Find your tribe and the rest will follow.

A couple of years ago I discovered my preferred way of learning after coming to the conclusion that the traditional routes never suited me.

I found that there’s no better education than to be immersed in an experience.

When I refer to learning, I don’t mean understanding mathematics or the history of the world. I mean the kind of learning that is usually neglected in our school years, but could just be the most important.

Where you gain emotional intelligence and are exposed to what it means to be human.

A learning environment where you build connections with people, through shared interests and philosophies.

Where you learn to start a conversation and are greeted with an open mind and willingness to listen.

Ever since this realisation I’ve been on the lookout for new learning experiences, those that allow me to explore both who I am and what I can learn from other people.

So when the opportunity came up to be a part of a different kind of retreat, I grabbed it with both hands and started counting down the days…

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Calm down, Robyn.

This might be your first time travelling but remember the destination! It’ll be a pocket of the world you’ve never visited before, let it greet you with open arms and a welcome that promises an exciting journey ahead.

Whilst you might be by yourself now, you’ll soon be amongst 20 other people who too have questions, and know as little as you do about what to expect for the forthcoming week.

Let this post not be about travelling (I have much more to say than that), but I think it’s important to brush over it briefly because as someone who has only ever travelled comfortable distances with friends and family before, the idea of a 20 hour flight with stopovers alone was enough to destabilise me.

Daft, really, now looking back at it.

I found myself striking conversations wherever I was taking myself. I met some great people on my travels; with their own reasons to why they were soon to be landing in Goa. An old couple visiting their sick parents. A nomad looking for a new experience. A doctor relocating.

Then, there was me travelling to be a part of The Happy Startup School’s Ashram…

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It’s tough to sum up what I learnt over the course of the week-long retreat. A lot of it being personal growth and acceptance, but also the experience of being around 20 other likeminded people — all with their own stories, thoughts and hopes for the world.

Ashram has helped me to grow in many ways it’s hard to pinpoint just the one.

For me this was a start of a new chapter.

I had a feeling it was going to shake up my life and business in the way I had needed. The time had been right to take myself out of the day-to-day and surround myself with people who too have a driving purpose for creating change in the world — no matter how big or small.

As much as the week away brought 21 people together to explore Goa, and gave them the freedom to take the time out (time that people are all too quick to say they ‘don’t have time for’), there was also a wholehearted emphasis on supporting one another and each other’s ventures, as well as opening our minds to new possibilities for collaboration.

The generosity of the group still warms my heart a week later, and will forever do so, I’m sure. We all recognised our own battles, and worked towards unfolding solutions and sharing wisdom and inspiration throughout the retreat to catapult us into action when arriving back home.

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What Laurence and Carlos have built is an experience that unlocks vulnerability, friendship and conversation in the most organic of ways.

It didn’t take long before you could see the bonds amongst us all that were being created through our similarities as well as our differences.

People opening up their hearts and voicing their passion for what it is that they’re creating.

I left with not just new friends and a sense of belonging, but with new ideas and clarity for what we’re working towards with Innovators Hub — the impact we want to create, the people who we want to do it with, and the reasons why we’re doing it all in the first place.

The future is never predictable especially in the world of startup. But one thing I do know is if you love what you do and you’ve found your tribe, then you’re on the right track.