What I'm Carrying Forward as a Leader
Leading this retreat pushed me out of my comfort zone. I held space for these women in a place that is truly special to me, and I learned to slow down and take time for myself too.
I'm thinking about my own days at work and at home differently now. I created the retreat content, so part of that comes from living and breathing this work. But part of it came from the women themselves.
I already knew from my own experience that a leadership retreat built around hiking and movement could shift something. What I didn't imagine was how much it would influence every single person who came, including me.
Is a Small Group Women's Retreat Right for You?
I'm looking forward to hearing the group's feedback. In the meantime, if you're wondering whether a retreat like this could help you, here's what I'd tell you: it works.
So let me ask you this: When was the last time you had space to think without being needed?
If you can't remember, NAVIGATE will run again in 2027. Learn more about NAVIGATE, our women's leadership retreat in Italy.
~ Marsha
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