CATALYST
IGNITE YOUR PASSION. EXPAND YOUR LEADERSHIP. ACCELERATE YOUR BUSINESS
Thursday 27th - Sunday 30th Nov, 2025
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
It’s time. You’re a catalyst for change, and you know it.
But, there’s no more hiding.
It’s time to light the fire within and bring your light into the world.
Welcome to CATALYST
A 3-night tech-free retreat for business leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers who are ready to powerfully step out and blaze their own trail.
Why CATALYST?
You’ve achieved a lot. You’ve pushed hard, built a career or business, maybe even hit milestones others only dream about.
But, deep down, you know there’s more in you. More clarity. More courage. More fire. More passion.
CATALYST is where ambitious, purpose-driven leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers come to ignite that fire again. It’s not another workshop, course, or networking event.
It’s a Rite of Passage - an unforgettable retreat in a stunning natural location - designed to shake you out of autopilot and unlock your next chapter.
And it doesn’t end when you leave.
Every retreat is followed by group coaching and integration support so the breakthroughs you have become lasting change in your life and leadership.
Who is this for?
Every transformation starts with a choice.
If you’re here, you already know you’re ready for change.
Maybe this is you:
You’re at a crossroads. What got you here won’t take you further. You feeling ‘stuck’ and like you’re getting in you’re own way. You’re a capable leader but you know you need something that’s going to ignite that next chapter.
You’ve lost some spark. The work feels flat, and you crave more meaning. What got you started on this path is no logner exciting you - you want to feel excited and passionate about what you’re building.
You’re hungry for challenge. You want to be stretched into your full power as a leader. Life has felt a bit 'meh’ recently and you’re ready to feel alive again.
If this is you, CATALYST Retreat was created for you.
What you’ll leave with
Clarity on your next chapter
You’ll leave with 100% clarity on what needs to happen next in your life and business. Confusion will be a thing of the past.
Renewed passion and confidence
You’ll feel a renewed sense of passion and confidence for life with the feeling of ‘stuckness’ or frustration gone from your mind and body.
Expanded leadership capacity
You’ll have greater capacity to leader in your business, your life, your relationships and in the world. You’ll feel bigger and have more space to hold it all.
Momentum to accelerate your business
You’ll have a renewed sense of energy and drive to accelerate your business or career in the direction that you truly believe in and are excited by.
A community of like-minded leaders
You’ll leave with new relationships with other ambitious leaders and a community of purpose-driven people that want to show up in life with same passion and courage that you do.
What’s the program?
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Once you’re in, we’ll get you ready:
1:1 Coaching Call with Matt – clarify your intention and get personal support.
Group Zoom Call - meet the crew and get everything you need before the retreat
7pm - 8.30pm AEST 2025, Tuesday 25th November
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The heart of the program:
3 nights in nature at a stunning retreat location.
Tech-free immersion (yes, we’ll hold your phone + watch).
Guided transformation through breathwork, ice baths, group work, somatic practices, reflection, cacao, and sound healing.
Shared wholefood meals (we cook + eat together).
Coffee-free, tea-filled reset.
Accommodation, bedding, and a gift pack included.
Full access to our facilitation team throughout.
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The real change happens when you’re back home:
Integration Calls – get support, share wins, and keep the momentum going
Tuesday 9th Dec 2025, 7.00pm - 8.30pm AEST
Tuesday 9th Jan 2026 7.00pm - 8.30pm AEST
Tuesday 9th Feb 2026, 7.00pm - 8.30pm AEST
WhatsApp Community – ongoing check-ins, resources, and encouragement.
Retreat
Structure & Flow
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Arrive, settle in, and share dinner with your new community. As the opening ceremony begins, you’ll hand over your phone and watch - symbolically stepping away from the outside world. This night is about slowing down, dropping into presence, and naming your “why” for being here.
Highlights:
Group dinner and opening ceremony
Handing in phones/watches (full presence begins)
Connection circle: share your intention for the retreat
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We rise early, activate body and mind, and share one final breakfast before entering a 24-hour fast. The day is designed to take you deeper - into your story, your intention, and the places you’ve been avoiding. Through nature, breathwork, and group process, you’ll face challenge, move through resistance, and open to new possibility.
Highlights:
Early morning activation + last breakfast before fasting
Sharing your story + connecting to your deeper “why”
Groupwork, nature time, and breathwork journeys
Evening challenge experience to break through old limits
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We begin in silence, integrating the growth of the day before. Together we break the fast, then step into cacao and sound healing - space for reflection and renewal. The afternoon focuses on crafting your vision for what’s next, followed by a powerful honouring circle and an ecstatic celebration to mark your new beginning.
Highlights:
Silent morning integration + breaking the fast
Cacao & sound healing ceremony
Guided visioning practices for your next chapter
Honouring ritual + celebration dinner
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Our final morning is for closure and commitment. After a light breakfast and packing up, we gather in circle one last time. Each person names their commitment - to themselves, their life, their next chapter - before heading home clear, catalysed, and ready for what’s next.
Highlights:
Light breakfast + pack up
Closing circle with clear commitments for action
Departure with renewed energy and direction
The CATALYST Attributes
If you’re a leader that is a true catalyst for change, you act according to these 4 attributes:
You’re a person that follows through and does what you actually say you’re going to do and you communicate clearly.
CONVICTION
You have confidence and trust in yourself to work it out, no matter what. You’ve earned and developed this through direct experience
CONFIDENCE
You know where you want to go in your life and career, without needing to know how, plus you have practical tools to stay connected to clarity.
CLARITY
You lead and are a part of communities of like-minded people who also care about living with passion, purpose and integrity
COMMUNITY
Testimonials
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Jhi - Founder and Entrepreneur (AUS)
“Matt played an instrumental role in helping me come back to what I actually want and living a life that’s attuned and aligned to what I want. His facilitation was great - in terms of 1:1, he was always there if I had questions and in the group work, he orchestrated an experience that came to a powerful crescendo at the end of the week - it created a life-changing experience for myself.
I’m super grateful for Matt - I’ve spent a lot of money on my own personal development and he is one of the best facilitators I have ever met. I have paid a lot more money for a lot less - he’s a 10x facilitator. I really hope I can stay connected to him - he’s a really special person”
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Evan - Entrepreneur & Co-Founder ‘The Art of Monday’s’ (AUS)
“I didn’t fully know what I was getting myself into, and 48 hours later I’ve come out a different person. I’m so grateful for what this experience has taught me.The retreat has allowed me to understand more about myself and what gives me that spark in my life.
I’d recommend this for people who want change, who want growth and want to discover themselves but are maybe too afraid to start or too overwhelmed by what they might discover.
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Jess - Entrepreneur and Founder (NZ)
“I attended a retreat facilitated by Matt, and I was in awe of the space he created for every single person there. Matt cultivated an environment that truly felt safe, accepting, and free of judgment. This allowed me to do deep, transformative work and break through barriers I didn't even realize were limiting my everyday life.
Leaving the retreat, I felt genuinely changed. I processed past trauma, felt lighter, and, in the two months since, my dream life has begun to unfold. I highly recommend Matt’s retreats to anyone with an open mind. It truly was the catalyst for so much positive change in my life.”
Our Venue
Our retreat venue is the stunning Peninsula Flower House on the Mornington Peninsula. Just a 60-minute drive from Melbourne, this private property sits on 50-acres of private land.
Our Team
You’re in very safe hands.
Matt Defina - Retreat Lead, Founder - Another Way, Psychologist, Breathwork Instructor
Matt has worked with and spoken to over 25,000 men and women globally about how to grow and evolve into the best version of themselves.
As a trained Organisational Psychologist, Matt has conducted research on burnout, psychological safety, adaptive leadership, and gender stereotypes. After completing his studies, Matt started a career at PwC as a change management consultant, but quickly realized corporate life wasn’t for him.
Inspired by the social impact sector and wanting to do more, Matt became Head of Programs at The Man Cave, a charity dedicated to equipping young men with emotional intelligence skills and tools they needed to become healthy men. For five years, he developed a curriculum on healthy masculinity, created and delivered retreats, and expanded the organization's research on masculinity.
In 2022, Matt endured a series of panic attacks, depression, anxiety and eventually burnout that forced him to look at his own life and work. After taking some time out, Matt founded Another Way and decided it was time to start helping other purpose-driven professionals create a meaningful life and career.
Matt’s journey has included summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro twice, trekking to Mt. Everest Base Camp, completing an Ironman Triathlon, scuba diving with sharks and whales, completing a 10-day silent meditation retreat and participating in or leading over 40 transformational retreats worldwide.
With this extensive experience, Matt is well-equipped to guide others through their own Rite of Passage - he knows what it takes to walk through the fire and is here to show the way.
Elli Norris - Somatic Breathwork Facilitator
El has traversed through numerous adversities from childhood through her teenage years. Without any education or awareness of how traumatic events impact emotional wellbeing and everyday life, she went on to University to study Outdoor Education and eventually achieved a managerial position in Outdoor Education, where she reached a pivotal moment necessitating change.
Whilst she was making an impact working with students and teachers, her experiences included emotional outbursts, uncontrollable anger and frustration in stressful situations, alongside avoidance tendencies and numbing emotions with substances. Despite career success, she felt unfulfilled and sensed a deeper calling in life. Facing nervous breakdowns and panic attacks, El embarked on a healing journey that led her to discover the transformative power of breathwork somatic therapy.
Now, El is dedicated to creating healing spaces using somatic approaches—breath, movement, sound, and touch. She offers compassionate, intuitive guidance through a blend of these elements, along with emotions and meditation tools, to release physical blockages, regulate the nervous system and connect people back into the wisdom of the body to foster holistic wellbeing.
With over a decade of experience in outdoor education, specializing in boys' schools, El is deeply committed to creating nurturing environments for people to heal and grow. Her passion for this work stems from both personal experiences and extensive interactions with teenagers, giving her profound insights into how societal norms and cultural expectations shape people’s lives.
Testimonials
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Pete - Photographer, Adventurer, Hockey Coach & Leader
“CATALYST was truly, truly profound. I’d never been on a retreat before, so I didn’t really know what I was in for. What I got to experience with Matt & El was truly life-changing. Not only their facilitation experience but also the other people I got to connect with.
The most pivotal moment of the retreat was the challenge part, under the guidance of Matt and El. They were both there to guide me, hold me, support me, through what I needed to work through.
I can’t recommend the retreat enough. It’s changed my life, made me a better man, better friend, better partner and a stronger person. I’m so clear on what I want to do with my future now and so at peace with myself.”
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Charles - Senior Manager, PwC
“I came to CATALYST because I was at a real crossroads in my life. I was looking for that spark, guidance and help with taking that next step in my life.
I now feel loved and a real sense of community that we built over such a short time. I felt like i was in safe hands, that the facilitators cared and that the other participants really helped me with where I’m at now at the end of the retreat.”
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Janelle - Director, PwC
“I am so glad I made the decision to go on this retreat - I wasn't sure what to expect but I had immense trust in Matt, so I threw myself in and have undoubtedly come out a different person the other side.
I would highly recommend this retreat to anyone feeling in a rut with their lives / careers / relationships and seeking clarity, and also anyone looking to be part of a community of like-minded individuals who are going to have your back through the process.”
Sign up
Private Room
$3,000 AUD
Shared Room
$2,500 AUD
Book before 31st October and save $250
How to register:
Click on the form below and pay your $1,000 AUD deposit
Pay In Full or Payment Plans are available (please indicate in the form)
If you have any further questions, please email us at hello@anotherway.au
What makes CATALYST different?
There are 3 key elements to CATALYST that ensures it’s a transformational experience and separates it from other retreat experiences:
1 - Integration Program + Practical Tools
Before and after the retreat you’ll receive comprehensive support via self-guided preparation, 1:1 coaching and group coaching calls. After the retreat, you’ll also be supported to make tangible changes in your life and career with a 4-week group integration program.
Additionally, you'll be taught a combination of tools and skills that will help you to access and connect to both your mind and body. These practices will help you connect more deeply to your passion and purpose so you can make aligned choices in your life and career, and you’ll be supported to integrate these into your everyday life.
2 - Technology-free Environment + Time in Nature
You'll hand in your phone at the start of the retreat, creating a technology-free environment where you can fully engage in the experience. This is a unique opportunity to disconnect from the regular world so you can find the answers you’re looking for.
You'll also stay on a private 25-acre property in the Yarra Valley, Victoria. Surrounded by ancient gum trees and lush forest, this natural environment will provide you with a space away from the regular world so you can connect more deeply with yourself and the experience.
3 - A like-minded community
You won’t be going through this experience alone. You’ll be connected with other like-minded people that have all chosen to invest in themselves and in this experience. You’ll be connected not just on the retreat, but also in the preparation and integration program, creating long-lasting relationships and giving you a community of men that you can trust.
FAQs
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If you can't make one of the calls, you can speak with us during your discovery call or during the program. While part of your commitment to the program is that you make all calls, we also know that life happens and will work with you on this. That being said, we also know that accountability is a key part of this program.
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Yes, we'll work with you to cater for your dietary needs. Please note, we will be eating a wholefoods / paleo diet on the retreat. If you have any specific needs or requests, you can let us know when you book your place.
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Unfortunately you cannot just participate in the retreat. When you commit to Catalyst, you're committing to the 1 group call, the preparation work, the 1:1 calls with Matt, the entirety of the retreat, the integration calls, the final group experience and participating in the Whatsapp group. This has been designed to give you the best chance of actually making change in your life and requires your commitment.
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You can refer to the program outline above to see all key dates.
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Yes, we do offer payment plans. A $1,000 deposit will be required to confirm your place, with the remaining amount due before the retreat starts.
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The last chance you have to join the program will be Sunday 23rd November.
Sign up
Private Room
$3,000 AUD
Shared Room
$2,500 AUD
Book before 31st October and save $250
How to register:
Click on the form below and pay your $1,000 AUD deposit
Pay In Full or Payment Plans are available (please indicate in the form)
If you have any further questions, please email us at hello@anotherway.au
All change starts with a choice.
Are you ready to light the fire?