IN CONVERSATION WITH: Becca Gayle-Phipps

Key Takeaways

• The wellness industry has a representation problem that REESET is addressing head on

• Strategic planning during downtime can accelerate your career change timeline by years

• Values-first businesses require the discipline to say no, even when revenue is at stake

• Sound therapy offers scientifically-backed benefits for stress relief and mental clarity

• Sometimes career moves come from moments when your body literally forces you to stop

What happens when a seemingly random career prediction made at 16 comes true in the most unexpected way? Becca's journey from fashion retail executive to founder of REESET - a wellness retreat company creating inclusive spaces for underrepresented communities - proves that sometimes the universe has a sense of humour about our professional paths.

When a careers advisor told teenage Becca she'd spend her life in sports PR, it seemed completely random. Fast forward two decades through luxury fashion, retail leadership, and now wellness entrepreneurship, and she's realising that prediction was remarkably accurate. She laughs, "It's really baffling!"

From burnout in corporate meetings to building a business that's disrupting the wellness industry's approach to inclusion, Becca's story offers compelling insights into how personal struggles can become the most powerful business opportunities. Her journey demonstrates that the most meaningful careers can emerge from having the courage to listen when your body is literally telling you something needs to change.

I first met Becca over a decade ago when we both worked at Liberty London. Even then, her natural ability to make everyone feel welcome was evident, combined with an exceptional attention to detail for creating client experiences. What I couldn't have predicted was how those foundational skills would become the bedrock for disrupting an entire industry's approach to inclusion.

The build-up to breaking point

Becca's career progression looked impressive from the outside - starting at Burberry's HQ showroom, creating Lululemon's first personal shopping suite at their London flagship, eventually opening GymShark's first physical store. Each role built on her expertise in luxury service and community building, skills that seemed to come naturally.

But success in fashion retail sadly often comes with a hidden cost. The industry's fast pace and relentless pressure create environments where burnout isn't just common, it's almost inevitable. For years, Becca navigated this world effectively, but her body was starting to send increasingly urgent signals.

"I was literally going to meetings and I couldn't stop my hands from shaking from the anxiety. I saw how exclusionary retail can be, how burnout drives many fashion leaders to sad, sad places."

That physical manifestation of stress became impossible to ignore which led her to try a more unorthodox approach. A sound bath.

When ancient practice meets modern science

A sound bath might sound unusual if you haven't experienced one. It's essentially a meditative experience where you lie down and let therapeutic sounds from instruments like singing bowls and gongs wash over you. Research shows these sound frequencies can shift your brainwaves from active, stressed states to deeply relaxed ones, and studies have found that sound meditation significantly reduces tension, anxiety, and depression while improving overall wellbeing.

For Becca, that first session became the catalyst for everything that followed - yoga teacher training, sound bath certification, and ultimately creating REESET.

Redefining an industry through inclusion

The global wellness industry is worth $1.5 trillion, but it has a significant representation problem that REESET directly addresses. Having worked in luxury retail, Becca understands service excellence, but her definition goes far deeper than polished experiences.

"Every person deserves the right to feel safe and feel seen and somehow in luxury, sometimes that's forgotten. It's kind of like we are the brand, this is how we do it, and you will enjoy it."

Becca's approach at REESET mirrors her personal shopping philosophy - understanding that her primary role is reading clients' needs and energy. "You can see when someone comes into a Personal Shopping appointment - they're either feeling small, like 'Please help me,' or they come in confident. Our response has to match their energy."

As someone of Jamaican heritage, Becca consistently found herself the outsider at wellness events. "Whenever I see retreats on social media, they are, generally speaking, thin, white, bendy, able-bodied humans and so many more people exist in the world."

This personal experience became her competitive advantage.

What makes REESET ifferent

REESET operates across three areas: overnight retreats in Mallorca, day experiences in the United Kingdom, and venue partnerships. Their Mallorca base offers 5 day retreats for small groups of 8-12 people, featuring yoga, meditation, sound healing, breathwork, and thoughtful touches like cycling to beaches or visiting local markets.

Day retreats, like their upcoming London experience on 13th September, run from 10am-4pm and include four guided sessions, panel conversations, and chef-prepared seasonal meals. These serve as "taster sessions" for people unsure if multi-day retreats suit them.

What truly differentiates REESET is their specialised programming. Unlike mainstream wellness companies that market to everyone, REESET runs dedicated retreats for women only, LGBTQ+ communities, and Black women and women of colour, alongside their open-to-all experiences. It's about creating spaces where people can completely relax without having to explain themselves or worry about fitting in.

Their accessibility approach reinforces this differentiation, offering early bird discounts, payment plans, and crucially, Open Access Tickets - completely free spaces because, as Becca puts it, "finances should never be a barrier to healing." Everything reflects their values, from choosing ground-floor venues for mobility access to partnering with local farmers rather than acquiring land in communities where they're not native.

The values-first business approach

Building a business that lives its values requires constant decision-making discipline, especially when revenue is at stake. REESET regularly turns down profitable opportunities that don't align with their inclusion mission.

"We say no quite a lot, and actually, as an entrepreneur, that's not really easy, because the bank manager doesn't always agree, but we have to keep going down this path, because otherwise there is no REESET."

Her approach to maintaining service excellence centres on self-regulation and smart systems. "A regulated leader would create a regulated environment," she explains. "If I go in frustrated and chaotic, that's what the environment sucks up."

She's also learned the importance of sustainable scheduling: "One of my worst nightmares is back to back appointments, back to back sessions. There's no way that last session is getting the same as the first session. We're humans, we're not robots. We can't do autopilot."

This philosophy extends beyond scheduling. Becca believes in the power of transparency and showing up authentically, even when it's challenging. As she puts it, "We have to be challenging hiring principles, structures of accessibility... we have to challenge those norms."

The evolution of success

Becca's definition of success has transformed over the years, shaped by her experiences - both personal and professional.

"It used to be titles, visibility, those things, and now it is impact. Success to me now is when someone tells me that REESET has made them feel like they belonged."

That shift from external validation to actual purpose often comes from reaching authentic breaking points. For Becca, that moment came in a senior meeting when frustration finally overrode diplomacy. "To be honest, I think I was at a breaking point. Just over it because I didn't know why I was coming to this meeting."

Her journey offers valuable insights for anyone considering a major change. She used downtime strategically rather than panicking, planned her exit route clearly, and most importantly, listened when her body was signalling misalignment through physical symptoms.

What's particularly smart about her approach was testing her concept with day experiences before committing to overnight retreats, reducing risk while building community. From day one, she built operational systems that support her values, preventing the values drift that often happens as businesses scale.

One significant hurdle she overcame was a limiting belief about market demand. "Probably that people wouldn't invest in something that is values first, and turns out that they will." Her willingness to challenge this assumption became fundamental to REESET ‘s success.

My Take

One of my favourite parts of Becca's story is how unapologetically honest she is about the messy reality of career transitions. She had panic attacks in meetings, not a grand epiphany. She applied every skill she'd learned to create something more meaningful, instead of abandoning her previous retail experience.

Becca's approach demonstrates remarkable business acumen too. The wellness industry's representation gap presents enormous commercial opportunity, proving that inclusive approaches are strategically smart, as well as being morally right. By creating dedicated spaces for underrepresented communities, REESET has found a way to serve markets that mainstream wellness businesses consistently overlook.

Her commitment to saying no when opportunities don't align with REESET ‘s values shows extraordinary discipline. I think every entrepreneur reading this will identify with being faced with these difficult decisions. So many industries today are driven by growth at any cost, whereas Becca shows us all that principled businesses can be both sustainable and impactful.

Inclusivity and belonging are also at the heart of my coaching practice, so seeing Becca creating the wellness spaces where people can be themselves without explanation or apology is something that resonates very strongly with me.

The advice that resonates most from our conversation addresses why so many people stay stuck:

"Don't wait to feel ready, because the clarity will come in the action... just start. It doesn't matter what that looks like, you will never go anywhere or do anything if you don't just start."

Transformations often begin with the courage to listen when our bodies tell us something needs to change. For Becca, that listening led not just to personal healing but also feeling called to create healing spaces for others.

Follow Becca and Reeset on LinkedIn and Instagram at @beccagaylephipps @timetoreeset, and discover more about REESET's inclusive retreat offerings at www.timetoreeset.com