Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Derek Juno, Founder of Elysium Retreat, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Elysium Retreat is everything someone would need to conduct their very own annual retreat. Our two-day self-led personal development retreat package guides customers through a formal review of their last year. It leads them through fourteen impactful personal development exercises that will buzz them with excitement over their upcoming year and beyond!
Once someone orders the Elysium Retreat Package and books their retreat spot (our Pre-Retreat Guide helps our customers find their perfect retreat venue), they are ready for an impactful and transformative experience!
For every Elysium Retreat workbook sold, $15 is donated to CAMFED Canada to buy school supplies for one marginalized girl in Sub-Saharan Africa for a whole school year. Because school is paid for by the government (in most regions), school supplies are one of the main barriers to education.
Our customers vary quite a bit. They may be feeling stuck, lost, or just unmotivated with life. They may seek a quiet weekend to organize their goals and thoughts. Or, they may be focused on squeezing every drop of life out of their next year. Elysium Retreat allows them to take a break from the screens, the noise, and the rat race of life to focus and work on themselves!
Tell us about yourself
Over a decade ago, I talked to one of my mentors/dear friends and asked him what he was doing for the weekend. He told me he was making his annual retreat. I asked him what that was, and he said it was the most impactful weekend of his entire year.
He said, "The best companies in the world give their employees annual or semi-annual evaluations/reviews. When was the last time you evaluated your best employee… yourself?" This question blew my mind.
Three weeks later, I booked a cabin in the middle of the woods and made my first personal development retreat. It was by far the most impactful two days of my life. I got so much energy and career clarity out of that weekend. I've been doing them at least once a year since.
Over the years, friends and colleagues started asking me for the plan/exercises I was doing during my retreats, so I shared the package I had created for myself. Their experiences were just as impactful. Many told me I needed to create a formal retreat package and offer it to others.
When COVID hit, I found myself with a lot of extra time. One of my favourite authors, Donald Miller, posed a question on his Instagram story that gave me the push I needed. He said, "In ten years from now, you will look back at this crazy time of our lives, this global pause… what do you want to be proud that you used the time to do or create?"
I knew I wanted to start Elysium Retreat and help people pause, reflect, and plan to improve their lives and the world. My favourite part of running Elysium Retreat is hearing from the clients that have had significant breakthroughs or light bulb moments while on their retreat. It's why I do what I do.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Before I started Elysium Retreat, I helped run another social enterprise called, Mealshare. I helped grow Mealshare to a team of 18 employees that have provided over 5,000,000 meals to youth in need. My biggest career accomplishment so far is helping to develop this national organization with two of my best friends.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Getting the right people in the right seats and then keeping them there!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Make it easy for people to say yes! Whether it's your customers, suppliers, or staff. Work to make it easy and enjoyable to purchase from you, work with you, or help you.
- Provide as much value as possible and as often as possible to everyone who comes in contact with you and your business.
- Use your business as a vehicle for change. The world needs more social enterprises, not more businesses.
- If you don't love what you are building and are not an avid user, you will most likely fail even if you are doing everything else right. Good products/services are created by people who want to use them themselves.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://elysiumretreat.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheElysiumRetreat
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elysiumretreat/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elysiumretreat/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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