2025 was a weird, difficult time to have a tiny business in America. And so far, 2026 feels even weirder and harder. I’m sharing the pivots I’m making behind the scenes to meet this moment and adapt my business strategy for what’s happening right now.

The Current Business Landscape: What I’m Facing

I’ve been doing this for a long time and I have never hit this much resistance. Here’s what’s making things harder:

• Since the pandemic, folks changed their behavior around long-range planning and tend to sign up for things last-minute, which makes it difficult to plan everything from travel experiences to marketing to my own budget
• Political chaos has people nervous and holding onto their money
• Folks are nervous about traveling internationally
• Prices have gone way up on everything, and wages haven’t kept up
• AI and Zoom burnout have affected the online teaching industry in big ways
• Social media is a slot machine in our pocket that steals our energy and isn’t effective marketing anymore for most of us

As someone who doesn’t come from money or have a big financial cushion, who carries a huge amount of risk just to keep this work alive, it’s been a lot. But I’ve resolved to do what I always do: pivot and keep pushing.

🎯 New Trip Format: Lower Risk & Easier YES

One of the main reasons I moved to Las Vegas was so I could plan and host my retreats and events differently.

Reason 1: Hosting U.S.-Based Trips Lowers My Risk

I love doing international retreats but they are a huge financial risk for me. I need to lower my own risk on hosting events if I want to keep offering them.

Las Vegas is a perfect home base with a convenient airport, direct flights from everywhere, easy logistics solutions, and it sits in the middle of some of the most stunning natural landscapes in the US: Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Southern California, Utah, and Arizona—all within driving distance.

The new trips I’m developing will be 3-4 nights and based in the United States. Lower cost, no international logistics, shorter lead times, refundable deposits at venues like hotels instead of retreat centers—all these things lower the risk for me.

For the next few years, or at least until America is under new management, I’m going to try this new format. As for international trips, here’s what I’ve got planned:

• Wild Bodies Surf Camp is happening in México for the third time next month and I definitely plan to run it next year despite the risks. It’s too good!
• In November, I am taking a group of plus size women to the Galápagos as a guide for WHOA Travel and I’m super excited about that.
• I’m considering hosting some trips with Trova, which is super low-risk for hosts. If you have experience hosting or traveling with them, please reach out! Thailand and Bali are at the top of my list of itineraries I’m considering.

Reason 2: Planning Around Patriarchy Dynamics

Another reason I’m changing the format of my retreats is to include more women who need a reset but can’t leave chaos in their wake for a whole week.

I’ve been watching this pattern repeat itself for years with my retreat guests: A woman travels with me for a week. She shows up carrying everything she always carries. By day 2 she’s exhaling. By day 4 she’s laughing in a way she forgot she could. She leaves feeling like herself again. Seen. Filled up. Reconnected to something she’d set down somewhere and lost track of.

And then she goes home.

And the house is chaos. Her partner doesn’t know the doctor’s phone number or the bank account password or where the kids’ permission slips are. The children are dysregulated because the person who holds everything together has been gone for a week. The re-entry is so hard for her.

I can’t fix the dynamics of patriarchy showing up in our relationships, but I can plan around these dynamics to make it easier for y’all to say yes and get the transformative community experience that you need.

Reason 3: Retreats I Can Host More Than Once

I also want to create trips that I can repeat. So many of my past events have been one-of-ones. If you didn’t come that year, you didn’t get to come. Venues close. I move. I decide not to return to a location. Pandemics happen. The experience is gone.

What I’m building now are repeatable formats with itineraries I can run again and again. I’m launching Zion National Park this year. I want to do some scouting at the Grand Canyon next. Want to come with me to Death Valley or Sequoia or Yosemite? What about a fabulous Las Vegas vacation with the best this city has to offer? Or a marketing “work-cation” where we rent a house with a pool and work on our businesses for a few days?

I imagine a library of these experiences, each one scouted carefully and designed for the people who need the most support.

If this format works (and I think it will!), it becomes something I can sustain and grow. Something that lets me do more of the work I actually love: curating adventures for y’all, making the invitation, then watching you find yourselves again and remember who you really are.

The Valley of Fire trip is almost full, and my second event with this format will be a Zion National Park road trip.

6 women in a van (party bus! I’m driving!). 3 days of exploring. Geared toward nervous and slow hikers. No camping, no big hikes you gotta train for. Just an unforgettable road trip with all the details handled, and an experience that you’ll never forget. Enrollment opens soon—click here to get added to the hotlist.

💻 I’m Doing Service-Based Work Again: Websites, Merch, and Marketing Coaching

I’m shifting away from leading online courses for now and back toward services, the kind where I roll up my sleeves and work alongside you.

1. Let Me Update Your Dusty Ol’ Website

I’m super excited about helping folks with their websites again. I’ve been doing web design for almost 30 years(!) and I’d love to help you with the stuff you’ve been putting off.

I can help you with anything from a revamped About Page that actually sounds like you, to a complete website redesign with copywriting, design, tech—all of it. I’m booking clients for spring and summer now. Grab 20 minutes on my calendar and let’s talk about your website.

“Working with Amber on my website strategy and redesign was a dream from beginning to end. It has made me feel more confident and given me clarity about where I want to take my business. This was so much more than just a website redesign.”

—Kathy Kimbrough, anti-diet dietitian

2. Custom Merchandise Design for Tiny Businesses

Here are 2 facts I know: Merch is marketing that works, and your fans want merch! I’ve been doing custom merch design since I was a teenager and I love these projects. Nowadays, drop shipping makes merchandise accessible even for tiny businesses because you don’t have to put down big deposits ahead of time or worry about inventory that doesn’t sell.

Grab 20 minutes on my calendar and let’s talk about how to turn your customers into walking billboards and let them do your marketing for you.

“Creating bespoke merch for the welcome package for my coaching program was an absolute DREAM with Amber’s support. Not only did she take something overwhelming off my to-do list and get it done quickly (and easily), but the designs were gorgeous! It was exactly what I envisioned… and so much more.”

—Mara Glatzel, coach & author

3. The Marketing Audit

This 1:1 marketing coaching is for when you feel stuck and what you actually need isn’t more information—it’s someone who understands your specific business and can tell you the two or three things actually worth your time. It’s 90 minutes and costs $199 and it just might be the most grounded thing you can do for your business right now. Book your Marketing Audit here.