We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Quirk a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

John, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

I got fired from my last corporate job in 2014, that really began my path to finding inner joy.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Back in 2013 I was a stressed-out television producer in New York City lacking in purpose and wanting to find more joy and meaning in my life. The best thing happened to me that year, I got fired from my dream job.

It turns out that “making a living” was far from living. The day I got fired I walked into a yoga class and while I had been practicing for years, this class just hit me differently. I didn’t have anywhere to be after class, no emails to answer, all I had to do was focus on myself and my breath. The teacher was one of my favorites and was saying all the right things about one door closing so another could open.

Fast forward three years and I started to apply my can’t stop, won’t stop mentality to teaching yoga. In order to survive my rent and the cost of living in the Big Apple I was teaching 20+ classes a week and it started to take a toll. I remembered how I felt when I moved everything else aside to become a yoga teacher and decided, I need to take a break for me.

I picked Costa Rica and decided I would go somewhere quiet where I could just practice and surf everyday. I shared what I was doing with my students as a way to inspire them to make space for themselves when they needed it and then something magical happened. People started asking if they could join me. Pretty soon I was being asked about the “yoga retreat” I was leading. I didn’t even know yoga retreats were a thing!

Six years and dozens of retreats around the world later, I’ve realized this is my dharma, my life’s work and my true calling. Once we step out of our day to day, only then can we truly step into a higher version of ourselves. When we come together in community with this common goal, to move, to breathe, to eat good food and to LAUGH, it has been my experience that this is truly some powerful medicine.

I am someone passionate about helping people feel better and sharing what I know and what has helped me and many others. I take that work seriously without taking myself too seriously. I strive to meet people where they are on their wellness journey and on their path to self discovery. It takes time and it takes work but above all it takes a willingness to say “yes” — if you feel a call to join us for what could be something truly transformational, I hope you’ll reach out and see if a retreat is a fit for you!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Integrity and authenticity. I was guilty early in my wellness journey of trying to mimic what others were doing as I found my way. In sharing about myself fully and without filtering, I have connected with the perfect audience and people I can truly help. Our retreats are praised as being highly accessible and highly transformative and I credit my ability to show up as myself fully.

I also practice what I preach. Everything that we do on our retreats has made a profound impact on my life, that’s why I believe in them so much. I teach from a place of science and experience, not dogma and tradition. I pride myself on when I challenge someone, I can say that I’ve been there, done that.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When the pandemic started I was helping a yoga teacher run his first retreat in Bali. We had a huge group that had paid to come on this trip and I felt it was the best course of action to end the retreat early and get everyone home.

It was a super stressful experience trying to navigate what was the best course of action to try and provide support for this experience while recognizing we really needed to put everyone’s health and safety at the forefront. I ended up giving a ton of time and effort to that trip only to lose money. Ultimately, I realized it was most important that my intention was clear on keeping everyone safe.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.socalwellnessretreats.com
• Instagram: @socalwellnessretreats
• Facebook: facebook.com/socalwellnessretreats
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8504ifehJ79ONRwVpxDyKg