Meet Lauren Dickinson

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Dickinson. Lauren was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Jon Kohrs.

Hi Lauren, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
On the surface, my journey could be seen as a bit all of the place. As I reflect deeper into it, I can definitely see multiple threads of deeper meaning and significance that have contributed to the overall tapestry of what I’m creating now. I think the reason I feel so called to working with people to help them uncover their soul purpose is because it’s taken me so long to really realize anchor into mine. Let me explain a little about how I got here.

When I was young, I started out wanting to be a writer; at least, this was my first career I remember wanting to have. Since then, it’s changed it’s named many times and only now is it coming into focus that the term ‘creator’ is more closely aligned with my soul’s purpose. I like to create new things. I like to pry things open, look at what’s going on on the inside, and create order out of otherwise seeming chaos. I think it’s part of my Virgo nature.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to help people in the form of energy medicine, although I didn’t even know what that was at the time. In early high school, I remember having my first anxiety attack on career day, because none of the typical choices of careers were calling me and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do. I felt paralyzed by this feeling that I was supposed to have it all figured out, yet I was failing myself by not knowing.

The one thing that did finally call to my soul was art, and I attended art school for a time. After some major family events changed the course of my life, I got called into holistic health and healing, although again, I didn’t know for sure what it was that was going to be “for me” or “my thing”. I just kept following the guidance of what was inspiring me at the time. I worked for chiropractors, wellness centers, assistant to various natural health and healing professionals, while also pursuing my own education in the healing arts. I’ve been such on the search for the “one thing” that was going to feel like it was my niche and specialty, but like so many practitioners, the external pull of getting certification after certification diluted my vision. In retrospect, everything I learned from within the alternative health business and as a practitioner was going to profoundly serve me when it all came together. And that it did!

After living in Sedona and visiting other sacred world sites like Uluru in Australia, I started to get a better vision of what I wanted. I was just starting a coaching practice on the side when my first glimmers of my current life started to inspire me, and it was while living in Dallas to chase another certification and finally getting back into my art and creativity that I realized that all this time I thought I had been “looking” for my purpose, I had been building it all along.

Since moving to Mount Shasta, California, my professional experience, aspirations, childhood dreams, and the beautiful journey of it all has finally crystallized into the transformational retreat company I have created. On a personal level, it encapsulates everything I’ve ever been interested in (art, healing arts, alternative health and healing, personal transformation and development, and traveling to the world’s sacred sites) and brings me incredible joy. Even more so however, is the joy that it brings me to share this extraordinary world of retreats and our vision with our guests. Retreats create such a beautiful container of space for healing and transformation – and fun – and I’m honored and humbled to be witness to another’s journey in such a profound way, and for the first time in my 40 years on this planet, I finally feel ‘on purpose’.

Please tell us more about your brand, Orion Retreats
I’ve been deeply inspired to put together a collective of thought leaders, creatives, coaches, and wellness practitioners in a collaborative space to create transformational retreats for our guests, while supporting these facilitators in their own calling to help people and create transformational experiences. One of the only clear things I’ve known about my soul purpose throughout my journey, is that I was here to support others’ soul purpose. When I can support a facilitator in bringing their vision, skills and creativity into the world by giving them the framework of marketing and a collective mastermind team of sorts to be supported by, I know I’m fulfilling my mission to be of service. It’s deeply rewarding to me to connect with other leaders in the coach and wellness field, and I’m in awe everyday of my life that this is what has been created. There’s a beautiful passage by Elizabeth Gilbert in her book ‘Big Magic’ that refers to the idea that when something that is meant to be created is ready to be birthed into the world, it will seek its conduit and channel through the inspirations we receive for it, and only by listening to the inspiration can we be a part of its creation. This resonates with me on so many levels, and I attribute much of my business model and plans to simply listening to the universe. I think what sets us a part is that we are all heart-centered professionals looking to genuinely help others activate and transform their lives. It’s one thing (and a wonderful thing at that!) to go on retreat to relax, unplug, and destress. It’s another to combine this ‘retreat from life’ feeling that’s needed for so many people on so many levels, with a higher purpose for coming together. This could be in the form of learning a new healing arts modality like the training retreats we’re developing, uncovering your soul’s purpose, getting activated and cleansed from the world’s sacred energy sites, or coming together in a mastermind retreat for conscious leadership. Retreats are a wonderful, beautiful, and truly sacred space. How much cooler is it that we can create transformation on deeper levels through the power of community and a safe, welcoming environment? I think people can really unfold their protective armor and relax into a more soulful experience when given the permission to just ‘be’ and show up exactly as you are. Retreats offer this kind of experience without the pretense of having to be anything other than their already beautiful, authentic selves.

So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Jon Kohrs and Fresh Eggs, LLC and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Fresh Eggs, LLC.
Jon is such a wonderful soul. When we first met at a retreat a couple years ago, we instantly clicked and knew we wanted to work together somehow. Through our ensuing friendship, I learned he was a phenomenal coach and used the Enneagram, which was new to me at the time, to help people hatch their new way of being or their new way of doing business (it ends up all being the same, doesn’t it!), and elevate their awareness of their journey to see it from a higher perspective.

I did a three-month coaching program with him, and was able to experience first-hand his ability to gently guide his clients through a transformational process through the lens of the Enneagram and his own touches of spirituality and mysticism, and Reiki and guided meditations. This experience had such a tremendous impact on my growth, that when I decided to start my company, he was the first person I reached out to to start building retreats with.

We now run ongoing monthly Enneagram retreats in Kansas City, where I get to witness him helping guests experience themselves in a whole new way, in a retreat environment that really helps them to share openly and dive deeper into the experience. He’s an incredible facilitator, and it’s been a lot of fun putting these retreats together and organizing them with him. He makes everything that we’re building enjoyable, and he’s inspired so much of my company’s trajectory as a whole, from the facilitators I hand select to the type of content I want to offer as a company. I doubt he knows the full impact of his presence in my life and business, but it’s a testament to the decade plus of success he’s seen helping companies, teams, and individuals truly transform and get ‘unstuck’ in new ways.

As I’m diving deeper into my own Enneagram work and education, we’ll be expanding these Enneagram specific retreats to other areas and combine them with our destination spiritual adventure retreats. Combining the inner work of the Enneagram with the outer adventure of experiencing new places sounds just incredible to me and I love that we get to share this with any guest who is called to work with us and our team.

Website: www.orionretreats.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/orionretreats

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-dickinson222

Facebook: www.facebook.com/orionretreats