Brushy Mountain Retreat began in one summer when founder Judith Cabot took over an empty dorm at Connecticut’s Johnson Mountain College. It was there that she started telling women that diets don’t work. She began a series of intensive one-week workshops introducing women to the fundamentals of a building a long-term weight management program and healthy lifestyle. The first workshop had four participants. Brushy Mountain Retreat operated as a summer program through its first years, but as its popularity grew by word of mouth, the program evolved, and quickly became year round.
Over the next nine years, Brushy Mountain Retreat expanded its program into a series of four sequential one-week workshops that can either be taken separately or in blocks. The program now has hundreds of alumnae. The program session enrollment limit has risen to 20. Most importantly, the retreat now has a six month waiting list.
Brushy Mountain Retreat will be moving to a new facility in response the program’s growth. The new home is an ex-corporate retreat located on a hill overlooking Johnson Ridge Golf Course and Johnson Valley Golf Course. These are some of the most sought after summer and winter resort areas in Connecticut. Set on 16 wooded acres, the lodge offers informal classrooms, well-equipped physical activity rooms, a spacious dining room, and a comfortable common room.
The new facility will double the number of workshop participants in the program. A single or double room can accommodate 40 women.
The lease is $80,000 per annum.
The financial investment by Judith Cabot, as well as a short term loan, will help to finance the move into a new facility.
1.1 Mission
Brushy Mountain Retreat’s goal is to help women discover their personal power to lose weight, and to keep it off.
1.2 Keys for Success
These are the keys that will make the Brushy Mountain Retreat a success:
- Change how women perceive food.
- Regular exercise can improve the mood of women.
- You can change the way women view themselves.