As part of the Morning Lazziness series highlighting empowering women who are making a remarkable impact with their ideas, I had the pleasure of interviewing Florence Achery.
Florence Achery is a retreat organizer, yoga guide, and accredited sound healer passionate about creating soulful spaces for connection and renewal. She hosts intimate yoga and wellness retreats across the UK, India, and The Gambia, offering experiences that blend adventure with deep inner stillness.
Known for her signature digital detox retreat in Cumbria, “Retreat Like It’s 1999!™”, Florence invites guests to unplug, recharge, and rediscover themselves—without the constant buzz of technology. By keeping her groups small and intentional, she ensures every participant feels heard, seen, and supported on their journey.
Beyond wellness, Florence is a devoted animal lover and advocate. With three rescue dogs of her own, she actively supports global spay and neuter campaigns—donating £25 from every retreat booking to help reduce the population of stray and free-roaming dogs worldwide.
Whether through yoga, sound healing, or her retreats off the beaten path, Florence’s mission is simple: to help people reconnect with themselves, with others, and with the world around them.
In this interview, she discusses her entrepreneurial evolution, from early struggles to the achievements that shaped her online business success.
What inspired you to start your business, and what problem were you passionate about solving?
I organise and host yoga and wellness retreats. In the UK, India and The Gambia.
My own experiences of solo travel and yoga retreats inspired the business.
In 1998, suffering from depression I discovered yoga. In 2000 I discovered yoga retreats.
It was a revelation and I would treat myself to a retreat every year.
From Ibiza to Thailand, Morocco to Turkey
I experienced all kinds of retreats.
Retreats with just a handful of guests and hardly any activities.
Retreats with 42 guests. I remember saying goodbye to some people at the end of the week and not knowing their names.
There were so many of us and so little time that I didn’t get a chance to speak to most people. It made me sad.
Retreats with so many activities that I needed a holiday to get over the retreat.
One day I thought that I could curate what I would consider to be the perfect retreat.
Small groups, 8 guests max. to facilitate meaningful human connections.
Visiting exciting places and off the beaten path.
The right amount of yoga and other activities.
The right amount of down time so people can rest, read, top up their tan or go and explore by themselves if they wish.
The seed was planted in 2011 but I never had any time to start a business until 2020 and the first lockdown.
I had £500 to spare and plenty of free time.
As I spoke of the beautiful retreats I was planning, and I was especially keen to take groups to India, people laughed at me.
Why would I think of gathering strangers and traveling abroad at a time when we were told to stay home and away from other people!!
I knew that Covid would pass eventually and that people would be desperate to travel.
My first retreats finally happened in 2021 in the UK and were fully booked.
I am passionate about curating safe spaces for people to self heal. My retreats are intimate (6 to 8 guests) meaning that every guest has the space and time to feel seen and heard, and also affordable, as I have noticed that the people who most need time and space for themselves are often the ones who can least afford it.
My retreats are off the beaten track and always a bit of an adventure, attracting many solo travellers.
How has your business evolved since its launch, and what key decisions have helped drive that growth?
The business was successful from the very first retreat and has grown healthily.
I started with 2 retreats and now host 10 retreats a year, in the UK, different parts of India and The Gambia.
To start, my intentions were to take groups abroad. I am based in London.
Like a lot of people I thought that the pandemic would quickly pass and life would get back to normal by the end of 2020. With that in mind, I had planned the first retreat to be in Rajasthan, India in early 2021.
As we suffered more and more travel restrictions I quickly decided to pivot and start hosting in the UK in 2021. I was finally able to take groups to India in 2023.
Hosting retreats in the UK was a great decision.
Cumbria is a desirable part of the UK and the retreats sell out easily which allows me to meet many great guests, forge great connections with them and a lot of them end up booking on one of my more exotic retreats.
In 2024 I started digital detox retreats, ‘Retreat like it’s 1999!’™, which are very successful and were recommended by The Guardian this year.
I also welcome men on the retreats.
I think that the growth of the business is linked to my connection with my guests.
What I do is all about meaningful human connections and of course it applies to how I interact with my customers.
I privilege newsletters and WhatsApp messages. I am always available to answer questions etc…I have a lot of repeat business and recommendations.
In your view, what truly sets your brand apart in today’s competitive market?
It’s a very competitive market and of course I do see the kind of retreats that are on offer.
It feels very samey to me.
What’s frequently on offer are:
- Large groups, 12 people or more
- Either luxurious and really expensive retreats or cheap and cheerful
- Women only spaces
- Predictable destinations such as Goa or Rishikesh in India
- A lot of woo woo jargon that makes little sense
My retreats are none of that.
Always small groups, well priced, men are welcome because why would I want to alienate 50% of the population?, I choose off the beaten track destinations and activities and my retreats are pretty much what it says on the tin!
Customer care starts even before the retreat. I will set up a whatsapp group so the guests can get to know each other even before they’ve met. The groups stay active so people can keep in touch and share for years after a retreat.
I help the guests book their flights, apply for visas etc…
That kind of personal touch is very rare. As someone who has booked onto retreats for 20 years and with various companies, I know!
I make it very easy for solo travellers to join us.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to date, and why do you think it worked so well?
I am not a yoga teacher and I started with an audience of only a few friends who were potentially interested in joining a retreat so I listed my retreats on a couple of reputable booking platforms. I still do to this day.
The platforms do take a commission however they have a worldwide reach.
Every place sold through a platform is a place that I couldn’t sell directly so to me it’s worth it.
A professional looking website was also very important.
You can’t expect people to part with huge sums of money if the website feels amateurish and untrustworthy.
Not a marketing ploy but being found organically has worked for me and I pay close attention to my SEO.
I love sending a newsletter a few times a month and it does result in bookings. Newsletters feel personal and I have a high opening rate.
How do you stay connected to your ideal audience and understand their needs or behaviors?
Newsletters without a doubt.
People who sign up to receive your newsletters are clearly interested in what you offer and signal that they want to hear more from you.
I am consistent and send 3 newsletters a month. I will probably move to one newsletter a week.
Your mailing list belongs to you, unlike your followers on social media.
I look at the data for my website. I see the pages most visited and at what time etc…it gives me an idea of how people navigate the website and what they are looking for.
What’s one branding move or campaign that helped elevate your business to the next level?
PR in all its forms.
I can talk about different subjects such as digital detox, combating loneliness, self-care etc…and I will do as much press as possible.
Magazine articles, guesting on a podcast, radio interviews, blogs etc….I’ve done it.
It’s brand awareness, traffic to the website and it’s free.
People get to know me and it gives them an idea of what they can expect on the retreats.
How do you personally define success, beyond revenue and growth metrics, but in purpose or impact?
Happiness and contentment are success. Freedom is success.
I give £25 from every place sold to charity and to date I have donated thousands of pounds. That’s success to me.
I have created a job I love because I love traveling and meeting new people.
I have many repeat guests and some guests have become close friends.
Not everyone can get that from their business so I know that I am privileged.
Can you share a challenge or setback that ultimately became a turning point for your brand?
I encountered setbacks even before I started!
The very first retreat was planned for early 2021 and in India.
I had the yoga teacher, hotels were booked and I had some interest. It looked good!
A new strain of Covid and a surge in Covid cases meant that restrictions were tightened and the trip could not possibly go ahead. I started thinking that people were right and this new venture was ridiculous.
However I really believed in myself and what I wanted to do – Help people look after themselves among the chaos of the pandemic and enable them to meet people IRL.
I quickly realised that I had to start in the UK – For months I looked for the right venue and eventually found a beautiful 8 bedroom renovated vicarage in Cumbria – A beautiful part of Northern England.
I now host 6 retreats a year in Cumbria including my digital detox retreats.
They are very popular and always fully booked.
So this decision to start in England, even though it never was in the plans, allowed me to create and grow the business I really wanted.
So I would say that the turning point happened very early on.
What daily habits or rituals keep you focused, creative, and grounded as a leader?
Unsurprisingly, yoga and wellness are important to me. I start the day with 20 minutes of yoga, followed by a cold shower. That ritual really sets me up for the day.
To stay focused I regularly leave my phones in a different room so I can concentrate on important tasks. I also use the pomodoro method.
In the middle of the day, I take the furkids for a long walk. That’s when I am most creative. Some of my best ideas come from when I am out of the office and walking – In all weathers.
Somehow it perfectly illustrates retreats. You need to take a step back/ away to better move forward.
I also privilege a good night’s sleep. Between 7 and 8 hours.
Sleep is underrated but it’s difficult to stay focused when you are tired.
No screens allowed in the bedroom. At night I keep my phones on charge in a different room. I read for 15/ 20 minutes before bedtime.
I always trust my yoga teachers and I don’t want to micro-manage. That’s really annoying for everyone.
What advice would you give to someone starting a business in today’s fast-changing digital world?
If it’s appropriate to your business. don’t underestimate how much people crave human contact and meaningful human connections. As we hear about AI overtaking all aspects of our lives and as AI is touted as the answer to many of our problems, humans need humans more than ever.
Remember that people buy from people.
Be passionate about what you do but also open minded and flexible.
Things can change so quickly that you need to be ready to adapt.
Never stop learning and educating yourself to prevent overwhelm.
Prioritise yours and your team’s wellbeing. A healthy and happy team is a productive team.
Don’t try to emulate the competition. Be yourself because you are unique.
Top customer service is key. Customers remember how you made them feel.
Where can our audience connect with you and learn more about your work or offerings?
The retreats are all listed on the website: YogaretReatsandmore
Subscribers to the newsletter get a discount on their first booking, enter in competitions to win gift vouchers, get previews of upcoming retreats etc…
