Imagine you are in your favorite movie set in the Italian countryside.  The hills roll green and fresh into the spring sunrise. New leaves unfolding in the vineyards across the road,  fiery red geraniums …  except it is today. And you’re here. 

You’re waking up to the sound of birds in the acacia trees and the chestnut grove behind our charming centuries-old Italian farmhouse.

The quiet fills you with peace as you stretch and lay there drinking in the early light that inspired painters and poets alike.  You breathe and smile.  All is exactly right.

Can you see yourself here already?… Of course you can!

It’s your third day in Italy.  ITALY!!  The very fact you’re here is the fulfillment of a dream. You think, “If I’ve created this… then what is possible with the really big vision I have?! Everything feels possible!

And it is.

Your BIG vision?  It is truly already happening even as you immerse yourself in Italy.  It’s only the next in a series of greater adventures yet to come!

Though you don’t have all the answers you came asking for, you have a clearer sense of yourself and what is in front of you now.  And you feel strong – – Very strong inside – –as you can sense the next pieces of your vision falling into place.

Five years ago, I had to jump off the edge of my life into a future that had not yet been created or even envisioned.  I left behind my home, most of my belongings, all of my community, and most certainly my feelings of safety and comfort.

The truth was, I couldn’t remain where I was anymore.  I had “passed the expiration date” of the life I had been living, and had been too afraid to jump sooner.  When I finally did, heartbroken, lost, without a clear vision of my future, all I could hear my heart saying was,

“I need to be inspired.”

I needed to be my deep creative self again. I couldn’t find her.

I struggled to find my way across Europe over the next five weeks, anxiety and excitement mixing strangely together.

As I struggled to find where I would sleep the next night… struggled with four different languages in as many countries… struggled to know where I was ‘supposed to go’ without a plan…

Something inside me was leading me to find my future again.

I have learned that in order to make the biggest leaps forward, we must be in the deepest darkness and accept the longest time of not knowing.

In that sacred terrifying darkness, a new clarity is born.  A depth of being so powerful that it cannot be challenged by others.

A vision of what we are here to do that is so vast, we can reinvent it into a dozen different paths or careers over the decades to come.

But, why Italy?…

Results follow greatness…

The Renaissance wasn’t just new ideas- -it was new ideas born into tangible form. Art, music, scientific and medical breakthroughs, consolidated language, sculpture, architecture, engineering, religious reform, new civil rights, and more!

Both of us, Carmell and Bridget, have come together with our years of experience, our passions, our failures, our wisdom and our clear vision in international business and growth to create a launch point for your global vision at the next level.

Your joining us is no coincidence. We all know it. The timing synchronizes, as our perfect group of change-making women come together at a tiny train station in the countryside of Italy.

Together, each of you will walk your own transformation. Cross the threshold in your life that is waiting, and move into your next rebirth.

Your renaissance.

Getting There:

You will arrive into Rome International Airport where you will be greeted by our liaison in Rome.  He will escort you to us at Rome Termini Station where we will welcome you with laughter and open arms!  We will purchase your ticket and altogether board our train.

One of the great romantic delights of traveling in Italy is the freedom and purely Italian experience of riding the trains.  You have time to think, stare out the windows, sit with locals and travelers alike as you head into your next adventure…  We want you to start your Italy adventure here.

Our train will take us one hour north of Rome, stopping at little towns on its way to Siena and Florence.  We will hop off at Orvieto Station, at the base of this gorgeous picturesque medieval town atop the mountain.  You will meet our delightful retreat director, Stefania Senzaquattrini who has orchestrated some phenomenal magic for us–and who is, herself, pure joy!

Driving to Civita and to Villa Cavone, we will pass through tiny villages and towns along gorgeous cliffs with the ancient walls of Orvieto across the valley, and amid rolling vineyards and olive groves.  You will already be off the beaten path.

One of the best kept secrets of this area of Umbria/Tuscany is it’s locally-pressed, little-known artisan olive oils.  They are to die for–and you’ll get to taste these first-hand!

The groves we drive through produce some of those olives and the oil you’ll be tasting.  Likewise, we will have local wines from the family vineyards you can see, that go back generations and centuries.

We have changed our venue this year to provide an even more upgraded experience. 

Our charming farmhouse in the Umbrian countryside on the border of Tuscany and Lazio holds treasures few know of. Perfectly quaint and picturesque, it is situated 15 minutes drive from Civita Bagnoregio, the town that inspired me two and a half years ago.  I knew then I would lead a retreat here.  

Our villa has been lovingly restored by the Italian family who owns it, and is situated among chestnut and walnut groves, pear and apricot orchards, and as always, vineyards. Old quarried stone walls, open-beam ceilings, Italian tile floors, comfy beds with crisp white linens, fresh flowers and the Italian light will enchant you with it’s simplicity and charm.

In the silence of our early summer mornings or at the end of an intense adventurous day, you can refresh yourself in the beautiful turquoise of our private swimming pool.  But I will tell you, it is not the only delightful water we will swim in… Check out the Delights below!

Our sweet cozy oasis is situated 10 minutes off the main road and overlooks sprawling valleys of farms and forests—a difficult treasure to find in such a touristed area of the world!

Quiet and peace, birds and sunlight are the foundations of our passionate adventure in the heart of the Tuscan and Umbrian hills.

I will tell you, when Stefania pulled together many of the adventures we will be having, they left me breathless!  

I was so excited that I wanted to show my team—but I was halfway around the world and they were in the U.S., sound asleep.

Imagine yourself wandering through tiny cobbled streets with scarlet geraniums, bright pink zinnias and saffron-gold trumpet vines adorning buildings 600 years old where families have lived for generations.  

See the rolling spring hills spreading out of sight as we walk old Etruscan roads lined with those tall dark medina poplars famous in Italian photos and paintings—

…You’re there.

We will take you to famous Montepulciano, a medieval town reputedly founded in the sixth century, and lesser known Pienza which utterly entranced me and will fill every fantasy of traveling through Tuscany you’ve ever had.  

These towns are found between two of the most famous valleys in Italy, the achingly beautiful Val d-Orcia and Val de Chiana.  (You pronounce ‘ce’ and ‘ci’ as “ch”–and “ch” as “k”)

The experience of traveling with yourself in a foreign country opens the secrets of Life itself.

My desire for you to get wonderfully lost in a tiny Italian village will begin in Civita—one of my most special experiences of Italy itself.

You will get the luxurious opportunity to take yourself to a private dinner in an Italian village, enjoy your own fabulous company, and open up the independent woman in your soul.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you—you are so very safe to explore on your own, get momentarily lost, find your way, discover treasured moments around unexpected corners—

All to yourself!

We will visit a special winery:  Casato Prime Donne.  Five generations of strong powerful women have owned and run this winery.

Donnatella Cinelli Colombini, the wickedly intelligent and fiery matriarch of Casato Prime Donne, has gathered the first-known team of all-women vintners who not only make award-winning wine, but teach the art and science of wine.  

Donnatella and her family of talented female vintners have been featured in the New York Times, UK’s The Guardian, Lonely Planet and much more as she has challenged the prevailing belief that women can’t make good wine.  She has helped to further open this industry for women globally.  How perfect for us to meet her!

Another adventure we will undertake are the picture-perfect towns of Pitigliano and Sovana where a Jewish settlement and a Catholic community have peacefully lived together since the 1400s.  

This representation of different beliefs and traditions living and helping each other is the perfect example of the leadership principles desperately needed in our world, and which we will be exploring together in our global visions.

Our retreat coaching will not only happen at our cozy villa in the hills, but also along the way of our adventures—at beautiful overlooks with Italy all around, or pulled together in a charming café on a terrace in a centuries-old village, or sitting on the steps of a majestic basilica.  

We will be diving deeply together on your projects, challenges, and visions even as we explore.

You will sleep very well 😉

No Italian adventure would be complete without a gourmet Italian cooking class!  And we have the perfect class for you.  

Taught by my ultra-talented and dear friend, Elisabetta Manco, you will learn Italian cuisine from an expert who has held posh dinners for local and international clientele for years.  I met Elisa on my first visit to Italy five years ago, and I knew:  we would do something amazing together some day.

Elisa has prepared a 5-star experience for us complete with the most elegant dining arrangement in the heart of Florence.  We will take the train together to explore a bit of Florence—the heart of the Renaissance–and meet up with Elisa for our tantalizing class!

We have prepared a special fun surprise for one of our last evenings in Italy.  It is that “other” extraordinary and delightful water we will swim in…  but we will let you be surprised when we get there.

Our final morning before you leave back to Rome, we have planned for ancient Orvieto—a perfect way to fill your senses as you say goodbye (for now) to Italy and this incredible adventure.