📍Epic Engagement Adventure: The Art of Branding and Marketing with Leni Cavazos

Interview with Leni Cavazos

RJ Redden: Hold on to your goggles. It's time for the Epic Engagement Adventure.

Oh, hello everybody. You know what time it is. It is the time in which we pick a member of our beautiful community and we highlight them to the world because of the amazing things that they do. Today, it's all about the magic of retreats. Putting on events, doing them, planning them, everything. I've found a genius in this realm.

Her name is Leni Cavazos. Did I get it right? Yes. Good. Good. And and yeah, I met Leni some time ago on some networking thing, and it was just like I need to have this person around me because the magic of taking a rest and focusing your energy in the proper places, this is something that we all need to be doing.

So I'm so excited. Leni, tell us everything. Tell us about yourself.

Leni Cavazos: Perfect. First of all, thank you so much for having me here today. I'm so excited to be sharing, and I think we'll talk a little bit more about this, but I love sharing and sharing education and my experiences and where I've been and how did I get here, right?

So it's absolutely an honor for me to be able to share my story with all of you. It's not only about me and what happened, but it's all about how we can relate with what has happened to each one another, and then how we can grow from that. And I think, as you were saying, the part of retreat, this is one of the most important parts, is that we retreat, but we retreat as a community.

We gather together, so we're sharing energy, we're sharing our experiences, we're sharing vulnerability, we're sharing love. Anything you can imagine, but it's all about sharing in a space where we retreat and we take time for ourselves, but we are growing as a community. So this is so important and this is something that we really need to take into consideration.

For me, something that is super important is to always realize that if you are the retreat host, and I'm going already to into the educational piece and I'm sorry, but I this kind of person, right? I'm like I follow the energy of where like it's guiding me and taking me.

And not every time it has to be like, oh, I've done all these things and then that's why I'm supposed to be ta telling you about this. But it's more about actually how we need to consider that when we're hosting a retreat. It's not only our energy that is coming into play, it's every single person that is.

It makes such a difference when we consider all of us as a part of a community, a circle that is really creating this energetic vortex for us to transform and to change, and to connect and to create beautiful, transformational experiences. So it's so important to really consider that it's not just us going and teaching in a retreat, a conference, a workshop, an online course.

It doesn't really matter the format is the same thing. That is a container of more people, more than just you. How these, everyone in this group is affecting how things are happening. Or maybe not even affecting, but changing, modifying, transforming, Super incredible opportunity for everyone who's running online programs, coaching workshops, day camps, like one-on-one coaching to really start understanding how the energy of everyone who's there will shift the thing.

So nothing, it's like the universe, right? And I can see your your background screen with the universe. I'm like, so inspired by the, I'm like, I'm going with this analogy. So it's like the universe. It's never the same. Stars are expanding each single day. Stars are dying. New stars are being born.

There's never one single time where the cener of the university is exactly the same. Yeah. This happens exactly every single time. And I'm sure you won't let me lie to this. I'm sure when you're running your programs, even if you're teaching exactly the same things, it goes in a completely different direction, right?

RJ Redden: Yeah, exactly. Why does the world need so many math teachers? Because. It's the same stuff they're all teaching, right? Every single one teaches differently. They reach different people in different ways. It's not about information, my friends, it is about delivery. So yeah, just wanted to break in and say that what made you want to do retreat?

Leni Cavazos: This is an a story that it basically starts with the word, like the phrase I decided to trust. I just didn't know what I was gonna do. I just quit my corporate job. I was working for Marriott in Dubai, seven years. Beautiful life, like skyscraper apartment, amazing. Going into the desert brunch every weekend.

You name it. But I was just like, okay, this is not enough. Then the pandemic happened and I was like, okay, I'm over Dubai. Like I'm here, I'm trapped. My family's not here. I was like, I'm gonna quit. I made a decision super quick. It was a, it was an easy one. I really didn't have to overthink it, but then I didn't know what I was gonna do.

I was like, oh, I'll take six months off, but I'm a little bit of a workaholic. So I came back to my hometown in Mexico. And I was like we'll see what comes out of it. I can do some consulting on like my marketing experience and event planning and everything. And I was just like, okay, it just should be within the spiritual world or someone who wants to create transformation because I don't wanna be selling alcohol anymore.

I don't wanna be promoting restaurants because I used to do food and beverage market. I gain a lot of weight. It's not good for me. Forget about the rest of the people. It's not good for me. I do a lot of market research, so you can imagine it's not a, it was not a great fit for me, so I was like, okay, I need to do something.

It's also connected to my spiritual life, but I really didn't know how it was gonna look like, and I just went into the path of trusting and understanding that whatever would come, it was exactly what it was supposed to be at right that time. And. , but things were started just evolving in a beautiful way.

Someone from a retreat center, they asked me, Hey, can you do an audit of our retreat center and see what's happening? And I'm like, okay, I came, I did some implementations, and they were like, Hey, can you do some more consulting? And really create the framework for us to sell the retreat to retreat letters to see.

What we need to do. I also started going to a lot of retreats myself. I spent six months really like working on myself, the making sure that when I was going into my next step, I was going with all the tools that I needed to really succeed. And it just started happening. It was just like magic, like I just went through this process where like people started coming to me and being, Hey, would you plan a retreat for me? And I've been planning events for 18 years now. Like I started when I was 15 years old. So I really like for me to create a concept where I retreat, I close my eyes and I know exactly how it's supposed to look, like, how is it gonna happen. And I basically even see a checklist of my time, like critical path on how I'm supposed to do one thing and the next. So it's absolutely amazing. I love it. And like for me, that's like my universe like the start lighting up and it's a little bit magical.

So for me it was super simple. So when people started saying, Hey, would you plan a retreat for me? I'm like, okay, I've been to a few. I know what people are looking for. I know what I would be looking for. I've seen what the transformation experience that needs to happen and I want to do things in the spiritual world.

And I just said yes. And I started saying yes and, just from saying yes, more opportunities came and I started helping people throughout their own retreats on how they can do them better, like really coming from a marketing perspective. The event planning perspective, but also the mindset, right? So I have been studying L NLP for quite a w a while I studied marketing, energetic marketing, like a bunch of stuff that it's all about at the end of the day, fulfilling your purpose, having an intention, putting your focus in it, and taking some action, right?

Very simple three step process that everyone teaches you in a different way because everyone learns in a different way and that's perfectly fine. That's amazing, right? So I started like coaching people, right? Like consulting coaching people when they were doing their retreats on how they can do them better.

And I realized at that point I was planning a bunch of retreats and it was fun, but it was also like the impact was limited, right? I knew the impact that I was creating for people was limited to the two hands that I had and the 52 weekends on the year that I definitely did not want to spend 52 years planning retreats for other people or for myself because it takes a lot of energy and I, when I do something, I really bring my whole passion, my whole self into it, right?

Yeah. But when a retreat, it's like a three month, really like deep commitment. And I make sure that everything is so intentional that magic happens, right? I'm like, okay, how do I transform this that I'm doing that I love, but it's not gonna serve me in the long term? So I, since I started like guiding people through the process on how to do that from themselves, I was like maybe this is something I need to bring a little bit more energy into, right?

Not like I'm never gonna plan another retreat, but now I plan bigger retreats, right? I plan conferences for like a hundred people. Like larger things are all into the spiritual world, but like I know I can dedicate six months into this project and impact is gonna be larger, right? So it's all about the question of impact.

Yeah. So yeah, so that's how actually the retreat planner started as an agency in the sense of I still plan events, but it's also about how I teach other people to do it for themselves so they don't have to hire me or someone else at the beginning of the, like the beginning of their retreat planning career, and they're not diluting their profit.

And they learn how to do it very easy, very simple, without spending so many crazy hours because you have the guidance of someone who has done over 80 retreats, right? So it's. For me, it was like, this is something I can do very well. And it has worked amazing because all my clients, they always come and they're like, I'm your fan.

This is qqqqqqqqqqqgreat. I have clients who are not even planning retreats and they just want me to teach them how to do this. And they translated into their pro coaching programs, into their workshops, into anything because they're like, what you teach is not just about retreats. It's about mindset and a lifestyle and how you create a framework that fits who you are.

I don't have, everyone says oh, I have a framework, I have a system. And true, there is, for me, there is a skeleton. But the framework, you have to create your own because only that one is gonna work for you. There's no cookie cutter answer when it comes to this. Because it needs to be something that works for you and that you feel comfortable, but also you can push yourself a little bit.

It has, but it has to have this blood.

RJ Redden: And I think, just, I've been exposed to a lot of people in my career. . If you ever approach somebody and they're telling you that it's, everything's gonna be super easy please just pay this really ridiculous bill anybody that tells you that it, it doesn't take hard work and that it doesn't take consistency.

Walk away from that person. It's okay. Walk away. I love that you teach more than just about the retreat because there are times that we can go away to a hotel for two or three days, hang with our friends do some stuff. But how do you find a space within yourself to retreat if you're sitting in your office chair?

Yeah. Because we all need to find that balance, not just once a year on a weekend. So I'm so glad that it's more of a holistic view of it.

Leni Cavazos: Yes. Actually. It's amazing that you take touch this topic because I think it's something super important and it is something that... it's one of my, like biggest, let's say it secrets for my, like on how I apply things like my specialty is loyalty marketing. So it's how people come back and how you keep them coming and how you create connections and you create relationships and they're your, you get messages and like when is your next thing?

I want to know. It's not about just like once off. I see you once a year for a retreat, and then that's it. So this is exactly how I teach things in the way. I'm like, how do you create something that is sustainable for your brand? Yeah. How do you create something that you can replicate in the future and you don't have to work as much as you did the first time.

I'm not saying there's no work, but because you're creating your own system that works and you test it, and then you change it, and then you fix it until you find the one that really works for you. How do you make sure that this has continuity? How do you continue the experience after a retreat? How do you incorporate that into a coaching program?

What about if you started your coaching program? Would a retreat so everyone gets to know themselves, each other, and they know who they're working with. They create these personal connections. So once they're into this program, they are deep. Their transformation is gonna be so much higher because they already connected with the people they're gonna be spending time with.

Rather than spending a couple of weeks figuring out when is the right time to actually be vulnerable and say, Hey, I don't understand. Can you say it again? Can you explain it all over again? You know what I mean? This kind of sense of safety that we don't have so many times when you're in an online space.

So how about starting your own programs with actually a meet up in person? It can be in a coffee shop. It doesn't have to be a fancy retreat. Three day escape with horseback riding activities and no. it can be for sure, but it doesn't have to be right. It can be something as simple as that.

And then having this space for people to connect and to meet up, even maybe if it's, cannot do it in person, but online, just an like very like free session where people come, they introduce themselves, they share a little bit, and then they're like, okay, this is what it is. I know you a little bit more, and when you come into the into the sessions there, you're a little bit more warmed up. And I can tell you from personal experience the last time I run my program mastering the Art of retreat planning, that it was, I did an intensive session, like session. It was like a three day kind of deep dive into mastering the art of retreat planning and it's awesome content.

But of course in three days it's packed. You're like topic after topic. And this is for the people who really want to go into it and to it faster and they already know what they want and they're like, okay, I just need to get all the knowledge and then I can come back to it when I have to, but I don't have to wait for 10 weeks to feel that I am ready to do something.

So it was amazing. But I love engagement. But I found that at the beginning people were not really open to share. So I was like, okay, if anyone wants to open up the mic and share with me, and they were like, silence. There's nothing happening here. Then I was like, okay, so let's take it back a notch and let's go into the chat.

So let's see who says something on the chat, right? And how do we do this? Okay hey, who has felt this? Things are easy, like easier approaches, things that won't make you feel so ashamed. At the end of the course I had people saying, oh my gosh, I've been doing everything wrong.

This is the vulnerability space until you, where you can get to. Once you're listening to your audience and seeing how they can relate. But I know if I was running this course in person, everyone who would have been sharing, and if maybe I organized a coffee meetup beforehand, like just a casual conversation for people to introduce each other, they would have been more warmed up before we just went in and, oh, right?

So it's all about thinking how can you create this experience and this connection? So people keep talking to each other after the course is has finished. I talk to most of my students from my previous courses. They always send me messages like, Hey, I'm launching this, what do you think? And I'm like, Hey, book a call.

Let's have a chat. Like half an hour, I give you half an hour. Let's get there. Because I want them to succeed. Yeah. It's not about me. Oh, you can book another call and then you have to pay $300 for my consultation. It's more about Hey, I want you to succeed because you are my presentation card.

You are the person who's gonna be telling others, Hey, I worked with Leni. And this was the best experience ever. Yes. I cannot recommend her enough. If you are planning a retreat, you have to hire her. Yeah. And this is what my clients say about me.

RJ Redden: Oh, of course they do.

Leni Cavazos: Like I'm, because I give myself to them basically.

RJ Redden: And that's it's so key. First of all, you are an entrepreneur that I love to talk to, which is the kind that learns from experience. Is vulnerable enough to go, you know what, I could probably have done that better next time. Because you've got the formula spouts, I'll call 'em. You've got the you didn't do this step and you didn't try hard enough and that's why you felt you.

No, my success depends on yours. This is not there's a lot of stuff in our industry going around and I've been dropping some videos in the group lately about some of it and some of it's pretty funny, but there's a serious side to it, and that is that a lot of people will just, they just wanna get you in the door.

You are talking about this is a relationship, we are starting a relationship here. This is a give and take. This is yeah, I wanna know. It's been a couple years. I wanna know what you're doing. How can I help? Which is amazing. And then of course we have that question that I ask everybody.

And that just, it doves tails right in. What do you do to engage your audience?

Leni Cavazos: So it's great that you're asking this, and I've been thinking about it because I know we like, we spoke about it a little bit before and I was just like, okay. So yes. So I have my answer that's in a moment, but I think there's something else that I want to add before we go there.

So I have to be super honest. I am a person that does have, I have created my funnels. It's not that I don't have funnels, I'm not gonna tell you, I don't have a email sequence that goes into your email that tells you all the amazing stuff that I can offer. But my funnels are very educational. Like honestly, for you to find my offer, you have to go to the bottom of the email and be like, maybe I want to do this.

Maybe it's not the best like sales strategy in the sense like everyone else is doing, but this is what I feel comfortable with because I like to share knowledge. And this is all about like share over I am over, over giver, basically, right? And I want people to get educated because my purpose, yes, of course I want to have you as my client because I know what I can do for you.

You might not know it, but I know. So I want to have you by the door, but if you are not, and the thing I can do is just change a little bit the way you do things, I'm set. I'm happy because you are making the world a better place. Yeah. And that's, and the abundance and the money and the clients, they come on the side.

They just become the aftermath, right? Yeah. So for me, it's so important to really consider that. Yes, I have emails, I have landing pages, I have a bunch of freebies because I share a lot. And so I get bored. Like I was telling you today, I launched a new freebie. I was like, this is it, I'm like, I was like, oh, I have this.

I might as well just share it with other people. Yes. Does this mean there is a page afterwards that says that I'll have an upcoming program if you're interested. Yes, it does, because if I don't tell you who will, it's all about communicating. But before that, you already got so much from me, and then I know I am building trust because I'm sharing educational pieces.

You're learning something from me. Every single time I send an email, it has maybe a video recording on how to choose if you have a co-host, a facilitator. Or you hire just an admin to come help you run your retreat. How does that, what does that entail? In cost wise, this is one of the biggest learnings that people have at the beginning of the retreat planning journey.

And no one is telling them what to do because there is other people teaching how to plan retreats. I'm not the only one. I'm not gonna say I'm the only one, but I do have to say I want to do things differently and I haven't found anyone who does it the same way I do because I have made an effort to make a difference, right?

And to do my proper market research as a good marketeer that I am, right? I ran my research, I took my courses. I was like, okay, let me see what's happening, what's the difference? But for me, the most important part is that I have this big educational piece, but it's not only focused on tools and techniques, it's also focused on mindset.

Yes. Because if you don't have the right mindset, you can have the perfect pricing. You can have the perfect marketing started. You can have an amazing agency. It's not gonna sell.

RJ Redden: You're scattering seeds on a parking lot. Yeah. You can scatter those seeds all day if you want, but non's gonna grow.

And I feel like mindset has become, for me, it's about context. It's about the context, it's about the environment in which that plant grows. And if you don't have the right environment, you're gonna have problems. Do you find that? Oh. I wanted to ask you this earlier, but I also wanna, I will also want you to talk about your freebie a little bit more.

I'm gonna throw the link in the chat and then I'm gonna put it up on screen here. Could you talk about this a little bit more? I need the other one. I think. This is free foot free Facebook group list 70 groups to sell your retreat. This is fascinating. What made you come up with this?

Leni Cavazos: So I'm actually hosting my next program. It's called How to Price and Sell Your Retreat, right? Yes. And this is a program that I run usually only on private sessions. So I just offer it for my private coaching. And now I was just like, okay, I think that I need to make this on a group container, but it's gonna be...

it has to be different. It cannot be exactly the same as I do Bec in my private co coaching, honestly, people get amazing results, right? They're making 30 k profit on the retreats, eight k for like small groups retreats. You can make up to a hundred K if you want on revenue, right? Like it's endless possibilities.

And my clients are excited. They love it. They come back to me all the time, every time they have a retreat, like they're like, and we just review what I'm doing and make sure it's, it's working out and what not. So I was like, okay, I wanna do this in a group container because the energy of the group is so different and I feel there's gonna be so much growth.

And because I was doing that, I started creating some additional video content because I wanted to make sure that we had enough time and everything. And then I was just like, I had a con one of my private clients, she had a consultation with me for her retreat that she's having. And we were talking about different ways to promote her retreat.

And I was like I have this Facebook group list that my assistant did a while ago because I asked her to do it for me. Do you want it? And then she was like, okay. And I'm like, and I went into it and I was like, let me review it. I, and I had 20 groups, and I was like, let me review if this is still current with Facebook and whatnot.

And I was like doing my work and then suddenly I have over 70 groups. With different amount of number members. The list has how many members there is on each group. The majority of them are public. I added a description on what the pro and what it is all about. There's some place, there are some that are specific for locations like Retreat in Scotland and all these kind of things, but if you're running a retreat in Scotland it's awesome.

So I was just like, okay, so I gave this to my client, I want it back. And I reviewed it, and then I sent her the updated one. I'm like, Hey, here's the updated one. Forget about the other one. Go for this one. And I was like, okay, I have to share this with more people. Like why do I do all the work to just keep it for myself?

Yeah. So I was so excited to really release this and I was so excited. I. L put this page together in half an hour, posted it on a couple of Facebook groups, really went on and I was just like, whoa, this is it. I was like, if this is what people need, I'm gonna give it to them. So I was like, we were supposed to have another preview today in this call.

And I was just like, let's do this one because. I feel there is so much value on it, right? You need to find where your audience is spending their time. So if your audience is spending time on Facebook, this list is awesome. And if they're not, go ahead and try it because it's specific groups for people looking for retreats, you cannot find this on Instagram.

There's no way you can find someone who's looking for a retreat on Instagram or TikTok or YouTube. There's no place where people announce, Hey, I'm looking for a retreat, but Facebook.

RJ Redden: It's just, it's delivering quality, delivering value. I'm so glad to hear that. It's much more than just a list of links.

You went through and made sure that it would be easy for people to get value from. A lot of times, a lot , a lot of free bees people give are like, oh, this ain't, this is not worth my time to. But, giving quality and giving a good experience to people is absolutely what you do.

Leni Cavazos: And I'm a market researcher, like I love market research. So before I put on my freebie and I have like, .. Yeah. I have, like right now live like three different freebies. Before I put together my freebies, I went on a bench, a expedition of looking for freebies and see which ones work or and not, and honestly, I do have to say there's so many that are quite useless.

Like it could be a three sentence and I will get the message right. There is a lot of blah, blah, blah, here and there. For me, I like things that have value. They're actionable. Like my other freebie one is a like a practice on how to see how you feel about money. And you take actually a dollar bill and it just takes you through the process on how you can try this and see if it works for you.

And the other one has three different things that you really need to consider when you're planning a retreat. So you make sure that you're profitable and it has technique and muscle testing and it tells you how to do muscle testing. Like I really try to do things from a perspective.

If I received this, would I find value on it? Would I actually learn something from this? Yeah. If I was getting this right and I tested before I put it out there, I tested with other people, I share it with them. I'm like, Hey, would you download. Yes. Or actually, would you even pay for this? Because I am giving it for free, but it's supposed to have a value, right?

RJ Redden: And and to me that kind of consideration, that kind of walking through something, standing in your potential client shoes, that's what makes you awesome. That's what makes you awesome. So many people crank out so much stuff because some big name is doing it. And now, okay, I'm going to do it too.

And it's, it worked for them. It'll work for me. Nope. Nope. The world has changed. And we are, the pendulum is going toward individualization, personalization, customization, and choice. That's what it's going from this industrial way of shouting things out and trying, desperately trying to get people to hear you.

And it's going more toward giving people a great experience. I am so glad you came on today, Leni.

Leni Cavazos: I actually have something to share about what you were saying, so when I was in my corporate days, I used to work with a lot of like influencer campaigns and just like really thinking about like social media strategies and bringing influencers to the hotels to and in many different dimensions, paid, unpaid, like whatever you can imagine. But actually we do, we did did usually run a lot of research when it came to influencers. And the reality is that all the major influencers, they have a big following. Yes. It's true. You will get a lot of maybe brand awareness, but actually the conversion comes higher from micro influencers.

The mom that has 500 friends, that they all like what you're doing, that they would all like to learn about how you can have more free time as a mom. Yes, this micro influencer might be a better person to actually create a collaboration with and be like, Hey, would you share this with your group of moms? Because I know it's amazing.

It changed my life and I wanted to change the lives of other people. I know you're a mom. I know you, you're probably in the PTA meeting. You go to this school. Can you please give me an introduction maybe to the like the director of the school and be like the principal, right? And be like, Hey, so I have this program from moms.

Can we send an email and tell them, Hey, come for a free session and try it out? And if it's something that works for you and then you can hire me. Like what about the school hiring you and actually offering as an add-on for their services for parents?

RJ Redden: There's so much value out there that can be discovered. And it really does take. Having a bit of a creativity around it sometimes, which you have an abundance charm as well, my friend. I have loved hanging out with you. Any last thoughts for the audience before we roll here?

Leni Cavazos: Yeah. I have to say that yes, if you're hiring a coach and I know you are one leg, those, right?

But if you're hiring someone specific for a certain thing, make sure that they will be able to provide something that is personalized for your needs. Yes. Be, and then not that they will just provide it. That they will show you how to do it for yourself. This is something I tell my clients. I'm like, I'm here.

My business as that is that you don't have to hire, take this course again. You take it once. You're graduated and that's it. You don't wanna, I don't want you to come back for this. If you come for an upgrade and for more things and other teachings. Yes, perfect. I don't want you to be like, I need to retake this course because this means I am not doing my job properly.

I want you to create a system and I'm gonna help you through it. That will work for you and that will help you, but that you will know how to recreate in different ways. So the idea, for example, for me is I teach them how to price and sell a retreat, right? So this is a very specific course, very like focus oriented on pricing and selling.

It does have the part of mindset and technical skills, right? It's not just technical skills sell. So it is a beautiful blend, but I teach them on be between 22 different ways that I have for selling retreats to find which one works for them and how that everything that we learn there, they can recreate.

So they, when they do their second retreat or their third retreat, or their fourth or the 20th, they can still use the same tools and they don't have to come back and be like, how was I supposed to calculate the pricing? What was I supposed to include this or not? I want them to think for themselves.

How do I do this for me? But now I, they have the tools to do it because I provided the tools, and the teachings. But if you are hiring someone, make sure that they teach you how to do it for yourself because you don't want to be a slave of someone else because if you leave them, then you are lost.

I think that's my last advice.

RJ Redden: I love it. And it's just been, I wanna thank you for joining me today. I think thatI learned a lot. I think that my audience is gonna just find this valuable and and thanks for inviting your people as well. You're so kind. And let me just say that this is another, this is just another road sign that says, you know what?

Nice people are winners too. People who give are also winners. It doesn't have to be all of the, all the people shouting from stages that you need to buy, buy, buy, and all of that. They're, cover yourself in millions if you need to. But for me, it's the people who are doing it, getting good, getting paid well, but doing it made a major motivation is just to have an impact on the world.

And so I'm, thank you again for, and very good. Everybody out there in internet land Epic Engagement Adventure we're gonna be back next week, same bot time, same bot channel. We're gonna be talking to another amazing guest whom I met at probably some networking event or other that just lights up my world.

So do please join us. We would love to have you. And that's about it for us today. Let's wave bye-bye to the people, Leni. Hi.