Adapting to Change: 30 Years of Leadership, Organizational Transformation, and the Power of Retreats

As Continuum Consulting celebrates 30 years of growth and transformation, we reflect on the central role retreats have always played in our journey. From the start, retreats have set the foundation for who we are—fueling our approach to leadership, teaming and driving real change within organizations.

In the 1990s, our founders, Lisa Main and Wendy White, recognized the need for structured team building and leadership development within the City of Raleigh’s Parks and Recreation Department. Their passion for experiential learning led them to create adventure-based retreats to support teams in solving problems, communicating, and collaborating more effectively. This vision evolved into RETREATS Inc. in 1995, where our first breakthrough came with clients like Campbell’s Soup, who embraced our innovative approach of taking teams out of the office and onto ropes courses and adventure challenges.

Retreats have remained a core part of Continuum’s identity ever since. As we launched Continuum Consulting Services in 2000, we expanded our offerings to include leadership, team and organizational development, but the essence of our work—creating transformative, immersive experiences—has always been anchored in the power of retreats. They’ve served as both a foundation and a continuous touchstone to support teams and leaders to evolve with resilience and purpose.

Through the years, we’ve seen the lasting impact of taking teams out of their usual environments and offering them experiences that challenge their thinking, evolve their capabilities, and enhance their relationships and collaboration. We knew that for lasting change, teams need to take time away from the business to work on the business, an apply the lessons learned back in the workplace.

We embraced regenerative leadership, a model focused on building organizational systems that nurture growth, collaboration, and sustainability. By combining experiential retreats with regenerative leadership, we’ve supported organizations create agile environments, with stronger teams and cultures ready to embrace change and lead into the future.

As we look ahead, retreats remain an integral part of our leadership development approach. With the challenges organizations face today, retreats provide a powerful tool to bring people together, foster connection and understanding, and create actionable solutions. Whether it’s guiding teams through strategic planning or guiding leaders navigate complex transformations, retreats will continue to be at the heart of our work.

Here’s to 30 more years of leadership, transformation, and the power of retreats.