Cauliflower Retreat means bringing out the best in others in an accepting setting.

Why Cauliflower? Get the Story Behind the Name
“Around the family dinner table I ate my vegetables like everyone else. On those boring days I was served cauliflower, my dad would always put on his biggest joke telling smile, lean forward and say, "Hey Karen, you are what I call- a- flower." It was one of my Dad's famous punch lines (like one you would find on a Laffy Taffy wrapper) I usually rolled my eyes and thought, 'Oh Dad, it’s just cauliflower, and you told me that joke last week.'
But, deep down I knew that someone cared about me and my potential. I knew without a doubt someone was there to support me, and to look for the good in me, and to build me up. During the discouraging days in college when I wondered where I fit in the world I would open my journal and read my accounts about cauliflower and I remembered I had a support network. More women need moments like that… someone to build them up and bring out the best in them.”

- Founder, Karen Eddington

Background Information
The Retreat was founded in 2006 as a community outreach program for women and teens. For over three years the program focused specifically on community, offering adolescent mentoring programs, opportunities for students to design self-esteem shirts, presentations for women and school assemblies. We’ve been reaching out to residential treatment centers, establishing relationships with school systems, and developing a network of support for women and teens to learn about self-worth in an entertaining setting. In a four week program, teens in the Juvenile Justice system have talked about the struggles of fitting in. Women’s community associations received life tools for improving body image and feelings of inadequacy. Community coalitions have discussed the research Cauliflower Retreat collected on the pressures teens face, and even more important highlighted the solutions that will help them endure.

In 2009 nearly 600 teens took a survey which uncovered a solution that would forever change the Retreat. Teens shared that having a support network is the top solution to dealing with all of this pressure. Support, it’s about having someone to turn to when the pressure hits. It is about having someone ready to bring out the best in you, when you are having a hard time seeing the best in yourself. It is time to open that support network up to as many people as we can. It is time to share this support with you.

Meet the Company Founder Karen Eddington

Karen Eddington has been researching self-worth topics for over ten years. Her passion for self-worth education started with her college capstone thesis project on Eating Disorder and Body Image Education where she collected data and presented to over 500 high school students. After college graduation Karen began coaching high school cheerleading. In 2005 her team was named the top all around cheerleading program in the nation earning features in magazines and on ESPN. Instead of focusing on stereotypes, Karen taught her team to look outside themselves in areas of services, education and community.

After years of work in a high school and countless interviews with women, Karen felt the weight of the burdens women and teens were facing in regard to self-worth. In 2006 Karen wrote a mentor guidebook with educational resources for developing a healthy body image, understanding self-acceptance, dealing with peers (a.k.a.“drama”) and goal setting. Karen converted these concepts into an 8 week education program for teens and the Cauliflower Retreat was born. Out of 141 grant applicants, Karen was one of the 7 recipients of a Zions Bank Smart Women Smart Money grant which launched the program. In 2006 the Retreat began by training 10 teens. The first year of operations they grew to reach 137 and the following year beneficiaries were over 3,200 women and teens across the United States. The program has since reached thousands of women and teens, and will continue to offer support.