This is open to entrepreneurs, professionals, execs, and creative artists who feel like they are stuck in a rut and looking for clarity on a change & the next steps to make.

I've had non-entrepreneurs at my retreats.

They are mostly coaching and internal growth that I guide, so everyone is kinda working on their own goals for the retreat, but together.

It's not like a workshop where you're learning a topic.

So they're open to anyone who wants to let shit go, find clarity where they've felt a bit confused or conflicted, and figure out what path they need to take to get to their next level vision they have for themselves. ❤️

• We will all meet in Iceland the night before the Retreat officially begins for a pre-retreat celebration at ‘home base’. (This is optional.)

• The Retreat experience is 3 days in total.

• On each Retreat day, we meet in the mornings at ‘home base’ before we head out on our Iceland adventure.

• Day 1 adventure and internal work is all around busting through blocks holding you from your next level-self.
  Here you will get unstuck.

• Day 2 adventure and work is focused on your next level in business, career, goals, or life unlocking the keys you need to move forward.
  Here you will find clarity in your next level.

• Day 3 adventure is all around living in your next level while integrating and laying new neural pathways in your path to your next level life.
  Here you will practice being in your next level.

• The final day we will have a goodbye dinner together and the following morning we will all say our goodbyes and you can head off onto your Iceland vacation. I suggest your vacation part of the trip be after the Retreat and not before for neuroscience purposes of integration & processing after your Retreat experience.

You might have noticed that the accommodation isn’t included in the ticket to enable everyone to have the freedom to choose how and where they want to stay that will fit their experience best! (Don't worry, I'm still helping with recommendations on where to book!)

Introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts can choose what works best for them!

• I will be giving you the towns and options I suggest you book that will be close to the Retreat ‘home base’.

• You’ll have options to stay in multi-bedroom cabins to share, private single-room cabins, and potentially hotel rooms (depending on the Retreat ‘home base’ location.)

• In the group chat, you can choose to rent multi-bedroom cabins or twin bed hotel rooms with other attendees to split costs and group together if you want.

If you prefer private, you can stay by yourself. If you prefer to be around others, you can organize that together!

As an introvert myself who prefers to stay alone, I've gone to workshops and retreats where I was forced to room with other attendees I didn't know previously which negatively impacted my experience because I just can't sleep with others I don't know in the room. And forcing small talk until 2am is not my jam.

So, at my events & experiences I love to give people the option of how they want to book their stay.

Unlike most places, in Iceland there aren't huge hotels I can save “blocks” that different kinds of rooms can be booked with your spot to the Retreat. We will be in the countryside, mostly off grid, where this doesn't exist here.

Oh, friend, let me tell you- you are going to LOVE Iceland, and traveling out of your own country is some of the best personal growth out there. Heck yes, I will be helping you!

You won’t have to handle any part of this alone except for choosing your flights and dates you want to be in Iceland. (But don’t worry, I will help you with what airport to fly in to!)

YOU WILL BE GETTING A HUGE VIP ICELAND TRIP GUIDE THAT HELPS YOU WITH EVERYTHING!

This is a common question! Here are the main differences:

This Retreat is an intentional, curated, and tailored experience

• for your nervous system, unconscious mind, and brain systems.

• It’s to help you leave behind what you don’t want to bring into your next level and find clarity on how to get to your next level.

• It’s focused on refreshing you, blasting through mindset blocks, and finding clarity where you’ve felt stuck around moving forward, hitting big goals, taking big leaps, giving yourself time to recover from burn out, giving yourself time & space to reflect.

• while being with other like-minded kind creatives who love nature, adventure, and not being mainstream.

• every location and coaching exercise is intentionally planned, crafted, and tailored to use the landscape as part of your transformation and evolution.

A content retreat

• has the sole purpose of creating content for your portfolio through styled photography shoots with models.

• I personally am not a fan of these if you are not brand-spankin-new to the industry because you’ll have the same content as so many others, which ultimately won’t bring you the high-end bookings you desire.

A workshop is

• purely information focused which you then implement into your business/ life on your own back home.

• Typically in one room for the duration as you sit at a table.

Food that is included in the experience:

• Lunches for all 3 days of the Retreat.

• snacks during the Retreat days, because snacks are life.

• drinks during the Retreat days.

• A goodbye dinner on the last day of the Retreat.

Food not included:

• Breakfast and dinner are up to you. Some people need dinner alone to refill their social battery, some people want to eat with a group.

• I don’t like to micro-manage this time as everyone is different and some people can’t deal with 3 days of 24-hour time accounted for in a group setting (same).

Steph will provide the nearest grocery stores and restaurant information!

• The Retreat ‘home base’ is where the group will meet together to do the Retreat activities.

• ‘Home Base’ is Steph’s cabin and will be a short drive from where you will be suggested to book your accommodation.

• It will be super easy peasy lemon squeezy for you to get to in the mornings and the night before the Retreat starts for our pre-retreat get together.

• Typically you can book after a year out. A lot of airlines, accommodation, and car rentals won’t allow you to book further out than a year.

• You can opt to share your accommodation and car rental with other members of the Retreat to split the costs.

• To give you a ballpark, if you were to book accommodation and car solo, approximate costs would be (subject to change depending on island demand)
  - car for 4 days: appx $500
  - petrol: 1 tank of Bensin appx $125
  - cabin or hotel room (single): appx $120+/ night.
  You can organize splitting these with other members in the group chat we will have.

• Flights will vary depending on where you are coming from, you will be landing in KEF airport. Icelandair and Play tend to have the best prices unless you use travel points you have with other airlines.

The VIP Guide will have all of this info to help you book it all.

Yes, this is true, Iceland weather can be a bit spicyyyyyyyy.

But! In October the weather is still considered Autumn so there will be:

• no snow to navigate or drive through, unless on tops of mountains sometimes but not likely.

• No more 24/7 sun, though, the days are still long. And the Northern Lights are back!!

• prepare for some rain with the clothes you pack, precipitation happens in Iceland year-round.

• the wind can be spicy and will be taken into account.

• there IS a possibility of seeing the Northern Lights during the Retreat or if you decide to stay in Iceland after the Retreat ends for vacation.

Yes, you need a valid passport that does not expire within 90 days from the trip's start.

Oh, totally! Most people here in Iceland speak English and if not, they can help you find someone who does.

Here is a cool Icelandic phrase: ‘Er að tala ensku í lagi?’
Meaning ‘is speaking English ok?’.

Driving here is pretty easy, especially in the months without heavy snow!

We drive on the same side of the road as the US and the top speed limit is a whopping 90 kph (like 55 mph).

And, to get from Reykjavik to your accommodation and ‘home base’, you will drive on approximately 3 roads.

To be honest, the biggest thing to be careful of is the wildlife and sheep on the road, what we call an Icelandic traffic jam.

IN THE VIP ICELAND TRIP GUIDE YOU GET, THERE IS ALL SAFETY NUMBERS & SITES FOR DRIVING, RUNDOWN OF OUR DRIVING LAWS, AND CAR RENTAL RECOMMENDATIONS.

Bring your camera, bring a wide lens, and let nature inspire you! You can bring your camera along on the Retreat days, also.

Have you ever been on a vacation where you came back and you could FEEL the weight lifted off of your shoulders and your brain?

The Retreat is similar. You will come back feeling good from having this never-going-to-forget trip with other like-minded adventurous creatives to mastermind with and support.

Multiple attendees have said to me ‘‘this is something that’s so hard to describe, it’s so magical, it’s one of those experiences you just have to be there to fully understand.’’

By the time you leave, you will have a CLEAR path of what actions to take next in your business to bring you to the next level you’ve been eyeing and will have removed some key blocks allowing you to move forward with the clients you want, pricing, and sales.

This trip will be one of those memories that when speaking with your friends you’re like, ‘so, this one time when I was in Iceland…..’

I love to keep things simple, don’t you? So to keep it simple, it’s… simple!

You'll first want to fill out the application on this page or via one of the buttons. The application is quick and is there to make sure the group is aligned to the purpose of the Retreat.

After you submit the application I'll review it and if you're a good fit, I'll email you back inviting you to The Retreat with how to purchase your ticket!

1. After you click the purchase link & grab your spot- check your inbox!

2. You will get a little email from me with the ONLY things you need to do now.

3. A little after that, you will get some more planning goodies from me.

4. Closer to The Retreat, I will pull the group together!

That’s it!

It’s preferred for the safety of the group that everyone is vaccinated.

If you are staying in shared accommodation, it’s highly encouraged that you are.

It is changing month by month. To stay up to date, you can check it out here:
https://www.covid.is/english

If you come to The Retreat with COVID, you will be asked to find a separate accommodation if you are splitting with someone else as to not infect others.

You will also be asked to drive to the outdoor spaces in your own vehicle and not step inside ‘home base’.

When we are outside, which is a majority of the Retreat time, you can safely social distance with a mask.

Everyone’s health is top priority. There are no refunds if you get COVID.

I’ve been told that my coaching style is like a gentle hug mixed with a no-bullshit, honest, supportive mindset wizardry. I tend to get allllllll the way down to the root.

The space that is being held for you is a judgment-free, supported, inclusive space.

I love really listening and using my intuition to help coach you through what could be going on under the surface. Pairing that with my business skills and being your Iceland host is where the magic will be made!

A big part of The Retreat is being consumed and freed by the landscapes in Iceland. For the daily activities, we will be outside, moving around, walking and talking, and seeing some cool places.

For the ‘big surprise,’ I’ll be taking you to truly some of the most remote, adventurous areas Iceland has to offer.

In the wise words of David Starsky- ‘DO IT’.

• If you want to bring your partner to The Retreat, and they are a business owner or want to participate in The Retreat activities, then they can purchase a ticket for sure! Ask if there is any partner ticket pricing available.

• If they want to come along with you and do their own thang during The Retreat, that is also great! They can stay in your accommodation with you and go on their own adventures during the time you’ll be at the Retreat.

You won’t need to be like, climbing Mt. Everest fit, but being able to hike around uneven terrains as needed.

The hikes can be strenuous in some spots, such as hiking uphill or up steps, but not climbing on your hands and knees type of difficulty.

You don’t need to be a professional athlete fit but be able to hike on a 2-3 hour long trail.

There have been Retreat attendees who are semi-sedentary at home and were just fine for the hikes if that helps.

That would be so rad! Having the group already know each other can take the bonding on this experience up a level.

Please email me steph@stephzakas.com with:

• the amount of people in the group you want to bring

• and we can discuss how many tickets are left

• and, if any group pricing tickets are available.

Yay, congrats on your first international trip! Iceland was actually my first trip out of North America about 10 years ago :)

Iceland is PERFECT for a first international trip. Most everyone speaks English, it’s very small so not overwhelming, and it’s very safe.

You will be able to get a taste of a different culture without feeling like a fish out of water the whole time.

• Everywhere takes card, so you can just use your regular bank cards and don’t need to take out local currency.

• Your google maps works off-line if you download Iceland.

• Most everywhere has wifi and phone service, even in the middle of nowhere.

• There are few roads in Iceland, and the main one (Route 1) is a giant circle, so getting lost is very hard.

• Road signs are easy to read and are the EU signs.

• Driving is on the same side as North America.

• You don’t need an international license to rent a car.

It’s super easy, clean, safe, comfortable, and epic. The perfect first international experience.

This experience is open to all genders and I personally think that women-only spaces excludes our non-binary, gender fluid, and trans friends.

Anyone is welcome as long as they are respectful, open to being coached, open to the idea that maybe there are other perspectives than the one they know, and do not cause any harm in any way to others.

Cis men are also open to join where the above statements still hold true.

This is an inclusive space where we believe in human rights, are against any bigotry, and welcome humans of all gender expressions, races, and ethnicity. We respect one another, do not talk over one another, and support one another without any aggressions or micro-aggressions. If you are not OK with that, this is not the place for you.

As long as you want! I suggest your vacation part of the trip be after the Retreat and not before for neuroscience purposes of integration & processing after your Retreat experience.

I would recommend:

• Flying in at least 2 days before we start in case of flight delays and giving time to settle in.

• Staying 3-7 days after The Retreat.

• It takes about 4-5 days to drive the whole Ring Road with adequate exploring time.

This is a fancy-pants guide I've put together for you to help you with #allthethings. It's so good, you'll want to bookmark it.

I’ve got you taken care of.

Inside you'll find:

• All information you need for The ACTIVATE Retreat™ from directions to Homebase, to the Retreat schedule, to nearby grocery stores and restaurants.

• A packing list that covers everything from clothing to what type of electric plug converters to get.

• Tips on driving in Iceland, in our round-a-bouts, and what sites to check before heading out.

• All recommendations for anything you need from car rentals to restaurants to tattoo shops.

• What to do after The Retreat, info on our wildlife, and more.

• A little weather guide for the time of year The Retreat is.

• All safety and emergency numbers you'll need.

Honestly, it has everything you need.

And, if you need help with something that isn't on the guide somehow, you have the private group to ask in!