(MENAFN- USA Art News)
March in New York City is the most hideous time of year. The dregs of Winter drag on, and the rare warm moments bait us into continuously gaining hope, which then gets dashed by the next rush of arctic-cold wind.
This week for the column, I thought how nice it might be to live vicariously through someone in a nicer place-and Hannah Gottlieb-Graham, the art-world publicity powerhouse and collector, told me she'd be heading down to Mexico for a women-in-leadership retreat at the right time. Let's go on her journey together, shall we?
Hannah Traore and I arrive in Todos Santos! Hannah founded and launched her namesake Lower East Side gallery one year ago and I became her publicist, then her best friend, during a whirlwind year for both of us. It's been a beautiful journey to see her create HTG and to work so closely with her.
A bit of quick backstory on this trip... My husband and I stayed at Paradero Todos Santos for our honeymoon this past December and had an incredible time. While we were there another client of mine, gallerist James Fuentes, told me that his friend Roanne Adams (founder of creative studio RoAndCo) and Meredith Markworth-Pollack (founder of Palma Colectiva) would be hosting a retreat there for female founders in February, under the umbrella of their new company, Of Two Minds Retreats. I took a look at my calendar and realized that the dates lined up perfectly-Han and I could fly to Mexico right after we wrapped our respective trips to Los Angeles for Frieze and go on this retreat together, so we committed to it!
Paradero is one of the most incredible places I've ever stayed. I was so excited to return alongside Han and get to know the other founders on this trip, which felt like it was arriving at the perfect time: Han just celebrated her one year gallery anniversary and I just celebrated three years of my PR company, ALMA (we work with a mix of artists, galleries, museums and organizations). As two women in business, it felt like we had a lot to celebrate and also so much to work towards and learn.
Getting those last few emails in before we logged off...
Roanne and Meredith curated this trip so beautifully. Every morning started with yoga, meditation, journaling and a delicious breakfast. The food was so fresh. Then we dove into leadership workshops for much of the afternoon.
I'm already missing the palm trees, the fresh air and the smell of sand.
After our daily workshops we had a bit of free time. I went on walks or journaled back in my room, ruminating on the lessons from our sessions. We also spent a lot of time by the pool.
Here's Han, being the most stylish person in the room as per usual.
One afternoon we visited Las Palmas beach for a sunset workshop-and when we arrived we were greeted by these gorgeous wild horses. It felt like a dream.
On our second-to-last day we went on a beach bike ride. I loved getting to know Vatana Shaw, who works on brand partnerships and strategy at UTA Music and also founded her own boutique recording studio and talent management company, Earth Tones. She works with Moses Sumney and we bonded over Moses's recent show at my client Nicola Vassell's gallery, which she helped put together.
Amy Ann Cadwell also joined our bike ride! She's the founder of the Good Trade, a media company promoting slow living and wellness. She's such an impressive woman and I learned so much from her.
I also got extremely sunburned on this trip... 🙁
Again... the food! Fresh citrus makes everything better.
On our last night of the retreat we closed out with a traditional cacao ceremony, followed by a sound bath. It was so healing and such a nice way to close out our time together.
Roanne, taking a group photo on our final night! She really is an angel. I'd recommend one of Roanne's retreats to all the female founders in my life-this week was activating and empowering and I learned so much about myself-both as a human, a woman, and a business owner.
I've actually never gotten so sunburnt in my life (warning to never fall asleep by the pool without sunscreen)... But I had to throw this in to show off my Toteme pajama set, which everyone loved.
Goodbye, Todos Santos! Thank you for all the beauty and growth. See you next time.