
Camp Manitowa Women's Retreat
October 20th-22nd
Weekend SCHEDULE (Tentative)
LOCATION:
Join Sally for an incredible weekend of connection, discovery, fun, and relaxation with a group of amazing women! Take a peek at the superstar line-up of facilitators at the bottom of this page.
Here is the tentative schedule. Please keep in mind, you can do all of it or pick and choose!
FRIDAY:
3:30-4:30pm - Arrive and get settled in your yurt
5pm – Gather for a rundown of the weekend events,
introductions, meet our facilitators, & mini-meditation to set intentions for the weekend.
6:30pm – Dinner - the food will be amazing.
Fun get-to-know-you games after dinner!
SATURDAY:
Anytime: Hike around camp trails
6:00am – Group run or walk + workout w/ Sally - OR sleep :)
7:00 – Coffee available
7:30am - BREAKFAST
9:00am – Lynnea Brumbaugh - Interactive Session on Focused Energy Flow
(Option for morning bike ride on quiet roads around the lake)
10:00am - Yoga for all levels with Ciara
11:00am - Erin Joy Talks Business: The Psychology of Entrepreneurship in Stories
12-1pm Lunch & Break
Afternoon Options - we will see what the group is up for:
1:00pm - Optional Pleasant Hollow Winery excursion on the camp bus
1:00pm Ropes Course or bike ride
2:30pm Kayak Races
3:30pm - Foraging with Sara Ward, owner of Wildflowers LLC
4pm - Flower crown making with Sara
5:30pm Sip & stir – Craft cocktail/mocktail workshop - I have a yummy fall recipe!
6pm Dinner
7pm Music, dancing, & fun around the bonfire
SUNDAY OPTIONS:
6:00am Group run or walk + workout w/ Sally - OR sleep :)
7:00am Coffee available
7:30am BREAKFAST
9:00-10:00am - Kate Schroeder, M.Ed., LPC, NCC - EMOTIONAL FITNESS 101: How To Strengthen & Maintain Your Mental Health
Option for morning bike ride on quiet roads around the lake
10:30am Yoga for all levels with Ciara
11:30am Pack up
12:00pm Lunch & reflection
BIKE RIDES
Bring your own, or rent an e-bike for the weekend!
Women’s Retreat Special Rate
Valid for Women’s Retreat October 21-22, 2023, Use Code CAMPWOMAN at reservation for (1) $60 Electric Bike Rental Overnight with Delivery and Pickup
Code: CAMPWOMAN
Valid for (1) Electric Bike Rental from Rend Lake Electric Bike Rentals for October 21 - October 22, 2023. Includes delivery to Camp Manitowa on Saturday the 21st at 9am, one electric bicycle, helmet, and bike lock with pick up on October 22nd at end of morning activities. Book your reservation with the code CAMPWOMAN and use ‘Other” as the delivery location, in comments note “Women’s Retreat” Contact Darby@BikeRendLake.comor (618) 740-3707 with any questions! Web Address: www.BikeRendLake.com
During the entire camp, you can pick and choose what you will attend. Curate your weekend!
Take all the free time that you want!
Sleep late, have a friend grab you breakfast!
What to bring:
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Bedding
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Sunscreen
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Bug spray
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Ear plugs
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A variety of clothing/hats/shoes for weather changes
Lodging:
Wonderful Yurts! They sleep 12 but we can spread out, there are plenty!
Other lodging options available for an up-charge of $50-75 (varies on each type):
5 cabins:
3 have 2 bunk beds and a queen, one has 2 singles and has room for another single, and one has 1 queen.
2 buildings with 4 dorm rooms in each:
4 have one bunk-bed and one queen. 2 in the health center have 2 bunk beds, and the other two have a queen and a couple singles.
Weekend Facilitators

Erin Joy
Uses nearly three decades' experience in entrepreneurship, roundtable facilitation, business strategy, and executive coaching to help fellow female business owners launch, propel, and grow their companies.
Through one-on-one coaching, she provides clients with the resources, accountability, and guidance they need to thrive. Through customized coaching packages based on navigating clients’ most pressing business challenges—from HR to growth to preparing to sell to mindset and wellbeing—she gives women business owners the space and opportunity to leverage challenges into opportunities and solve for success.
During her career, Erin created and led the national award-winning Midwest Women Business Owners’ Conference; founded the female executive roundtable and leadership mentoring organization Black Dress Circle; released an anthology of advice titled The Anatomy of Accomplishment: Your Guide to Bigger, Better, Bolder Business Results; and been featured in USA Today, the St. Louis Business Journal, and Entrepreneur Quarterly. In 2016 and 2019, she was named to the Top 100 St. Louisans To Know, and recognized with an international Enterprising Women of the Year Champion Award in 2019.
Erin is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Business Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology to enhance her ability to connect with and support women in business on both a professional and emotional level.
Erin makes collaboration and empowerment a priority in every facet of her life – from helping female business owners thrive to uplifting the people of her local community to setting an example for her own daughter, Audrey, and the next generation of women who will lead.

Kate Schroeder
A Licensed Professional Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and owner of Transformation Counseling, LLC. With over 25 years in the mental health field, her clinical background includes experience as a school counselor, mental health therapist in an urban university’s counseling center, clinical researcher, and individual, couples, group, and family therapist. Within these settings, Kate has provided dedicated counseling for clients experiencing difficulties in areas including complex PTSD (C-PTSD), depression and anxiety, family and childhood conflicts, interpersonal relationships, grief and trauma, and various other interpersonal conflicts. Through personalized and experiential psychotherapy methods as well as the use of both the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Enneagram typology system of personality, Kate works with individuals to identify and address deep, long standing pain points that lead to profound, lasting solutions.

Alicia “Sunshine” Gbaho
B. S. in Mass Communication, Minor in Dance
Alicia is certified through NASM (Nutrition Coach), AFFAA (Group Fitness) and ABT Curriculum (Ballet). She also serves as the Director/Founder of Beyond Measure, LLC.
Alicia Sunshine began her dance career at the Katherine Dunham dance center in East St. Louis, IL where she was born and raised. She later evolved professionally & technically with her training at Illinois State University. This allowed her to work with many notable choreographers in dance theater, commercial, and competitive dance. It was there, Sunshine was grounded in an array of dance techniques. Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Hip Hop, West African, and Caribbean to name a few. Sunshine's experience and training has led to her working with a plethora of private dance studios, school districts, universities and community organizations.
Alicia Sunshine continues to perform & spread her passion of dance & fitness through the gift of inspiration, education and performance. Her businesses, Beyond Measure, LLC is a 3-tier company. The business includes:
· Beyond Measure Dance Theater (Professional Dance Company),
· Afroetics (Afro Dance & Fitness Fusion)
· The Afro Kuumba Dancers (Youth & Pre-Professional Training Program).
Founded in 2007 in St. Louis, MO, artistic director & choreographer Sunshine built a dance company that entails intermingled choreography rooted in the African Cultures, illuminating the dynamics of its powerfully influential and iconic dances. Beyond Measure Dance Theater has been called “a preeminent Afro-Fusion Dance Company!” Its members have received accolades for their technique, artistry & musicality. Traditional & creative music are
vital to Beyond Measure as well as community engagement. Since 2009, Beyond Measure Dance Theater has had an annual production, and engaged in the community both locally and internationally. Continuing to live up to their reputation of being a powerful & dynamic performance company, BMDT provides educational opportunities in dance for all ages and abilities. The art of fusion is the language of this company expressed through song, folk tales, dance, visual art and poetry.

Lynnea Brumbaugh, Ph.D.
High-Octane Leadership Development | University Professor | Adoptive Mom of Internat'l Children | Energy Master | Contra Dancer
Lynnea is a triple-certified coach who equips individuals and leadership teams to master stress, thrive in complex changes, and solve problems without emotional drama. Creating an environment of clarity, focus, and well-being, her unique QEA System maximizes productivity without sacrificing joy, freedom, and balance. After three near-death experiences and then years of dedicated training and self-reflection, she mastered a number of practices that are now fully integrated into her own life. Recognizing the profound impact they had on her own growth and well-being, she has now systematized these techniques into the QEA (Quantum Empowerment and Alignment) System.
Lynnea is over-the-moon excited to meet you all at the retreat! During our interactive group session, Lynnea will share her own inspiring story as she leads you through her signature Focused Energy Flow practices to increase your confidence, calm, and focus. Lynnea will also be available at the retreat for private Stress Breakthrough sessions to assess your personal journey and walk you through her proven, 3-stage process for brilliance and resilience without burnout or mental shutdown.

Ciara Brewer
A yoga teacher on a mission to guide yogis in exploring the depths of connection, transformation, and simplicity through yoga. She believes in the powers of conscious community, elevating compassion over judgment, and staying curious in life.
Offerings are often thematic; weaving the threads of yogic philosophy, embodiment, and contemporary culture into the tapestry of each class. Using intuitive movements, yogis can work with the natural rhythm of their body to strengthen, increase range of motion, and notice the relationship between their emotional state and physical body. Classes welcome fresh and seasoned yogis alike.
She holds an E-RYT 200 and YACEP from the Yoga Alliance and is trained in the styles of tantric vinyasa, yin, trauma-sensitivity, chair yoga, and somatic meditation. She currently teaches weekly group yoga classes at Climb SoiLL and virtually, offers classes and workshops at retreats, conferences, corporate events, festivals, and pop-ups, and facilitates regular events as the Community Leader for the St. Louis Minimalists Group since 2016.
She would be honored to share a practice with you! Please feel free to reach out here with any questions. Or, if you’d like to see what she’s up to when she’s not practicing or teaching yoga, you can learn more here.

Sara Ward
Inspired by nature, art, and all things beautiful, Sara has always had a passion for creating. Sara loves finding beauty with lush garden flowers but also in the unusual. After living in Philadelphia and then Peru, Sara has been excited to carry on Wildflowers’ passion to provide the most beautiful flowers in Saint Louis.
Growing up in an artistic environment, Sara loved being around color and beauty from a very young age. Sara’s entry into the world of floral design was a natural one, as friend after friend asked her to do flowers for their weddings. For over twenty years, she’s been an avid home gardener, never able to resist cutting beautiful blooms and displaying them throughout her home. Entertaining has always provided a great opportunity to decorate a table with gorgeous garden-style flower arrangements.
For over 20 years, Sara has been creating beautiful floral arrangements for weddings as well as a variety of events. Sara was able to be a part of Wildflowers over 15 years ago, helping Jane Winter with weddings and events. In Philadelphia, she worked at Home Influence, a well-established floral design studio. The markets of Lima gave a wonderful chance to buy flowers directly from the growers. She has been at Wildflowers and mentored by Jane Winter since the fall of 2015 and has loved getting to play a vital role in creating beautiful events. [St Louis, MO Florist]
