ARE YOU READY FOR A TRANSFORMATIVE ADVENTURE?

VIVIFY

This wilderness-based journey is your pathway to lasting clarity, vibrant aliveness, and a thriving life in the modern world.

“VIVIFY” MEANS TO BRING TO LIFE…

…here’s how we do it.

VIVIFY is a wilderness-based coaching program.

It’s centered around a a unique 8-day off-trail wilderness backpacking expedition in the High Sierra, with 3 months of online leadership coaching leading up to and after the wilderness immersion.

WHAT IS VIVIFY?

WHO IS VIVIFY FOR?

VIVIFY is for those who long for a deeper life.

VIVIFY is for those who yearn for adventure, and are willing to step outside their comfort zones.

VIVIFY is for who seek balance, aspiring to a life with flourishing relationships, meaningful work, and a thriving connection with nature.

And it's for those who want to leave a legacy their grandchildren would be proud of.

IN THIS MODERN WORLD, YOU MIGHT FEEL…

  • Your attention is fragmented, you feel perpetually rushed, and/or you struggle to offer our attention to what matters most.

  • You’re working to find find balance between relationships, work, and self-care, but feel stretched too thin.

  • You feel the many crises we face - the ecological crisis, the meaning crisis, and the attention crisis - but you’re not sure how to find our authentic contribution.

  • Collectively, we spend 90% of our days indoors, in sterile rooms, behind our screens - isolated from the world of leaves, wind, and sun.

THROUGH VIVIFY, YOU’LL BECOME…

  • Build an immune system against distraction and cultivate profound presence to offer your attention to what matters most.

  • Develop emotional tools to navigate the challenges of our world, and step into playful creativity in navigating your life.

  • Embrace the mythic times we live in, and step into courageous agency in service of regeneration

  • Open your senses and awaken your wildness - discover enduring belonging and connection to the natural world, accessible in every moment.

If you resonate with any of the above, then VIVIFY is for you.

2024 DATES

Virtual Online Kickoff: May 6

High Sierra Wilderness Retreat: July 20-28

Program Completion: August 20

VIVIFY is particularly well-suited for…

  • Climate & Nature Professionals - Those who are already dedicating their careers to healing our planet, but feel burned out or personally disconnected from nature.

  • Adventurous Spirits - Those who’ve had a strong experience with nature at some point in their lives, but now feel disconnected and are yearning for a return to the wild.

  • Those at a threshold or transition point - if you’re at a crossroads in your life, VIVIFY will support you with the curriculum, community, and courage to ask the questions most authentic to you, and find your true path forward.

  • Those who want to expand their comfort zone - if extended time in the wilderness or a high-touch coaching program is new territory for you, but you feel curiosity and excitement, VIVIFY is for you.

If any of the above resonates with you, inquire now.

HIGH SIERRA WILDERNESS QUEST

A journey into your inner wildness.

Retreat for Clarity

Every healthy culture through history has known that to show up most fully in our communities and our daily lives, we must periodically retreat to wild places. VIVIFY gives you that opportunity, within a container to guide you towards deeper insights, and integrate them back into your life.

Be Awestruck

You’ll explore primarily off-trail in the premier mountains in the world for wandering. Many people know about Yosemite, but the Sierra holds many equally incredible secrets. You’ll quest deep into the range, away from roads, into a wilderness area the size of Switzerland.

Our route will take you in and out of stunning, rarely visited alpine basins. You’ll summit a 14,000’ peak, and spend time on the John Muir Trail. You’ll see marmots, drink from mountain streams, and experience the miracle of a hot drink while enjoying an alpine sunrise.

Rewild Your Body

Though this will be a physical challenge, no backpacking experience is required. On our Alignment Call, I’ll ask you a few questions to make sure you’ll be ready.

YOUR GUIDES

Dom Francks

Founder, Lead Guide & Coach

I’m Dom. I’m a wilderness guide and coach, and the creator of VIVIFY.

I’m on a mission to foster regenerative leadership, blending personal vitality and ecological harmony. I strive to empower individuals to live and lead in ways that enhance their own aliveness and presence and create a deep and lasting relationship with the more-than-human world.

​I’ve had a foot in two worlds for a decade - I’ve led wilderness immersions in remote locations including Patagonia and Alaska, and and I’ve held leadership roles at climate-tech companies, serving as Chief of Staff at Terramera and Head of Product at Solara Energy. In a past life, I was also Captain of the Stanford University Golf Team.

My work is inspired by the Animas Valley Institute, where I trained in the Yearlong Soulcraft Immersion with Bill Plotkin. I’ve also completed coach training with the Conscious Leadership Group.

I live for movement in the mountains - I’ve skied on the tallest peaks of the lower 48, completed a solo traverse of the Southern Sierra High Route, and ridden dogsleds across the Boundary Waters.

Nadine Lehner

Wilderness Co-Guide

Nadine is a mountain guide, facilitator, and explorer focused on reconnecting people and place through wilderness travel and facilitation.​

After graduating from Harvard College, she moved to Patagonia to work as Executive Director of Conservacion Patagonica, where she focused on the establishment of Patagonia National Park, Chile's 700,000-acre flagship national park. She pursued a joint MBA - MS in Environment and Resources at Stanford University before returning to Patagonia to found Chulengo, a nature exploration and guiding service in Aysén. ​

​She is a Bain alum, a NOLS instructor, and has led wilderness mountaineering, backpacking and river expeditions for over two decades. With team members Isidora and Rebeca, she has made the first all-female expeditions to Patagonia’s Northern Icefield, with support from the American Alpine Club.

Gigi Falk

Guest Faculty, Meditation

Gigi is a psycho-spiritual counselor, mindfulness teacher, and certified psychedelic facilitator.

After graduating from Duke University, she completed her Masters in Psychology and Spirituality at Columbia University and founded Art of Human Being, where she and her sister worked as lead facilitators, offering workshops that blend mindfulness practice, contemplative wisdom, and the psychology of wellbeing.

She is a devoted student of mindfulness and Buddhism. She has completed 6000+ hours of intensive Buddhist & mindfulness training, primarily in the Zen and Insight traditions, including over 6 months of monastic residencies, 6 months of silent retreat training, and over 4 years of weekly mentorship from Buddhist teachers.

TESTIMONIALS

"Dom is one of a rare breed of man that is as skilled at exploring external landscapes as he is internal landscapes. His emotional awareness and attunement helped me to find insight into parts of my own nature and soul I hadn't yet traversed, and to reconnect to my deeper purpose."

ARIAN MAHINI
Lead AI Negotiation Advisor, Rora

"When I started working with Dom, I was feeling burned out and overwhelmed, and was seeking more embodied presence and balance. Through our work, I reconnected with my sense of self, my sense of strength, and my spirit. He helped me to show up more fully for myself and to lead more authentically and compassionately. Dom guided me back to connection with wildness and the natural world, something I was sorely missing. I recommend working with Dom to anyone who has a profound sense of mission, and wants to honor their love of the wild.”

KEALLY DEWITT
VP, GAF Energy

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Leadership Coaching

The VIVIFY Program weaves together two styles of leadership coaching: group coaching, and individual coaching. The biweekly group sessions introduce the curriculum and build community. The individual sessions support you exactly where you’re at, and help you apply the VIVIFY curriculum to your life.

Wilderness Immersion

The 8-day wilderness immersion in the High Sierra is here to give you a hard reboot. You’ll spend 3 months preparing the ground for this expedition, and you’re going to go deep. You’ll spend 6 days in the premier mountains in the world for off-trail backpacking.

VIVIFY Community

You’ll be a part of a committed community of other leaders. You’ll support and celebrate each other through peer coaching, and travel as a pack through the High Sierra.
The peer coaching sessions are where you begin embodying what we learn in , supporting your teammates through structured 1-1 sessions.

Integration

VIVIFY is structured to enable you to stabilize as a regenerative leader. You’ll be supported through and beyond the end of the program, with integration coaching sessions and an ongoing Community Council.

Program Kickoff

May 6

High Sierra Wilderness Immersion

July 20-28

Program Close

August 20

Including continuous group coaching, individual coaching, and peer coaching throughout the program.

Who will you become in the high places of this world?

"Dom has helped me crystallize personal values and live in accordance with them. This has had massive impacts for me personally and professionally — bringing more energy into running my business, deepening the quality of my relationships, and finding more commitment to my decisions.”

JAMIE MCCROSKERY
CEO, Bluebird Climate

"I wanted to build more intentionality into my day-to-day, clarify and align with my long term vision, and connect more deeply with the natural world. Working with Dom was extremely supportive for all of the above. His creative coaching helped me reframe my challenges and find novel solutions."

JACK FRITZINGER
Founder & Climate Solutions Consultant, Timberline Strategies

The VIVIFY Curriculum

Our Regenerative Leadership Curriculum has three core pillars:

  • OFFER YOUR ATTENTION TO WHAT MATTERS MOST

    Our experience of this world is the sum of what we pay attention to. Within VIVIFY, we believe that the foundation for our lives is our ability offer our rapturous presence to the people, projects, and places that most inspire us. VIVIFY offers practices and accountability to support members in reclaiming their attention, whether with loved ones, engaged in deep work, or immersed in the natural world.

  • CONNECT WITH WILDERNESS, INSIDE AND OUT

    1. Rewild your body, through movement, ritual, and connection with nature.

    2. Rewire your relationship with technology and build an immune system against distraction.

    3. Discover a powerful and enduring sense of belonging in the more-than-human world.

  • CREATE AN AUTHENTIC LIFE, FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY

    1. Step out of fearful reactivity, and into playful creativity.

    2. Identify and break stale and limiting patterns.

    3. Cultivate the courage to face the crises of our times.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Leadership Coaching

  • Group Coaching - Two 90 minute sessions per month

  • Individual Coaching - Five 60 minute sessions

  • Peer Coaching - Two 60 minute sessions per month

  • Voice and text message support from Dom between coaching sessions

Wilderness Expedition

  • An 8-day all-inclusive wilderness expedition in the High Sierra (includes accommodation before and after the backpacking portion, all meals, and comprehensive preparation support)

  • Retreat facilitation and guiding

Integration Support

  • Integration support after the program - 3 coaching sessions

YOUR PATH INTO VIVIFY

1

REACH OUT

Click on "Apply Now", fill out the short form and choose a time for your Alignment Call with Dom.

2

DIVE DEEP

In your Alignment Call, you’ll learn more about VIVIFY, get a taste of the power of the program, and have all your questions answered.

3

VIVIFY

If your participation in the program is aligned, you will be invited to register, beginning your journey to presence, wildness, and agency. Congratulations!

FAQ

  • VIVIFY is unique in that it weaves together group coaching, individual coaching, and a custom wilderness experience. VIVIFY pairs a strong curriculum and community with phenomenal individual support to ensure that we support you in the transformation and growth that you seek.

  • Logistically, we can only bring 12 participants into the Inyo National Forest. However, we also find that 12 or less is an ideal number to create a tight and cohesive community through the program.

  • VIVIFY is a holistic leadership program. If showing up with more integrity, agency, and aliveness would benefit your role at work, then VIVIFY will be deeply supportive. In addition, the individual coaching sessions are tailored to support you in whatever is most present in your life - if that’s work, then that’s where we’ll go.

  • Absolutely. As long as you can organize to be mostly undisturbed for your coaching sessions and are able to be fully present for the Wilderness Immersion, you are good to go!

  • Yes! While most of our VIVIFY members are from the US, we can support participants from around the world, as long as you can be present for the wilderness immersion in the High Sierra.

  • If you cannot be fully present in California for the Wilderness Immersion in July, you are unfortunately not able to participate in this edition of VIVIFY. We recommend you sign up for our newsletter to find out about our upcoming programs.

  • Across the different types of coaching (group, individual, peer), you will have on average two hours of calls each week, plus one more hour for homework. The beauty of VIVIFY is that the majority of the leadership coaching homework will happen directly in your life, not in addition to everything you are already committed to.

  • Of course! And – It is important that every individual chooses VIVIFY for themselves first, not because someone else is doing it. This program requires everyone to be fully in and fully committed.

    We also encourage you to ask yourself whether you will be able to open up fully with someone you already know as part of the team. If that’s a YES, this can be a beautiful opportunity to go through a life-changing six-month adventure together with your partner or friend and strengthen your bond.

    If there are two or more of you who would like to join, mention this is in your application and ask us for a special bonus!

  • All coaching sessions are hosted via Zoom. You can schedule your individual coaching sessions at a time that is convenient for you. The standing time for group coaching sessions will be determined together with the whole group prior to program start to ensure we have a time when everyone can participate.

  • You do not need any existing backpacking experience for the wilderness expedition, but a baseline of physical capability will be helpful. By the time we meet for our expedition, you should be able to carry a 35 lb pack for 8 miles at altitude. However, we have a few months to support you in getting there. If you’re curious, we can set you up with a training plan to ensure you’re ready to go when we walk into the high country!

    If you have doubts about your fitness, please schedule a call with Dom, and we can assess together if this program is the right fit.

  • After VIVIFY, you’ll have three integration coaching sessions - one as a group, one individual, and one peer session. You’ll also join your team members in an ongoing online community council, which will give you a chance to continue to share updates and source support from the VIVIFY community.

  • If your questions are simple and of a logistical nature, send an email to dom.francks@gmail.com

    If you would like to discuss your individual situation and ask more detailed questions, complete an application and we will answer them in your Introduction Call.

  • We offer scholarships to applicants from historically disadvantaged communities, to support the cultivation of a diverse and representative cohort. Please reach out directly for more info!