A Week Awake is an experience for all women to connect, recharge, and empower themselves in a magical paradise, in Santa Teresa - Costa Rica, where the jungle meets the sea.
They believe that by spending a week at AWA, the guests will go back home with new tools to keep this energy throughout their daily life. “You will feel empowered, recharged and with a strong desire for more adventure!”.
During the stay, the guests can surf in the tropical sea, practice yoga in the middle of the jungle, where the lodge is located, and be mesmerized by all the surroundings.
Hey, nice to meet you. What inspired you to create A WEEK AWAY?
Hola! Nice to meet you as well!
AWA was inspired by this magical place we live in and the desire to share its beauty with like-minded women from all corners of the World.
Why is creating an all-women program important for you?
Because when women gather the World heals a little each time.
We are surrounded by the most badass, creative, and independent jungle women and we want to share that energy and reach out to all of you.
Who’s part of AWA team?
The AWA team is shaped by Giulia and Mona. We are best friends, surf buddies, and business partners shaping our dreams together in this tropical paradise. We collaborate with an incredible team of talented and creative women who share this place with us. We also host a very special Sound and Surf experience with Kassia Meador.
What can one expect when signing in for a week with AWA? What kind of activities and services are included?
The heart and soul of AWA is surfing and everything that compliments that lifestyle. We are especially passionate about longboarding but we support any kind and level of surfing, from helping you pop up on the white water for the first time to catching the most radical green waves of your life to cross stepping like a queen.
We also share our love for yoga and mindfulness practices, working with world-renowned teachers and practitioners.
Food is a very important experience in our retreats. We work with incredible local chefs to offer you nurturing meals that will fuel you throughout the week.
We will go inwards but we will also have the most fun, laugh a lot, play and connect to our new tribe. There will also be time to relax and recharge to get a taste of the Pura Vida Lifestyle. The goal of this week is to share with you the best of the best Santa Teresa has to offer so that you can go back home with a part of you that has awakened. Imagine waking up to the sound of monkeys, surfing the warmest softest waves, eating the most delicious food, catching sunset while soaking on tide pools with natural clay on your face, and ending the day with a beach bonfire under the stars. That’s just a little taste...
What made Santa Teresa, in Costa Rica, the perfect location to start your business?
Santa Teresa is quite a magical place. It has some of the most consistent surf in the Country and it still has an “untouched” feel to it while having all the commodities you could think of. We love the jungle’s heartbeat and the beach's soul. It is a very safe place and easy to access. You will just have to experience it yourself because there is so much about it that can’t be described that needs to be felt.
“Creative Agency” is a new feature in your business, what made you decide to branch out?
Yes we started the AWA Creative Agency in 2020. When the World started to shut down at the beginning of last year we found ourselves in the middle of the jungle with nothing to do and a lot of creative energy. We paused at first but then we really felt the need to contribute to the collective and especially our community. So it all started with a local raffle fundraiser we organized and ran where we raised enough money to feed more than 400 local families for a month. People started reaching out because they loved the esthetics and branding of everything we were doing so we evolved and created AWA Creative Agency while we couldn’t host retreats in person. It has been so fun and successful that we decided to keep it going along with the retreats. Mona and I both have a design and creative background and we also work with a team of talented artists.
As someone who started a business in a country that isn’t your own, what were the main challenges you faced?
To be honest not many. We have both been here long and are familiar with the culture and system. We both have owned our own business here before AWA so it has been a very smooth process.
What issues did your business face during this past year and how did you manage to survive them?
Well the most obvious challenge for us was when the borders shut down since we work in the travel industry. We were about to host a Sound and Surf Retreat with Kassia and we had to “postpone” it. We were bummed about it but we were also open to what was happening and we were letting life show us which way to go. So at first we took some time off, then we created the AWA Gives program to help the community, then we started the AWA at Home (our online retreats program) and finally we started the Creative Agency. So as challenging as 2020 was it also was a beautiful year for us of expansion, learning and growth.
You launched AWA GIVES, a program that aims to support your community, helping the local families affected in the 2020’s lockdown. That’s very noble of you. Can you tell us more about this initiative you organized?
Awww thank you! Yes, I talked a little about it earlier but let’s get deeper into it since it’s such a special initiative.
Here we are in the middle of a global pandemic with a lot of creative momentum and a lot of time on our hands. Santa Teresa lives mainly on tourism and especially the locals depend on it. We were so worried about what was happening and wanted to somehow help the community. We also wanted to create a fun way to donate money that was accessible to anyone, from the person that can donate $10 to the one that can give $10000. This is when the AWA Gives Raffle was born. We collected the most amazing prices from local businesses, artists, designers, healers and launched this epic raffle with each ticket costing only $10. We ran a super fun social media campaign for it and were amazed at how many people participated and had fun with it. Prices ranged from surfboards, luxury accommodations, healing sessions, all sorts of fashion and jewelry, art, domestic flights, meals at local restaurants and so much more. We were able to raise enough money in two weeks to feed more than 400 families for a month with the support of ADI. What was super cool about it it’s that it also supported the local businesses and artists/practitioners by giving some exposure to their work/product.
Since that experience, AWA Gives became a very important part of our Company and we will give back with each retreat mainly to local women and kids.
What would you tell someone in order to inspire them to join AWA this summer, What makes it unique?
What makes AWA unique? That’s 100% the people. Every woman involved in this experience will inspire you to some extent and will add a touch of color to your life! Come play with us in our Tropical Paradise! Xoxo Giulia & Mona
What was one of the best testimonials you got from your guests, where you could see that they were particularly inspired by you?
The most beautiful part of hosting these retreats is the friendships that are born with our guests. From the moment of booking till after the return, we have a very real and friendly approach and friendships are born naturally.
I think during the first lockdown we were able to really inspire a lot of women that were having a hard time by hosting online retreats. That was very deep and touching.
You can follow A WEEK AWAKE on IG: @aweekawake
Interviewed by Inês Monney
Interior architect and designer, passionate about anything Art related. Travel, Ocean, Nature and Sunset lover 〰 Inês is collaborating with Surfpreneurs Club as an intern, looking to inspire and be inspired.
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