Community Highlights: Meet Kristen & Roger Mansourian of The Elysian Retreat Sedona

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen & Roger Mansourian.

Hi Kristen & Roger, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are a husband and wife team specializing in holding space for nature-inspired intimate gatherings. We do that through our retreat space in Sedona called The Elysian Retreat. Whether you want to elope in Sedona, have a micro-wedding, host a retreat, or celebrate a reunion with family and friends; we’re here to help that vision come to life.

It has always been a dream of ours to provide a physical space for people to heal and transform through the inner workings and magic of nature. It’s been a year since we opened our doors and since then; have had the deep honor of hosting our share of intentional elopements, micro-weddings, retreats, family gatherings, and intimate celebrations.

Five years ago, we fell in love with one another during our first trip to Sedona and it has forever changed us. Sedona has a way of bringing unimaginable synchronicities and divine lessons for us to ponder over and integrate into our lives.

What keeps us going is our commitment to holding space for nature-inspired intimate gatherings.

We hope that when you stay with us, you too can witness that love heals and that one cannot see nature without fully being present.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. We feel that most of the time, people only see the beautiful highlight reel and never behind the scenes of what’s REALLY happening. Let us pull back the curtains…

One of the biggest struggles aside from all the other struggles a new business faces; was navigating being newlyweds and business partners. We both have very different personalities and working styles with similar core values. And with those different personalities, working, and communication styles come disagreements.

On top of that, we had to be super mindful of when we were working and when we were back to being husband and wife. It’s a whole new added dynamic to juggle! When you are in a loving relationship, there could be expectations of speaking to one another in a loving way; however one wouldn’t necessarily do that with a colleague in the workplace.

This required us to continue practicing healthy communication styles with one another, setting boundaries, and really not taking things personally.

To be honest, this is something that we are still learning how to navigate and are both dedicated to consistently working on. We feel that every struggle we’ve come across; has only brought us closer and have more compassion for one another in the long run. And that’s also why we are so passionate about what we are creating and ties into our mission…

We have been programmed to see this happy, fairy tale relationship/wedding thinking that marriage is supposed to be easy. Or that if it’s not happy; the first resort is to break up. The truth is, that marriage takes a lot of work and commitment. More importantly, the partner we choose to spend a lifetime with; has also chosen to be our lifelong teacher. Your other half will be the person you share your best and worst memories with, your greatest teacher, and thickest mirror.

As much as there are challenges in any business, we think it’s even more difficult to have a business with your significant other; let alone your husband/wife. What has been really helping us; is choosing to mindfully spend our time together and apart.

We also have our “Relationship Recaps” every Sunday (where we set apart an hour of our time) to see what worked, and what needs to be improved and learn new ways to communicate so we are on the same page. During this time, we also drink a cup of cacao, pull relationship cards, and work on a relationship exercise together.

At the end of the day, we are a team- in marriage and business. In fact, we really like this quote by Christine Caine: “To build a strong team, you must see someone else’s strength as a complement to your weakness and not a threat to your position or authority.”

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Elysian Retreat Sedona?
The Elysian Retreat Sedona was created in 2021 through our love for Sedona during the most stressful time of our lives — while we were in the midst of planning our own wedding. We always wanted a space in Sedona, we just didn’t think it would happen at the same time we were planning our wedding! This investment and leap of faith taught us how to stretch ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally and expanded our capacity to hold space for ourselves and one another; in the midst of chaos.

We created this business by learning from our own mistakes as an engaged couple. When we planned our wedding we focused too much of our energy and time pleasing our guests rather than focusing on what’s really important– which is the love we have for one another. When we look back on the most cherished moments of our wedding day, it was the intimate ones that truly mattered to us. This is what inspired us to create The Elysian Retreat and help other couples realize; on the most important day of their lives.

We deeply believe that our venue in Sedona (The Elysian Retreat) carries within it; its own unique energy. With private access to Oak Creek, three distinct ceremonial spaces and a lot of love and care put into the creation of the space; we are excited for our guests to experience our property.

Guests can book to stay for a two-night minimum (or more) when visiting Sedona and if you plan to rent out our space as a venue; we have meticulously designed a micro-wedding package that is all-inclusive so that even planning your wedding is as stress-free as possible. Please visit our website www.theelysianretreat.com to learn more.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
We believe first and foremost; staying true to our core values as a business is what helps us keep a strong foundation.

For instance, our top 3 core values at the Elysian Retreat are “Being Present, Connecting With Nature, and that Love Heals” This is something that we mindfully practice each time we visit the space ourselves and something we are constantly reminding our staff and guests to remember. Knowing what our core values are whether it’s in our business, our relationship, or even with ourselves individually; is what keeps us grounded when life decides to throw challenges our way.

From there, it’s the mixture of our strengths AND weaknesses as a husband and wife team that keeps us going. Roger is so good at making sure our guests are happy, responding fast, and knocking things off our joint to-do list. Kristen is meticulous at making sure we run a tight ship and that we have all our systems in place.

More importantly, we try our best to remember that we are always learning; that we really don’t know much and it keeps us humble. We owe a lot of our success to the courses, mentors, books, mistakes, and people who have helped us along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theelysianretreat.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theelysianretreat
• Other: https://goo.gl/maps/WZPnzPiUMRDkoTrJA

Image Credits
Juliette Ordonia Photography, Maria Camila Photography, Olivia & Matthew Murray Photography, and Kelcee B – Escape & Adventure