Meet Tori Ziege and Elizabeth Foster N/A | Co-founders of the Denver Women’s Circle and Wander Women Retreats

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tori Ziege and Elizabeth Foster N/A and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tori Ziege and Elizabeth Foster, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Authenticity and intention. Authenticity is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, but it’s true. We aren’t gurus; we aren’t pretending to be something or someone we’re not. We are regular women still very much trying to figure it out. We are speaking from our lived experience, sharing in the hopes that the tools we’ve used and the ideas we’ve learned will help other women too. We are extending the invitation to heal collectively through connection and friendship. We are showing up with a genuine and strong desire to spread love, as our realest selves, vulnerable in our honesty. We truly believe that people can feel that intention and are drawn to it.

Also, we would add that success is a very subjective word! In the spirit of being authentic, we are a very new business and still have a long way to go to be seen as “successful” by traditional standards. But, we just sold out our first retreat, and we are proud of that success and the momentum we have cultivated in the beginning phases of our business venture thus far.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We are born creatives. But as we age, we are deconditioned from using our creative gifts. Elizabeth grew up doodling on pads of sticky notes so that she wouldn’t draw on that walls. Tori grew up writing fantasies and poems. We both chose “practical” versions of those creative arts when we entered into our working adult lives. But at some point along the way, our creative urges became stifled under the stress of corporate, 9-5 world, and we know other women feel the same way. The art of leading a women’s circle is a creative expression of holding space and fostering connection. Practicing this art not only heals others, it heals us. It also gives us an outlet to use our other creative gifts of writing and design as we share our message and our art with the greater Denver community.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Movement Climbing Gym – Our favorite local spot to be active and partake in rock climbing, bouldering and yoga. Some of our earliest friend dates were shared here in yoga nidra class and on the climbing wall <3.

54thirty – rooftop bar with mountain facing views, food and drink options. Walking distance from “The Dancers” and “The Big Blue Bear,” two of Denver’s famous statues and our old apartment.

Denver Central Market – delicious pastries, coffee, food and drink options. From here you can easily walk around RiNo neighborhood with lots of local shops, restaurants, breweries and murals.

Barcelona Wine Bar – a favorite among our friends who visit! Spanish Mediterranean style tapas and drinks. The honey whipped sheep’s cheese is a must.

Fish and Beer – Another RiNo staple, the best seafood in Denver.

Uchi (RiNo) & Sushi Den (Pearl Street) – Amazing sushi options. Also among our favorite places to eat in Denver

Death & Co – cute aesthetic hotel/bar space with food and cocktails. One of our favorite places to grab an espresso martini.

D Bar – The D stands for desserts and drinks but the food is excellent too. They have delicious specialty cocktails including a Reese’s cocktail and another personal favorite, a chocolate old fashioned.

Union Station – another classic Denver landmark. Great for a photo op. Inside, visit Snooze for brunch and check out the Tattered Cover Bookstore among other cute shops and dining options.

Larimer Square – downtown square with local shops and restaurants. Rioja is our favorite restaurant if you’re eating here.

REI/Confluence Park – REI’s flagship store. It’s huge and fun to explore. Great for outdoor apparel and gear. Grab coffee inside and then walk down to Confluence Park for some beautiful views of the river and the Cherry Creek Trail.

Little Man – famous ice cream shop. Shaped like a giant milk jug. Walking distance from REI/Confluence.

Avanti – Bar and dining hall with indoor and rooftop seating options. The arepas are to die for. Walking distance from Little Man.

Denver Botanic Gardens – beautiful indoor and outdoor flower displays. Peak flowering time is May-September, but the winder holiday lights are equally magical.

Washington Park – our favorite park in Denver. Wash Perk and Molecule Effect are cute coffee shops for a friend date nearby.

City Park – if you park at the Nature & Science Museum and walk down to the park from there, you’ll get a beautiful view of the city with mountain backdrops.

Red Rocks Amphitheater – a famous natural landmark and a must see! Recommend catching an impromptu concert here if you can. We are regulars here for EDM concerts 😊. If you can’t catch a concert, come during the day for a walking tour or catch a morning yoga session during the summer. Dinosaur Ridge is also just across the way, a short hike where you can see footprints and fossils preserved in the rock.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our business would not exist without the Baltimore Women’s Circle (BWC).

In celebration of our golden 29th birthdays, we took the trip of a lifetime to Nosara, Costa Rica, where we participated in a week-long women’s retreat led by Paige McCrumb and Rachel Graham, co-founders of BWC. Before this trip, we didn’t even really know what a women’s circle was. Thirteen women gathered as strangers on vacation, ready to do some group yoga. What we didn’t know is that we would rediscover ourselves and find lasting friendship through guided breathwork, movement, partner exercises and heart shares facilitated by Paige and Rachel. They cultivated such a warm, welcoming, safe container for every woman to feel heard, seen and respected. It was like nothing we had ever experienced before. Now, bringing women together in circle is our everything.

This retreat impacted us so profoundly that we were called to co-create the Denver Women’s Circle and our sister business Wander Women with co-founder Alanna Lewis. We talked excitedly through our entire flight on the way home from Costa Rica, realizing this vision right there on the plane: to bring connection and establish safe, nourishing and empowering spaces in our community.

We want to make the feeling of this retreat our life, and life for so many women who feel isolated and alone. For women who are overworked and overstretched. For women who are craving friendship but don’t have the time and energy to invest in searching for it. We are those women. We have felt all of those things, and we want all of those things too.

How perfectly fitting that thanks to two amazing, trailblazing women in Rachel and Paige that we not only realized our dream but are now working in sisterhood toward a shared vision of making friendship easy.

Website: Coming soon!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denverwomenscircle/

Image Credits
Morgan Thomas