Turning Magic into Momentum at Molly Donlan’s 2025 Witchy Team Retreat
Credit: Unsplash
Published: November 2025
Overview
Certified Reiki instructor and creator Molly Donlan leads a team & brand known for its energy, creativity, and intention. After two years of rapid growth, her team, spread across multiple cities, had never met in person. This retreat was crucial to maintaining their momentum as they began planning next year's programming and preparing for Molly’s book launch.
However, aside from personal connectivity, the team faced operational challenges. Tasks lived in different documents, programs operated in silos, and their creative flow often came at the expense of structure. They needed more than a few days of relaxation; they needed an experience that would redefine how they work together remotely after the retreat.
We offered the exact hybrid solution Molly’s team needed through our UNMUTE Teamwork™ offer to design a retreat that would celebrate their wins, strengthen collaboration, and set the stage for scalable growth in 2026 & beyond.
Phase 1: Ops Overhaul
To kick off, we hosted a strategy session to understand the inner working culture of their remote team and identify opportunities to implement automation while streamlining workflows throughout programming, planning, and content creation.
We uncovered that within Molly’s Reiki programming, one team member manually completed 34 repetitive tasks, while the others averaged six tasks per cohort. The majority of these tasks could be automated using a third-party tool like Zapier to connect platforms like Zoom and Mighty Networks.
Originally, the team managed most of the tasks by pure memory, which left little to no room for capacity planning without in-depth meetings and conversations.
To solve this problem, we developed a simple, yet effective Notion workspace to specifically focus on task & program management and knowledge documentation, while replacing a scattered Google Drive of one-off docs with a single shared platform.
Now, when the team decides on new program dates and adds them to the master program calendar, an automation per team member is triggered to create their list of tasks to get the cohort successfully launched and executed.
Another pain point Molly’s team faced was ownership handoff within content development. Alongside that, two team members are contractors with their own processes & systems, requiring Molly to log in to other platforms like Clickup to review and approve work.
This was causing major friction within her day-to-day work due to high volumes of notifications.
To solve this problem, we developed a content management system that tracks each phase of publishing from drafting and filming to editing, reviewing, and uploading analytics. This is actually not uncommon with most creatives, and they end up relying on sending Slack messages back and forth to notify the next person.
In Notion, we can achieve a quick task handoff with a single checkbox and automation. When the “Action Done” is checked, the next person is assigned and notified.
Lastly, we developed Molly’s first DAM (Digital Asset Manager) system.
This database houses all of Molly’s branding, such as logos, photos, and testimonials to keep everything in one single, organized space, instead of in random folders across Google Drive. Now the content team can easily search and reference assets without creating unlimited duplicates in their local drive.
Training the team on this new workspace became the focal point for the retreat agenda. After working with more 400 B2B brands, we’ve recognized that live training is the most effective way for remote teams to buy into a new work system. It offers the opportunity to ask questions and even further customize specific workflows because they are beta testing the system in real time, together.
Phase 2: Retreat Planning
We led retreat planning from concept to execution, managing every detail from venue selection and vendor coordination to programming and travel for seven international and stateside team members.
Molly’s vision for the retreat was “bougie influencer” and to provide the team with a balance of comfort, inspiration, and relaxing celebration.
Location: The Lincoln Hotel (Biddeford, ME, a Michelin Key hotel)
We hosted all programming in The Lincoln’s penthouse suite. Complete with a full kitchen and bright, large living room, the team had plenty of room to spread out, have 1:1 conversations, and participate in training comfortably.
The penthouse was then decorated with plants, candles, moose antlers and disco balls courtesy of Moon Lady Plants.
Centerpiece by Moon Lady Plants
Meals: Room Service, Catered Lunches, and Curated Dinner Menus
For breakfast, team members were woken with room service, and had a choice between yogurt & muffin or a breakfast sandwich, with coffee or tea, delivered to their rooms before programming began.
Lunch was catered by the hotel, and attendees had the choice of soup, salad and/or sandwiches each day, with fruit and chips.
We wanted team dinners to be showstopping. To do so, we curated menus with local renowned restaurants in Biddeford, including Pacifico and Batson River. Menus were Maine-inspired and included options such as lobster mac & cheese, ceviche, and clam chowder.
Dinner menu at Batson River
Room service - breakfast baskets
Witchy WICKED matcha & nails vibes
The welcome dinner focused on celebrating some incredible company wins!
Retreat Agenda
One of the fun parts of Molly's retreat is that we kept 90% of the agenda a surprise to attendees until the moment of. The team was provided with a broad agenda and a simple packing list to get them to Maine, and then we had surprises & delights at various moments.
Every day followed a clear rhythm: morning meditation, facilitated training, co-working, and exploration. Our facilitated workshops focused on clarity, communication, and new systems built in Notion and Mighty Networks.
Activations & Culminating Events
Our primary goal for this retreat was for the team to simply celebrate and have fun.
We worked with Ruby Jean Photography to do a goddess team photoshoot & individual headshots. During the shoot, a group of older women came into the hotel wearing witch hats, and ended up joining in on a few photos!
On Halloween evening, we surprised everyone with a culimating team-building event, a Nancy Drew-inspired Murder Mystery dinner. The group was tasked with solving the murder of a ghost who died in a building fire years prior, where the hotel stands today. While looking for clues around the hotel lobby and penthouse, actors dressed as ghosts roamed the rooms and played tricks on the group. We ended the night with pizza and sweets to close out Halloween.
Before leaving Maine, the team participated in a Samhain send-off Saturday morning.
Day 1 programming kicked off with a spell candle intention setting session.
The welcome dinner party theme was “I have nowhere to wear this” to hep break the ice in a fun way!
Team Gifts
The best takeaway was the custom gift bags we curated for each team member. When attendees arrived at their hotel room, we had three gift stations set up — on their pillow, at the wet bar, and in the bathroom.
The “on the pillow” gift included a Crystal Luxe pen, journal, Alice Mushrooms (for sleep), a tarot deck, and a personal item. One team member received a gold bee necklace that supported beekeeping around the USA. Another team member received his favorite cigars & an engraved lighter with a picture of his dog.
The bathroom gift included Alice Mushrooms (for brainstorming), a Before toothbrush & toothpaste kit, tea light candles fom Crystal Luxe, Maine-based incense, a match book, and Onyx bracelet.
The wet bar was a full-blown snack station, which included a bag of whole bean WIMP Decaf coffee, Bixby pumpkin caramels, Maine spring water, Conscious Seed, Avro energy packets, Little Lad’s popcorn, Needhams — both Maine staples!, and fruit (apple & banana).
On the first day of programming, attendees received a treat bag that included Maine salt water taffy, thinking putty & a fidget toy.
Lastly, on the final day (Halloween), attendees received a personal LL Bean embroidered tote bag with a Popflex sweatsuit and a matcha tea set from Magic Hour Tea.
All in, team gifts totaled $750, with over $500 gifted via brand sponsorships.
The Results
The outcomes were immediate. The retreat delivered exactly what it promised: connection without chaos, structure without rigidity, and an operational foundation built to scale.
Operational clarity: every project now has a defined owner, timeline, and workflow.
Cultural alignment: meeting in person transformed how they collaborate remotely.
Scalable structure: the team left with systems that match their ambitions.
By the Numbers
What started as a first-time retreat became a repeatable annual model. Every detail, from the venue and sponsors to the agenda, was intentionally designed & executed.
Here’s how Molly’s team retreat came together:
🎯 15+ RFPs sourced across venues, vendors, and suppliers
🗓 4 months from kickoff to showtime (June 2025 - October 2025)
🏛 1 iconic venue: The Lincoln Hotel
🎥 2 days of programming
👥 7 team members and 12 sponsors, including Alice Mushrooms, WIMP Decaf, Magic Tea Hour, and PopFlex
🍦 Zero tech issues. Zero delays. 100% attendee satisfaction
What People Said
“Sara planned and executed an AMAZING event! And not just the big stuff - the details too. As an attendee, I felt special and taken care of. The attention to details - the flow of the activities - the curated menus --- all were incredible.”
“I can't say enough wonderful things about Sara and how she orchestrated our One Breath Together team retreat in Maine 💫 From the very beginning, she made everything feel seamless and clear. She mapped out our agenda, told us exactly what to pack, and shared the themes of activity (if there was no theme, there was a dress casual, which I LOVED) in advance! Something that was a huge relief for my squiggly brain! It helped me feel grounded and prepped before I even got there 🧠🌿 And once we arrived, it just kept getting better. Sara and Molly had arranged the most thoughtful sponsored gifts and personalized goodies 🎁💛 The boutique hotel felt like it was made for us, and the staff was so warm💗 From morning coffee deliveries to kind smiles and hand-delivered lunches ☕😊 Every piece felt intentional. Thanks to Sara’s clear and caring planning, I always knew where to be and what to expect, which gave me the freedom to fully drop in and enjoy. The activities she organized were incredible, from the deep-dive 2026 planning sessions to an unforgettable murder mystery with live actors that had us all laughing, playing, and bonding in a way I don't think would have been possible 🎭💬 One of my favorite parts was how she added our community practices into the retreat itself. She brought in intention setting, mindfulness, and even Tarot cards in such a natural, thoughtful way 🔮🕯️🧘 It was so special to see those pieces of our work held in the retreat container too. And don’t even get me started on the goddess photoshoot🤩 Such a magical memory! 📸✨ Even the tech trainings were well-balanced and helpful. This was our first time all meeting in person, and because of Sara, it felt like we’d been together for years. I left feeling deeply connected, inspired, and ready to take on 2026 with so much heart 💖 Her attention to detail and care in every moment made this retreat absolutely unforgettable. Thank you, Sara, for working so closely with Molly and for creating something so powerful and full of love and intention 💫”
Experience Ops in Action
For UNMUTE™, this retreat represented the intersection of experience and operations — the place where logistics disappear, clarity takes shape, and teams remember why they love working together. And more importantly, bringing together a team who have worked together for 2+ years without physically being in the same room. This retreat became the stepping stone for the next phase of Molly’s business and created the momentum they’ll take forward.
