We're honored to share our work with Extraordinary clients
Upwork
TrueCar
Solugen
Meta
Army
St Mary's College
Sutter Health
P&G
Abbot
boehringer ingelheim
BEan in Nature
BRAD LANDE-SHANNON
Owner, Head Leadership Coach
It’s time to wake up your true self.
We are human animals but we are cut off from the natural signals of our animal bodies. We are ruled by thought, language, ego, and story. As adults, we have learned to put our mammal bodies to sleep.
When we learn to listen to our inner world and its signals, we are alive and attuned to the depth and texture of our lives. We wake up a fundamental part of our hard-wiring that transforms our ability to shape our relationships. We call this our Natural Leadership, and though it may be hidden or forgotten, it is never lost.
At The Circle Up Experience, you awaken your Natural Leadership so you can navigate the world, take hold of your most genuine desires, and build authentic connections.
Our Offerings
Retreats, Courses, and Coaching for Human Herds
Choose your experience
Custom Business Retreats
1-3 DAY CUSTOM EXPERIENCES
Escape the office and get to know your human herd by spending 1-3 days at one of our Circle Up locations, or our team will come to a special location closer to you.
Teams will strengthen current relationships, welcome new members, and increase their awareness of each other’s strengths when they engage with our horses and experience the nature-based activities we offer.
Our workshops may also feature sheep, dogs, falconry, meditation, art, writing, movement, and mindful hiking. You don’t have to be interested in animals or know much about them to have a profound transformation.
“Circle Up gathered together our group and turned us into a team! The Circle Up team (humans and horses) took our newly re-configured group—made up of people from three different countries—and gave us the opportunity to get to know each other in a completely unique way. We have been able to stay connected despite geography and to continuously develop and respect our soft skills."
LAUREN PFEIFFER, ADOBE INC.
Retreats
for all people, great and small
We host exceptional retreats at our unique Circle Up locations. Our retreats focus on personal leadership, relationships, and spiritual development. The retreat experience offers the space and time to pause from everyday life for reflection.
P.S. If you have an idea for a retreat or a group of people who want a meaningful experience together, we can help you design a gathering that meets your needs. Plan your retreat with us...
"Getting real-time feedback is a rare gift, and yet it's the biggest opportunity to learn about ourselves and grow. Circle Up’s program delivers just that, through the eyes of a partner who acts with total honesty and vulnerability, and without their own ego or agenda — the perfect mirror: a horse. My experience was simply incredible and has made a huge impact on me. I highly recommend it to anyone.”
AMY J., GOOGLE WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP FORUM
Coaching
FOR INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS & INSTITUTIONS
Create a culture for the people you care about by stepping into your Natural Leadership.
Each year, we take a select number of clients for individual, executive or group coaching programs, including a limited number of large institutions for customized programs.
As coaches, we’re not afraid to ask tough questions. We pick up on core themes and issues quickly and know exactly when to be gentle and when to push. The transferable skills we teach will help you support, develop, and mentor colleagues and peers.
"What Circle Up offers is different from other team-building exercises, and is also based on the way a horse lives and works. No conference rooms. No binders. No powerpoint slides. No blah blah blah.”
FORBES MAGAZINE
Courses
For Aspiring Leaders
If you are already a leader for your herd, our courses help you step into your role with confidence and power.
Courses are offered through our online learning platform so they are accessible anytime, anywhere. They often include group coaching calls and private discussion groups.
Our integrative model teaches basic concepts about human nature through the lenses of psychology, animal behavior, interpersonal neuroscience, and meditation.
There is nothing quite like having the privilege of working through one-on-one executive coaching with Beth Anstandig. She wastes no time assessing a person’s needs and crafting an organic experience. There is an immense opportunity for personal and professional growth for anyone who chooses to embrace it.
VICTORIA CONKLIN, VICE PRESIDENT – LENDING, AMERICAN AGCREDIT
Latest News
Posts about Relationships and leadership
Coping with Workplace Grief
Even before COVID-19 subtracted so much from our lives, workplace grief was a corporate crisis. Now, as we have faced the loss of loved ones, missed occasions and celebrations, and isolation from family, friends and colleagues, the losses in our professional lives compounded with the effects of the global pandemic have become much more traumatic.…
Read MoreCrossing to Join the Herd: Psychological Safety and Relationship
Photo by Carla Richardson I spend time outside with our herd in the horse pasture a few times a day. It’s a nervous system reset for me and a way to find my way back to the most stable parts of myself. Recently, I’d had one of those days where all the machinery around me…
Read MoreBroadening the Concept of Mindfulness with the Four Channels of Natural Leadership Awareness
We’re used to thinking about mindfulness in terms of what’s going on in our thinking. But, the thing about awareness, which we can learn from being with animals, is that by tapping into our Natural Leadership Awareness, we can broaden the scope of mindfulness to include what’s happening within our bodies, spirits, and emotions. And…
Read MoreHardship and Herdship: We Need Each Other
By now, you might feel like a caged animal. Well, you kind of are. We are human animals in captivity. COVID-19 has put most of the world in this surreal lock-down experience, and our lives have slowed down beyond recognition. I’ve been referring to it as The New Abnormal. I use these words to remind…
Read MoreThe Nature of Closure
Winter has been whispering at our closed doors and windows for a few months now. Frigid air, cloud cover, fewer rays of sunshine. The colder weather and shorter days affect us, whether we are aware of it or not. Our bodies have instinctively been instructed to pull the curtains hunker down. There is this palpable…
Read MoreHumanly Possible with Bryan Kramer, Featuring Beth Killough
Learning to Continually Shift September 24, 2020 Humanly Possible with Bryan Kramer is a podcast that reminds us being imperfect humans is our greatest competitive advantage and where guests share stories about small shifts that make an epic difference. Beth shared with Bryan how we can tap into our natural awareness as human mammals for…
Read More