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Home Lifestyle Travel Fresh Air Retreat: Park City

Fresh Air Retreat: Park City

Posted:11/6/22
Updated:11/10/22

Sharing a recap of my time in October in Park City, Utah, for the Fresh Air Retreat – a business retreat aimed to recharge and rejuvenate food content creators. Keep reading to hear more about the retreat, what we did and who was there!

What is the Fresh Air Retreat

Early October I had the privilege to attend a Fresh Air Retreat – a business retreat put on by Liz of The Lemon Bowl and Lauren of The Curious Plate, where food content creators from all over the country get together for a close-knit conference, if you will.

This fall it was hosted in Park City, Utah – so beautiful this time of year!

We shared our wins, became inspired by each other, discussed business pain points, networked and most importantly, got to recharge our batteries.

Being a full-time content creator (food bloggers, originally) is still a new industry. Many of us started on our own without a full team, learning everything as we go. And many of us are still working with just a few small team members, either remotely, in person or a mix – it is not often we get the chance to see fellow creators in real life, so finding time to connect in person is invaluable.

The Attendees

Each season brings a roundup of new talent, with content creators from all over the country. It is a small group which allows us plenty of time to get to know one another and have meaningful discussions. This season’s attendees were:

Krista – Joyful Healthy Eats

Nicole – Cooking for Keeps

Isabel – Isabel Eats

Toni – Plant Based on a Budget

Liz – The Lemon Bowl

Lauren – The Curious Plate

Fresh Air Retreat Park City Utah 2022

The Location

This October season the Fresh Air Retreat was in Park City, Utah. Deer Valley Resort so graciously hosted our entire crew at a lovely home in Deer Valley – gorgeous views of the mountains all around.

I’ve never been to Park City or Deer Valley Resort, so this was such a treat.

When we were getting ready for some photos, some people even saw a moose walk across the road! (I, unfortunately, missed out on the live sighting.)

Deer Valley Resort Fresh Air Retreat Collage

Brands and Retreat Sponsors

It takes a lot of work to host a retreat. Liz and Lauren were phenomenal hosts. This trip was made possible thanks to the hard work they put into getting some amazing brands to sponsor the Fresh Air Retreat.

This year right where we stayed in Deer Valley, we were able to meet with some of the brand sponsors – It’s always so nice to be able to meet brands in real life and put a face to the name you’re connecting with over email or phone.

We were able to enjoy breakfast with Starr Ranch Growers one morning, and Justin’s the next – a casual fun way to meet brands!

We also had a charcuterie workshop with Creminelli Fine Meats, where we learned how to effectively pair meats with different cheeses, how to add various color to your board and make different kinds of charcuterie roses – super fun.

Other retreat sponsors included:

Adthrive, Instacart and Deer Valley Resort.

Dining in Style

When we were dining in at our residence, our meals were catered by the amazing Chef Trimell Hawkins. He is based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan and flew out for the retreat to prepare everything for us. Truly, a treat.

From apple pop-tarts to delicious eggs (yes, even the eggs were amazing), special dips, hassle-back eggplant, lamb chili, whole fish dinner (both trout and snapper) and more. He is so talented and everything was absolutely delicious.

Having Chef Trimell there allowed us to enjoy and make the most of our time, while equally inspiring us with so many flavorful, beautiful dishes.

We also had the opportunity to dine out at High West Distillery for lunch and Tupelo downtown – highly recommend checking out both if you’re visiting!

Fresh Air Retreat Park City collage of food

Connecting

Over the meals, downtime and fireside chats, we were able to have casual conversations, get to know one another and share more about things we’re excited about in our businesses.

We also discussed what we need help with, bounced ideas off of each other and learned from one another.

All in all it was a judgement free zone to connect with inspiring women.

Fresh Air

It wouldn’t be called the Fresh Air Retreat without a little fresh air. We did a guided hike with Melissa, from Deer Valley Resort. We were there at the perfect time for all of the fall foliage – the colors were gorgeous.

Melissa, our guide was so kind and gracious with us. The elevation is very different for somebody like me from flat Michigan. My lungs were burning on the way up! It took a bit to adjust but we made it and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.

Park City Utah Mountains collage

Exploring Downtown Park City

After our lunch at High West Distillery (which was delicious, of course) we had some free time to explore downtown Park City. It was absolutely adorable. I always enjoy exploring new places. The streets and shops were so cute.

And it was fun getting some free time and one-on-one with other attendees as well.

Takeaways

This was my first business trip since February 2020 – and we all know what happened after that! So I was actually a little nervous, if I am being honest. But I also knew I was ready for some candid business talk and real life human interaction.

And I am so glad I went. I expected nothing less of Liz (I’ve been on a few trips with her before!) and her, Lauren and their creative teams delivered a lovely event. I left feeling inspired, recharged and ready to set some new big goals for 2023.

It’s easy to just keep chugging along and keep your blinders on sometimes in this business. It can feel a little lonely, like you’re not sure what’s going on with all of the social media changes and Google updates, never knowing for sure if you’re making progress or just keeping afloat.

But getting to chat with others who have been in the business and are struggling with the same things can be so validating. We lifted each other up, cheered each other on, and were able to make new friends.

I’m so thankful I was invited to attend and had the opportunity to go.

Thank you again to Liz and Lauren for hosting, and the awesome brand sponsors for making this retreat possible:

  • Instacart
  • AdThrive
  • Starr Ranch Growers
  • Justin’s
  • Creminelli Fine Meats
  • Deer Valley

All photography by Amanda Montgomery of Arrae Creative.

About Ashley

"Ashley Walterhouse is the founder of Fit Mitten Kitchen, based in the Greater Lansing Area of Michigan, AKA “the Mitten.” Ashley grew up as a picky eater but later discovered that eating healthy was actually easy and fun. She started FMK in 2015 as a way to share her newfound love of developing healthier recipes for all to enjoy."

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