In Partnership With Luxury Executive Wellness
Linda Mullins is no stranger to burnout. When she experienced burnout from her corporate leadership roles, she jumped off the hamster wheel to attend an immersive fitness retreat experience that profoundly impacted her life and health. From that experience, she created a more holistic and balanced approach to help others overcome overwhelm, burnout, and trauma from life events.
As Executive Coach and Founder of Luxury Executive Wellness, she designs personalized wellness retreats targeting burnout recovery as well as corporate and board retreats.
Linda’s passion and calling is to help people identify root causes and triggers to mindsets and behaviours, then release the things that no longer serve them. Since it takes a village, she began recruiting and vetting compassionate experts in mental health and natural medicine to deliver transformative results to clients.
In 2017, she reimagined the wellness retreat model by assembling top-notch concierge teams of wellness practitioners throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Europe in the areas of neuroscience, peak performance mental health, naturopathic medicine, mindfulness, fitness, and wellness.
The selected team travels to resort properties to meet clients and host powerful, customized immersive experiences that level up physical, mental, spiritual and emotional wellbeing, renewing purpose and increasing joy. We spoke with Linda to learn more about addressing the root causes of burnout and the business of corporate retreats.
Wander: With the rise in awareness about mental health and burnout, how has the demand for your services evolved over the years, particularly in the wake of the pandemic?
Linda: It has been remarkable to witness the evolution post-pandemic. Upon launch in 2018, we needed to raise awareness about mental health in the workplace and burnout. Post-pandemic, the demand for retreats focused on mental health has increased steadily.
What’s more, about 30% of our business includes executives whose companies are paying for them to attend our burnout recovery retreats. For this reason, we are providing more concierge wellness retreats ‘on-demand’ to serve people when they need us, on their timeline. Whether from corporate or leisure, half of our clients solo retreat over a group experience.
Your company emphasizes addressing the root causes of burnout. Could you delve into some of the strategies or methodologies employed to accomplish this effectively?
Yes, let’s first define what the World Health Organization says about burnout: “a syndrome resulting from chronic, unmanageable workplace stress.” I believe the emphasis should be on ‘unmanageable’.
It is our ability or inability to manage stressors that contribute to burnout. Our focus is to address the issue from the inside out, rather than focusing on the results of burnout. The deep dive begins with our team delving into the lifestyle components as well as the emotional components.
For instance, a root cause of sleeplessness may be a lack of oxygen. The Breath Re-Education Therapist addresses oxygen flow, the size of the airway, diaphragm release, and more. Addressing a primary root cause can prevent the need for a pill, a CPAP machine, or even surgery.
Our Lifestyle medicine approach goes beyond proper nutrition and movement (though both are critical.) We order specific blood tests to discover things like heavy metals, mould, and toxins in the body that contribute to ill health, mentally and physically. These include your dental work, EMFs (Electromagnetic Fields) gut microbiome, food sensitivities, and contraindicated medications, often not addressed in allopathic medicine.
Many of our NDs and Mental Health professionals employ kinesiology (muscle testing), a form of energy medicine that rapidly accesses information stored in the body and the subconscious to release trauma triggers, stressors, and blockages to optimal wellbeing.
Some of the practitioners and coaches on the team, including me, provide coaching and counselling that deals with the roots of bitterness, unforgiveness, and resentment. It is amazing how much dis-ease is rooted in emotional wounds.
“Our passion and mission is to be a significant part of the wellness journey—it’s the best job in the world!”
How do you ensure that the experiences provided by Luxury Executive Wellness are tailored to the needs of each individual or group?
We make it a point to have in-depth pre-retreat conversations to understand the client’s current situation and desired outcomes. This candid, confidential discussion, along with extensive pre-retreat health and lifestyle questionnaires and a team meeting before the retreat, ensures the client receives an impactful experience.
When a client comes open to receive and engages with our team of skilled professionals – we get to witness a beautiful transformation of mind, body, and spirit that can shift the individual, the group, or an entire organization.
Could you elaborate on the selection process for your team of concierge wellness practitioners? What qualities or expertise do you prioritize when assembling your team?
Yes, I do extensive research and seek out practitioners, rather than rely on ads. I want to know their ‘why’, and see multiple certifications and methods used, I’m looking for ‘fit’. I need to see evidence of a passion that drives them, along with compassion to serve, with a level of excellence.
Of course, I also verify credentials, talk to patient references, and dig into reviews and social media before the interview process. Through this, we ensure each practitioner is in alignment with our mission to deliver concierge wellness retreats that lay the foundation for lifelong wellbeing.
How do you measure the success of your retreats in terms of achieving desired outcomes for your clients?
Through leading holistic therapies, clients experience immediate shifts during the retreat, some through released trauma, others through breath re-education that impacts sleep and reduces anxiety, and still others through the discovery of the root cause of a particular ailment or behaviour.
Guests also report a more hopeful outlook and elevated mood when they return home. It’s both qualitative and quantitative. We see visible change and clients tell us they have more peace, more joy, and freedom from anxiety or ‘heavy stuff’ they had been carrying, this is success. It is progress, paving the way for sustainable change.
We survey the guests, and that feedback along with client testimonials speak of major impact and life-changing results like marriages restored or a total shift in leader effectiveness and company morale. We stay connected with our clients through continued follow-on sessions and periodic check-ins.
How do you envision the future of your offerings? For example, what do you believe may be the evolving needs of your clientele?
Three things:
- I envision an increase in solo travellers seeking deeper, more meaningful healing burnout retreats for mental wellness and whole health.
- Second, a significant increase in corporate retreats for boards, peer groups, and executive teams seeking rejuvenation for their trusted advisors and key employees
- Third, dramatic increase in one-day wellness experiences for employees.
Join Luxury Executive Wellness teams at iconic properties or have them craft a bespoke wellness retreat experience in the comfort of your favourite surroundings. Visit luxuryexecutivewellness.com.
