A letter from Annie Sanchez, founder of the WOC Culture Club

Dear one,

Back in the summer of 2019 after hosting my second sold out, in-person Goal Setting Workshop in Albuquerque that was filled with beautiful Black and Brown faces, I was inspired to create an ongoing experience for my people. One that would take the spark of magical, inspired, clarifying energy that was in that room and tangiblize it (is that a word? it is now).

Not only could I feel the real time clarity and path-unlocking that was happening, I was being told in the room, then days, weeks and now years later how those 3-hour workshops were literally changing lives.

I wanted to create a mastermind-like experience for a small group of WOC who wanted to take their ideas and goals to the next level.

In the fall of 2019, the first cohort convened. Those 5 women were between the ages of 25 and 45, with kids and without, working 9-to-5 and running their own businesses, in the government sector and for profit.

I loved everything about them, what we were doing and what I was bravely experimenting with. I knew in my bones that I wanted to do more of it!

In March of 2020, I had an in person Goal Setting Workshop on the calendar and registered guests to communicate with about their comfort level with meeting, going virtual or getting a refund. Some asked for their money (we were all scared) and the rest wanted to go virtual.

I asked that small group of 3 if a virtual version of the cohort I held in the fall was appealing. They said yes.

Today, 11 cohorts later, the WOC Culture Club has people from all over the world. We’re a small community by “group coaching” standards to which I do not abide. I prefer small, intimate, and real connection.

There are nearly 70 Black, Indigenous, Latina, Chicana, Asian, mixed race, queer, non-binary, and cisgender people in this community whom I literally love with my whole heart, know by name, remember which cohort they were in, and communicate with regularly.

People whose lives have totally changed since their cohort.

People who have taken big bold leaps and gentle steps forward.

People who are thought leaders in the social justice, philanthropy, and political arenas.

People who run heart-centered, Spirit-led businesses — choosing love and joy over scaling and “growth”.

People who check on each other years after their cohort ended.

People who bump into each other in other cities and are like, “WOC Culture Club?!”

We’re not a gigantic community, and that’s by design. We’re a real community, the kind that knows time means nothing and the passage of many moments doesn’t separate us.

As I have grown and evolved as a person, entrepreneur, leader and creator, so too has this community. It’s taken me more than a year to feel into and eventually find the words to what was shifting and evolving.

The 11th cohort concluded in February 2023, and cohorts as they’ve been known are no longer. I’ve been scared to proclaim that they were ending because I know how beautiful and life changing they are. And, I’ve known the Women of Color Culture Club was changing.

I had to say the 11th cohort would be the last when applications were opened last year, otherwise I could have easily convinced myself to keep on keeping on. But I don’t do things the ordinary way and I’m certainly over the old normal, so I took my own medicine in order to allow what’s next to come forward.

I’m not exactly sure what that is yet, full transparency. But I know for fucking sure that it’s going to be great.

I dream of in person retreats with the WOC Culture Club — new people and existing fam.

I dream of ya’ll coming to my homelands, here in New Mexico. I dream of coming to yours.

This community is a gorgeous, real life example of what’s possible when women of color from all over the world say fuck no to old ways of doing things and fuck yes to that thing inside that is calling us.

I think of our fuck yeses as our ancestor selves calling us forward, holding the flashlight in the dark forest, “C’mon, this way.”

The next time the WOC Culture Club comes together you can count on magic. When will that be? I’m not sure yet. How does 2024 sound to you?

If you have questions, ideas, and fuck yeses you want to share, please send me a note. I’d love to hear from you.

The Women of Color Culture Club is everything.

Big love,
Annie

May 4, 2023
Albuquerque, New Mexico

After 11 cohorts and 5 years, a foundation has been laid for a no fucks giving, culture-shifting, magic-making community of women of color & non-binary people of color.​

Why this community?

I’m not going to sell you on the WOC Culture Club. You’re a grown adult who knows what they want and don’t want, and we both know that joining a community is a matter of fit and outcomes.

Let’s talk about that.

Here’s what you’re going to get out of it:

1. Clarity about why you aren’t where you want to be and experienced guidance to clear the path. Sometimes obstacles in our way are obvious, other times they’re not.

2. A heart-centered, strategic process to get you there. Developed by a double water earth WOC with a gift for strategy and activation, you will be guided through the choppy waters from where you are to a safe landing place using heart and hard data.

3. A deeply personal decision-making framework that can guide you immediately, and for the rest of your life. Some decisions are simple, others take a lot more than asking, is it a “full bodied yes?”

4. The exact steps to cultivate ease in your daily life, which lead to clarity, focus and action in service of what you want now and the gems you want to leave behind. Plus, you’ll be supported as you start taking these steps.

5. Sacred community with women of color and non-binary people of color. The power of the collective is immeasurable. There is profound magic in being truly seen, heard, and witnessed with love and care.

Here’s what it’s going to take:

• Your total commitment. Creating a change in your life is not a small thing. Whether big and radical or small, I’ve done it more times than I can count and it takes a deep, heart-connected, Spirit-led commitment and community. Disrupting old ways of being … what’s familiar … is scary.

• Your time investment. You have to show up. Actual time and energy to create change in your life is required. Healing and awakening to the life you want to be living doesn’t happen over night…but it can start to feel like it is as momentum builds. You should block 30-45 minutes in addition to our weekly cohort sessions.

• A financial investment. The cost of the WOC Culture Club is not insignificant because it is has been invested in. It’s filled with years of wisdom and materials from WOC coaches, strategists and instructional designers, reiterated cohort to cohort using data to ensure the learning and heart journey is as powerful as possible for you, dear one.

If this doesn’t resonate, it’s okay. Join the waitlist to be notified about the next WOC Culture Club experience (spoiler alert: it won’t be another cohort).

If this feels like it was made for you, keep reading.

Hey, hey. If you’re here, you probably know my story.

You know I leapt from nonprofit Director to six-figure entrepreneur; from regular life to RV Life to full time traveler while running a growing company and navigating anxiety.

You know I founded the WOC Culture Club in response to my craving for community with other folks of color and started the Courage Culture & Clarity podcast as an outlet for my anxiety and now has many listeners.

And you know I help brilliant thought leaders, entrepreneurs and people move through big change with ease.