Welcome to Invest in Yourself, the Digital Entrepreneur Podcast. Join the podcast mogul Phil Better as he interviews successful entrepreneurs that make their living in the digital world. Now, let's join your host Phil Better and his special guest today on Invest in Yourself, the Digital Entrepreneur

podcast. Welcome back to another exciting episode of Invest in Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. I am, of course, your host, Phil Bitter, the podcast mogul, and today's guest is someone who is taking adventure to a whole new level. She's the mastermind behind unforgettable experiences, blending travel and personal growth in ways that leave a lasting impact on all who attend. As the founder of Wandering Roots, she's created life changing retreats for women across the globe, empowering them through exploration and connection, both but that's not all. She's also a mentor to entrepreneurs, helping them design and host their own highly profitable retreats. So get ready for an episode packed with inspiration and insight because today, we are thrilled to welcome the incredible Anna. Anna, welcome to the show.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

I am very excited to have you. I'm all I I don't know a lot about retreats, other than, you know, going on a vacation and, you know, enjoying the treats of the vacation. So I'm very happy to have you here to learn all about what you've done and what you're doing. So thank you so much for being here. But as usual, the first question is why? Why did you decide to shell off the nine to five corporate world and go into the craziness that is entrepreneurship?

Sure. I will give you the Cliff's notes. It's a long story. I, I had a thirteen year, stint in molecular diagnostics. And in my last job in that field, I was sort of given the I wasn't sort of. I was. I was given the opportunity to be an entrepreneur without any financial risk. So I got I was the first employee.

I built the lab. I hired the staff. I bought the equipment, managed the inventory, all of that. And it honestly planted a seed that I wasn't super aware of yet. But then about six months into it, I had to have neck surgery. I was in two bad car accidents as a kid. And, I was in a neck brace for four months, and I couldn't drive. First honestly, the first pause in my life.

I was 28. I, felt my you know, not that I was gonna die, but I just felt that, like like, my own mortality for the first time. Like, that was just something that happened to old people. And then all of a sudden, I was like, oh, shit. No. This is it. You get one chance at this, and I'm pretty miserable. I'm not jazzed at all about my career even though I had attained wildly more success than I ever thought possible.

And, honestly, that just kinda I sat in a sort of fear paralysis for a while of, like, what do I do now? I mean, I've worked so hard to get here. And, so, anyways, I I sort of found yoga to deal with chronic pain. They sort of undersell you the surgery of that. It's not the solution. You have to live with new hardware and figure that out, so that sucks. But,

anyway, so I I just, did that to sort of manage my pain and not have to

be one of those pain clinic patients. And then I, just started doing things that terrified me. Like, I just said yes to anything that intrigued me but terrified me. That was just outside of my comfort zone. And, eventually, I tried to quit, and I was going to pivot and take more of a role in, like, a sales sort of background, I thought I was still thinking narrow. I was like, okay. I'll stay in the same field, but I'll do something different, and and I won't be so bored and whatever. But my company gave me $40,000 to stay a raise, which was more than my, honestly, my first job out of college.