There are moments in life that can feel strangely orchestrated β not planned, but purposeful.
This was the energy at the recent Joy 101 Retreat in Arizonaβ a gathering designed to bring people back to themselves. Founded with the intention of creating space for connection, healing and joy, the retreat was less about escape and more about return: return to feeling, return to truth, return to self.
At the centre of many powerful conversations, our founder Elle sat in dialogue with Hoda Kotb, Egyptian-American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author β a woman known for her ability to draw out not simply generic or scripted answers, but authenticity and honesty.
A Room Built on Vulnerability
From the outset, there was something different about this retreat. Women had arrived alone as strangers and became friends overnight. Stories were exchanged of grief, divorce, caregiving, reinvention β all were spoken of openly and with compassion.
This wasnβt a space for surface-level conversation. It was a space for truth seeking and truth telling.
When asked to define her intention for the retreat, Elle didnβt hesitate.
βTrustβ¦ trust in myself, trust in others, trust in life itself.β
Trust, Elle explains, was not something that came easily. Her early life β shaped by modelling, performance, and external validation β taught her to look outward for approval.
βI developedβ¦ this belief that what was out thereβ¦ the judgment of people out there was supreme.β
For decades, her worth was measured externally. And like so many women, she became very good at performing, until it no longer served her. Elle had to reframe confidence entirely.
βI learned confidence through courage and experienceβ¦ I didnβt have all the answers, but I tried things out.β
Confidence wasnβt something Elle was born with. It didnβt come first. Action did. You try. You learn. You adjust. And in that process, you begin to trust yourself.
Choosing to Feel
In 2003, Elle made a decision that would change everything. She got sober.
βI realized that Iβd been using drugs and alcohol to numb my experience of life.β
βWhatβs the best thing about getting soberβ¦ you get your feelings back. And the worst thingβ¦ you get your feelings back.β
Without numbing, Elle had to face herself. Her life, her choices, and ultimately her truth. In doing so, she began what she describes as a deeper journey β one of connection to self, to others, and to something greater.
Redefining Identity β Again and Again
Elleβs life has not been linear. It has been iterative.
From βThe Bodyβ β a label that defined her globally β to motherhood, to wellness founder, to seeker. Each chapter required letting go of the last.
βI built a career on thatβ¦ but then it came with the pressure of βI have to be the body.ββ
What sheβs done differently is not avoid reinvention β but embrace it.
βChange is inevitableβ¦ flexibility and adaptability are the superpowers of the future.β
For anyone standing at a crossroads, there is a choice: to follow the pull of the current.Β
βIf something calls to your heartβ¦ do itβ¦ the universe shows you youβre on the right step.β
On Being Enough
One of the most resonant moments of this conversation came from a question in the audience:
Do you ever feel like youβre enough?
Elleβs answer was simple:
βWe are enough just by purely beingβ¦ thereβs nothing you can do to make you more of who you truly are.β
In a culture that constantly asks for more β more achievement, more productivity, more perfection β this idea feels almost countercultural. That enoughness is not earned. Instead itβs claimed. And it requires unlearning the belief that external validation defines internal worth.
Rising in Love
When the conversation turned to relationships, Elle reframed another widely accepted idea.
βI donβt think we fall in loveβ¦ I think we rise in love.β
Love, in her view, is not about completion. Itβs about expansion.
βNo person completes meβ¦ my lifeβs journey is to feel complete within myself.β
This shift β from dependency to wholeness β changed everything for Elle. Her relationships become a sharing of fullness, not a search for it.
Wellness as Foundation β Not Aspiration
Elleβs personal journey inevitably led to the creation of WelleCo. Not as a business opportunity β but as a solution to her own needs.
βI was so lostβ¦ I had no sense of vitalityβ¦ I could feel something was off.β
After discovering she was deeply malnourished despite outward appearing health, she began to rebuild from within. That experience became the foundation for her work, and to this date, remains at the centre of WelleCoβs mission β to support people in becoming the best version of themselves. Ultimately it reflects a broader truth: with wellness, you can.
When youβre well, everything becomes possible.
Routines That Anchor the Day
For Elle, transformation isnβt found in one big moment. Itβs built in daily practice. Her mornings begin with stillness β no phone, no noise.
βThat quiet spaceβ¦ can shift everything.β
Her evenings end in reflection β revisiting moments of gratitude.Β
These routines arenβt complex. They are consistent. And over time, they create clarity and vitality.
If there is one thread that ran through the conversation, itβs this: you are not here to shrink. You are here to rise. In love, in purpose, in self-awareness.
βEverything is meaningful, purposeful and worthwhile.β
At Joy 101 Retreat, surrounded by women choosing themselves β many for the first time β this message landed differently. It wasnβt just spoken, it was felt. Perhaps thatβs the real power of spaces like this. They remind you that the life youβre seeking isnβt somewhere else. Itβs already within you. Waiting for you to trust it.