The Retreats & Offsites Unpacked from Assemble Hospitality podcast explores what happens when people step away from the everyday and gather with intention.
The show looks at retreats in all forms… corporate offsites, lifestyle gatherings, wellness retreats, and even family reunions. We examine the culture shifts that emerge when space, time, and attention are deliberately designed and redesigned.
Each episode features candid conversations with facilitators and retreat leaders who design and host these experiences for a living. Rather than theory, the focus is practical. What actually works. What breaks. And what separates a lasting experience and a forgettable one.
Listeners hear stories from the trenches, professional frameworks, how to show up as a facilitator (or attendee), how agendas are shaped, how group dynamics are handled, and how environments influence outcomes. We discuss everything from intention setting to go-forward implementation in the every day.
Hosted by Dan J. Berger, owner of Assemble Boise, the show is designed as a playbook. The goal is simple and direct: equip leaders, facilitators, and community builders with the tools to create better-designed retreats, offsites, and gatherings.
Is friction during an offsite a problem — or a signal that something important is happening? In this episode, Dan Berger sits down with Adam Silberstein, a YPO Certified Forum
What does it actually take to start a men’s group that lasts? In this episode, Dan Berger sits down with Tony Delmercado and Kris Derentz — co-chairs of Fellows &
What happens when facilitation runs in the family? In this episode, Dan Berger sits down with siblings Kaley Klemp and Paul Warner to explore what retreat leaders can learn from
What changes when a retreat is led by a team instead of a single facilitator? Many retreats rely on one voice, one lens, and one nervous system to hold the
What if designing a retreat required the same level of intention as producing a great film? The most powerful retreats don’t happen by accident. Like films, they’re carefully designed experiences
What actually makes a women’s retreat transformational—and not just a beautiful escape? Transformation doesn’t come from the location alone. It happens when people slow down, regulate their nervous systems, and
What if the real work of retreats isn’t strategy or skills—but relationships? Many retreats struggle not because of poor agendas, but because of unspoken dynamics, unmet attachment needs, and a
What actually happens inside a neotantric retreat—and why do people travel across the world to attend them? Neotantric retreats sit at the intersection of intimacy, nervous-system regulation, embodiment, and personal
When COVID shut down her brick-and-mortar yoga studio, Bethany Forest was forced to rethink everything. What began as a crisis became the catalyst for a retreat business rooted in healing,
In this episode of the Assemble Podcast, Dan Berger sits down with Anna VanAgtmael, founder of Wandering Roots, to talk about what actually goes into designing retreats that are meaningful,
How do you create peer groups and retreats that actually feel safe—while still driving growth, accountability, and real change? In this episode, Mo Fathelbab, founder and president of the International
What if leadership, trust, and communication could be revealed without a single slide deck? In this episode, Dan sits down with Kristine Palmer, founder of Horse + Bow, to explore
Brent McCann went from Marine Corps infantry + 15 years in HR to building True North men’s retreats — and he did it without a big audience, big budget, or flashy
Dr. Simon Rakoff has spent 25+ years helping executives, teams, athletes, and performers get better under pressure — and he and Dan go way back. In this episode, they unpack
Meg Sylvester leads retreats that don’t rely on hype, hierarchy, or spiritual performance. Instead, she creates what she calls the “retreat bubble”—a contained, intentional space where people feel safe enough
