Rise and Thrive is a 5 day women’s leadership retreat created for women who are ready to create space for themselves again. Through guided leadership development, reflection, restorative experiences, and authentic connection, participants deepen self awareness, clarify what matters most, and reconnect with the kind of growth that supports both their personal lives and professional leadership.

Reserve your place and give yourself the space to reconnect, reset, and rise.

Rise and Thrive "Get on the list for 2028 in Mexico"

Hold My Spot

This retreat is intentionally kept small.
*$500 deposit reserves your spot.

Event Details:

Dates:
May 16 - 20, 2028

Location:
Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo,Mexico

Budget:
$2,400 - 3,800 USD
*depending on room/amenity choices

Hosts:
Dr. Christine Fonner
Dr. Kristine Medyanik

The Experience

Rise and Thrive is an immersive women’s leadership retreat for women who are ready to reconnect with themselves beyond the roles, responsibilities, and expectations they carry every day. We intentionally designed this experience to feel personal, restorative, and deeply meaningful. Every part of the retreat, including the environment, conversations, pacing, reflection, restoration, and community, is built to help women slow down, reconnect with themselves, and feel genuinely supported in their growth.

Rise and Thrive was created for women who are deeply capable, thoughtful, and committed to the lives and leadership they are building. It is for women who are ready to create intentional space for themselves again. Space to reflect, reconnect, grow, and be surrounded by other women who understand both the ambition and the humanity behind leadership.

Every part of Rise and Thrive is intentionally designed to feel personal, restorative, meaningful, and deeply connected.

Thoughtful conversations with extraordinary women who truly get it
Luxury spaces, restorative experiences, and intentional time to slow down
Expert facilitation grounded in leadership, behavioral science, and real transformation.

The environment, pacing, conversations, reflection, leadership development, restoration, and community all work together to create an experience that helps women slow down enough to hear themselves again while feeling genuinely supported in the process.

Over five days, you will experience meaningful leadership conversations, guided reflection, restorative experiences, laughter, spaciousness, and authentic connection with women from different industries, backgrounds, and life experiences who share a common desire to grow intentionally. There is room here for honest conversations, deep thinking, creativity, joy, rest, and clarity. Women consistently tell us they leave feeling more grounded, energized, connected, and clear about what they want moving forward.

Our work is grounded in behavioral science, leadership development, emotional intelligence, nervous system awareness, communication, and years of experience facilitating transformational spaces for women. We care deeply about creating environments where women feel safe enough to show up fully as themselves while also being challenged to grow in meaningful ways.

One participant shared it this way:

“I’d say that it’s both restorative and energizing to be in a space with such dynamic women, and it’s a safe space to be yourself as you are, with both grace and confidence.”

Rise and Thrive is an opportunity to step away from the constant pace of daily life and reconnect with yourself, your leadership, your vision, and the kind of life you want to continue building. If you have been craving space to breathe, think, reflect, grow, and be supported by extraordinary women who truly get it, we would love to welcome you into this experience.

Overview

Purpose & Focus:

Rise and Thrive is a transformative women’s leadership retreat designed for women who want to invest in themselves, grow personally and professionally, and build meaningful connections with like-minded peers.

Format & Setting:

It’s a multiday immersive retreat focused on self-discovery, leadership development, and connection with others in a supportive environment.

Is This You? Meet Us There.

The women who join Rise and Thrive are thoughtful, driven, high capacity women who care deeply about the lives they are building. They are leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, creatives, educators, business owners, helpers, builders, and visionaries. They are women who are successful on paper and still deeply committed to growing, evolving, and creating lives that feel meaningful and aligned.

This experience is for women who value depth, connection, learning, and intentionality. Women who love meaningful conversations by the pool, laughing until they cry over dinner, reflecting on big life questions, and surrounding themselves with people who inspire them to think differently and live more fully.

Many women come to Rise and Thrive at a moment where they are craving clarity, space, inspiration, restoration, or reconnection with themselves. They want growth that feels real and sustainable. They appreciate beautiful environments, thoughtful experiences, honest conversations, and leadership development that actually changes how they move through life.

If you are someone who values personal growth, emotional intelligence, meaningful relationships, leadership development, reflection, joy, and experiences that stay with you long after you leave, you will feel deeply at home here.

Got questions?

Let's Chat.

What's Included?

A Week Designed with Intention:

Five days and four nights at a stunning private luxury villa in Mexico designed for restoration, reflection, and meaningful connection
Curated chef prepared meals, snacks, coffee, cocktails, and shared dining experiences that feel intentional, nourishing, and memorable
Daily leadership development experiences blending behavioral science, emotional intelligence, nervous system regulation, reflection, and transformational facilitation
Morning rituals, breathwork, movement, and grounding practices designed to help you reconnect with yourself and fully arrive in the experience
A thoughtfully curated welcome gift experience waiting for you upon arrival
Spaciousness for rest, poolside conversations, creativity, laughter, integration, and connection without the pressure of overscheduled retreat agendas
Access to an intentionally curated cohort of thoughtful, high capacity women leaders, builders, entrepreneurs, and professionals from across industries
Small group facilitation and high touch leadership development from Dr. Christine Fonner and Dr. Kristine Medyanik, whose combined expertise spans organizational leadership, behavioral science, executive coaching, higher education, leadership psychology, conflict resolution, culture development, and transformational facilitation

A Curated Leadership Experience:

Transformational leadership workshops grounded in behavioral science, emotional intelligence, nervous system regulation, communication, and sustainable leadership practices
Guided experiences focused on overwhelm, capacity, radical care, boundaries, and creating routines and rituals that support the life and leadership you actually want
Opportunities for meaningful one-on-one and small group conversations with women who are building, leading, creating, and navigating many of the same questions you are
Intentional moments woven throughout the week for presence, play, celebration, and reconnecting with parts of yourself that often get pushed aside in everyday life
Visioning and intentional goal setting experiences designed to reconnect you to joy, purpose, creativity, and what comes next
Spacious time for independent reflection, rest, poolside conversations, connection, journaling, and restorative experiences woven naturally throughout the retreat
Facilitated integration and action planning so you return home with clarity, intention, and practical next steps you can immediately apply in your life and leadership
Meaningful conversations and experiences that continue long after the retreat ends through the relationships and community built during the week

The Agenda

The Ch(K)ristine’s

Day 1 - 5/16: Arrival & Welcome

Arrive between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, settle into the villa, and begin easing into the rhythm of the retreat. Spend the afternoon connecting, exploring the property, and unwinding before our welcome gathering and shared dinner at 6:00 PM.

Day 2 - 5/17: Grounding, Capacity, & Joy

Ease into the morning with coffee, fruit, and intentional connection before beginning the day with breathwork, heart science, and leadership sessions focused on overwhelm, nervous system regulation, and creating routines and rituals that increase capacity, joy, and presence. The afternoon includes spacious time for reflection, connection, and integration before dinner and an evening gathering together.

Day 3 - 5/18: Vision, Repair, Reconnection

Begin the day slowly with coffee, grounding practices, and breathwork focused on releasing what no longer serves you. Throughout the day, you’ll move through vision boarding, reflection, conversations around repair and relationships, and intentional time for rest, creativity, and connection before gathering together again for an evening circle.

Day 4 - 5/19: Integration & Moving Forward

Start the morning slowly with coffee, fruit, and quiet connection before moving into guided synthesis and application work focused on integrating what you’ve learned throughout the retreat. The day creates space for reflection, clarity, and intentional next steps before we gather together for our closing circle at 5:00 PM.

Day 5 - 5/20: Departure Morning

Enjoy a slow final morning with rolling coffee and breakfast, time for hugs, reflection, and soaking in a few last moments together before departure. Checkout is by 11:00 AM as everyone begins heading home feeling more grounded, connected, and renewed.

Led by the Dr. Ch(K)ristines

The retreat is hosted by Dr. Christine Fonner (executive leadership coach) and Dr. Kristine Medyanik (leadership educator and consultant).

Their facilitation blends leadership theory with real-world application, reflecting deep experience in adult development, organizational psychology, and women’s leadership.

Learn more about us

Leadership Development That Actually Changes How You Live

Join us in Mexico and experience what becomes possible when women are given the space, support, expertise, and community to truly rise and thrive together.

Join Us in Mexico

Why Women Choose Rise & Thrive

Rise and Thrive creates space to step out of constant responsibility and reconnect with yourself, your leadership, and the life you are building. This retreat blends transformational leadership development, behavioral science, restoration, meaningful conversation, and intentional community in a way that feels both grounding and energizing.

Women leave with:

renewed clarity around what matters most
practical tools for leadership, communication, boundaries, and sustainable growth
deeper connection to themselves and other thoughtful, high capacity women
nervous system regulation practices that support presence, resilience, and capacity
space to think, reflect, reset, and reconnect without distraction or performance
relationships and conversations that continue long after the retreat ends

This experience is designed to help you return home feeling clear, connected, supported, and more aligned with the way you want to lead and live.

Why This Experience Feels Different

This retreat combines the depth of executive coaching, transformational facilitation, behavioral science, leadership development, and restorative retreat experiences into one intentionally curated week.

Women are receiving access to the kind of high touch leadership and personal development work often reserved for private coaching intensives and executive retreats.

More Than a Retreat. A Lasting Shift.

Women leave Rise and Thrive with more than inspiration. They leave with tangible shifts in how they lead, communicate, care for themselves, and move through their lives.

Throughout the week, women develop:

stronger boundaries and a clearer understanding of their capacity
practical leadership and communication tools they can immediately apply at work and at home
greater nervous system awareness and strategies for regulation, recovery, and sustainable leadership
language and confidence for navigating difficult conversations and relationships
renewed creativity, vision, and connection to what brings them energy and joy
meaningful friendships and ongoing connections with thoughtful, high capacity women
intentional action plans and next steps grounded in reflection and real life application
a deeper sense of self trust, presence, and alignment in both life and leadership

Women often tell us they return home feeling more grounded, energized, connected, and clear about what they want next and how they want to lead moving forward.