Italy Retreat - Carmell Clark

Re-Awakening Women

an Italian Adventure for Women aligning within, at a life crossroads

2023 Dates To Be Announced Soon!

As a woman and visionary leader, you know that moment your intuition says, “I’m ready for the next giant step UP…” and without even thinking, you begin looking – – reaching for it.

Your next step UP is here!

Join us to unmask your genuine Influence as a Renaissance Woman
and a Leader at the global level.

Welcome!

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.

Are you feeling the call to join us?

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.

Fulfilling your purpose at the next level
is begun the moment you step into the next unknown adventure.

We want you to fall in love with yourself as
only Italy can elicit…

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.

Your leadership is needed now more than ever on our planet. And we need your voice to call out greater possibilities, higher accountability and integrity—and to invent our next solutions that serve the highest good across the globe.

Our past does not define us, nor does it make our future. We do.

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

The Venue:

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.

The Cuisine:

The food of Italy is famous, and for good reason. You will find Italian pasta alive and well in cities and towns across every continent of the world, but it simply cannot compare to the luscious experience of fresh country Italian cooking by an Italian chef in our very own kitchen in Umbria.

I know you may have been trying to cut out carbs, but really—you’re in ITALY! For 8 incredible days 😉

Our menu will be mostly locally grown and prepared foods. This is the Italian way.

Families continue to live close to the land here, and even restaurants manage their menus based on the seasons and what is available in the region.

Taste fresh basil and rosemary stirred into new spring vegetables, salads du moment (of the moment), a hearty Tuscan stew, roasted garlic and local cheeses with hot bread from the oven, pasta al forno, salmone limone e timo and chicken cacciatore!

You will arrive in strawberry season—a singular joy! Desserts—yes, we will have those too—will tempt you with the fresh sweetness of local strawberries and creamy mascarpone, little vanilla cakes, chocolate or almond butter cookies, and the decadence of tiramisu.

Also in season, we will have bowls of fresh cherries, blueberries and apricots to accompany our strawberries! Italy really is the original cornucopia in every season.

For our coffee lovers, enjoy fresh Italian coffee—the best I’ve had anywhere in my travels!

And you will have the most enticing selection of teas including some exotic flavors—black, green and white teas will all be represented along with some sassy herbal blends! And do not forget fresh mint and lemon tea! You may become addicted…

We will creatively and deliciously accommodate dietary restrictions or food allergies, so just let us know!

In case you’re worried, you will be burning lots of extra calories nearly every day in our excursions! So you will want to start building your strength now to be ready for Italy!

We welcome your food preferences and dietary restrictions.

The Delights:

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.

This is just a glimpse to entice all your senses,
and so much more awaits you!

Bennies

• First Relax…Enjoy, explore, breathe, take in the sun and earth and water.

• Italy and the soul of the Renaissance will give you the Grand Vista View over your life to see where you are now, and get clear on where you want to go next.

• Understand how your growth will influence and change your family dynamic: what is good, what is ready now, and what will come from you as you move forward so you can create positive and powerful change without feeling guilty or holding back.

• Feel your longing and passion unleashed in Italy–open a New Door in your life, your career/business, and your relationships.

• You will laugh a lot…and dance.

• Get out of, or avoid the rut that familiar routine can bring by engaging the Unknown in bigger ways.

• Get clarity on your three-year and 10-year visions.

• Step into owning ‘more of yourself,’ than when you arrived—a new thought leadership!

• Grow 15 inches taller in one week–Embody new fearlessness and risk-taking.

• Travel with yourself. Find confidence in your unknowns: Life. Business. The Globe.

• Strategize your next-level leadership and visibility with a group of passionate change-making women.

• Strategize how you will monetize and ‘make a difference’ both at the same time in the next 12 months.

• Develop or refine your 12-month strategy by the time you leave.

Inclusions:

Are you ready? It’s quite a list. . .

• Boutique accommodations shared occupancy 7 nights

• Welcome gift and accoutrements

• Seven delicious breakfasts by our Italian chef including daily fresh juices and smoothies

• Seven healthy lunches by our Italian chef or on our excursions

• Seven culinary dinner experiences either at Villa Cavone or abroad.

• Light buffet upon arrival, delicious snacks throughout

• Six mornings of yoga or guided meditation and writing to open your creative connection

• Six deep-dive transformation group sessions + coaching + lots of juicy retreat conversations all week!

• Transportation for all our trips

• All excursion expenses except your personal shopping

• New Moon circle with dinner and dancing

• A farewell dinner party our last night

• ALL gratuities for our accommodations, excursions, and special parties

• Special parting gift!

What’s Not-Included:

• Your our round trip airfare from home – You must arrive into the Rome International Airport (FCO) before 7 am Thursday September 24th. We recommend arriving on the 14th. We can make recommendations for a place to get a good night’s rest before traveling to meet us the next morning. You’ll be departing October 2nd (except for VIP).

• Personal, medical or trip cancellation insurance

• Other non-included items would be souvenir shopping, personal phone calls, laundry, personal snacks & beverages.

VIP Adventure... We only have 6 spaces!!

2023 Dates Coming Soon!

Would you like to be our VIP?

Join us after the retreat for our 4-day VIP Adventure. . .

Traveling light. Traveling fast. Unrestrained freedom and exploration. Cracking open the deeper vision of your Life and your Business/Purpose.

Experiences only a few ever discover. This is our VIP…

A 4-day on-and-off train adventure into three other regions of Italy.

You might discover the now less-precariously leaning Tower of Pisa built over 199 years, or walk in awe through world-renowned sculptures by Donatello, Cellini and Giambologna under a loggia in the famous Piaza della Signoria in Florence, constructed by Michaelangelo himself.

Perhaps we’ll decide to hike in the Cinque Terre, or visit the castles at Monteriggioni or the famous Montepulciano. Or ride bicycles on the ancient Roman wall around the picture-perfect Lucca, the town of a hundred churches.

Come with us – a few women, your simple backpack, and the wanderlust for unscripted adventure and exploration!

Carmell Clark

Master coach, Life Artist, speaker, and author, Carmell has worked with thousands over the past 17 years to influence transformation and behavioral change. Through her latest work and system, LifeArtist Global™, Carmell is training and mentoring women as thought leaders, global change agents, influencers and entrepreneurs.

She is known for moving women forward quickly in their vision, and has the uncanny ability to bring them to a clarity on the deepest level of their being. Her core work is to raise consciousness at every level of women’s lives and leadership. Conscious women become conscious leaders who shift human behaviors in our families and communities, and throughout our cultures, economies, and politics across the globe.

A professional instigator, Carmell is a skilled storyteller, international speaker, world traveler, and leadership mentor. Her passion is for the study of and raising of consciousness, for critical inquiry and conflict resolution, and working with the paradox of power and control in human behavior.

Carmell is completing her first book, The Transformation Effect about how WE are the transformation effect in the world. We transform relationships, circumstances, fortunes, economies, potentials, healing, …. The more conscious we are, the more precise our influence and long-term effectiveness becomes.

Carmell has built an international Transformational Retreat Program and leads retreats in several countries focused in different areas of women’s lives and leadership. Retreats for men are coming. She lives and travels in different countries for part of each year. She serves on the board of Art in Common, a 501c3 connecting disadvantaged groups and existing communities through art and relationships.

Bridget Cook-Burch

Bridget Cook-Burch is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author best known for her riveting tales of transformation. Her powerful work has been showcased on Oprah, CNN, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, Dateline, The History Channel, NPR and in People among many others. As a leader, storyteller, CEO, trainer and international human rights activist, her greatest passion is helping others to discover the importance of their own story.

Bridget’s New York Times Bestseller The Witness Wore Red tells the astonishing life story of Rebecca Musser, who’s testimony brought down the insidious organized crime ring of the FLDS church. Bridget also wrote national bestselling Shattered Silence, the Untold Story of a Serial Killer’s Daughter with Melissa G. Moore, and Skinhead Confessions: From Hate to Hope with former neo-Nazi TJ Leyden.

Bridget’s personal stories have been showcased in Leading Women: 20 Influential Women Share Their Secrets to Leadership, Business, and Life; and also Living Proof with Lisa Nichols from The Secret. She is working on a kick-butt fiction novel in her spare time.

Bridget has been a serial entrepreneur and has owned and operated several businesses, including a multi-million-dollar trucking company. As the CEO of Inspired Legacy, LLC, she’s teaching and training leaders, speakers and authors full time, using many of the lessons she’s learned in business, women’s leadership, writing and publishing. She puts on Inspired Writers Retreats in Utah and in exotic places like India and Italy. She can’t wait to hear more about your stories!

Registration:

$4997 nearly all-inclusive*

*Airfare not included
2023 Dates To Be Announced

VIP Adventure
$2400

*Shared accommodations. You can guarantee a queen sized bed for an additional $300

*Payment plans are available at checkout. Contact carmell@carmellclark.com to inquire about custom plans.

PLEASE NOTE: Any cancellation will result in a forfeiture of the $500 USD deposit. Cancellations received in writing between 30 and 90 days ahead of Day 1 of the retreat will result in a loss of 50% of the trip price. Any cancellation made less than 30 days ahead of the trip departure will result in a total loss of funds, as we will have already paid our costs. We reserve the right to cancel the trip if it is not meeting the trip minimum (if we do so your deposit is refunded in full).

Trip cancellation insurance is required for our retreat events.

You can shop or use our suggested Worldnomads.com online and choose from several policy options.