We operate with the belief that as the primary decision maker in your life, you get a say. You get to design how to accelerate your business goals.  You get to imprint your personal style on your business.  You get to consciously create an environment that supports what you are trying to accomplish in your business, in your relationships, and in your life.

Cirque du Sophia brings us together to live out a few simple values:

• We love to learn, and to open our minds and hearts to the endless realm of possibilities.
• We love to share wonderful and healthy food, warm and inviting rooms, moments of laughter and joy and compassion, and a willingness for fierce insight and profound impact.
• We love to explore, research, analyze and apply.
• We love to create new circles of friends, mentors, coaches and colleagues.
• We love to make a true difference in the lives we touch.

Browse our previous forums and comments from Cirque participants. You’ll see our commitment to top women leaders in wonderful venues where we can experience nature, beauty and comfort.  You’ll see our love of great food, new experiences and fun.  And mostly, you’ll see the impact of bringing cutting edge information to the women at the top ~ women who are making a difference in our world.  We are proud to bring you Cirque du Sophia CEO Leadership Forums.

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This forum is exclusive to previous Cirque participants

“Back in 2006, I started a personal journey that transformed my life. While I won’t go into all of the details here, it is worth mentioning that it involved a ranch, a herd of horses, and an incredible woman named Jackie.”

- Melissa S. Kelly-McCabe, Cirque Leader

Jackie Lowe Stevenson runs Spirit of Leadership at Pebble Ledge Ranch outside Cleveland, OH where she specializes in experiential learning with horses. Working with horses is not unlike working with people – they respond to credible leadership and can be stubborn in times of change. We can partner with horses to gain insights into who we really are.

Experience the power of working with a herd. Please join us for this incredible forum where you will:

1. Gain clarity on your priorities
2. Learn how you make significant life choices
3. Observe your communication habits in practice to expand your natural ability and
4. Flex your leadership style to match the demands and situation – whether at work, at home or in your community

The retreat will begin at 3pm on Sunday, October 21, and finish at 1 pm on Tuesday, October 23. We will spend all day Monday at Pebble Ledge Ranch working with Jackie, her team and the horses (plus one zebra!).

Accommodations:

Red Maple Inn, Burton, Ohio (fly into Cleveland)

“The feel of a fine hotel with the ambiance of a quiet country inn.”

Cost:

$2,290 per person. This fee includes two night’s lodging in a private room at the lovely Red Maple Inn, all gourmet meals and refreshments, and a full range of materials for preparation and use during and after the retreat.

For more information and to register, please contact us.

Leaders: Melissa Kelly-McCabe and Lisë Stewart

Venue:  The Bed and Breakfast at Oliver Phelps - visit website

In an elegant 19th century inn in the heart of New York State Finger Lakes wine country, Cirque du Sophia brought together women business owners, CEOs and Executive Directors from around the country. We gathered from Sunday, September 11 at 3pm until Tuesday, September 13 at 2pm, and stayed at various bed and breakfasts in the historic town.

Our work involved:

• Understanding our own stories and using these stories to create personal and organizational visions and missions
• Getting clear about the intersection of the business and the woman who runs it
• Creating clarity about company culture and how to create it
• Innovation, inspiration and sustainable leading edge thinking for the leaders of the future
• Developing a plan forward for our companies and ourselves

We also created a gourmet meal together at The New York Wine & Culinary Center  and had a great tasting party of Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar from F. Oliver’s.

Leaders: Melissa Kelly-McCabe and Lisë Stewart

Venue: Light on the Hill Retreat Center - view website

Perched high in the hills of Van Etten, New York, Light on the Hill is a peaceful place located on 236 acres, of woods, streams, gorges, distant views and walking paths. Cirque du Sophia for women CEOs was held in the stunning Inner Light Lodge on Tuesday, November 30 at 3pm and concluded on Thursday, December 2 at 2pm.

Our work involved:

• Creating a visual perspective of Who Are You, Really?
• Articulating internal and external influencers using personal assessment
• Envisioning the future and a perspective of one’s own Signature Leadership Style
• Building organizational bench strength to support the woman at the top
• Remaining in control in stressful situations
• Putting planning into practice

Together we enjoyed gourmet vegetarian fare prepared by locavore chefs, hiked, walked the labyrinth, learned meridian tapping and had an indoor campfire.

Leader: Melissa Kelly-McCabe

Location: The beautiful Bristol Hills in Upstate New York - learn more

New York’s Finger Lakes covers 9,000 square miles from the southern shore of Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border and encompasses 11 parallel lakes spanning the center of New York State like a giant handprint.  Cirque du Sophia for women at the top was held in a private home from Friday, October 9 at 10am, through Saturday, October 10 at 4pm.

Our work involved:

• Using art and movement to get in touch with our personal value systems
• Learning and applying specific creative problem solving systems, including The Thinking Hats and The Artist’s Way that are directly applicable in our work and personal lives.
• Experimenting with Emotional Freedom Technique meridian tapping

We also prepared gourmet meals together and hiked up Stid Hill.

Leaders: Melissa Kelly-McCabe and Deb Marie Denome

Venue: Lakeside at Onanda Park, Canandaigua Lake, NY - learn more

This special Cirque du Sophia was a one-day event on the calm autumn beach and lodge at Onanda Park.  Local women leaders came together for a day of retreat and community on Wednesday, September 30 from 8:30am to 6:00pm.

Like day-camp for women leaders, we experienced several interesting and expansive modules in nature.  It was a relaxing and fun day of personal discovery and being in community together.  We used art to create journals, did movement on the shores of the lake, hiked, expressed our values and the value we bring, and made commitments about the ripple effects of our leadership in our community.  Together we created a delicious stone soup supper to bring home to our families.

Leader: Melissa Kelly-McCabe

Location: The beautiful Bristol Hills in New York State - learn more

South Bristol NY is characterized by four high ridges ranging north and south and rising 500 feet to well over 1000 feet above the intervening valleys. The area is steeped in native American history, has outstanding year-round outdoor activities, and many world-renown artists nestled in the foothills.  Cirque du Sophia was held in a private home from Thursday, June 5 at 6pm through Sunday, June 8 at 12n.

Like summer sleep-over for women, we focused on personal health and well-being and inter-personal relationships in a variety of ways.  We took the opportunity to share our stories with other like-minded, smart women, ate gourmet local food, and sat around the campfire well into the night.

Leader: Melissa Kelly-McCabe

Location: The beautiful Finger Lakes Region of New York State - learn more

Perched high overlooking Bare Hill in the South Bristol hills of New York, regional women leaders came together in a private home on Thursday, August 2 at 10am through Friday, August 3 at 3pm to engage in deeper personal growth and exploration of being women in leadership.

“We had a special guest, Assumpta Kayiranga from Rwanda, on scholarship at the Gestalt Institute in Cleveland and director of an inspirational project in Rwanda to bring together widows and orphans to create new families. Much of the focus of this experience was to participate in a writing workshop conducted by accomplished poet jimmie margaret gilliam. We had a huge bonfire, and the next day read our own works aloud by the Grimes Glen waterfalls.

Leader:  Melissa Kelly-McCabe and Lisë Stewart

Location: Sedona, Arizona - learn more

This was the start of a new focus for Cirque du Sophia, incorporating more aspects of the personal and psychological journey that each woman experiences as she seeks to balance all of the complex aspects of her life while remaining true to her core values and sense of personal style and influence.  It was during the course of this landmark retreat that Lise and Melissa forged their own, unique method for co-facilitation – creating a positive mix of the practical, personal, psychological and purposeful aspects of our complex and dynamic lives.

Leader: Lisë Stewart

Location: Dallas, Texas - learn more

The original group met in person, after embarking on a 1 year trail of facilitated conference calls to try to maintain the closeness, sense of camaraderie and focus established in the original Cirque du Sophia format.  The group members identified their own challenges, discussed a multitude of ways to support one another’s efforts and goals and decided that regular face-to-face meetings and paired retreats would be a more effective way to keep the connection meaningful.  A number of the original members continue to meet regularly to this day.

Leader: Lisë Stewart

Location: Denver, Colorado - learn more

This was the founding meeting of Cirque Du Sophia.  Five women attended the first gathering, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and nestled in a warm and cozy vacation home.  Over two days, the group shared their needs, described their business challenges and crafted the vision for a balanced program that today has nurtured dozens of women across the country.