Will Finnie — Operations & systems for retreat centers and intentional communities

The thing no one has time for

You didn't start this to become an operations manager.

You started it for the vision. The healing. The community. The thing you felt called to build.

But somewhere along the way, you became the person answering forty WhatsApp messages a day. Chasing down the electrician. Wondering if that retreat group's dietary needs made it to the kitchen. Holding every detail in your head because there's no system holding it for you.

The information lives in seven different places, which means it really lives nowhere. Every new season, you rebuild the same wheel. You're so busy keeping the lights on, sometimes literally, that you can't step back and build the thing that would let you grow.

It's not that you're disorganized. It's that no one has ever had the time, or the particular temperament, to sit down and build the systems. That's a real job. And it's mine.

What I do

Grounding the magic so it can grow.

I help you get organized in a way that actually sticks. Not a binder that gathers dust, but living systems your team will actually use.

First

I diagnose.

I sit with you and find where the time, energy, and information are really leaking. Usually it's not where you think.

Then

I build.

I build the fix: the project management system, the booking and intake flow, the automations, the team structure, the documented process. Not recommendations. The real thing, set up and running.

Finally

I hand it off.

I train your team, make sure it runs without me, and leave you with something that keeps working after I'm gone. The goal isn't to make you dependent on me. It's to make you free.

Most of this happens remotely, through calls, shared docs, and check-ins. And for the right place, I never say no to a good excuse to visit in person.

Who this is for

Let's make sure we're a fit.

This is probably for you if…

You've built something real, a center or community with traction and soul, but the systems behind it haven't quite caught up yet
You're growing, or want to, but disorganization is the thing standing in the way
You care as much about how things are done, and who they're done with, as about the results
You'd rather work with a real human who gets your world than a consultant who's never left the city

It's probably not for you if…

You're at the idea stage with nothing built yet — I work best with places that already have legs
You want a detached expert to hand you a strategy deck and disappear
The magic is optional to you. For me, it's the whole point.

I only take on work I genuinely believe in, with people I want to be in the trenches with. If that sounds a little precious, it is. It's also why the work is good.

What I've actually done

Nearly three years running operations for a place a lot like yours.

I've spent almost three years at the Mystical Yoga Farm on Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, first as Operations Manager, then as Ceremony Temple Manager. Off-grid, remote, beautiful, and gloriously chaotic. Here's some of what I built and ran.

I brought order to the chaos.

Built the farm's entire project management system from scratch (we had WhatsApp and prayers; now we have actual systems), trained the whole team to use it, and centralized purchasing and logistics for the entire property. Designed automated booking and intake workflows connecting ceremonies, stays, and everything in between. Right now I'm leading a full rebuild of the farm's website and booking system.

Will and the team building a foundation from eco-bricks at the Mystical Yoga Farm — Turning trash into a foundation with eco-bricks. Off-grid and zero waste.

I led the people.

Managed a team of 10+ local staff (in Spanish) alongside 10 to 15 rotating international volunteers. Ran our biggest event of the year, the Heartsong Festival: nearly 200 people arriving by boat, workshops running all day and into the night, facilitators and guests and a thousand moving parts. Coordinated retreat groups from first inquiry to final farewell, including schedules, spaces, and dietary needs.

The Heartsong Festival fire circle at dusk, with around 200 people gathered — The Heartsong Festival fire circle. Nearly 200 people, workshops all day and into the night.

Will leading a group of volunteers on a gardening and landscaping project — Leading a volunteer crew on a garden build. The people are the whole thing.

I kept the place physically running.

This is the part most operations people can't do. I led the redesign of the farm's entire off-grid solar power and electrical system: new panels, inverter, batteries, wiring. Managed water systems, pumps, solar heaters, kitchen and shower installs. When we brought in outside contractors, I was the one scoping the work, spec'ing the materials, and running the project, all in Spanish.

Will crossing Lake Atitlán by boat with new solar panels for the farm — Hauling new solar panels across Lake Atitlán. There's no road to the farm.

Will coordinating with a local contractor in Spanish on a build site — Scoping a build with a local contractor, and getting after it with the crew.

Will and the crew building a wooden deck around a tree — Scoping a build with a local contractor, and getting after it with the crew.

And a decade of professional rigor behind it.

Before the farm, I spent about ten years in the cleantech and clean energy startup world, from scrappy startups to large, well-known energy companies, as a senior product manager, project manager, and in business development. I hold a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering Business Management & Entrepreneurship.

Which is to say: the grounded, systems-loving, solar-array-rewiring thing isn't a costume. It's who I've always been. I just brought it somewhere it was really needed.

Will Finnie holding a bowl of cacao in the forest at the Mystical Yoga Farm

About Will

The grounded one.

I'm an engineer who fell in love with intentional communities.

For years I worked in clean energy, building products, running projects, doing the corporate thing at companies big and small. I was good at it. But I kept feeling the pull toward places doing more soulful work, places trying to heal people and build something different. So I went to one. And I never really left.

What I found when I got there is what I find almost everywhere in this world: extraordinary people doing extraordinary things, held back by ordinary chaos. Brilliant founders drowning in logistics. Magic leaking out through a thousand tiny operational cracks.

Turns out the thing I'm best at, bringing structure, calm, and grounded systems to places that run on inspiration, is exactly what these places need most. My earth energy, if you want to call it that, is the perfect complement to all that beautiful air and fire. I'm not here to tame the magic. I'm here to give it something solid to stand on.

Because every magical place needs a grounding wire.

Helping magical places stay grounded.