As the late afternoon light poured onto the hardwood floors of Lululemon’s The Attic on Sunday December 4, 2016, an intimate group of 20 professionals gathered to take a turn reaching into a bag. Notable.ca’s founder and CEO, Julian Brass, explained that bag contained rocks engraved with different words.
Dream, create, inspire, and gratitude, were just some of the words pulled from the bag. As each person shared their new understanding of the words, tears were shed and a new community was confirmed.
And so concluded an enlightening first Notable Life UnRetreat.
With an intimate setting at Lululemon’s Queen Street location, the Notable.ca online brand was brought to life with the guidance of Brass.
In 2008, Brass began the online lifestyle brand designed exclusively for driven millennials. Now, with Notable.ca reaching over 1.2 million monthly and 200,000 community members, Brass started his next project.
For years, Brass has been a yoga instructor and motivational speaker—having given keynote lectures at events such as Wanderlust and the Toronto Entrepreneurs conference—but now, he is combining his passions and offering further opportunities to help others live a Notable life.
The Notable Life UnRetreat provided the perfect introduction to Brass’ life coaching brand. “One day I was thinking about the popularity of retreats,” says Brass. “They’re generally a week or so in a beautiful destination full of yoga and wellness. But then it hit me, why should people need a retreat from their life?” The purpose of the UnRetreat is to help people take steps towards creating a life they love—a Notable Life.
The day consisted of yoga classes, health and wellness seminars, meditation seminars and one-on-one coaching sessions with Julian. The event was supported by many like-minded brands such as: Lululemon, Healthy Crunch, Equinox, Tonica, Flow Water, Shockingly Healthy, Well and Taste of Nature.
Guests began the day by learning the 5 Tenets to Living a Notable Life (a formula developed by Brass to help others achieve their version of a Notable Life). Event-goers then took part in a Notable Yoga session based on the class Brass has recently created for Equinox.
After a beautiful lunch catered by Well, Brass and attendees were lead through a meditation seminar by Lululemon’s Michael Lorsch, followed by a nutrition seminar with Equinox’s Megan Mackrory.
The day was designed specifically to have each attendee apply all Five Tenets of Living a Notable Life. Each guest instructor provided expertise associated with a different tenet: Personal Growth, Spiritual Connection, Health and Wellness Mastery, Professional Development and Social Love.
Yoga Instructor and DJ, Carmelinda Di Manno, lead an inspiring afternoon yoga class. “The students were very present in their bodies and the energy was fluid and strong,” says Di Manno. “They participated whole heartedly and I felt very connected to the inspired energy in the room.”
The trial event left many UnRetreat attendees demanding more. “What an incredible day of love, positive energy, and light,” says UnRetreat attendee, Matt Wright. “It seriously couldn’t have come at a better time for me.”
Many attendees came to the full-day event with goals in mind—some dealing with divorces or struggling to quit a job they no longer enjoy. During the event, each guest had an opportunity to sit down with Brass and develop a personalized plan for achieving their Notable Life. Some of these conversations have been continued through Brass’ life coaching services.
“We live in a majorly bustling, stressed city,” says Di Manno. “The UnRetreat brings the opportunity to pause and connect with what’s important.”
The man behind Notable.ca says there is no question that another UnRetreat will take place in the near future and is already working on his next Notable endeavour: The Notable New Year’s Resolution Webinar. “I think it would be unfair to not offer this experience to more amazing people looking to be the most notable version of themselves.” says Brass.
The Notable New Year’s Resolutions Webinar will take place on January 1, 2017 from 1pm to 3pm EST and is designed to help people commit to their goals for the new year.
“It is going to be an extraordinary experience to tune in and purposefully learn real strategies to empower yourself to create meaningful, life-changing resolutions this coming year,” says Brass. “I’m going to make sure that everyone who joins leaves ready to make huge leaps toward creating major moves to actually achieve their 2017 New Year’s Resolutions.”
To secure your ticket to the online event, visit Julian’s official site.
Julian Brass leading Notable Yoga at The Notable Life UnRetreat on December 4, 2016 in Lululemon’s The Attic.