The Breastfeeding Breadwinner’s Breather

A relaxing therapeutic retreat day

to give you some breathing room

while you do it all.

For the breastfeeding parent in need of a moment.

Now booking individual retreats for 2023 and 2024.

You have always been a force to be reckoned with. Turns out… parenthood wants a humbling reckoning with you.

It’s a lot of pressure to be the one person who can feed your child for months on end. And it’s pretty frustrating to have your usually satisfying, productive work days interrupted and slowed WAY down by nursing sessions.

That loss of autonomy is devastating for a powerhouse like you.

Now you're happy if you cook a meal without stopping halfway, or finish a thought, or sleep through the night. Now you have to ask your partner if you can have a shower, and make sure you have childcare to do ANYTHING at all.

Your relationship is in uncharted waters. You’re both forever changed, and there are new struggles to navigate.

Watching your partner become a parent can be a beautiful and gruesome thing. Everyone is tired. People say things they don’t mean, or run out of gas for the baby stuff, and all the extra communication it requires.

You’ve never been more of a team, yet the playing field is not even. You wish you could just transfer the mental load you’ve been carrying directly into his brain, but you can’t rewrite generations of social programming.

You’re stuck wanting to do your usual contributions to the home, but instead you’re largely unable to function, due to being a round-the-clock food source.

So you’re excited to return to work, with breastpump in tow.

As a new parent, you’re pulled in a million directions. Multiply that by 1000 when you add being a "professional" at work into the equation. You’d blame yourself for working too hard, because you’re supposed to be present for the sacred experience of becoming a mom.

At the same time, if you didn't give attention to your work, your family wouldn’t have income. Many days, this contradiction feels like you’re stuck in a bind that you wouldn’t change for the world.

As a breastfeeding breadwinner, you face a complex set of struggles that are not understood by the public or honored in mainstream media.

Because I noticed this, I started the blog on this website to give voice to our experiences. In one article, I pondered the systemic barriers to our success entitled “I’ve never heard of a breastfeeding breadwinner!”

This is why the Breastfeeding Breadwinner’s Breather Individual Therapy Retreat was born.

The Breastfeeding Breadwinner’s Breather is a therapeutic retreat day, designed precisely for the unique needs of birthing people, breastfeeding while still passionately pursuing their career.

The Breather Retreat shifts overwhelm and chaos

into an organized set of empowered choices,

so Breastfeeding Breadwinners can feel confident in their new identities,

and fully celebrate their incredible capabilities.

This nourishing retreat makes space for metabolizing the endless changes and hardships of transitioning to parenthood.

Take a day to focus on yourself, what you’ve been through so far, and how you’re feeling as you take on the early months of parenthood in all their messy, tiring, life-altering glory.

Take a day to get some peace, clarity, and care for the big work you’re doing… at home, and out in the world. I mean, why not take an actual, meaningful break during the early stages of parenting? It’s exhausting! You need a break, period.

Connect back to yourself with an Individual Therapy Retreat the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with me, Ginelle Krummey, LCMHC.

I created a delicious, customizable retreat day, just for you – the breastfeeding breadwinner, where you’ll be able to…

Hear your own thoughts out loud for several hours straight.
Unload the stories of your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience so far.
Get clear on what’s working and not working in your household, so you can be present for this moment, not just getting through it.
Gain expert insight around what to expect, and what’s possible for this moment in your life.
Strategize your wellness practices as a working new parent.
Feel a sense of refreshment, and a new beginning after a rocky start.
Most of all, you’ll begin to live into the new version of yourself that you are proud to model for your child. That, my fellow badass, is priceless.

Settle into some proper relaxation across the whole day.

Gorgeous, scenic, private setting with direct access to untouched forest.
An experienced, expert guide holding the container for your process
A luxurious itinerary combining immersive therapy with restorative services, such as massage, reiki, a walk in the woods, or mindfulness time.
Depending on the season, a friendly run-in with a bunny, turkey, deer, cow, horse, chicken, dog, or high-soaring bird is likely.
Fresh local flowers on the table and local art on the walls of our secluded office cottage with 360 mountain views and a delightful breeze.
Locally crafted lunch options and baked goodies for that breast-feeding appetite .
Your chosen therapy topic(s) for exploration. See about my style here.

Hi, I'm Ginelle!

Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor

I happen to know a little bit about breastfeeding breadwinnership.

In the Summer of 2021, my husband just left his job to pursue work more aligned with his interests, and I took the reins as the household breadwinner, with trust in my psychotherapy practice to support us entirely. I was proud to become the breadwinner for our household, returning the favor after he had supported me during my internship year.

Next thing I knew, I was pregnant for the first time at the age of 35. I mean like one month after I’d stepped up as breadwinner. We barely got to enjoy our new dynamic, before it was drastically different again. One thankfully smooth pregnancy, an okay-ish birthing experience, and 4 months of parental leave later… I can’t wait to get back to work.

Only “getting back to work” meant going back and forth to the house every two hours, and arranging my schedule so it permits me to feed the baby. Even with the support of my partner doing childcare, and my office 100 steps from my front door…

I was a breastfeeding breadwinner, but I was not ‘winning’ anything…

I was stretched thin. Not yet burning out, but I knew tracking this many moving parts of my life usually ends with a little wake-up call in the form of a migraine headache.

One thing I knew without a single doubt, however, was that I was not going to allow parenthood to undermine my relationship with my work. If you know me, you know I’m in love with this work and my career. I am NOT going to stop the career I’ve worked my whole life to know how to do well.

I knew I couldn’t be the only person feeling this same sense of passionate possession of their professional identity in the transition to motherhood, and I want to recognize the very unique position that breastfeeding breadwinners are in.

In order to create a sustainable business for myself that prevents and heals me from years of burnout conditions, I offer retreat-style service. The Breastfeeding Breadwinner’s Breather Retreat is designed specifically for individuals facing hardships in the early stages of parenthood.

What people are saying...

“Ginelle is THE person to hold space for breastfeeding breadwinners. She is knowledgeable, passionate, and cares deeply for the breastfeeders who are figuring out what it looks like for THEM to balance parenthood and career.

Ginelle balances warmth, helpful questions, and thoughtful reframes, plus laughter. She’s a joy to be around. The breather retreat is an opportunity to be held and leave feeling aligned with your values and with a plan to stay that way.”

Dr. Teddie Jackson, Hella Good Therapy

Rest, Recieve, Regroup

Get present: Guided meditation to bring you into this moment, so you can get the most out of your day

Talk it out: Workshop what’s not working, hear yourself think for once

Process your personal story: Identify the conflicts in your conscience, witness pain in need of care

Enjoyment and pleasure: Massage time, sunny walking time, forest bathing, local lunch, and sweet treats

Creative problem-solving: Identify specific solutions to your most pressing struggles; Reorganize the distribution of labor, or your willingness to get support; Examine family history and cultural influences

Receive care your way going forward: Create a plan to maintain commitment to your intentions

Face the future with a new mindset: Settle into a guided meditation about your next moves, your worthiness of peace and protection, and your absolute, earth-shattering, all-powerful enoughness.

Customize your day according to your needs

Stop teasing me, Ginelle – there’s no way I can spend time and travel on this for myself!

I know it’s a whole ordeal to arrange childcare, collect breastmilk, and release control to take a brief trip away from home. I get it, there is a whole entire person depending on you to go on living.

The thing is… your wellness is worth it! (and necessary.)

Your mental health and wellness is worth the hurdles it will take to give yourself this restorative time and treatment.

We can figure this out.

Imagine the time you’re wasting keeping things how they are: fighting with your partner, doing too much of everything yourself, and feeling the building resentment.

What elements of this irreplacable moment of becoming a parent

are you missing

because of the chaos you feel?

You do all of this to maintain a high quality of life for those you love.

YOU, TOO, DESERVE a high quality of life.

Show your child that they have a parent who deserves rest, and who knows how to provide presence and connectedness– not just finances and sustenance.
.

This retreat is a great fit for you if…

You have a liiiiittle bit of a hard time depending on others, historically and presently.
You get a secret ego boost from being needed by others, but it switches to resentment and fatigue.
You don’t even know what to do with a break when you get one, much less how to create one.
You are more than irked with the loss of autonomy that comes with breastfeeding.
Your emotions are, to put it lightly, ALL OVER THE PLACE! Not in a scary way, but in a brand new way.

If you feel like you’re hanging on by a thread,

while the weight of your responsibilities stretches it ever further,

it might be time to release some tension.

Being overworked and underslept is not helping you be the parent you want to be.

These are the conditions that make new parents vulnerable.

Look back on your transition to parenthood without regrets.

Your wellness is the asset everyone counts on.

Protect it.

Schedule your retreat day.

Book a Discovery Call

Let's design your custom

Breather Retreat.

You deserve it.

Request a Discovery Call Now

For your remaining questions...

Seriously, how do we pull this off? I don’t get it. Depending on your stage of parenthood, our team will help you make decisions about how to extract you from your lovely family for 1-3+ days. That’s why this retreat is short and powerful. We’ll help you identify what childcare and breastfeeding preferences you might have. If you’re taking pumping breaks during the day, great! If you want a midday break to have your baby visit, you got it! You can also plan this retreat for the baby’s age range when you can expect to be separating more often, or for longer periods of time. You’ll still have plenty to process, and you’ll still need this care when your retreat day comes along. AND… your baby will be okay. Your childcare will be able to handle this.

Why does it cost so much? I'll feel guilty if I spend this money on myself! This day is very specialized… by breastfeeding breadwinners FOR breastfeeding breadwinners. It is both costly to produce and arrange, AND it should be highly valued by the participant. The work you do on this day should make a BIG difference in your parenting experience, and that’s kindof a big deal! When we invest big money in a change process, it tends to stick.

Where do I stay? Does this include lodging? Depending on your preferences, you can opt for the Asheville experience, or the Marshall experience. You could select from hotels, Airbnb’s, camping if that’s your thing, or tiny home stays. Accommodations are not included (yet!!) in retreat packages, but we will help you make a selection that brings the utmost pleasure to your travel experience.

Is this really going to change anything? I’m doing alright enough... Sure, sure. You’re pulling it off right now, but is it costing you your wellness? Our goal in this work is to make sure you aren’t subsidizing everyone else’s lives with your own. When you heal what you’ve been through, prioritize your wellness as a practice, and move forward with purpose and intention… everyone benefits, including you. It takes a special, focused moment to figure out what’s needed, and some accountability to see it through. This retreat has those impacts.