Welcome to Your Journey of Clarity, Purpose, and Fulfilment

Find Your IKIGAI Now's mission is to make every life meaningful.

To make this mission a reality, we combine Ancient wisdom with state-of-the-art innovation and transformation methods. We empower people to create lives where passions, talents, and purpose converge through:

Immersive online courses that keep screen-time to a minimum
Retreats in beautiful remote locations that inspire new perspectives
Urban workshops that fit into modern life
1:1 guidance that tailors support exactly to individual's unique needs
Curating communities of experts and fellow IKIGAI seekers

Our expert guides have decades of experience and are deeply anchored in the values of humility and sincerity.

René Andersen has post-graduate degrees in Physics and Philosophy, and is a HPI (Hasso Plattner Institute) certified Design Thinking coach. He has taught and coached hundreds of people in Design Thinking and IKIGAI across Europe, North America, and Australasia.

Claudia Pommer is an accomplished industrial and product designer, and an expert in creativity, ideation and connecting with the organic patterns in nature as a source of inspiration.

Kathy Guidi is a certified Shamanic Breathwork Master Practitioner, and has been hosting and organising transformational retreats for nearly ten years.

Start your journey today. Your purpose is waiting to be discovered.

Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.

- Viktor Frankl -

René Andersen

Early in life, René completed post-graduate degrees in Physics and Philosophy, and spent twelve years in the academic world. In 2011, he moved across to the corporate world, initially as an advisor for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, he has worked with American Express, Deloitte, Audi, Swiss Post, Transport for New South Wales, Wikimedia Foundation and other large organisations in Australia, Europe, North America and New Zealand.

In 2017, René undertook a year long training program at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany (a sister institute of the North American Stanford d.school for Design Thinking) and became a certified Design Thinking coach. Since then, he has trained and coached hundreds of people in Design Thinking, and supported organisations in applying Design Thinking to product and service innovation, as well as to organisational change and development.

Since 2019, René has also been teaching the Japanese concept of IKIGAI and its Western interpretation to groups of individuals and helped them gain greater clarity of their greatest strengths, the things they love doing the most, and causes & values that they feel most passionate about in the world. He has used his background in Design Thinking to guide them towards actionable results and life changes that have moved them towards lives of deeper meaning & purpose.

Claudia Pommer

Claudia's career includes roles in corporate environments such as Kathmandu, Macpac, Mountain Buggy, and Phil&teds, where she refined her expertise in practical design solutions and creative problem-solving. Claudia has also founded ventures like Proffer in Wellington and Momentum, a consulting business focused on ideation and creative collaboration.

Deeply inspired by nature, Claudia seamlessly integrates her passion for sustainable design into her work, believing it to be both a responsibility and a driving force for progressive change. Her ability to think outside the box allows her to uncover unique sources of inspiration, enabling her to craft innovative solutions that go beyond convention. By drawing from the natural world and her deep understanding of design, she creates outcomes that are transformative and grounded in thoughtful purpose.

As a designer, entrepreneur, and ideation enthusiast, Claudia is known for her commitment to uncovering novel ideas, her dedication to sustainability, and her vision for progressive change. Her ability to approach challenges with care and creativity makes her a trusted guide in driving innovation and unlocking potential.

Kathy Guidi

Having worked in finance and investment in San Francisco for fifteen years, Kathy migrated to New Zealand in 2006, feeling the call to live a simpler and more meaningful life. In 2018, she undertook a two year training program and became certified as a Shamanic Breathwork Master Practitioner.

Kathy is comitted to earth stewardship and helping people with their unique journeys towards wholeness. Her passion centers around personal development, understanding the psyche, healing internal wounds, and becoming conscious heart-centered humans. She loves to create sacred spaces for individuals to connect with nature, themselves, and their community.

She is currently working on her doctorate degree in Psycho-Spiritual studies. Her background in the corporate world and two decades in the wellness world beautifully blend her business and organizational skills with her grounded, calm, and earth-rooted presence and capacity to hold space for others.

Find Your IKIGAI Now Retreat - April 2025

Choose your tickets

Private Room ticket

Private Tent (tent provided) ticket

Shared Twin Room ticket

Stay in your own tent or campervan ticket