Ashram Boot Camp

Below is a recent photo of Diana Mead, our president, taken in her office halfway through a fairly normal day at the Hill....

We’ve been moving pretty fast at Allonhill for the past year, growing our Denver office from 40 to 200 people. We’re growing in New Jersey, too, and we have remote analysts working from all around the country. And, we are celebrating our two-year anniversary this month. You don’t get this big this fast without feeling like Diana looks in this photo.

After a year like we’ve had, a lot of people would take a week off and head to the beach. Or maybe hang around a vineyard in Tuscany.

Not us. Diana and I are going to a workout boot camp in Malibu. I have no idea why it sounds so appealing to someone like me or Diana to take off a week and work our tails off. But to us, this sounds rejuvenating. Neither of us would even consider a weekend off, let alone a week, without our families, at anyplace relaxing like a beach or a spa. But heading to a rustic place that’s referred to as “formidable” in write-ups sounds like heaven to us. The retreat involves 12 hours a day of hiking, weight lifting, aerobics and yoga with an all-vegetarian diet – and no caffeine.

The working out will be tough. The lack of caffeine will be a problem for me. But the real struggle for both of us will coping without use our Blackberries, laptops, cell phones, iPads or anything else that connects us to the outside world.

I’ll post a photo when we get back. We’ll either look fit and refreshed, or we’ll be in straight-jackets.

Don’t worry about us. We’ll probably be okay.