Inkandescent Retreat Centers: Dreaming and Scheming

Click here to view our big idea: BeInkandescent Retreat Center designed by Dylan Gibbs

Concept and plan by Hope Katz Gibbs, founder of Inkandescent® PR & Publishing Co., www.Inkandescent.us

 Architectural design by Dylan Zane Gibbs, graduate May 2025, Harvard Graduate School of Design, www.DylanGibbs.com

 c2025 All Rights Reserved

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Inkandescent Health & Wellness Retreat Center provides an opportunity for women to come together to learn, heal, become part of a larger community, dream, feel supported, and build their future selves (and their business ideas) in a powerful new way.

We are appealing to four markets in the hospitality and healing business:

  • Women’s Retreats that we host (classes and workshops: writing, art, photo, divorce, personal growth, yoga; networking, healing)
  • Retreats hosted by other organizations (corporations, nonprofits, other retreat groups), which we will support with our services (spa, yoga, massage, food, housing, hiking/biking)
  • Weddings and anniversary parties, and other rites of passage events
  • Weekend getaways for anyone who wants to visit for a few days and enjoy the property, food, scenery

Our clients: Visitors will come to the Retreat Center to ground and center themselves as they grow into the new version of whom they wish to be. It’s a desire of nearly every woman I know — to go to a place where she can re-find her way back to her essential self. While staying in a lovely, bright, clean casita, eat delicious healthy food (that she will also learn to prepare at home), be pampered in our spa (massage, yoga, more), and dive deeper into their spiritual practice through our classes — she will re-emerge embracing the healthiest version of her life, having embraced all the parts of herself and created a vision plan for moving forward.

GENERAL COMPANY DESCRIPTION: I have partnered with three architects, including my son Dylan, currently working at Harvard Graduate School of Design (Alex Yuen and Weijia Song are professors and Dylan graduates in 2023).

The key industry trends that will help/hinder our success: While the pandemic continues to make travelers cautious, the pent-up demand to visit new places, connect with friends, meet new ones, and especially heal themselves mind, body, spirit, and soul. We will bake into the plan and, of course, the Center, requirements that all visitors need be vaccinated, wear masks, and socially distant: https://www.newmexico.org/covid-19-traveler-information The Center will be built to ensure each casita is thoroughly cleaned and safe for our guests during a pandemic, and other global changes that may become our reality in the future.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

  • The Casitas at the Center: Our fabulous casitas, designed by our architects Dylan Gibbs, Alex Yuen, and Weijia Song, are powered by solar energy and made from materials native to Santa Fe. These open, well-lit units offer a relaxing respite from daily life and cultivate a deep sense of calm — while providing a comfortable, hypoallergenic bed and pillows for indoor and outdoor showers. The Center will also feature private hot tubs, fire pits, steam baths, and local gathering spots to enjoy the company of friends, old and newly met.
  • Relax at the Spa at the Center: Yoga, meditation, massage, mindfulness workshops, https://feldenkrais.com, Pilates, strength building classes, plus facials, manicures/pedicures, more!
  • Eat Well at Inkandescent Kitchen: Our menu is prepared by award-winning Chef Kim Katz Alvarez, who for decades has run kitchens in Philadelphia with her husband, Guatemalan native Chef Edgar Alvarez. Their restaurant, Avenida, in Chestnut Hill, PA, is the inspiration for our food based on the recipes taught to Edgar by his grandmother.
    • Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be served daily.
    • Coffee, tea, fresh water, and fruit will be available to our guests
    • Room service, 8 am-8 pm
    • Catering is available for picnics, parties, meetings, events, conferences on-site.
    • Happy Hour will be hosted every day from 4-6 pm.
  • Shop at the Center: In our art gallery and craft shop, we’ll offer books and art (by New Mexico artists, as well as the female artists who teach our online and in-person art classes and workshops), jewelry, pottery, and other fine handmade crafts. The Shop will also showcase our Inkandescent clients who sell their goods on our online storeInkandescentShop.com.

MARKETING PLAN

Opportunity and Size: The market for what we are envisioning is global. Women worldwide are looking to connect and improve their lives. Our market is women with resources (money, the ability, and desire to travel) who are educated and looking to make a difference. The focus of our center is to help them create and accomplish a purpose through our classes, workshops, and network.

When traveling isn’t an option, our international subscription opportunity through our online magazine www.InkandescentWomen.com will offer women everywhere the ability to participate in our classes and workshops at a distance — for a nominal annual fee.

The Center is a start-up, the beginning of which we promoted in our health and wellness magazine: https://beinkandescent.com

OPERATIONS PLAN

  • Yoga, mindfulness, and meditation classes with experts from around the world
    • Yoga for Kids
  • International Female Filmmaker Night: Tune in on Zoom, or attend in person, for our interview with the filmmaker, watch her movie, ask her questions after
  • Author of the Month Luncheon: Meet bestselling female authors from around the world who share insight into their new book career, and offer writing tips (Tune in on Zoom, or attend in person)
  • Writer workshops: The authors will provide workshops (online and in-person) for our network. We will sell their books in our Shop at the Center and our online store: InkandescentShop.com. They will be spotlighted in our magazines, on www.InkandescentRadio.com and our YouTube channel www.Inkandescent.tv.
  • Artist of the Month Happy Hour: Meet the bestselling female artists who share insight into their new work career, and offer tips (Tune in on Zoom or in-person)
  • Artist workshops: Our featured artists will offer a series of classes for our network (short 1-hour sessions and longer workshops online and in-person).
    • We will feature their art in our rooms and art gallery and have it for sale Shop at the Center and on our online store: InkandescentShop.com.
    • The artists will be spotlighted in our magazines and our YouTube channel Inkandescent.tv.
  • Get Happy and Healthy Workshops: The Inkandescent Health & Wellness Center will host regular workshops with international experts that include positive psychology, purpose school, healthy uncoupling, powerful parenting, and so much more!

Demand: As described above, life in a post-pandemic world has increased the need and demand for touch and connection, from bodywork to meeting new people. While not everyone will be our client, our message of finding ways to receive and give healthy touch is a skill and tool that we will share online and in-person at the Center.

Geographic hot spots we are targeting for land: Santa Fe, Taos, and available land in between https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/new-mexico

Clients:

  • Locals in Santa Fe: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/santafecitynewmexico/PST045219
    • Population: Nearly 90,000 people are living in Santa Fe currently (87,505 in 2020):
    • Age: 22.6% are 65+
    • Sex: 52.5% are women
    • Race: 88% are Caucasian
    • US-born: Only 14.6% are foreign-born
    • Education: 41.7% have a college degree or higher
  • Guests will travel by car to visit with us: In recent years, Santa Fe has attracted an average of two million overnight visitors annually https://www.santafe.org/media/city-profile While Santa Fe’s visitors come from all over the world but most frequently come from Texas, California, New Mexico, and Colorado:
    • New Mexico (from Las Cruces to Taos, Santa Fe is a 1-to-3-hour trip)
    • Colorado (2 hours from Santa Fe)
    • California (Santa Fe is a popular destination and less than 10 hours by car
    • Texas (Santa Fe is also a popular destination for Texans who vacation here annually and come for the art galleries, opera, and events)
  • Fly direct to Santa Fe: Visitors who fly into Santa Fe most frequently come from Illinois, New York, Florida, and Arizona. The most significant number of international visitors come from Canada, Germany, and the U.K.
    • Santa Fe Regional Airport: Located about 15 minutes from downtown, the airport is undergoing a marketing blitz to increase traffic. It handles commercial and private aircraft. American Airlines provides daily non-stop service between Dallas and Santa Fe and daily non-stop service between Phoenix and Santa Fe. United Airlines also offers daily direct service between Denver and Santa Fe.
    • Albuquerque Sunport Airport: The closest major airport to Santa Fe, located one hour north of Albuquerque by car or shuttle.

Current economic climate: https://www.bestplaces.net/economy/city/new_mexico/santa_fe

  • Santa Fe has an unemployment rate of 7.7%. The US average is 6.0%
  • Santa Fe has seen the job market increase by 3.1% over the last year
  • Over the next ten years, future job growth is forecast to be 30.1%, lower than the US average of 33.5%.
  • Tax Rates for Santa Fe: The Sales Tax Rate for Santa Fe is 8.4%; the US average is 7.3%.
  • The Income Tax Rate for Santa Fe is 4.9%. The US average is 4.6%.
  • Income and Salaries for Santa Fe: The average income of a Santa Fe resident is $33967 a year. The US average is $28,555/year.
  • The median household income of a Santa Fe resident is $50213 a year; the US average is $53,482/year.

Target Audience:

  • Women’s Retreats hosted by Inkandescent
    • Need: Women who have met their essential Maslow needs move up the pyramid and look for more — from themselves, the people they surround themselves with, for their own lives, and their legacy.
    • Bennies: Art, writing, yoga, meditation classes; 2-3 daylong workshops for writing, art, photo, divorce, personal growth, yoga; networking, healing
    • Differentiator: These educated women who have resources to explore and grow will want to come together to participate in our programs and bring the friends they know will also benefit from the Inkandescent experience. And they’ll tell friends.
    • Improvements: From here, we’ll grow an international community that not only talks with each other but heals each other.
    • New offerings: As our community grows exponentially, our roster of classes and workshops will offer in-person and online.
  • Retreats hosted by other organizations (corporations, nonprofits, other retreat groups), which we will support with our services (spa, yoga, massage, food, housing, hiking/biking)
    • Need: As the concept of “going to the office” shifts to working online, organizations will feel the need to come together in person periodically.
    • Bennies: The Center will be ready and available to host these groups in our casitas (the goal is to build more than 40, in phases), our restaurant (on- and off-site catering, three meals in our dining room, room service, happy hour, and more), our spa, and our beautiful landscape.
    • Differentiator: These bennies will not only help the teams build bonds, but it will also touch their souls.
    • Improvements and new offerings: As the Center gains notoriety, we’ll undoubtedly find places to improve and new services to offer. This is the beautiful part of an organic organization — it will grow exponentially on its own. Our team will be ready and available to foster that growth.
  • Weddings and anniversary parties, and other rites of passage events
    • Need: Who doesn’t want a destination wedding (for your first, second, or even third nuptials)? Gay marriages are welcome! How about an anniversary to remember? A baby naming, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, graduations, and any other rite of passage events.
    • Bennies: Celebrate in style at the Inkandescent Retreat Center, complete with beautiful casitas, fabulous food, a spa, classes, and more. Plus, our on-site videographers will provide photos and videos of the big event!
    • Differentiator: Our award-winning professional planners will help create the event of your dreams!
    • Improvements and new offerings: We do not doubt that our clients will tell us areas to make their events more special, spectacular, and memorable.
  • Weekend getaways: For anyone who wants to visit for a few days and enjoy the property, food, scenery
    • Need: If you have a few days to spare to revive and rejuvenate, enjoy our offerings with your partner, besties, grown-up kids, and other people in your life whom you want to get to know on a deeper level. Our team will take good care of you!
    • Bennies: Everything you want and need for the perfect getaway at a reasonable price.
    • Differentiator: While any hotel or spa will fit the bill for a lovely weekend getaway, a trip to the Inkandescent Retreat Center will allow the group to explore their artistic side or the writer within, meet others around our fire pit or dining tables, and after their stay, they can become part of our online program to help them stay connected however they choose (online classes and workshops, networking, and more!).
    • Improvements and new offerings: As described above, our clients will tell us what we need to do better! We look forward to their feedback.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

  • Modalities Practiced: Deep tissue massage, pregnancy massage, reflexology, Reiki, Kundalini, and Yin yoga (Hope); our practitioners are specialists in other areas, as well (cranio-sacral, lymph drainage, neuromuscular technique, https://feldenkrais.com, more).
  • Draping: We offer conservative draping to ensure our clients feel safe and protected. Depending on the modality and practitioner, the therapist will discuss draping options. The client can request additional draping or ask to finish the session at any time. Clients will sign an Informed Consent document outlining our policies and procedures that are designed to protect the client, and the therapist, always.
  • Acceptable Types of Payment: All credit cards, cash
  • Referrals: Please! Clients will receive a $25 gift card to use at the Center for each referral they make!
  • Hours of Operation: The spa is open from 9 am to 8 pm; the Center is open for business until 11 pm nightly and midnight on weekends.
  • Therapists’ Qualifications: All our therapists are LMTs (you’ll find their bios and qualifications on our website). Our yoga and fitness practitioners are also certified in their modalities and have years of experience. Our owner, Hope Katz Gibbs, graduates from the Bodymechanics School of Massage Santa Fe in June 2022 and will take the national certification to make her a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) in New Mexico. She is a Kundalini-trained yoga teacher (250 hours), a Yin-trained yoga teacher (150 hours), a Martha Beck-trained Life Coach, a Reiki Master (and second level Fire Reiki practitioner), among other certifications.
  • Advertising: Once we break ground on the Center, we will begin advertising on social media to build the brand and awareness. Other adoptions will be decided as the project evolves.
  • Rotations: We will start with 2-3 massage practitioners, allowing them to work 10-20 sessions/week.
  • Seniority: Therapists who start with us will grow with us!