With two months left in this busy year, the Fifth Annual Girls Wine Out experience is one we all need to add our calendars. This year’s event will take place on Lake Lanier, at a private lakeside mansion and features a glamping (glamorous camping experience) theme. We were happy to discuss all the details of the event with its organizer Tekeya Priester, the CEO of Not Just a Getaway. Dive in and get the details and inspiration behind this upcoming girls’ weekend below.
Fancy: How would you describe your swagher? What makes Tekeya, Tekeya?
Tekeya: Laughs. Well, I empower women to live their best lives. I know it is a challenge for a lot of women, because we give so much of ourselves including myself. I encourage women to step back and take time out for themselves- even if it is just for a minute, just to get back to themselves. We must start thinking about our self-care and our mental well-being, as well as our physical state of being. What makes Tekeya, Tekeya – my drive, my self-motivation, and my awesome smile. My swagher is knowing my purpose in life, and living my best life.
Fancy: So Not Just Getaway is your travel business, but the Girls Wine Out event falls under its umbrella?
Tekeya: Yes, Not Just a Getaway is the company. The event actually started before the company, which is kind of backwards, but Girls Wine Out started out basically as a get together with friends to just getaway. I actually had just given birth and was going through the struggle of trying to juggle everything, and my friend was like, ‘let’s go and do something.’ I was so inspired by Oprah’s The Life You Want Tour and wanted to bring something together to keep that momentum going, and that’s how the event started. Then the company Not Just a Getaway came about after, because I felt like it was powered by the event, so I wanted to do something where travel was involved. I wanted to host getaways that will balance women, but that also allow them to fulfill their bucket list ideas and dreams that they wanted to do.
Fancy: It’s funny, because it’s actually like you found something that works first and then incorporated it into a business, so it’s not bad at all.
 Tekeya: Exactly, exactly! During the event we noticed how therapeutic it was for us to escape. So the event was just like gathering a bunch of a friends and having something like a retreat, but then we noticed how the event actually brought on more positive energy. We needed to take a break! Sometimes people can’t afford to go on bucket list adventures, but we need to take a break for a second to get away from the hustle and refresh ourselves. So that is how we came about Not Just a Getaway, and it’s done pretty good. A lot of women gravitate toward getting away, so it’s been doing pretty well.
Fancy: What did you do prior to Not Just a Getaway?
Tekeya: I graduated from Clemson in IT, so I’ve been doing IT all my life. My last job was actually in healthcare, and I built medical charting systems for hospitals. I’ve worked at every hospital system in Atlanta as a consultant with the pharmacy department, helping them build their charting system. So that was my 9-5. I like it, and I do well with it, but it wasn’t my passion. Laughs. Being in the healthcare industry, I see so many cases and notice how we as people handle the stress of life and stuff like that. I wanted to pull out some of that health awareness and put it into what we do with Girls Wine Out.
Fancy: So would you say that you’ve taken anything from your previous work experience and implemented it into your business?
Tekeya: I don’t know if you know, because some of the things that go on in the hospitals we tend to keep inside (the hospital), but working with Grady who had their own mental health area; unfortunately I personally saw up-close how people deal with mental health. I saw so many multi-cultural and African- American patients being impacted with various issues and the amounts of medication that were being dispensed. Most cases were of women. So I wanted to figure out how we could help women so that they don’t have to be a statistic. I have also been touched with a fear of cancer, and several family members, including my mom, have battled cancer. So that also impacted me and compelled me to research what they can do to better themselves their mental health, their wellness, their self-care. I just wanted to incorporate the knowledge and skills that I’ve learned at my 9-5. Because I’ve worked directly with the people who are helping the patients, I wanted to come up with a creative way to help while doing something I love. Of course, travel is a part of that. So that’s why we incorporate the self-care balance and why we stress that.
We could be a travel company like any other travel company. There are other travel companies that cater directly to women, but I wanted to touch on the fact that women need to do better with our health. Whether it’s just leaning on and encouraging each other. We need to do better with our self-care and our awareness of things that we take for granted, because we are so busy giving ourselves to others.
Fancy: This year you all are doing something different and giving back to those battling cancer, correct?
Tekeya: I started doing it last year, and we had a positive response from it. But at the time, I didn’t have enough funding to do anything major, so I wanted to do something creative. What I did last year was allowed women with stage 4 cancer to come and enjoy the event for free. They also were recipients of full makeovers. They were able to get their makeup and hair done complimentary. There’s one picture that still lights me up when you see her face light up after her makeover is done! That made me want to push it a little bit more.
I have a friend who has stage 4 ovarian cancer and colon cancer. She’s 43 years old, and what touched me the most was back in April, Not Just a Getaway had a trip to Thailand, and she wanted to go so bad. So I said, ‘Well go. You work, go! Enjoy yourself!’ And she said, ‘When I am in surgery, or I am going through chemo, and I am not working, so many people give me money to help me out. I just feel bad if I go on vacation.’
And I told her she should never feel bad. ‘You are fighting for your life. You need a vacation right now.’ That is what really encouraged me to bring that in, because I didn’t realize so many women felt guilty behind stuff like that. They felt guilty about taking a break, just a vacation. So I wanted to do something. This year I am trying to raise money to at least sponsor one girl to be able to getaway on the next trip. So if it works, then I want to make it even bigger.
Fancy: Wait, to make certain I understand you correctly, in the end, she did go or she didn’t go on the trip?
Tekeya: She did go. I did raise some money to help with her trip, but I didn’t raise all of it, and I also helped her out with getting there as well. So she was able to go, and she posted pictures of how she was living her best life there. Her daughter called crying; she knew how major it was for her mama to be able to get away, and that really touched me. There’s really nothing out there for women who are going through cancer or other major illnesses. I want to branch out and be able to include those who are battling sickle cell and other illnesses like that. There are no charities or organizations that help women get away. You have the breast cancer awareness and things that’s helping with treatment but nothing is actually helping with what’s going on in the moment.
Fancy: So what can we expect at Girls Wine Out Glamping?
Tekeya: We have everything that women love in one weekend, so anything that your heart loves to do. If that’s shopping, we are going to have fashion. We’re going to have an amazing chef cooking fresh gourmet meals daily. I am giving it a theme of “glampingâ€Â, which is different for me but it looked like so much fun. “Glamping†is a glamorous camping experience. I also noticed that there are not too many African- American women that camp, so I wanted to try something different, think outside of the box. We are going to be glamping inside. So we will be throwing that theme around over the weekend with some activities that are camp –like, for example the fire pit/fireside conversations. We’re actually going to have a competition to see who can glam out their tent the fastest. We’re going to have mani’s and pedi’s. We’re going to have a detox session with Jutox, which is a juice bar and wellness center downtown. They’re going to be coming with all of their equipment and all of their detox stuff. We’re going to have foot massages, dancing, fitness. On the wheel of balance, I’m touching basis on all the things that make women or at least help women to be balanced in their lives
Comedienne Kiana Dancie will be there doing a comedy show. We’re going to have our first ever awards show where we are going to be honoring major influencers who empower women either in health, beauty, business, relationships, or self care. Mikki Taylor, the editor in large for ESSENCE Magazine, Ericka Pittman, Brand Architect/CMO of AQUAhydrate, Niya Brown Matthews, creator of SoulFood Sessions are some of our honorees. I am waiting to confirm two other additional honorees. We’re also going to have different speakers coming through like T. Renee Smith; Ashley Fox, financial education analyst and Forbes writer out of New York; and co-host and life coach on VH1’s Bye Felicia! Deborah Hawks. She’s going to be doing a vision board workshop. We’re going to have makeup lessons by Toy. She’s a makeup artist for MAC, and you of course.  So we’re going to have a bunch of stuff women love going on. It’s going to be a fun-filled weekend.
Grab your tickets for the Girls Wine Out Glamping Retreat here and use code: fancygwo2018 for an EXCLUSIVE discount.
Connect with Tekeya and Not Just a Getaway below.ÂÂ
Website: https://www.notjustagetaway.com/gwo
Instagram: @notjustagetaway
