Wow, where do we start with this one? Okay, if we are to ‘short form’ it, here goes:
- It was so magical (yes, we said that; magical).
- It was LEGIT.
- It was reeeeeally fun and there were so many laughs!
- We had some doubts and reservations, we had nothing to worry about.
Let’s dive in.
While this is our 5th time hosting, we had some nerves.
This was our first time hosting folks we had never met before.
Usually we have friends join us or ‘friends of friends’ and this time there were some brand new peeps that jumped in. Like we’ve never met them in real life or seen their faces, peeps. This always makes us a bit nervous. “Are we too much? Is this material too much? Are they going to like it? Will they feel safe?”
We also had some worries from the event planning side because of our Panel Discussion just two short weeks before that. (You can see how that went here!).
And we guess you could say some of those incidents really stretched our muscles and made us better at handling events—a great side effect! So when some of those same hiccups happened this time, it was no sweat. And no one was the wiser. It was awesome.
So let’s get into the best part, the materials and our new friends.
We always pride ourselves on creating a space where people can feel safe to learn, observe, contribute, ask questions, and get real vulnerable. That’s really the point. It’s not like this material alone will rock your world (although a lot of it will!), it’s really how willing you are to deep dive into it.
The saying, “You get out of it, what you put into it.” is absolutely true with us and this two day workshop.
We even take that safety and privacy up a level by having guests sign an Non-Disclosure Agreement. Yep—we take it seriously. Like Vegas. What happens there, stays there. Except all the good tools, you can take those with you!
And man—that’s what they did. This round we upped the ante with the feedback we’ve gotten with past events: More interactive exercises, more personal stories, and more sharing (believe it or not!). So that’s what WE did. And our new friends showed up in spades. They had “a-ha moment” after “a-ha moment”. It was so freakin’ cool to watch and facilitate!
There was a moment going through an exercise in separate pairs around the room. We looked at each other and immediately had this feeling rush over us. The feeling of our ‘why’ being brought to life: To make positive change and impact, teach others how to build a successful REALationship. That feeling made our hearts skip and our breath catch. It was like tingling in our hands and a bit of a head rush.
When the pairs came back and we round-tabled the exercise, how it went, what their thoughts were—the feeling just intensified. They each had a different reason for how and why this exercise was a new standard for them. They all felt this change in their relationship and agreed this tool was a game changer. It was a LEGIT pivot point for all of them. Every single guest. WHOA, right?
Then there was our one-on-ones. We end every workshop with a mini-session together. (And it’s our fav part about the whole weekend!). We get to sit with our friends individually and chat about how we can step up for them, support, or give feedback, maybe advice, too. And it’s where we can help hold them accountable for making this event more than just a cool thing they did once. We work together to make this a cool thing they DO. Like, from now on. We dive into specifically what they need to make that happen and then they run with it.
It happened and it was SO AWESOME.
And, we gotta be honest here. While we’d love to take credit for this Two Day Workshop being amazing, we can’t. Our friends that show up and attend—they are the heroes of this story. They are the ones making the magical (yes, we said it again) environment. They are the ones going all in and making change. They are the ones asking for a new and different perspective, new tools, and strategies. They are the ones sharing alongside us, laughing all the way. (Ho, ho, ho—jingle bells anyone? Okay, we’re excited for the holidays! Anyway…)
They are the stars of this show and we love them.
To our guests-turned-friends watching this: Thank you.
Thank you for trusting us with your learning, showing up and being all in, and making this REALationship Revolution a thing. Thank you for being brave AF and stepping into new territory. Thank you for giving this a shot. Thank you for making SO MUCH CHANGE. And thank you for being so warm and kind. We SO appreciate you and extremely grateful to be right beside you. And now be friends! Yay!
Here’s some of what they said:
“Just wanted to thank you again and tell you what a fantastic experience we had with you two. We’ve both been raving about it all week, and both wishing that we could do it over again, or that it lasted longer! You guys have created something really special and it has totally changed the way we are looking at our marriage and how we are doing life together.”
“Before I worked with The Relationship Project, I felt very intimidated by marriage counselling, relationship work, etc. I was worried that if I shone the light on my relationship, I would see cracks that I hadn’t noticed before and my marriage would fall apart. I chose this specific event because I connected with the material that I saw them share online, and loved and regularly use their freebies on their website. If little snippets of information they shared were that good, I decided that an entire weekend with them could be invaluable! Since then, I have connected with my partner with a deeper level than I ever have before. I learned so much about myself, about him, and what we need in a relationship as far as support, feedback, and how we feel love. I would have NEVER known this information if I hadn’t attended TRP’s workshop!”
“I feel so confident in our marriage. I was afraid that doing this kind of work would highlight cracks in our relationship and they would spread from there – but it was the complete opposite. It strengthened our marriage’s foundation by ten-fold in those two days, and has only continued to get stronger since then by using the tools we learned at the workshop.”
“It was a life changing experience because of how much I learned about myself, my partner, and each giving 100%.”
“It’s been almost a week and I’m still thinking on some the strategies we learned about at the Relationship Project retreat. Having templates for hard discussions has been really helpful. The thing I was most apprehensive about was the One on One sessions. My husband and I are not particularly comfortable discussing all our ‘business’ with just anyone. I wasn’t sure how much I’d really want or feel pressured to share, and I knew my husband would want to share even less. When we got to that point though, we were so comfortable in the room and with Jake and Taylor that, although I was still nervous, I was ready to give it a try. They made sure we had privacy and didn’t push. We had the opportunity to get some clarification on some points and a few extra little tips specific to us. Overall I’m really glad we went, I was surprised at how much I learned, I could definitely go again and pick up even more useful info I am sure.”
WOW. RIGHT? We’re not crying, you’re crying.
Seriously, aren’t these folks AMAZING? We weren’t kidding when we said THEY were the heroes.
Another HUGE thank you goes to our sponsors for this event. They are the dream team that make these events possible and make us both feel like Oprah giving away gift after gift to our guests! Thank you guys!
Photography:
Sarah Yenko
@theblessedjourney
Swag Bags and Giveaways:
Andrea Simmering, Bite Nutrition @bitewellness Beautifully You Collection @beautifullyyoucollection www.beautifullyyoucollection.com Linda Hollyer @linda_hollyer |
Union Swimwear @union.swimwear Pacific Basket Company @pacificbasketco www.pacificbasketco.com |
We are pretty sure we’re planning a 6th round of the workshop in the new year, so stay tuned if you missed this one. You don’t want to miss the next. (The best way to do that is by joining our online fam!)
As always, if you have any questions or comments we’re just a shout away! And if you’d like to dive into some of this work, you can always hit up our online courses, they’re open for enrolment now! (Communication 101 and Communication 102).
And now, please excuse us while we take a break and cuddle up for the holidays! Sending you SO MUCH LOVE!
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