Aphrodite in Business: A Case Study of Helen Hodgson, Serve the Goddess
Photo by Anna D’Geami, Face of a Modern Goddess
One of my all-time favorite clients Helen Hodgson has a brand that is permeated through and through with the Aphrodite archetype. She is the former owner of Serve the Goddess (www.servethegoddess.com) which was birthed in 2000 when Helen realized how much women do not take care of themselves and put everyone else’s needs first. This saddened her deeply. She remembered seeing her own mother, a registered nurse, never nurture herself. Helen was following in her footsteps and found herself exhausted and burned out. From that moment on, self-nurturing was at the top of Helen’s to-do list and she is now a “tireless” advocate for women everywhere to connect to their deep, feminine core as a source of soul nourishment.
“I believe every woman is born with a big, radiant mission. She may be a mother + homemaker, a visionary & artist, a nurse, a therapist or in any service capacity … or even a corporate CEO. And no matter what form her mission takes, she is worthy of love, reverence, time for self-reflection and deep relaxation. To be immersed in her own remarkable & unique essence. We’re all worthy of self love and reverence.
So often in my work, I see intelligent, loving and deserving women who are at their breaking point: many have crashed and burned before they even consider scheduling just one hour to themselves! The imbalances of a stressful life are felt throughout the whole being––body, mind and spirit.Our culture glorifies being “busy” and doing-ness. This just feels and sounds harsh to me. When a woman uses busyness as an excuse to put aside her own precious needs and desires, it saddens me. Deeply.
I created Transformational Goddess Retreats just for these women. My women.
Because I also believe we are all connected to a lineage of Sacred Feminine power; a power told in the ancient mythologies and stories of the Greek Goddesses. Maybe you have forgotten the stories. Maybe you have forgotten how to love and care for your body and soul. Through a sacred retreat, a vacation away from your day-to-day life, you will begin to remember.”
–Helen Hodgson, Transformational Goddess Retreats
Helen offers retreats and workshops for women to renew, rejuvenate and tap into the healing archetypes of the Greek goddesses: Aphrodite, Demeter, Athena, Persephone and Artemis.
Helen and I met in July 2013 and immediately connected. She scheduled a full day PLUNGE that summer.
I knew I was in the presence of Aphrodite when we emailed to find out where we could meet in person. She suggested we spend the day at her favorite resort Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Ummmmm, wooottt?? Hell yeah!
“This is a woman who knows how to pleasure herself and get things done,” I thought to myself.
After a full day of masterminding her mind-blowing retreats and a bevy of new service packages based on her work with the Greek goddess archetypes (by the way, she has a line of sacred anointing oils too), we enjoyed lunch and a delicious beach ritual to seal in her renewed business and brand vision.
She was glowing and I was excited to get back home and begin crafting her new marketing + branding.
Just after I sent her some of my ideas, she emailed me this gorgeous testimonial letter:
“I first met Kris when she was the guest speaker at the Goddess Collective in LA and she had me at PhD in Mythological Studies.
One week later I signed up for her Plunge Day with a mission to dive deeper into my offerings in my spa and to create my sales page for my “Day in the Life of An Ancient Greek Goddess” retreats.
I hired her as I was stuck on the correct language to use in my sales page and knowing we were of the same tribe I knew Kris and I would speak the same language.
Our day together was playful, wise, insightful, deep, captivating, worldly and joyful. I didn’t want it to end and in fact when my husband returned home from work that evening, he said I had a mischievous look on my face and that I was glowing. Yes I was! After a short time Kris emailed me some ideas and as soon as I read what she wrote, tears welled up in my eyes.
Kris captured my spirit and essence in one day of being together. I call her my Mystic sister.”
Being a part of Helen’s world for a day made me realize how parched my own inner Aphrodite had been.
Everywhere this magnificent and brilliant woman goes … I want to go there with her.
ABOUT HELEN
Helen Hodgson, Author, former owner of Serve The Goddess and founder of Transformational Goddess Retreats learned from years of watching her mother, a registered nurse and mother of five – that as caretakers, women are often the last ones to nurture themselves. Helen swore she wouldn’t journey the same path, but as a nurse and massage therapist herself, she experienced the same “over giving” and neglected her own needs. It wasn’t until her awakening with the goddesses through a pilgrimage to the mythical birthplace of Aphrodite in Pathos on the island of Cyprus that she was inspired to not only practice self-love on a much deeper level for herself, but also become an advocate for empowering all women.
From this experience Helen’s mission has become to guide women to practice extreme self-care and self-love using the ancient wisdom of the goddesses and feminine mystics; this is how Transformational Goddess Retreats was born.
Today she brings her insights to her retreats held at breathtakingly beautiful locations several times a year and has focused on various goddesses including Aphrodite, Artemis, Persephone, Demeter, Kali, Sekhemet and more. Most recently, she has been mesmerized by the spirit of Mary Magdalene, and she is here to share the dramatic impact of this long ago woman on our lives today.
Helen sold her wildly successful mobile spa company, Serve the Goddess®, in early 2019 and now puts all of her time and devotion into creating luscious and transformational retreats for women.
Wow. I am going to research Greek goddesses!
Awesome Llinos! Are you drawn to any particular one? xox