Almost half of feminine executives are burned out — and the businesses they lead are paying for it.
In keeping with McKinsey & Firm’s 2024 “Ladies within the Office” report, 43% of feminine executives expertise burnout, in contrast with 31% of their male counterparts. A Gallup research printed in March 2026 discovered the hole between men and women in management has held regular at 10 proportion factors over 4 years, with no signal of narrowing.
The info factors to a conclusion high-performing ladies are sometimes the final to simply accept: essentially the most strategic funding a feminine founder or govt could make proper now isn’t a brand new rent or a brand new funding spherical. It’s intentional time away from the enterprise — in different phrases, a retreat.
Arianna Huffington, founding father of The Huffington Put up and CEO of Thrive International, put it plainly in an interview with M13: “We’re all going through this delusion that burnout is the worth it’s essential to pay for achievement.”
“After many years of working with shoppers, I’ve witnessed how stress, nervousness and burnout influence each side of well being,” stated Dr. Desi Bartlett, EdD, CPT, E-RYT, a ladies’s wellness skilled and the 2025 IDEA Health Chief of the Yr. “Self-care isn’t egocentric — it’s important.”
I attended one among Bartlett’s retreats at some extent when burnout had quietly taken maintain. It was precisely what I wanted. I got here again recentered, re-energized and with a renewed deal with my objectives. For any girl in enterprise who’s operating on fumes, it’s not a nice-to-have. It’s a should.
Not each retreat is designed with the feminine founder or govt in thoughts. The next 4 experiences characterize distinct approaches to renewal, every suited to a distinct form of chief.
ENCORE RETREAT: NOURISH IN TUSCANY
The Encore Retreat is the standout expertise of the yr for the lady in search of whole renewal — bodily, psychological and dietary. Set towards Tuscany’s rolling hills throughout peak harvest season, this five-day immersive program is designed to awaken and optimize the physique, coronary heart and thoughts by way of a mix of motion, practical diet, restorative practices and genuine Tuscan tradition.
The retreat is co-led by Dr. Desi Bartlett, EdD, CPT, E-RYT — creator of the Bodymind Exercise®, creator of Whole Physique Lovely and the 2025 IDEA Health Chief of the Yr — and Ilanit Blumenfeld, MPH, RDN, CDN, founding father of Encore Retreat and president of IBG Diet, a registered dietitian with greater than 20 years of expertise in practical diet and wellness.
What units the Encore Retreat aside is its intentional intimacy. The group is stored intentionally small so each participant receives individualized consideration from each co-leaders — not a gaggle lecture, however a customized wellness expertise tailor-made to every girl’s particular well being and diet wants.
“This retreat creates an area the place we are able to meet every girl the place she is and share instruments to assist optimize her well being from the within out,” Bartlett stated in a Could 2026 announcement.
Programming consists of every day Bodymind Exercise® motion classes, farm-to-table Tuscan delicacies guided by Blumenfeld’s Mediterranean eating regimen and Blue Zones philosophy, meditation, yoga nidra, breathwork, nervous system regulation and truffle looking.
“True well-being is about greater than what you eat; it’s about how you reside, discover, and expertise the world,” Blumenfeld stated.
“Some locations don’t simply maintain you. They remodel you.” — Dr. Desi Bartlett
Greatest for: Feminine executives and entrepreneurs in search of a premium holistic reset — physique, thoughts and diet — in an intimate worldwide setting. Areas are extraordinarily restricted.
Dates: Nov. 4-8, 2026 | Location: Fonteverde Life-style and Thermal Retreat, Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy | Registration: Open. Register: encoreretreat.com/tuscany-italy-retreat-2026 | Contact: Nourish@EncoreRetreat.com | (646) 326-4658
POWERHOUSE WOMEN EVENT
The annual Powerhouse Ladies Occasion attracts ladies entrepreneurs to the JW Marriott Camelback Inn in Scottsdale for 3 days of keynotes, mastermind classes and peer connection, closing with a Sunday centered on tactical enterprise technique for founders from early-stage startups to seven-figure operations.
“It’ll provide help to get out of your personal means and kick these massive concepts into motion,” stated founder Lindsey Schwartz.
Greatest for: Ladies in search of high-energy enterprise programming and group in a larger-scale setting.
Dates: Aug. 14-16, 2026 | Location: JW Marriott Camelback Inn, Scottsdale, Ariz. Tickets: powerhousewomen.co/occasion
LUSHI WELLNESS SOCIETY: PUNTA DEL ESTE SUNRISE RETREAT
The Lushi Wellness Society retreat in Punta del Este, Uruguay, affords an intimate, practice-first expertise by the ocean in one among South America’s most lovely coastal locations. Cohorts are capped at 12 to 16 folks, accepted by utility to take care of group steadiness. The four-night program consists of two courses every day, night workshops — breathwork, sound baths and girls’s circles — regionally sourced Uruguayan meals and real ocean-side relaxation.
Greatest for: Ladies leaders in search of a boutique, application-only worldwide expertise with critical motion programming and a small-group really feel removed from the convention circuit.
Dates: Aug. 14-18, 2026 | Location: Punta del Este, Uruguay | Spots: 12 Apply: lushi.co/pages/retreats
ENTREPRENISTA FOUNDERS WEEKEND — PLAN AHEAD FOR 2027
The Entreprenista Founders Weekend, hosted by the Entreprenista League, offered out in 2026, drawing lots of of girls founders to the PGA Nationwide Resort in Palm Seaside Gardens, Florida, for 3 days of enterprise technique, wellness and high-level networking.
“We’ve watched partnerships kind, offers shut and lifelong friendships start over a single weekend,” stated Stephanie Cartin, co-founder of Entreprenista Media, in an April 2026 press launch.
Greatest for: Ladies founders in search of large-scale group and high-value networking. Be part of the waitlist now for 2027 entry.
Location: PGA Nationwide Resort, Palm Seaside Gardens, Fla. | Word: The 2026 version offered out. Waitlist: entreprenista.com/foundersweekend
THE BOTTOM LINE
Essentially the most worthwhile asset in any firm is the particular person on the prime. Her judgment, her imaginative and prescient, her capability to steer beneath strain — none of it regenerates by itself. Leaders who take structured time away return with improved decision-making, better artistic capability and stronger emotional regulation — all direct drivers of enterprise efficiency.
“I’m not saying which you can’t succeed by burning out,” Huffington advised CNBC Make It. “However you possibly can succeed way more successfully, and way more sustainably, and with a lot much less injury to your well being and your relationships.”
“Some locations don’t simply maintain you,” Bartlett stated. “They remodel you.”
