Joyful Workplaces Retreat at Sandy Cove

Joyful Workplaces Retreat at Sandy Cove

Saturday, October 24, 2026 | North East, Maryland

Facilitated morning: 9:30am–12:00pm
Buffet lunch: 12:00pm–1:00pm
Optional afternoon on the grounds

Strategy advising and fresh thinking for real work challenges

Perhaps a challenge keeps resurfacing, or you don’t always feel heard or supported. You may have an idea you’re ready to pursue but aren’t sure how to move it forward.

Sometimes what helps is focused time, fresh perspectives, and someone who can help you work through your options.

Joyful Workplaces Retreat at Sandy Cove brings together a maximum of 10 participants for a collaborative morning with author and organization development consultant Yolanda Fraction.

You’ll receive strategy advising, explore your questions with peers from different backgrounds, and use practical tools to consider what you can do differently. The small-group format creates room for individual attention, follow-up questions, and meaningful conversation.

Your registration includes the facilitated morning, a custom printed retreat journal, buffet lunch overlooking the water, and access to Sandy Cove’s grounds and available recreational facilities.

Who would benefit?

This retreat is for people who want support with a situation at work and are open to trying a different approach.

You might be:

• Navigating an understaffed environment or competing demands and considering what you can influence without taking responsibility for everything.
• Managing employees or running a small business and wanting to work through a people-related challenge.
• Preparing for a demanding season and exploring how to clarify expectations, protect your energy, or ask for support.
• Feeling overlooked or unsupported and considering how to approach a conversation or navigate your circumstances.
• Facing a recurring problem or stalled idea and wanting practical options beyond the approaches you’ve already tried.

You’re welcome whether you’re currently employed, between roles, working independently, or leading others. You don’t need to be a people manager or have read the book.

If you’re between roles, you can draw on previous experiences or consider how you’d approach similar situations in a future role. The focus is on navigating work and how it gets done, rather than job-search services or career planning.

Bring a desired outcome if you have one, or a question you’d appreciate help making sense of.

You don’t have to figure it out alone

Conversations with friends or colleagues can remind us that others have similar workplace experiences. Sometimes, though, we want resources and opportunities to work through what’s happening, especially when we have limited formal authority.

During our guided morning, we’ll take those conversations further by working through challenges, scenarios, and “what if” possibilities rather than circling around frustrations.

Guided exercises from the Joyful Workplace Design framework will help you examine what’s contributing to a situation and consider different approaches. Yolanda will bring consulting guidance, while others in the room contribute perspectives shaped by their own experiences.

We’ll explore what you can control or influence, where support may be needed, and what isn’t yours to solve alone. You won’t be asked to fix your whole workplace.

The atmosphere is warm, down-to-earth, and come-as-you-are. There’s no pressure to perform or arrive with everything figured out.

What can you take into Monday?

You’ll have support to turn your thinking into something usable. Depending on what you bring, that could mean:

• Preparing for a conversation or a specific request for support.
• Clarifying an expectation, responsibility, or priority.
• Considering how to move an idea forward.
• Planning a small change in how work gets done.
• Developing an action plan with a next step and a way to assess what happens.

You choose how far to take your planning. Work toward a concrete next move or use the morning to test ideas before deciding what to do.

This is a hands-on retreat, not a lecture or training course. The morning focuses on your questions about work, while the afternoon gives you time to recharge at your own pace.

What your registration includes

A small-group experience with individual attention

A facilitated morning with strategy advising, collaborative exercises, and time to explore individual scenarios within a group limited to 10 participants. Advising takes place within the shared experience rather than through separate private appointments.

Your printed Joyful Workplaces Retreat Journal

A curated workplace companion and guide containing the exercises, resources, and tools we’ll use together. You can return to it as you put ideas into practice and encounter new questions.

Participants will be the first to receive this custom journal before its wider release. A $25 value, included with registration.

Buffet lunch overlooking the water

Lunch from 12:00pm to 1:00pm in Sandy Cove’s Water’s Edge Dining Room, with hot meal options, a salad bar, and assorted beverages.

An afternoon to enjoy the property

After lunch, there’s no additional structured program. Continue connecting, find a quiet waterfront seat, or enjoy the options included with your registration:

• Quiet time and exploring: waterfront seating, indoor lounge spaces, a nature trail, and a prayer room.
• Swimming and fitness: an indoor swimming pool and fitness center.
• Outdoor recreation: miniature golf, disc golf, shuffleboard, tennis, and pickleball.
• Palmer Recreation Center: ping pong, pool tables, air hockey, basketball, and volleyball.

Choose what appeals to you, or enjoy some unhurried time. You’re also welcome to depart after lunch.

Activities are subject to facility hours, venue guidelines, and weather.

Your day at Sandy Cove

9:30am–10:00am | Settle in and connect

A gentle welcome, introductions, and time to consider what you’d like from the morning.

10:00am–10:30am | Give your question some attention

Guided exercises to identify a challenge, scenario, or possibility you’d like to explore.

10:30am–10:50am | Pause and gather your thoughts

Time to use your journal, reflect, and enjoy a change of setting.

10:50am–11:40am | Work through possibilities together

Collaborative exploration with strategy advising and perspectives from others in the room.

11:40am–12:00pm | Your next step, at your pace

Capture useful insights and options, with the opportunity to develop an action plan.

12:00pm–1:00pm | Buffet lunch

Enjoy a meal overlooking the water and continue connecting.

After lunch | Enjoy the property at your own pace

Explore, reflect, connect, or use the available recreational facilities.

We’ll gather in an indoor meeting room, with opportunities to use nearby lounge and reflection spaces. Morning pacing may adapt to the group while keeping our 12:00pm lunch start.

Meet your facilitator and host

Yolanda Fraction, M.Ed., is the author of Joyful Workplaces, a senior organization development consultant, and a leadership advisor with more than 20 years of experience across corporate, government, nonprofit, healthcare, and higher education settings.

She has facilitated hundreds of retreats throughout her career, helping people work through challenges, strengthen collaboration, and translate ideas into practical approaches. Her experience includes advising leaders and teams at Johns Hopkins University and serving as Director of Learning and Development at the Congressional Hunger Center.

Her background spans organization development, HR, learning, nonprofit management, and education, bringing together an understanding of people and how organizations operate. She holds a master’s degree in Learning and Instruction and is pursuing doctoral studies in industrial-organizational psychology.

For this retreat, think of Yolanda as a workplace companion and thought partner who brings consulting expertise to what you’re navigating. She’ll help you look beyond the surface of a challenge and consider options that account for your circumstances.

After years of facilitating for organizations, Yolanda is excited to host this first intimate Joyful Workplaces Retreat.

For more about Yolanda, her book, and her work, visit yolandafraction.com.

What others have shared about working with Yolanda

“Yolanda has been a trusted thought partner, strategic advisor and executive coach.”

Executive Nonprofit Director

“Her ability to create a thoughtful, engaging, and safe space allowed us to better understand our unique strengths and communication styles”

Sales Manager

(Excerpts from public recommendations about previous consulting and facilitation work. Names omitted for privacy.)

Reserve your place

Registration is $125, plus Eventbrite fees.

Your registration includes the facilitated morning, printed retreat journal, buffet lunch, and use of the grounds and available recreational facilities.

Participation is limited to 10 to preserve the personal attention and intimate atmosphere.

Before you arrive

Comfort and clothing

Wear something comfortable and bring a light throw, shawl, or extra layer for changing fall temperatures. Walking shoes are helpful for exploring the grounds. Bring swimwear if you’d like to use the indoor pool.

Dietary and accessibility arrangements

After registering, you’ll receive confirmation and next steps, including links and instructions for sharing dietary restrictions and accessibility requirements with Sandy Cove. If you need to confirm an arrangement before purchasing, contact the organizer through Eventbrite.

Respecting one another’s privacy

Share as much or as little as feels comfortable, leaving out identifying details. By registering, we all agree to the Chatham House Rule: take the learning with you, but don’t share names, employers, or details that could identify anyone. We’ll revisit this shared expectation when we gather.

Overnight inquiries

Instructions for inquiring about possible overnight accommodations will be provided after registration. Overnight stays are not included in the retreat fee. Availability and rates cannot be guaranteed and must be confirmed separately.

Refunds and weather

We understand that plans can change. Refund requests are welcome through October 3, 2026, three weeks before the retreat.

Because arrangements are made for each reserved place in this small gathering, we’re unable to offer refunds after that date. You may choose to gift your seat to a peer or colleague if you are unable to attend.

A minimum of six confirmed registrants is needed by October 9, 2026 for the retreat to take place. If that minimum isn’t met, we’ll notify registered participants and issue a full refund.

The retreat will take place rain or shine, with indoor space available for the facilitated morning.

About the venue: Sandy Cove is a Christian retreat and conference facility. This independently hosted Joyful Workplaces experience is not a religious retreat. Participants of all faiths and none are welcome.

Explore Sandy Cove’s grounds and facilities