Ambassador of what’s possible. I’m the facilitator leaders call when they’re ready to stop playing it safe and do the deep work.

Over the past decade, I’ve led 500+ nature-based retreats and guided high-impact leaders to confront blind spots, shift limiting beliefs, and unlock their full potential. My work incorporates business strategy with conscious leadership to achieve results across all areas of their life. More specifically, I help CEOs and teams examine how their well-being, energy, and mindset create ripple effects that quietly shape culture and performance.

After burning out in 2013 as a leader in the green building industry, I founded Casa Alternavida, a transformational retreat center in Puerto Rico. Here, we design immersive experiences that reconnect leaders to their purpose, presence, and authentic leadership, using nature and adventure as powerful catalysts for world change.

Certified in somatic coaching, conscious communication, resilience, and forest therapy, I blend business acumen with emotional intelligence and embodied practice. The result? Leaders who evolve from the inside out, amplifying the ripple effect they have on their companies, relationships, and lives.

I’ve had the privilege of facilitating team-building for organizations such as CBRE Real, L'Oréal, Wärtsilä, Money Group, Discover Puerto Rico, Interface, and others, helping their leaders and teams strengthen collaboration, reduce stress, and achieve a measurable ROI.

Yancy Wright

Before you plan 2026, pause for a more honest question:
What are you returning to this year?
Not chasing. Not fixing. Returning.

Because 2026 doesn’t need another version of you that’s stretched thin. It needs the one that’s grounded, clear, and fully here.

The leaders who endure don’t reinvent themselves every year.
They return to what steadies them.
They return to what matters.
They return to themselves and lead from there.

Nature shows us the way.
It doesn’t rush into a new cycle.
It returns to rhythm.

So maybe this year isn’t about reinvention at all.
Maybe it’s about remembering what keeps you well, steady, and whole.

What are you returning to in 2026?

Helping Teams 7x Performance, Reduce Burnout, & Drive ROI by Transforming Leadership & Culture | Executive Retreat facilitator, Coach, & Author.

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What if the year ahead doesn’t care how smart your plan is, only how present you are while executing it?

How often are you actually here for the moments that matter?

The year ahead doesn’t unfold on spreadsheets.
It unfolds in conversations, decisions, and moments you’re either present for or not.

The more present you are, the more responsive your team becomes. The less present you are, the more friction you create.

Presence isn’t soft.
It’s a multiplier.

So instead of asking “What’s going to happen this year?”
Try asking: How available am I to meet it as it unfolds?

What if this year isn’t asking you to do more… but to drop what’s no longer true?

Not more urgency filling every gap.
Not more noise masquerading as progress.
Not more proving your value through exhaustion.

Instead:

Less force.
Less friction.
Less pretending.

And in its place:

More presence in the moments that matter.

More alignment between what you say and what you actually do.

More truth about what’s working, what isn’t, and what you’re done carrying.

The leaders who scale sustainably aren’t chasing intensity.

They’re refining by cutting through distraction to focus on what truly moves the organization forward.

Before you add another goal this year, pause and ask:
What would move faster if I stopped forcing it?

That answer often reveals the clearest path ahead.

When did leadership start meaning “carry it all”?

Nature tells a different story.
Rivers don’t carry every stone.
They flow because they release.

Strong leadership isn’t about endurance.
It’s about clarity.

So before this year gains momentum, ask yourself:

What are you choosing not to carry forward?

#LeadershipReflection #NatureAsTeacher #LeadWithClarity #PurposeDrivenLeadership #EmbodiedLeadership #ReleaseToLead
#LeadershipWisdom #InnerWork #SlowLeadership #MindfulLeadership #LeadershipReset

What happens when purpose-driven work quietly pushes your body past its limits? When success looks good on paper but costs you your vitality?

That’s the question at the heart of this episode of The Next Mountain Podcast featuring me.

My journey didn’t start with burnout language or wellness buzzwords. It started with achievement, green construction, sustainability leadership, climbing the “right” mountain of success. Until his body forced a reckoning that landed him in the ICU.

What followed wasn’t a dramatic pivot, it was a long, human process of slowing down, listening, and questioning deeply held beliefs about leadership, pressure, and worth.

This conversation explores:
- Why purpose alone isn’t enough when work is fueled by constant urgency
- How burnout is often a signal, not a failure, especially for high performers
- The unconscious commitment to struggle many leaders mistake for dedication
- Why nature can teach presence and clarity in ways no boardroom ever will

For leaders reading this:
-What signals have you been overriding in the name of impact?
-Where might “high-functioning” be masking something unsustainable?
-What would leadership look like if vitality, not just output, was the measure?

Sometimes the most responsible thing a leader can do… is stop pushing and start listening.

You can listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/45GlxFC

If your team is smart but struggling, the problem isn’t performance, it’s pressure.

Too many teams are operating in constant urgency: reacting instead of responding, meeting instead of meaning, doing instead of aligning.

Traditional team building doesn’t solve this.
Because you can’t “fix” collaboration without first addressing capacity.

When teams are given intentional space to step out of daily demands, something essential resets:
• Communication becomes honest
• Trust stops being forced
• Decisions get clearer and faster

Real team building isn’t about activities.
It’s about restoring the conditions where people can think, relate, and lead well together.

So here’s the real question for leaders:
Is your team being asked to perform through exhaustion or supported to reconnect before things break?

#ExecutiveLeadership #TeamAlignment #LeadershipCulture #CasaAlternavida #ConsciousBusiness #WellbeingAtWork

Read more through this link: https://bit.ly/4aa82zx

A huge thank you to Nathalia Del Moral Fleury for inviting me to share on The Next Mountain Podcast. It was an honor to be part of a discussion that goes beyond traditional success and looks at what happens when career and purpose intersect in deeper, more human ways.  

In a world that celebrates achievement, it’s rare to pause and explore what sustained impact really looks like especially when leaders are navigating burnout, transitions, and the space between ambition and meaning. The conversation on purpose-driven work reminded us that true leadership often emerges through transition, reflection, and intentional alignment.  

Thank you, Nathalia, for creating a platform where meaningful stories, deep reflection, and real leadership journeys can be heard and felt. We’re grateful for the opportunity and for every listener who is exploring purpose alongside performance.

✨ If you haven’t listened yet, this episode is worth your time.
https://bit.ly/3LsfNse

#Gratitude #LeadershipJourney #PurposeDrivenLeadership #ExecutiveReflection #NextMountainPodcast #ConsciousLeadership

Open article: Yancy Wright&#39;s Purpose-Driven Career Journey to ICU | Next Mountain posted on the topic | LinkedIn by linkedin.com

Yancy Wright&#39;s Purpose-Driven Career Journey to ICU | Next Mountain posted on the topic | LinkedIn

What If Wellness Was a Leadership Advantage? 🌿 

Wellness is often treated like a perk, something optional, added after performance. But today’s leaders know better.

A regulated nervous system leads to clearer decisions.
Presence builds trust. Resilience sustains performance.

Wellness retreats aren’t escapes, they’re recalibration points. Space to step out of urgency, reset perspective, and return with clarity that actually sticks.

The question isn’t can leaders afford to slow down.
It’s whether they can afford not to.

💭 What would shift if wellness became part of how you lead, not something you get to later?

#ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipWellbeing #ConsciousLeadership #TeamCulture #ResilientLeaders

Read more through our blog post here:

Open article: Wellness Retreats for Burnout Recovery: A Step-by-Step Healing Journey by casaalternavida.com

Wellness Retreats for Burnout Recovery: A Step-by-Step Healing Journey

If your offsite doesn’t change behaviors, it wasn’t a team-building retreat. It was a field trip.

Most corporate retreats get treated like a feel-good expense, not a performance investment.

Baseline what matters, track it during and after, so you’ll finally know if it worked.

Before you approve your next offsite budget, read this, I break down a framework that turns our retreats into measurable outcomes with a solid 7.5x ROI.

Open article: ROI of Team Building Retreats by casaalternavida.com

When was the last time your leadership team actually paused?

Not to plan.
Not to problem-solve.
But to think clearly, together.

Most executive teams don’t struggle with strategy, they struggle with capacity. Decision fatigue. Constant urgency. Conversations that stay surface-level because no one has the space to go deeper.

What if stepping away wasn’t a luxury… but a leadership advantage?

When leaders change their environment, they change how they listen, decide, and relate. Nature has a way of stripping away noise and revealing what actually matters: alignment, trust, and shared direction.

So here’s the real question:
What would shift in your organization if your leaders had the space to reset before things break?

Red more through our blog here: https://bit.ly/4qJzjPV

#ExecutiveLeadership #TeamAlignment #LeadershipCulture #StrategicLeadership #ConsciousBusiness

Where did your most meaningful leadership lessons actually come from? A boardroom… or somewhere quieter?

Some of the most important leadership lessons don’t come from frameworks, KPIs, or strategy decks.
They come from moments without an agenda.

From walking without talking.
From noticing how you react when plans change.
From listening long enough to hear what you usually override.

In rooms designed for efficiency, leaders sharpen their thinking.
But outside of them, something just as critical gets refined: presence.

Nature, distance, and stillness reveal patterns urgency tends to hide:
• how quickly we reach for control
• where we avoid discomfort
• what clarity feels like when it isn’t rushed

These aren’t “soft” insights.
They shape how decisions land, how teams feel, and how trust is built.

So the real question isn’t whether you lead well when everything is structured.
It’s this:
What does your leadership look like when the structure disappears?

And where have your most important leadership lessons come from?

What if the very traits some leaders view as obstacles, impulsivity, rapid idea shifts, intense focus on interest areas aren’t deficits at all, but undervalued strengths in the wrong context?

Recent thinking in mental health suggests that framing ADHD not as a disorder, but as a different way of thinking, can improve wellbeing and unlock cognitive advantages often overlooked in traditional work environments. This reframing shifts the narrative from “fix what’s wrong” to “leverage what’s unique.” 

Before we dismiss this as a niche topic, consider this:
What leadership behaviors today are being misread as weaknesses when they could be assets in the right environment?

How often do we equate leadership success with linear, sustained attention when real transformation requires modulation, pattern recognition, and big-picture leaps?

Many executives push themselves to fit into narrow definitions of productivity, uninterrupted focus, rigid expectations, systematic routines. Yet in rapidly changing markets, the leaders who thrive are often the ones who connect disparate ideas quickly, notice patterns others miss, and pivot with agility traits that resemble what’s commonly labeled “ADHD tendencies.”

Reframing these traits doesn’t excuse chaos, it contextualizes potential.

It invites leaders to ask:

1. Are we rewarding conformity at the cost of innovation?

2. Are we asking our brains to operate in ways that suppress natural strengths?

3. What leadership capabilities might emerge if we valued cognitive diversity as a strategic advantage?

The future of leadership isn’t about enforcing uniform ways of thinking. It’s about embracing diverse thinking styles, creating environments where different minds can contribute, and redefining what strength looks like in a complex world.

Because the leaders we need now aren’t just those who manage well, they’re those who think differently, respond creatively, and adapt with curiosity.

#LeadershipEvolution #NeurodiversityAtWork #ExecutiveLeadership #MindfulLeadership #InnovationCulture #ConsciousBusiness #LeadershipGrowth #InclusiveLeadership

Read more through this link: https://lnkd.in/gyawiK3f

What if pushing harder this January is the exact opposite of what your system needs?

We love the idea of a clean slate. 
Our nervous system doesn’t. 

It remembers stress. 
It remembers pace. 
It remembers what last year felt like. 

Great leaders don’t ignore that truth. They work with it. 

Before accelerating into the year, consider: What would it look like to lead with compassion for your own humanity? 

That choice quietly shapes everything that follows.

Sr Living, ever thought about it? I was invited to talk on a podcast yesterday with Steve Moran about leadership in the Sr Living business world? If you know anyone in that world, please share it.

Founder @ Senior Living Foresight | Driving Innovation in Senior Living - 2.81 GPA from #1 party school in the nation

In just two hours, my conversation with Yancy Wright goes LIVE 📺 🕚  Who's tuning in? 🎉

Turnover isn’t random. It’s a culture signal, and it’s measurable in daily micro-moments.

I just recorded a conversation with Steve Moran (Founder, Senior Living Foresight) about what actually improves retention: leadership behaviors that create belonging, clarity, and pride, not just policies.

After this podcast it seems Senior Living most likely doesn’t have a “staffing” problem. It has a belonging problem.

What’s one micro-moment your team experiences every day that either builds trust…or drains it?

Before strategy, goals, or execution kick in, something else sets the year first.

A leader’s pace, tone, and energy in January quietly shape the emotional climate of the months ahead.

Teams take their cues long before the first deadline hits.
From how you enter meetings.
From how you handle pressure.
From what feels rushed… and what feels considered.

Strong leaders don’t just plan the year.
They embody it.

So before the calendar fills, pause and ask:
What energy am I carrying into the rooms I lead?

Because that answer becomes culture.

What is your body telling you about your leadership right now?

February is where the nervous system tells the truth.

The urgency of January has passed but the body remembers how it was treated.

Before this month fills up, pause and ask:
Is your leadership being driven by clarity… or by stress?

Because no strategy can outpace a dysregulated system.

This month isn’t about doing more.
It’s about leading from steadiness.

#LeadershipWellbeing #RegulatedLeadership #ExecutiveHealth #CasaAlternavida #ConsciousBusiness

🧠 What Your Body Clock May Be Telling You About Brain Health

A recent study in Neurology found that weaker and more fragmented circadian rhythm, our body’s internal clock that governs sleep, activity, and rest were linked to a higher risk of dementia in older adults. People whose daily activity peaks later in the day and whose rhythms are less consistent had up to a 45% increased association with dementia risk. 

⚙️ Your circadian rhythm isn’t just about sleep, it influences hormones, metabolism, digestion, and even inflammation. When that rhythm becomes irregular or fragmented, it may be more than “tiredness”; it could be signaling deeper imbalance. 

For leaders, this research isn’t just a health headline, it’s a reminder that well-being isn’t separate from performance. When we consistently misalign our internal clocks by ignoring rest, disrupting sleep, or living in constant urgency, we may be paying a deeper cost over time.

Leaders who prioritize rhythm, consistent sleep, daylight exposure, boundaries around work cycles aren’t just investing in energy and creativity. They’re supporting long-term brain health and resilience.

💭 What small rhythm change could you make today that supports your clarity and longevity?

Read more through this article: https://bit.ly/4pBo4b8

#LeadershipWellbeing #BrainHealth #CircadianRhythm #MindfulLeadership #EnergyManagement #WellbeingAtWork #HealthyLeadership

Open article: Weaker and fragmented circadian rhythms linked to higher dementia risk by news-medical.net

Weaker and fragmented circadian rhythms linked to higher dementia risk

What happens when purpose doesn’t protect you from burnout?

We often assume that meaning shields leaders from overwhelm that purpose makes struggle worth it. But what if purpose without presence just delays the crash?

In his conversation on The Next Mountain Podcast, Yancy Wright shares a story many executives know too well: climbing the ladder of success driven by meaning and impact, only to find yourself physically depleted and emotionally disconnected. His journey didn’t end in accomplishment, it ended in an ICU bed.

That moment wasn’t a failure.
It was a signal.

In the episode, it unpacks:

⭐ Why purpose alone isn’t enough when work is fueled by stress
⭐ How burnout shows up long before it breaks you, if you’re willing to pay attention
⭐ The unconscious commitment to struggle that many high performers mistake for resilience
⭐ Why nature and presence can be powerful teachers for leadership clarity and intuition

So here’s a question worth sitting with:

👉 What signals have you been ignoring because “purpose” felt like protection?
👉 How many more decisions are being made from exhaustion rather than clarity?

High performance isn’t just about how much you can do,
it’s about how well you can be while doing it.

If leaders want sustainable impact, the inner journey matters just as much as strategy.

#LeadershipWellbeing #ExecutivePresence #SustainableLeadership #ConsciousLeadership #BurnoutPrevention #PurposeDrivenLeadership #MindfulLeadership

Open article: #008: From Burnout to Purpose: Yancy Wright on Leadership, Nature and Listening to the Body — Next Mountain by nextmountain.life

#008: From Burnout to Purpose: Yancy Wright on Leadership, Nature and Listening to the Body — Next Mountain

Before January ends, PAUSE.

Not to review goals but to notice how you arrived here.

Did this month feel steady… or strained?
Focused… or frantic?

Because the way you begin a year quietly shapes how you lead through it.

What’s one thing you’re choosing not to carry into February?

#LeadershipReflection #ExecutivePresence #CasaAlternavida #ConsciousLeadership

Maria’s experiences living in Puerto Rico and working in under-resourced areas in the U.S. have been a driving force behind her mission to empower leaders to move health forward. Her experience as a responder to some of the most challenging natural disasters in recent history, and her own personal health emergencies have only strengthened her resolve to make a difference in the World. 

As a Harvard-trained expert in health reform and social entrepreneurship, Maria has worked with thousands of physicians, primary care centers, and health systems to design and implement effective technologies for addressing community health needs. She has led projects funded by prestigious organizations, including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. She is also certified as a Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner, Patient-Centered Medical Home Content Expert, and Fundraising Executive.

Maria’s innovative approach to personalized care and education has earned her a patent and recognition as one of the Top 10 Women Visionary Leaders in Healthcare, Top 100 Innovators & Entrepreneurs, and Top 100 Healthcare Leaders.  She has also authored multiple books focused on putting people first in healthcare.

Her passion for people and using data as a vehicle for change makes her a refreshing source of light. Maria is the proud mother of a kind-hearted, mindful surfer who brings joy and balance to her life.

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