Why I Started Hosting Retreats…Plus Why I LOVE Helping Others Plan + Design Their Retreats

I have been actively burning my life down every 7 years. I worked in the biotech industry for 13 years in start-up, molecular diagnostics laboratories. When I was 28, I was desperately looking for a change in my career but had zero clue what the heck I really wanted and how I should pivot. I was approached by a former colleague to be the first employee for a new lab and jumped at the opportunity. This is where I sort of learned how to be an entrepreneur without the risk of wasting my own money. I was dumped into a construction site and asked to not only build it out but also fill it with all of the required equipment and consumables to process samples and pass required inspections. I loved the challenge but unfortunately had to have major neck surgery a few months after I started.

That surgery led to all the things you would expect, chronic pain, a huge dose of humility, being unbearably lonely and questioning every single basic, boring life choice I had ever made. Which then led to completely abandoning the comfortable life I had spent the last decade creating. It was bleak for awhile but giving up getting up stupid early to cluelessly apply makeup to my sleep-deprived face so that I didn’t feel insecure about being the youngest or the only women at the start up, working 50+ hours a week to prove more to myself than my boss that I was worthy of his investment, and constantly facing the never ending question of “Why am I not thrilled?” was a welcome reprieve and a moment of clarity because the one thing spending 14 weeks in a neck brace will give you is a crystal clear perspective.

And that, my friend, changed everything, especially the numbingly boring parts.

So I took the next natural steps and started a retreat company, (duh,) because what else is a 30-something girl living in Michigan in the dead of winter to do besides actively fight her dandruff?

With the vigor of someone who had just been slapped in the face with their own mortality and admitting the hard-to-digest truth that I was wasting my fleeting life by living it how I thought I should be, I began tearing it down and rebuilding it. I started to pursue what I actually desired (strange concept), which is this: I wanted the flexibility and the challenges that accompany living life on your terms and I wanted to be A LOT more excited about it. I decided that if it scared the hell out of me, I was going to do it. This did not happen overnight. Wandering Roots was 4 years of constantly stepping out of my comfort zone and trying to figure out what lit me up inside.

I booked a boudoir shoot with a stranger that became my best friend and inspiration to start a business that made more of impact on others like she had on me. In the meantime back at my day job, I tried to quit the lab and was offered a 40k raise to stay. After a lot of hesitation, I took the raise and then half convinced, half forced my husband to start his own landscaping business which we launched in 2017. After a year of helping him figure out everything, I was bored again.

One of the things that had helped me post-surgery was yoga and one of the things that scared the hell out of me was taking yoga teacher training, so I signed up for it. I completed the training in February 2018 and started Wandering Roots in April 2018 after sitting in a café with one of my besties and telling her I wanted to host a retreat. I had never been in a situation where everyone was there supporting and loving each other prior to teacher training and I wanted to recreate that. I thought if I combined that with my love of travel, I could host a retreat.

I hosted my first retreat in northern Michigan in August 2018 and two months later, I hosted the second one internationally in Banff National Park. Wandering Roots was a side hustle for a year and a half until I got burnt out from owning two companies and still working full time for the lackluster lab job. I quit in October 2019 and went full-time self-employed. Right before the pandemic but I still have no regrets 😉

My “why” for wanting to host retreats wasn’t (and still) isn’t to make money. It’s to create a safe and welcoming space where guests can show up exactly as they are, not who they are trying to be and to be met with love and support. I also know that I’m not for everyone. Watching strangers connect makes my heart feel like it’s going to explode.

There are lots of guests that would benefit from a retreat but my offerings might not be the best fit for them. Knowing how impactful retreats are and being totally confident in who I am as a host and who my people are, I LOVE helping other entrepreneurs plan, launch and host their own unique offerings. When I get my clients to a place where their retreat offering aligns with their dream guests and desired profit, it lights me up. I’m so passionate about this work.

And the reason I’m (somewhat) obsessed with yours and my retreats being profitable is because it’s the only way to run a sustainable business, otherwise you’re just participating in an expensive hobby.

Wandering Roots is all about inspiring you to go after whatever weird thing or goal it is that you want while also pausing long enough to celebrate and feel how incredible life can be when you get out of your own way.

I truly appreciate you being here and hope to meet you someday! I’d love to help you with your retreat(s).

So what do you say? Are you ready to finally pull the trigger and host the retreat of your dreams?

My name is Anna VanAgtmael, and I am retreat host, travel designer, and a certified yoga instructor with a passion for yoga, travel, and connecting with others.

I believe in trying everything once. My values lie in collecting memories over things.

My ambition is to inspire and encourage you to unmask your fears and jump into the unknown.

Anna VanAgtmael | Retreat Host | Travel Designer