Daily Inspiration: Meet Erin Wimert

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Wimert.

Hi Erin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Like most full-time yoga teachers, I was struggling to get by, teaching 15-20 classes a week. I was burnt out and constantly questioning “is this as good as it gets?”I started to get into leading yoga retreats and finally had a taste of making a bit of money and being able to travel. Over the course of eight years, I learned a lot about the ins and outs of how to plan and execute a successful retreat.

When covid hit, I (along with everyone else) spent a lot of time at home and I realized how much I enjoyed it. My husband (who DJs) and I started offering DJ yoga and fitness classes on Twitch and built a community of people from around the world who would attend our classes multiple times a week (to this day we still stream every weekend).

Once things started to open up, we set up a DJ yoga retreat in Costa Rica for our virtual students and we were able to sell out two weeks in a row and finally meet the people we had been live-streaming with since quarantine.

It was at this time that I knew I didn’t want to go back to teaching full-time and I wanted to figure out a way to continue doing something with yoga and travel and being location-independent. I heard about a business coaching course on a podcast and maxed out my credit card to take this 4-month course to learn how to start a business. I came up with the idea of helping other yoga teachers host their own yoga retreats while taking care of the entire planning process from beginning to end so they could simply show up and be present with their group. Most teachers don’t lead their own retreats because they don’t know how to and/or they don’t have the time. I’m passionate about helping teachers learn how to maximize their profits and create this extra stream of income because yoga teachers are notoriously paid poorly. I started Panacea Retreats in October 2022 and I’m working with teachers all over the country now to plan their first retreats. It feels really good to help them create this opportunity for themselves and their students.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Imposter syndrome still comes up, I have to keep reminding myself that I know what I’m doing. A lot of my time is spent marketing and showing up on social media and I find it tedious, I just want to do the job of retreat planning, but I need to spend a lot of time and money to get the word out.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As a retreat planner, specifically for yoga teachers, I take of all of the planning from beginning to end. This includes, but isn’t limited to:

* Complete support from beginning to end
* All communication with the retreat venue
* All communication with participants
* A personalized webpage for students to sign up and make payments
* Marketing material (sent directly to you
* Advertising across multiple platforms
* Providing and processing legal documents
* Setting up shuttles/airport transfers
* Help with retreat itinerary
* Keeping an eye on payment deadlines and collecting payments
* Transferring money/wire transfers to retreat venues
* Keeping an eye on flights
* Setting up excursions and transportation
* Providing a means of communication for the group while on the retreat
* (Extra Add-On) Setting up gift bags
* (Extra Add-On) Chaperone service if extra support is needed
* Offering any and all support and coaching for the retreat leader throughout the planning process and while on the retreat⁣

I’m most proud of myself for having the guts to take the business course and actually starting a business. It’s not something I ever thought I’d be able to figure out, let alone be successful at. I knew that I wanted to be solely in charge of my time and my income so it was extremely important to make it happen.

What sets me apart from other retreat planners is that I am an actual yoga teacher, I know the struggles of teachers and what it takes to create an amazing retreat for students. Getting into leading retreats can be life-changing and I love to show other teachers what’s possible.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I love podcasts. My favorite are: Your Biggest Vision with Leah Gervais (this is who I did my training with)
The Successful Mind Podcast with David Neagle
The Not for Lazy Marketers Podcast with Emily Hirsh.

These ones help a lot with mindset work and also give me ideas for business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.panacearetreats.co
• Instagram: @panacearetreats
• Facebook: Facebook.com/panacearetreats