Sacred Business Stories with Ed Zaydelman

Relate to sacred business. But I would love to hear for you in the chat how, how this, how you relate to this when you hear those words. So if anyone feels called to share that, I'd love to hear from you and also would love to know where some of you are coming from. I, I see a lot of familiar faces but some of you have not had the opportunity meet to meet before. So I'd love to hear where you're, where you're joining us from if you're willing to share.

I.

But yeah, in the meantime I'm very excited for this conversation.

Ed.

We're joined today by Ed Zadelman. He is a member of our Sacred Growth Club community but he's also a dear, dear friend that I think we've known each other going back till 2016 or 2017. And I can honestly say that I do not believe my journey or my path would be what it has been if not for meeting this guy. He's had a huge impact on my life. In fact, one of the first events, entrepreneurial Mastermind events that I attended in my entrepreneurial journey was in Costa Rica and it was actually at the retreat center that Ed owned at the time. And it was a beautiful, beautiful experience. I've actually written about this how so many of the opportunities, connections, relationships that have supported me to this day in what I've been able to create stemmed out of that event. There are so many amazing people there. And then fast forward a few years later. I had been a long time dream of mine to move to Costa Rica and I was kind of like we talk about this idea of taking the love led leap. I was kind of teetering right on the edge and I just kind of kept finding reasons to kind of hold myself back from making the jump. And it was Ed and an invitation from Ed that really pushed me across the, across the line and in fact I ended up, I ended up staying in his, in his home in a downstairs apartment for a little while while I was getting settled. So it's been beautiful good to get to know him and I'm going to let him tell his story and what he's, how he serves and what he is here to do. But yeah, I just really wanted to give you a warm welcome Ed. And I don't know if Carolina, if there's anything else you'd like to share before we get started but thank you so much for joining us.

Yeah. I just want to say that I love you Ed. You are an awesome person. I've been, we've known each Other for like three years now, roughly.

Yeah.

Yeah. And he has this incredible gift of being present and enabling you to shine. So every interaction, every connection with him is like, it is a gift. So, yeah, I wanted to share about you and your business and what you do and how you shine in this role. So I'll pass my word to you.

Thank you both. Yeah. And what a pleasure it is to be here with you both. Before I tell my story, I'll just say that I wouldn't be doing the work that I'm doing now if it wasn't for you both. And not just in the classic business sense and in coaching and support, but also in the moral support and the energetic support for it, in the friendships. Because business goes beyond just the business context. You've really helped. Yeah. Create an environment where my gifts could flourish and I could believe in them. And so I'm really grateful for Sacred Growth Club and for the work we do one on one together. It's just really led to a very honest evolution of the work that I'm passionate about. So good to be with y'. All. Yeah. So my, my story starts a while back and I always tell it differently, but you know, basically I was living a very fast paced life in New York. I always was passionate about community and how to organize community, bring people together at the time manifested as events and large nightclubs and music and that kind of stuff. But something was missing and it really took a toll on my health. New York was such a fast paced city and I felt like I was just hustling day in, day out in a rat race even of my own design. And, you know, something had shifted. My father had given me a lot of books on spirituality and on personal development and said, you know, you're not going to learn this in school. And by the time I was in college, I was done with nightlife and starting to explore what's next. And I started to go on retreats and see what the whole spiritual world was all about and learn about myself and learn about community. My two big whys were who am I and why am I here? And what does community look like in the world authentically? And so I set out on investigation. And briefly after my nightlife career, I went to work at the Burning man organization. I was enamored that they could bring 70,000 people to build a pop up space city where people had gifting economy and cared about each other and there was no money. And so it was for me, kind of a PhD in how to build and create community. But Again, something was missing there. I felt like it was community, but it was for a week. And there was lifestyle that I don't live now, where there was drugs and partying and etc. And so I kept looking. And it was that year when I was finishing college that my grandpa got pancreatic cancer and my family shifted to eating organic food. We started to go to longevity centers, meet top doctors. And we realized that this is more about lifestyle than taking some supplement. You have to clean your body, sure, but you also have to live a certain way, not just with healthy organic food, but with games and community and fun. And so I spent about two years working with my father, who also was leaving his career for health reasons. Where could we create something for people where they could live in a healthy way? And not just the retreat center or wellness hotel or etc. But also a community where people could live this way. And Costa Rica checked all the boxes. It was one big spa, no standing army, thriving education. It was like a blank canvas for what's possible in human flourishing and human potential. And it was also close to the US So when we created our checklist and we saw what Costa Rica had to offer, the abundance, nature and the people are incredible. I moved here and I took a leap. I took a passion pivot, like my buddy Nadav calls it, and I left New York City, came to Costa Rica. It was like the Wild west had this old beat up Suzuki. We're going to look at land like the Suzuki almost rolled off a cliff once. It was wild. My buddy Jeff moved here with me and essentially that was, I'll tell you right now, it was 20 years ago. So I've technically lived here longer than I have in the US and it's become home. And my family and I, we bought three different properties and my job became to create a vision for those properties and a team and a presentation deck and start to raise capital and do what many entrepreneurs know how to do. But yeah, and I'll be very like brutally honest with you, I thought that because I had this download from God and we're to create eco village and wellness retreat center, I was like, that's it, I'm being guided. And it didn't go as planned at all about, you know, a little bit. Couple years in, the real estate crash of 08 happened because 07 08, we had all these people employed, architects, engineers, working on master plans. And all of a sudden the money had dried up and I found myself pitching a dream wherever I could. Even at Burning Man. I Raised a couple million dollars at Burning man and it was incredible. But also part of it felt like it was, was so stress led. If we didn't raise money, the bank would take one of our properties. And it was so I wish I could go back now and I do this in my work and I share with people. You can't just sit on the couch and meditate and hope that the money will just flow in. And so I wish I had planned better back then and had scaled down my vision to practical steps and phasing and things I do now with people. And it also affected my relationship a lot. I was married at the time and the marriage didn't work out because we had, we were running essentially our first property. We had gotten a retreat center going, almost like a pop up and Phil was sharing that he attended and hosted some great retreats there. But yeah, we took 30 glamping tents, an old rancho, made a kitchen, a pool, some sacred areas and we basically were hosting groups in the beginning on a two burner stove and just making it work. And the amount of blood, sweat and tears to get that retreat center off the ground was incredible. It was, yeah, it was a feat of a lifetime. And what I didn't know now, like what I know now that I didn't know back then is it's really hard to be the founder of a business and be in the business when you're in hospitality because we're constantly hosting people and I had to raise money and I had to do this and so it took a toll on my health. Surprisingly, creating a wellness retreat center took a toll on my marriage and after a couple of years I burnt out and I had my dark night of the soul and everything came crashing down. We couldn't raise enough money, the marriage was falling apart. And, and I tell this to people now who come like starry eyed to Costa Rica like with their as a couple and they're like, oh, we're going to start a retreat center and it's going to be great. I'm like, I'm sure it will, but we got to talk about so many things and they're like, why are you asking us about our relationship? And I'm like, believe me, this is going to come into play. So yeah, essentially had an opportunity. A group, hotel group called Selena came and offered me to take over our retreat center. And oh my God, it was like selling a boat. I was like, oh my God, yes, here's the keys. They're like, we haven't even told you the price yet. I was like, doesn't matter. When can you come? You know? And essentially they asked me at that time if I could build them 100 retreat centers in five years. They're like, ed, you're the retreat guy. You know how to do this, so can you help us? And I said, sure. And. And I'll wrap the story up soon, but it's an important lesson here that at that time I had imagined that as soon as you get somebody with like, capital and they believe in you, that that's all that matters. And I was in one board meeting in New York, and I was the funny guy who came in sandals. I didn't go to stand up meetings at 9am Because I had yoga class. I was like, non negotiable. I can't miss yoga. And I come into a board meeting and it's with the investment committee. And my buddy Robbie was like, are you ready? And he was the head of market research. And I was like, ready for what? And he was like, do you have your, like, financials clear? And I was like, oh my God, I'm so not ready. And I'm in front of all these people who are like, I've never seen. They're all wearing suits and ties. I'm like, who are these people? And he's like, this is. I see, it's investment committee. And they had asked me to. That they were going to cut my landscaping budget. And I was like, I don't have a landscaping budget. I mean, it's a tiny one. What are they cutting? And they had cut my permaculture budget. And for anyone who knows, if you're building a retreat center, you're building a sustainable project, you need permaculture, you need food, forests, fruit trees, gardens. And what I realized was, oh my God, they're just a scaling machine at the time. And nothing wrong, but it was quite unaligned with what I was looking to build. Their hotel company was beautiful and it worked really well for their vision, but they were not the people that I could build these retreat centers with. And I look back and I. I'm like, thank God we didn't do that, because that business would have run me into the ground again. And so I didn't know what to do. And then Covid happened and I got a big opportunity to take a sacred pause and say no to everything else. I had left Selena at the time, and I was thinking about what to do, and then I ran into Phil. And Phil was like, ed, you know so much about real estate development and retreat Centers and building eco villages and mostly experience from mistakes you've made. And why don't you turn this into something where you could be in service to others. And I remember we spent was like having a baby. We spent nine months, we created a really amazing offering where I could consult and advise and coach people on how to do this. And. And right during COVID I started my practice where to this day I consult and advise people trying to build retreat centers, homes, eco villages, any kind of land project that involves somebody's vision on a property going ground up. I really want to save them. The steps that, that I took and the mistakes that I made and just be very honest with them about we'll take. So that's what led me to today. And we do it individually, I do it in a group format where we all support each other in a land steward alliance. But it's definitely, and I remember you told me this too, Phil. I was like, oh, I'm a real estate advisor and hospitality consultant. And you're like, you're a coach, dude. And I'm like, what a coach? Come on, man. Like, I'm not like coaching people at the gym here. And what I realized in coaching is that like an advisor just gives you advice and a coach really cares about the outcome. They care about seeing your life through. And that's one of the things that I love about what I now call my sacred business since meeting you both, is this isn't about just being like a stale advisor helping somebody with their architecture. It's really understanding what they're going to need to thrive as individuals so they could give their gift to the world. And it might not be a whole retreat center. It might be a villa for the person so they could start to host people and start to enjoy. So yeah, I'm very much focused on the people I work with, not the projects. And a lot of that was through your support and mentorship. So yeah, I'll pause here because I don't want to keep going and going.

Yeah, I just want to say, like, how much I love your story and how inspiring it is because, like, you create your business based on who you are and that's it. You know, like, I'm sure you had like taken courses and study to, you know, and the most of the things that you did was like, through your own experience. And, and for me, like, this is very, very sacred because often, like, we don't see value in our own experiences. We think that to have a business or to be a business owner or, you know, like to start a journey like this. Like, it's based on, oh, I need this certification. And we have, like, yeah, we've had, like, many people were like, hey, I'm just taking another certification. I just need another diploma. I just need another this. And it doesn't matter where you are. Like, if you look back and you see, like, just the way you describe it, like, all your challenges, all your struggle became, like, a beautiful business that you help people to build, like, beautiful retreats, or maybe not to build a retreat, but to save them. Like, you know, a lot of struggle. Because the level of awareness and, well, the advices that you do, it's not based on reading a book. It's based on real life. Right. So, yeah, like, I just love and I just find inspiring. And if you're. If you're there and listening to, like, yeah, I would love to create a business. I would love to. And I just need to get another university or another diploma. Like, that's. That's not even true. Like, and, yeah, just. Just, you know, emphasizing this because it's just very, very beautiful. And I know the. The deep work that you provide to your clients and how much help you give, and this is solely based on who you are.

So I'm gonna click the heart button. School of life.

And I'm curious, Ed, like, how you've shared a lot of this already in your story. So in a way, it's kind of just recapping or summarizing. But when you think about how Kalina just described that, like, are you able to see any other kind of key, pivotal moments that you know, when you think about your challenges, the training in the school of life, the gifts that you've been able to bring forward for you, and maybe if you go back to when we started to have those conversations about creating this new offering that we've carried forward to today, what do you see as the pivotal moments that you feel led you to being where you are today? Anything else beyond what you've shared so far with your story?

Yeah, I think one of the big pivotal moments was kind of when we had this whole reset a couple years ago and the world shut down. And that was a moment where I really, I think, looked at my ikigai again. What am I good at? What does the world need? And yada, yada. And I think every year I try to practice more and more radical honesty with myself and others, and. And I started to ask questions like, does the world need a bunch of eco villages? Does the world need more retreat centers? What are we retreating from even calling bullshit on myself. And in the past I was very motivated by community and very motivated by sustainability. But what I realized was, you know, right now in, you know, it's a people problem. And more than anything, people really need to start to learn the intricacies of how to come together. And so I've seen a ton of eco villages built where the, the structures, the physical structures look great, but the invisible structures aren't there. People don't know how to do conflict resolution and rub and they argue about chickens in the chicken coops as vegans and non vegans and dogs. You wouldn't believe like the real problems in eco villages are like things like pets, people crack up. It's not like, oh, the road wasn't built right. That rarely happens, you know. So I think one of the pivotal moments was to be really honest with what are we doing this in service of? And the number one thing I think I could ask for humanity now is to learn how to come together. You know, we're killing each other, we're killing the planet and killing ourselves. We're treating our bodies the same way as we treat each other sometimes. And there's pockets of people, like acupuncture points that are coming together. And I think it could be online even before it's in physical community, you know, So I come to your sacred growth club, for example, and it's a group of people who actually demonstrate care for each other. It's not like how do I get my business in front of you and promote it's care, it's authentic care. And so I think when people could develop that field of energy, which is a key aspect of regenerative development, everyone like uses the buzzword, but they don't really know what it means. It's about creating thriving ecosystems and ever evolving relationships that between people and the planet. And that starts with caring about each other, you know, one, one to one, even the person in front of you in, in the supermarket, not just in some massive projects. So yeah, I think a big pivotal moment was the last couple years seeing, you know, what's the state of the world, how can I reinvent what I do to really match what's needed? And how could I enjoy doing it? I don't, I'm not like Dr. Doom here, like the world's falling apart. I love what I do. I love traveling and walking land with people. And another thing I learned, I think the second most pivotal moment, and this is good for people, I think, who are in a field of work where they have to teach something. Is it's okay to say, I don't know. There's not many people who could call themselves experts in a field like mine that's constantly innovating because you should ask more questions than have answers. So sometimes people hire me and they're like, what do you think about this? And I'm like, I don't know. Let's talk to the local community, see what they need. Let's talk to the land. And I tell my clients to take their shoes off. And they're like, oh, my God, what's he doing? And we walk on the land barefoot. And I'm like, what's the land value? Does it want a big structure? Does it want a ton of little tiny cabins? And so learning to be, I think, humble and ask more questions than provide answers both from my side of the table and my clients and do that journey together as a discovery versus a. Let me tell you how it's done. Steps 1, 2, 3, 4. Of course, we have certain structures on how to develop a vision and a team and how to model out different strategies, but it's more listening than answering from up here.

And it's so powerful because if it's to build a community or if it's whatever it is, like, whatever change that we are trying to make, if it's not from inside out, it's just like, it's not a change because, well, you know, that my journey, I was kind of like, I want to live in a community. I want to do this in Costa Rica. And I spent like almost three years, like, trying to find a place. And I'm like, like, beautiful places, gorgeous. Like, as you said, like, the. The structure itself was super beautiful. But then it was just like an aggregated community in many ways, because the relationship, you know, the care was just not there. And then when I realized I was living in this neighborhood, and I'm like, well, if I'm not willing to know my neighbor here, why would I be willing to know my neighbor when I move to something called community? So I need to start with this right now. And that's the. For me, it's the most beautiful piece that, like, from all your teachings, it's like, that's the beginning of everything, right? Like, if we are not willing to start that shift, we're going to bring, like, the fast pace from New York and we're going to put it in a gorgeous, like, tree house in the middle of the jungle in Costa Rica, and it's going to be, you know, the same Mentality or the same energy, just, you know, maybe more like natural location. It's very, very powerful.

Yeah, it could be the greatest teacher to you, too, you know, as you rub with people. I meet with a group online every week that they trigger the crap out of me. It's called Leap Forward. It's a nonprofit, but we trigger each other. We're black, white, Asian, Jewish, Muslim, and we actually use the different conflicts and things that happen to see, you know, what's going on, how. What is this bringing up? Where am I projecting? So I really encourage people to get into the active community as a. As a verb communing, and see what. What shadows come up, what light comes up. So, yeah.

Well, Ed, we're going to pivot slightly here, but as you know, from coming to our embodiment and a lot of our sessions, we talk a lot about fear and working with fear and resistance. And one of the things that we try to convey to our audience is that it's perfectly normal to have fear and resistance when you're doing the things that are the most important ways of moving forward meaningfully. And so I would love to ask you right now in your life at present, like, what is one area that fear or resistance is showing up for you, and how are you actively working with it to keep yourself moving forward towards your vision?

Yeah, it's a great question. Recently, one of the fears that I had was that I had to do something really big to be worthy. People are like, ed, like, you know, why don't we give you money and you build your own retreat centers? Or, ed, why don't you do this? And I realized that there was a fear present that, you know, I could overcome by saying that I have to do something big, you know, or I have to create something monumental where it would actually be me not taking my own advice or medicine when I tell people to scale down. These massive companies they have. You could be in an eco rat race, I call it, just as fast as anyone else, even if it's in the jungle of Costa Rica or Brazil. So I really have started to grow humble and say, look, I really love the work that I do. I get to be in service to people. I don't need to be afraid that I didn't start some Airbnb or something crazy. As long as I'm in service, I'm good. And as long as my gifts are coming out, I feel good. And a lot of it is also the fear of having to know everything, like what we talked about earlier, that I have to be an expert. Expert in what I do to, to give value. And I work with developers. I coach two billionaires that know way more than me. And they're like, ed, like, it's kind of weird that like, we hired you as a like, coaching consultant because, like, we know what you know. And I'm like, why did you hire me then? And they're like, ah, it's a good question. And I asked them the core question. So who do you talk to about all this stuff? And they're like, my wife or whatever the answer is. And I'm like, exactly. You just need a sounding board. And so a lot of times I just reflect truth to people. It's not that I have to know the latest cutting edge building technique, I do that research, I learn things. But really it's just to. People sometimes need someone to talk to and work through things with and hear honest feedback. And so that was another fear that if I'm brutally honest, people won't like it. And oh my God. I'll tell a short story. I'm going to. I had a developer hire me to do a tour of Costa Rica. And we're in the car and he's just yapping away on the phone. He was just telling me how he has this hotel operating company, so he gets to relax and whatever, and he's like yelling about, like to them about ordering elevator parts. And I'm like, some hotel operating company. And after an hour of driving where I'm trying to point things out to him, I was like, man, put down your fucking phones. Use my language, you know? And he's like, excuse me? And I was like, you hired me to give you a tour of Costa Rica, which I rarely do. You paid top dollar. Then he negotiated down, which that was a little shady. But anyway, you're on the phone the whole time, like, what are you doing? Well, anyway, long story short, after the tour was over, his secretary wrote me an email. And she was like, did you tell Ben to put his phone down? And I was like, I did. And she was like, he loves you. You're one of the few people who are honest to him and he needs that. He needs tough love. And so I tell people things they definitely don't want to hear. And I'm like, man, I don't think this project's going to work out. It's too big. It's going to run you into the ground or I don't think you're going to be able to raise capital for this in today's climate. And people are like, oh my God, you so like poo pooed my vision or this or that. And I'm like, no, I'm saving you a lot of stress. And I'll tell you the ones that ignore the truth that I reflect, which is just their truths and just giving them some basic stuff, and they run into some serious problems and it's kind of like, I told you so later, and they're like, oh my God, we haven't raised enough money or I have a problem with my business partner. One of the biggest issues is co founders or investor and founder. And so, yeah, this, like, I used to be the people pleaser, nice guy, and I'm still pretty sweet, I think. But yeah, I tell people how it is now. And it actually, my fear was completely the opposite. When I, when I'm honest with people, they're grateful for it. So, yeah, there's no sugar coating, there's no BSing. That's probably the last of the fears that were dispelled recently.

Yeah, yeah, that's, that's one that I've worked with a lot myself. And, you know, I have to remind myself that as a coach, we're not here to necessarily, like, make people feel good. We're not here to like, make them like us, which is a temptation. Right? You get into this relationship and it's like it's your own stuff and your own need to be liked and, and just like catching that and recognizing, like, yeah, like sometimes people just need to hear the, the hard truth. And it's, and it's, it's so interesting. Like, I think I mentioned this on the call with Tokyo because we were having a very similar conversation about how oftentimes when you allow yourself to get out of your own way and speak from that place of truth and service, then people. Yeah, that's the thing that people remember more than anything, even if it's not the thing that they necessarily wanted to hear. So I totally resonate with everything that you shared there.

This is love, right? This is true love. And this is like in a business relationship with your client or even with your kids. Like, true love is not about like, hey, you're doing well when you see that it's not exactly what it is. And sometimes those hard truth, like, need, they need to be said because, you know, and then that person ship and then the kid. Like, hell yes. You know, like, for me, this is just like the, the unconditional love. Like, I'm not telling you for you to like me because then I'm creating a condition. I'M just telling you what is and you know, and the way you receive it. It is what it is.

So.

Okay, well, we have one more big question for you. And so one of the other things that we hear so much from our community is this challenge around kind of meaningful, authentic communication and connection when you're in service of sharing your message. And I feel that this is something that you do quite beautifully. So I would love to hear the way. And in many ways you've already kind of woven this thread through everything that you've shared with us today. Um, but just any other thoughts you have around how you approach connection and more specifically, like if there's any straight advice you might share with someone who finds himself in that place of like, where they're struggling to share consistently but know they have something of service to offer to the world, you know, any advice you might, might give to them from your own experience. Sure.

And you helped me with a lot of this. I was very afraid to share and like self promote and I didn't want to be that salesy coachy guy who's like, work with me because of this, this and this. And I think something beautiful came out when we started working together, Phil. And you're like, we're starting with a newsletter and I thought I was hiring like my buddy who's the best digital marketer in the world. And you're going to be running Facebook ads and I'm going to be making 40k a month sitting back in my chair and you're like, cool, we're not doing any of that. And it's going to be just newsletter driven and organic. And I, I was like, okay, is there a refund policy here? What's going on? But I trusted you and you know, I think it was one of the biggest gifts that you gave me and that has become a real passion. I've always loved to write and just to disconnect. You wrote about it in a Magnetism article recently. Just to disconnect from my writing is my sales methodology. It's not my writing is my writing. It's what I want to share in the world. And sure, if somebody's attracted to that writing, amazing. And I didn't realize. I remember once I went live with A friend and 60 people said, oh, we want your help to build our retreat center in Eco Village. And then none of them really like, you know, converted to any kind of sales right away, but they all, a lot of them joined my newsletter and you're like, watch what happens. And I developed relationships with Those people, there was trust.

Trust.

There was communication. And so what I realized from you and from this process was I just have to honestly share what I'm about and what I'm passionate about. Sometimes not at all to do with the work, specifically what's happening in the world, what I'm finding in my internal journey as I grow. And then your vibe attracts your tribe. And so it's very beautiful in that sense, because I just write and communicate what I feel, and what I feel is important. And actually, most of my clients I just meet directly through referrals. And it's not like I write in order to. I write just to be honest. And I had my friends at Leap Forward read some of my newsletters, and they criticized some of the pieces that I adjusted similar as you, where it still had that inauthenticity. It was like something where I was trying to prove something or use a buzzword. And then the last probably two years, I just tried to write from the heart. I. I don't think about it as a hook to capture some client. You know, I share resources. If. Even if it's some of my offerings, I share them openly there, but it's really what I'm learning in the field. And so I think for connection, just write and share and post and call and have meetings with people that. Yeah. That you're drawn to. The rest will. Will kind of come and be very brutally honest with what you see out there. That's. That's the best thing I could think of in terms of connecting and. And getting a message out that's really authentic from the heart. Yeah, I love that.

Yeah. And if for anyone that's watching this or watching it on the replay, definitely would encourage you to subscribe to Ed's newsletter. It's. Yeah, it's just his stories and how he shares, like, his experience around the country. If you have any interest in the lifestyle that Ed's been sharing here today. Yeah, it's just. It's a very beautiful, beautiful offering, I have to say.

I don't know if I've ever told you this, Ed, but I think, like, when I first read your newsletter, I don't know if I replied to you, but I think it was the first newsletter that I fully read, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, I want to know, like, you had met. And then I subscribed your stuff. And then when I read your stuff, I'm like, I want to know this guy more. And then it was like, I think the first newsletter, like, I subscribed to, like, many things, but I don't fully read them, and I learned to delete a bunch for distraction. But I think your newsletter was the first one that I'm like, oh, like that I felt the connection that I felt that there was, like, a person behind that, you know, that text. And if you don't know him, he's not as the connector. You know, he connects all the pieces for those projects. And, you know, if you're looking for finding ways to connect or how to be more authentic, like, I truly believe that the way you write is really, like, inspiring, even if you're not in the retreat business or if you're not planning to, you know, build anything like this. But just the way he talks about himself and about what he does, it's beautiful.

Thank you.

Well, with this, you know, we've had a beautiful conversation here, but I just wanted to create space. If there's anybody that's been following along, listening in on this conversation, if there's anything they're curious about. This would be your opportunity to ask your questions in the chat for Ed, and we'll. We'll use a little bit of time to. To answer those if anything's coming up.

Yep. If you want to build a retreat, if you want to visit Costa Rica.

Learn about community you want to learn.

About, or if you're just going through a crazy life shift, I'll help you out. Lately, it's been a lot of that. I have people like, oh, I'm changing my whole life, which is a reason why people come to Costa Rica or another country. So. Yeah. And also, if you're working on projects in other countries or you've gotten this download that you and a bunch of friends want to live on the land together in Portugal or Mexico, you can ask the same questions there. Answers apply everywhere. So good.

Yeah, you've been. Your. Your work has been definitely spiraling out of Costa Rica a lot more lately.

Right.

Like, you're working on. I know you're working on at least one pretty large project in Mexico right now. That. Is that correct? Yeah.

Yeah. Mexico. Now we have US And Europe projects starting, which I love. And I have different teams in Europe, in the US That I call on for that work. So. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of people are getting the download, and they all pretend like they just got in and it's unique to them. They're like, oh, my God. God has spoken to me and said that I need to create an eco village with my 10 best friends, and we have to have a healing Retreat center. And there's going to be music and art and culture. And I'm like, all right, welcome to the message. It's. It's there in the ether.

It is, but it's good.

It means you're tapping into something. But sometimes they're like, oh, and I'm going to build the whole global network of these projects. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. Chill it out, slow it down. What if all your friends are introverts? Maria? That's wonderful. You could have an introvertive gathering. Yeah, I also. I connect with a lot of people in a communal setting, but I'm big on one. On one, Maria. I'm big with my. Because I'm an introverted extrovert in my, like, whatever that test is called. So although I'm like the guy who's out and meeting people, I need recharge time. I love gathering with people. People, one on one. I see friends also doing very small projects together. As small as a collective house with four people. I have one project like that this year, so I don't think all these have to be huge projects. They could be small experiments like the introverts club. I think that's very cool. So, yeah, and poke your introverted friends. Get them to come out a little.

I have a quick question for you. Like, if you. Well, a lot of people have, like, this desire, and I believe community is, like, huge. It doesn't matter. Like, well, we're not meant to be alone, right? Like, you're meant to be in community. But if you're like. Because I know there's, like, a lot of people trying to build this and also to move to something like this. Let's say if you are in a space that you are now looking for the move yet, but you have the desire, what is the one mindset shift that you would, you know, like, what is the change, like the inner change that people. Kids are, like, doing right now that will actually feed a real community and not just, you know, the beautiful structure later.

Yeah, I think two things. One is think of it as a discovery. So even taking trips to start to figure out what kind of like, even it doesn't have to be to another country. I have people in New York who start going upstate New York to the countryside more. They start to travel and see what they want. Take your time, treat it as a discovery, and also get really clear on your motivations. Why are you doing it? Do you want food and water security? Do you feel like you really want to be around a group of people. I mean, I'm the community guy and I live alone in the cabin in the woods because I thought I wanted all this community. And then it scared the crap out of me. People are like, you're not coming to the men's circle. And I'm like, I don't care about the men's circle right now. I just want to chill on a Friday night and read a book. So, you know, I don't think that it's not for everyone, the bigger community thing, but see what your motivations and what is your why before jumping into anything and test it out as much as you can, test out who you want to be with. And by the way, it's not always your friends. I think Maria said, what if your friends are introverts? I think community is based on a set of shared values and principles. And so, you know, I met all of your friends in Sacred Growth Club, or your community, rather, excuse me, because there is shared principles there. And so even though I don't know some of the people, like, we don't hang out on the weekends, we have shared values and we care about certain things. And so I feel like they're a family to me in a way. And it's a new group of friends, you know, but that friendship, friendship forms from shared values and things we care about. Same with other groups that I meet with. So don't think that it has to be just your social circle. Could be very new people too. So. Yeah.

Thank you. Yeah, that's beautiful. And all I have to say, I'm very proud of, like, our community in general because I feel that that's exactly what it is. It's so pure. This thing about, like, I want, you know, to create something that is authentic that, you know, expands my heart. That just that desire being so authentic connects like two amazing people. And as I said at the beginning, just like the support to each other. For me, this is a real and it's a wine I never really thought about, like, this online community having such a sense of community that I was not able to build or to be part of in Costa Rica in many ways. But this support and this really desire of, like, growing together and winning together is that for me, like, communities is all about.

Yeah.

And with that, Ed. And we're going to bring this to a close here in a second. But one of the things that we thought to start doing here is because we've been observing how our community has been growing so organically from the inside and from this place of authentic expression, we Thought it'd be nice to ask you, like, as we consider other people to bring onto this sacred business stories, is there someone that you could think of that perhaps you know, has or has demonstrated what you perceive to be the values and principles of what it looks like to bring forward a sacred business? And maybe if you could share who that person is, we'd love to have a conversation with them about joining us here.

Yeah, I'll share a person and I'll share the why There's a. There's a person on my substack, Michelle Parad, who we started communicating, writing. She works also. She helps entrepreneurs craft marketing and stories and. And also helps people in the retreat business very much so like thought leaders, coaches, etc. Really, you know, expand kind of their offering. And she reached out to me and started writing me and seeing how we could collaborate and set up a call with me. And the reason why I want to recommend her is because she took a leap and I was like, oh, are you part of like Bill's group or this or this WhatsApp group we're a part of? She's like, kind of loosely, but no. And I was like, oh my God. So you just like reached out to me and she's like, yeah, I like what you're up to. And I was like, I like what you're up to. And we had a call. We had like a half hour call. I'm like, oh my God. There's so much overlap. And so we're gonna do some collaboration together. But I think she's a wonderful person to have on and talk to too. And yeah, just because of the initiative that she demonstrates, she. She does her work and she does her writing no matter who reads or how many followers. So she's awesome. Yeah, Michelle, awesome.

We'll reach out to her for sure. And then lastly, just really to close, like, how can people here who are watching with us live or on the replay learn more about your work? I know you're pretty active here nowadays on Substack, but what would you, what would you recommend if someone just wanted to get a quick understanding of. Of of your work if they're hearing something that might be there for them?

Yeah. One, I would just go. I use my substack website more than my real website now, so it's easy. It's livethepossibility news and you could read newsletters there. I also have workshop replays with really interesting people that I've interviewed. I have weekly light bulbs, so some people think you have to hire me. To get like a lot of the wisdom, but it's all in there. And even though I do consult and coach people one on one, I really love our group Mastermind, the Land Steward alliance, because it's not about just knowledge conveying, it's about supporting each other as we're on this mission to just think about what, like the questions we talked about. And it's a really diverse group. It's not just people building land projects, but it's architects, engineers, lawyers, even investors. We have create like we have investors there so you could ask them like big questions that you're afraid to ask about. And they want to be involved too. They don't want to just be a check writer. They want to be with you on the journey. So I would say definitely the newsletters, we have workshops all the time for the Land Steward alliance. And when you read my newsletter or you read anything on substack, know that you can reply, like ask a question and I'll reply it's me. So I get it in my inbox. And I usually write people, so yeah, I'm very easy to. To contact person. It's not behind a lot of walls and assistance and things.

So. Yeah.

Yeah.

Amazing. And your, yeah, your Land Steward alliance is very cool. I got the opportunity to come to one of your live events. It was in Uvita, right, That's where that was last. Last year. Yeah. And it was just, again, just an incredibly diverse. That's one of the things I love about Costa Rica and then specifically the people that you attract, like such a. A diverse group of characters but doing really, really cool work. So, yeah, I love the work you're doing there with the Lone Stars Alliance. So, yeah, with that, thank you so much for being here with us today. It's a beautiful conversation and super grateful to have you in our community as well with the Sacred Growth Club. And yeah, just really, genuinely appreciate you and appreciate you making the time for this conversation today.

Thank you both and thank you for the gifts you've shared with me and the gifts you're sharing with the world. I'm so grateful the world has you too. So thank you. Awesome.

All right, Ed. Well, and again, if anybody thinks of a question after this, we will post this replay to our Sacred Business Stories section that we recently created on Substack here, so you can go back and check this out. And all of Ed's contact information will be there as well. So have a great day. Thank you all for joining. Yep.

If you believe you have a sacred business, please reach out. We would love to have a conversation with you.

All right, have a great rest of your day, everyone.

Be that. Bye now. Thank you all. Thanks, everyone.