Dreams, Journeys, and Faith
In the beginning of 2022, Faith Bonareri-Rich was stuck.
She had loved her home in New York City, adored her family, and enjoyed her job as a teacher.
But she often daydreamed of the magical landscape of Kenya, the setting of her childhood. Faith had fallen in love with the country as a child in Nairobi, visiting the national park every Sunday with her father and being drawn in by the fascinating animals and natural splendor. She had pen pals who would come visit her from other countries, always fascinated by her village as well as Maasai Mara.
When she was older, friends (and friends-of-friends) began to refer Faith as a guide to help others experience Nairobi. In 2008, her older sister asked her to arrange a safari for five couples, in-laws from Germany, and Faith gladly did so. She had done this in the past for friends coming in from abroad and was by this time well-versed in how to plan such a trip, making arrangements with tour companies and accompanying the group. The 2008 trip cemented her love of safari planning and of introducing her country’s wonders to those experiencing Kenya for the first time
In 2010 Faith moved to the United States, but still Kenya called to her. She took her wife Jen there in 2016, reveling in the opportunity to share this precious place with someone she loved.
Jen was delighted with everything about the trip and thoroughly impressed with Faith’s ability to introduce the real Kenya to a newcomer. Jen was absolutely convinced that this was something Faith was meant to do, and Faith was eager for the opportunity. She would never tire of visiting the majestic wilderness and interacting with the vibrant people of her homeland. Moreover, she wanted to continue to introduce others to the country’s beauty and the intricate tapestry of its culture.
This was her vision, which her beloved Jen shared: to plan and provide once-in-a-lifetime trips for people to experience the incredible, unique allure of Kenya. Jen enthusiastically wrote a business plan, and they started looking to the future.
Then Jen became ill. Faith said of that time, “When she got sick, all the dreams stopped.”
And when Faith lost Jen, other things stopped too. “I was still thinking about things I wanted to accomplish, but I was depressed. I resigned, took time off from work. I couldn’t function. My father-in-law also passed away. My son and I had too much loss.”
Faith had lost her confidence and motivation. This was where she was stuck in 2022. She still had her dream, living in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t see the first step toward it, couldn’t envision how to proceed. And she’d lost Jen, her partner in visioning and in life. Her grief, her lack of progress, the stagnation of her vision; all of these took their toll. There were certainly still good things in her life, but it was hard to take joy in them when she was overwhelmed with the sorrow of her loss as well as the sadness and frustration of being stymied in the vision that she and Jen had shared.
It was overwhelming. How would she move forward?
One day a friend invited Faith to come to a Zoom presentation about an upcoming event called the Restore Retreat. The retreat promised learning, growth, lessons in good business practices, and connections to other women who were following their own dreams. Could this be the push she needed? Would she find her way to the fulfillment of her vision there?
Everything that was being talked about during that Zoom presentation resonated with Faith. “Having dreams, having plans, and not doing anything with them. I felt like she was talking about me. You start something, you give up. You don’t have the power within you to follow through. It was all about me. It was then I knew.”
“I paid for my nephew to come to the states from Kenya to stay with my son while I went to Restore. It gave me peace of mind knowing my nephew was there. I wouldn’t have left my child behind unless it was something I really needed.”
“I needed it.”
Restore was a retreat planned and hosted by Abambyh Business Coaching. It combined the soul-feeding relaxation of a vacation in a beautiful setting with motivating and enlightening business coaching and emotional intelligence training. Participants spent five days in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, at a villa at which they were the only guests. They took time to float in the pool and enjoyed vegan meals designed and cooked by an excellent local chef. They attended daily yoga practice, had individual photoshoots with professional photographers, and were treated to an hour-long massage. They enjoyed the company of like-minded women, making connections, both business and personal, that are still in place now, seven months later. “I still treasure those relationships today”, Faith said when speaking about Restore and the other women at the retreat.
They also attended workshops at which they learned about their strengths, their growing edges, their motivations, and their self-imposed obstacles. They discovered tools to help them improve the efficacy of their work hours and they were taught about different ways of communicating.
“The retreat was so super organized. I thought, ‘This is the model I want to have for my business’. I got organized letters, invoices, a packet, information about the photographer and transportation.”
Restore did, indeed, set Faith on the path she needed to follow. She learned how to find the clients who were searching for what she wanted to provide, how to organize her days to be productive and effective, and how to find the confidence to push for her vision to be realized.
“I came there with a goal. I wanted to come out of there as a different person and I did. What changed me was to know my ‘why’. To really go into my deep cause for what I wanted to do, my head-to-toe. I used to have a vague ‘why’, but I was so specific at the retreat, it was emotional and then I KNEW my ‘why’”.
Seeing the value in what Restore afforded her, Faith knew she was headed in the right direction. She then embarked on 23-Hour Collab with Abambyh Business Coaching, working intensely with Alison Hartrum for 23 hours over the course of a month in an intensive program to flesh out her plan, develop the tools she needed for tracking, and create a system that would ensure no detail was overlooked.
And in December of that same year, 2022, only six months after the Restore Retreat, Pick A Safari provided the first once-in-a-lifetime safari experience for its participants, who spent nine days and ten nights in Kenya. Alison Hartrum, enthusiastic about what Faith’s business had to offer and fully invested in her success, was the first client to sign up for the adventure. They toured an elephant orphanage and a giraffe refuge, visited with Kenyans who demonstrated the hospitality and wonder of the country, and saw breathtaking vistas replete with wildlife.
Faith Bonareri-Rich had a dream, and she was willing to work hard to bring it to fruition. She invested her time, money, and heart in it. She deserved to see her vision become reality. And it did. And Faith credits the guidance of Abambyh Business and Alison Hartrum, the enlightening and motivating education from the Restore Retreat and the groundwork for Pick-A-Safari laid in 23-Hour Collab, for helping to bring her vision to life.
“The ‘SMART’ method of goal setting. The way she was so specific about what it means. Everything was falling into place. There was a light that went on and I thought, ‘This is reality, this is possible. Wow, that’s it — that’s what I’m worth!’”
Many business owners and entrepreneurs like Faith are likewise hard-working and visionary. They’re clear on their goals, but sometimes feel that they’re spinning their wheels because their efforts are not moving them forward. They deserve to see their dreams come true, but they’re not sure how to put it all together to achieve the results that they know are possible.
Retreats like Restore and intensive one-on-one coaching programs like 23-Hour Collab are specifically designed to take that drive to succeed and the accompanying work ethic and focus them into results. Abambyh Business Coaching has an advantage over many other coaches because Alison Hartrum is invested in seeing her clients succeed. She genuinely cares about their hopes and dreams, their businesses, their families, their lives.
When she was working with Faith, Alison’s focus, her own vision, became seeing Faith’s dream come to be. She was there to assist Faith in filling in the details of her business plan and taking the steps to see it through. She flew to New York to attend the cocktail party Faith hosted to discuss Pick A Safari with potential safari clients. And when it all came together, when Pick A Safari hosted that first safari journey, Alison was there, too. She couldn’t resist seeing the fulfillment of all that hope and hard work, and she was one of the first to sign up for the trip.
Faith’s story is a lesson in possibilities. She overcame sorrow and setbacks to grasp her dream. She had all the potential, all the ability to make Pick-A-Safari a reality, she just needed a little help from someone who could show her the way.
Are you stuck? Are you struggling with knowing your own potential but not knowing how to get started? Do you have a dream for your business, but lack the knowledge of how to make it a reality?
Abambyh Business is hosting a new retreat for 2023: Immersion. This is a deeper dive into each attendee’s needs and plans, dreams and resources. With only five attendees, Immersion will provide the opportunity for multiple one-on-one sessions with facilitators to help you take the steps toward your vision.
Joins us at Immersion in March and start moving toward your future!