Nine Years of OMNoire: It Started With One Retreat

Nine years ago this holiday weekend, I was in Grenada hosting the very first OMNoire retreat.

Fifty-three women had said yes to traveling to Grenada, spending several days with women they didn't know, and, in many ways, an idea I was still figuring out myself.

At the time, I knew I wanted to create something that gave Black women space to travel, experience beautiful places, prioritize their well-being, and connect with one another.

What I didn't know was what that one retreat would become.

I didn't know that nine years later, I would still be doing this, or how many countries we would visit, how many women I would meet, how many friendships I would watch form, or how many times someone would tell me that an OMNoire experience came at exactly the right moment in her life.

And I definitely didn't know that the retreat in Grenada was just the beginning.

I Think About You

When you run a business for nearly a decade, there are plenty of numbers you can look at: the number of retreats, attendees, destinations visited, years in business, followers, and email subscribers.

But when I think about nine years of OMNoire, those aren't the things that come to mind first.

I think about the women who took their first international trip with us.

I think about the women who arrived alone, sometimes wondering if they would connect with anyone, and left exchanging numbers, planning their next trip together, and building friendships that continued when they got home.

I think about the women who came once and then came back again. There is something incredibly special about seeing a familiar name appear on a registration list years later and realizing that someone has chosen to experience another part of the world with us.

I think about the birthdays, anniversaries, and career milestones we've celebrated in different countries. I think about the women celebrating a new chapter and the women who didn't necessarily have anything to celebrate but simply knew they needed a few days away.

I think about the couples who have joined us and experienced a destination together.

I think about the dinners that went much longer than planned because nobody was ready to leave the table, the conversations by the pool, the laughter on excursions, the quiet mornings, and the group chats that kept going long after everyone returned home.

And I think about how many people I would have never met had I not decided to host that first retreat.

What We've Been Creating All Along

OMNoire has changed a lot since 2017.

Our experiences have evolved. We've traveled to new parts of the world, welcomed new retreat leaders and new travelers, experimented, learned, changed things, brought some things back, and retired others.

But the heart of it has remained remarkably consistent.

I've always believed that we deserve beautiful experiences. We deserve to see the world, to rest without having to earn it first, and to have adventure, celebration, incredible meals, breathtaking views, new friendships, and experiences that remind us just how big life can be.

We also deserve spaces where we don't have to wonder if we belong.

For nine years, OMNoire retreats have been one way of creating those spaces. Now, as we move toward year 10, I'm thinking about how we create even more of them.

The Road to 10

There is something about approaching a decade that makes you look at a business differently.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about where OMNoire started, what it has become, and where I want it to go next.

The vision now is bigger than retreats hosted by OMNoire. We're creating more ways to discover experiences around the world, more opportunities to gather closer to home, more ways for retreat hosts to bring their experiences to our community, and more reasons for all of us to stay connected between trips.

In many ways, we're returning to the original idea behind OMNoire while expanding what that idea can become: a place for us to experience more of the world and more of life.

Next year will be our 10-year anniversary, and we'll have plenty of time to celebrate that milestone.

But I don't want to rush past nine.

Because nine years ago, none of this existed.

There was one retreat. There were 53 women in Grenada. And there was an idea.

Every person who has traveled with us, followed our journey, opened an email, shared OMNoire with a friend, returned for another retreat, hosted an experience, partnered with us, or simply cheered us on from afar has become part of what happened next.

For that, I am deeply grateful.

Here's to nine years of seeing the world together and to everything still ahead.

A Little Something to Celebrate

In honor of our ninth anniversary, we're offering $509 off all OMNoire retreats through October 31.

Use code NINEYEARS when you book.

Maybe your name will be part of one of the stories I'm writing about nine years from now.

EXPLORE OMNOIRE RETREATS