Leticia Ricks is the CEO and founder of Luxotic Retreats, a Black-owned travel company focusing on professional development in some of the world’s most beautiful places.
Ricks, who started her entrepreneurial journey in 2019, said her retreats are for women of color trying to take their business to the next level.
“Navigating through this entrepreneurial journey hasn’t been easy,” she told Travel Noire. “I had to do the research and grind because I didn’t have that cousin, grandfather, or uncle that could tell me the tips and tricks.”
After seeing exactly what was needed during her journey, she decided to give back to other women like her. She will host her first professional retreat in Bali on April 3.
Travel Noire: What was the inspiration behind Luxotic Retreats?
Ricks: I started Luxotic Retreats in 2019. We host enrichment retreats, allowing entrepreneurs, influencers, and professionals to grow and develop in luxurious reset locations internationally.
I’m an avid traveler. I work in global diversity for Amazon, and I travel a lot to attend different conferences. What I love about these events is I leave with more than I came with as opposed to when I’m traveling for leisure, where I’m dreading the last day.
My goal with Luxotic Retreats is to combat that post-travel depression by ensuring that travelers can take back more with them, than what they came with from a vacation perspective. I also want people to learn and connect with influencers differently.
What’s unique about our retreat is that we have influencers and subject matter experts who will teach immersive masterclasses to our guests.
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Travel Noire: What’s your vision for Luxotic Retreats?
Ricks: We want people to learn and grow. For our inaugural retreat in Bali, we have 12 different speakers. Misa Hylton, a fashion icon who has done fashion styling for Beyonce and so many other different celebrities, will be teaching fashion and styling.
We have Makeup By Jess, and anyone that attends her master class will learn how to apply makeup. This is perfect for someone, like a YouTuber, that is self-trained. She’s amazing.
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We’ll also have Madison Jaye, who is a spiritual journalist. She will discuss more on using meditation as a reset, and because she is a host of her own podcast, she will teach people how to host their own and monetize it.
We have so many great speakers who want to help people manifest the career of their dreams.
Travel Noire: Why did you feel this was needed for the Black community, specifically?
Ricks: I work in diversity. I say that because it’s already a passion to bridge the gap for under-marginalized groups from a corporate perspective.
I want to connect with those who are like me. This retreat is birthed out of something that I found was needed during my journey. There’s so much lacking in our community, specifically for women of color. I want to amplify and lift up women of color on their entrepreneurial endeavors.
Let’s all figure it out in paradise.
To lean more about Luxotic Retreats, you can follow on Instagram at: @luxotic_retreats.
