Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Stobo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Diana, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
I’m pretty sure we have all had at least a dozen great ideas in our lifetime that we never take steps to see to fruition. I know I have. But this one came in a a package called “life lessons and your destiny”. There was no way I could ignore the signs that I was supposed to build a world class wellness resort and spa in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle. The idea fluttered into my mind 12 years before I took any action, but it festered like a mosquito bite, just when I thought it was going to go away, it started itching again. I was a life coach, chef, nutritionist, spirit coach, licensed priestess, kundalini teacher, author, tv personality, and entrepreneur. This was all while raising 3 kids and being the best wife I could be. But life took a turn when my children went off to college and my marriage dissolved. I thought, “what next”?
A family member had a property in Costa Rica that needed financial saving, I thought I would help them and see what comes of it. Six months before I stepped foot on the property I had already imagined it being that wellness resort I dreamt about 12 years earlier. It was becoming a visual reality in my mind, even before I saw it in real life. I was blown away by the palpable energy and the beautiful landscape. So like any dreamer, I began to build, like a blindfolded person in the dark, I flailed around trying to find my balance. I was in a foreign country, not knowing the bureaucracy or the language, I trudged forward with the most crass and basic plan to get some rooms built and start creating the vision. I bit off pieces of this masterpiece one at a time, first layout, design, size, program, teachers, food, menu’s, gardens, classes, etc… The trials and tribulations of the construction and launch were not as easy as I would have imagined it. There were many life lessons, and huge wake up calls. But my tenacity and vision never wavered. I opened only 13 months after I started building, maybe it was a bit hasty, but it got me on the map. I had so many construction issues, that it seemed like we were in perpetual repairs. But the parts that worked were what really mattered; the environment, the food, the staff, the program. People were healing, transforming, loving their journey at The Retreat.
A couple of years later, we closed for 3 months to completely redo the plan, and make it less of a retreat experience for week long travelers, and open it as a hotel for those who want the retreat experiences for 1-30 days. This is when I began contemplating a world class spa. Being a spa junky, I knew what I liked, I knew what I wanted, and therefore I knew what I was going to create. I had a little more experience at this point, and that project was a success. We are still growing and always evolving so this story isn’t over yet.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
It’s not very easy for me to talk about myself, I truly feel like I’m on the ride of my life. I go where it is challenging and exciting, I follow my life lessons and pile on more. When I was in my late 30’s I got really sick. I had blown up in weight and had a myriad of health issues. As a stay at home mom, when my children were in school, I was able to research, educate, experiment and really get down and dirty into the healing arts. Food was my modality for change, and then spirit work along with energy and frequency and, finally and most importantly, nature were the constructs of my healing program. I became the best version of myself and people wanted to know how and what I was doing. So, I began to teach, write, and speak in front of audiences. That audience kept growing so much that I was eventually asked to write a book.
The book started out as a pamphlet to help people eat better, but quickly turned into a best-selling diet book that boasted the message “lose 10 lbs in 10 days”. The title was “Get Naked Fast, a guide to stripping away the foods that weight you down” It wasn’t long after the book became popular that I started doing TV and videos to share my story. I healed thousands of people through my program The Naked Challenge, a 10 day detox that proved to help you eliminate excess weight, spiritual and emotional baggage and improve blood work and other diseases. Doors began to open, people wanted to pick my brain, I began writing menu plans, diets, and then finally formulating herbal formulas and functional foods. That is where my Truth Bar story began. This all came to a head, happening all at once, building The Retreat Costa Rica and starting Truth Bar. Thank goodness I had the energy to keep moving, because each idea I came up with had a big load of work ahead.
Now I am considered a nationally recognized health and nutrition expert, leading raw food chef and lifestyle coach, a successful entrepreneur who has launched multiple products and businesses in the health, wellness and food categories. “My purpose is to help people uncover their desires to live better, balanced, wholesome lives and to facilitate their transformation.”
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
It was March of 2020, the whole world was shutting down and I was stuck on a crystal mountain overlooking the pacific ocean at my hotel, The Retreat Costa Rica, being told that there would be no tourism for the next 3 weeks. I thought, OK, we can get through this. Well, 3 more weeks passed, and then 3 more continued but still the borders were closed and there were no guests coming to my hotel. We couldn’t make payroll, we couldn’t pay the bills. Every hotel in Costa Rica had let their staff go out of the uncertainty of that unprecedented time. But I just didn’t have the heart to buy into the madness. I looked my staff in the eyes and saw the people who nurture and love my guests, I saw the families that were waiting for them to bring home a salary and put food on the table. I saw fear. And I didn’t want my people to suffer. I couldn’t live with myself if the very people who made my business successful were tossed aside because of financial concerns. So, I made a deal with every employee to prove how much they wanted to stay with The Retreat family. I handed them paint brushes, hammers, scrubbing mitts and gardening tools and told them that they would stay on payroll as long as they wanted to work, even if it was doing the job they were not originally hired for. We had chefs painting rooms, housekeepers were gardening, everyone was doing their part to improve the hotel and make use of the down time we were given. Those who were committed and wanted to stay, stayed. And those who didn’t left. They did such a great job proving themselves a part of The Retreat family that I pulled from my own retirement savings to make sure their salaries were paid. Most of these employees are are still with me to this day.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
There was a time, as there is for every business owner, when I thought the hotel wouldn’t be able to survive. I thought for sure I would go bankrupt, and thought the best opportunity for me to recoup my losses would be to sell. With this mindset, I set off to the Global Wellness Summit to find a buyer for my wellness resort. But, I had no idea that this summit was so advanced. No idea that the top of the top corporate wellness gurus who decide the worlds direction would be in attendance. I sat in meeting after meeting hearing the same question and concerns for the next advancement in wellness “What is Wellness?”. Each board member, corporate principal, tech and finance genius all came up with the shared answers: intimacy, growth, authenticity, nature, alignment, and homegrown food. With each answer I became more and more confident in my hotel, and I started to see that I was special and The Retreat had impactful meaning. I wasn’t a hotelier trying to be a wellness resort, I was a wellness expert opening a brick and mortar location for people to heal.
A few months later, I went with a group of people to a resort in the Yucatan. It was a big resort backed with tons of money, unlike me, it seemingly had endless resources. I walked the garden, I spa’d, I ate the food, enjoyed the Villas and saw the beauty of healing properties and what The Retreat could grow in to. I realized at that moment, that I was no longer going to sell my hotel, I was going to build it up- grow, expand and make it the best wellness resort in the world. This year The Retreat Costa Rica was voted as #6 destination spa by Conde Nast.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dianastobo.com; www.theretreatcostarica.com; www.truthbar.com
- Instagram: @dianastobo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dianastobolive/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-stobo-91296b10/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianaStoboLive