After Cacao Facilitator Training: Planning Your First Circle
It's one thing to finish training and another to sit down and plan the first event you'll be responsible for. The temptation is to create a huge launch, order every bit of equipment you can think of and try to make it unforgettable.
I'd start with one event you can deliver properly. You'll learn far more from that than from weeks of planning something too complicated.
Decide who the circle is for
Is it a small adult group, a private gathering or a collaboration with an established studio? That changes the venue, the joining information, the equipment and what you need to explain to guests. Don't assume everybody wants the same serving of cacao. Make room for allergies, dietary requirements, individual cautions and the choice not to drink it.
Plan the practicalities
Write down the venue, start and finish times, headcount, what you'll carry and how you'll prepare cacao safely. Our guide to cacao quantities takes you through an easy calculation. You can find cacao and equipment in the Practitioner Kits collection, but an elaborate kit is not a requirement to be capable.
Price it before you advertise it
Count the venue, cacao, transport, cups, booking fees and time. Allow for some wastage and decide cancellation terms. The pricing guide covers those considerations in more detail. Check insurance, food-handling responsibilities and any relevant venue requirements too. Cacao facilitation is not medical or psychological treatment.
Keep learning without overloading yourself
The Mother Earth training pathway includes online learning and optional in-person practice in New Ross. If you're comparing the routes, read online versus practical-day training.
Both full options include the Practitioner Business Guide. It goes further into customers, venues, repeat business and getting the numbers right. Once you have some experience, there may be suitable opportunities to work with studios and other practitioners.
After the event
Ask what worked, what you'd simplify and what the group enjoyed. Don't judge the entire future of your practice on one evening. A clear joining message, comfortable space and well-prepared cacao go a long way.
Finish one event properly and learn from it. You can build from there.
If you're bringing cacao into yoga, Reiki or another existing practice, take a look at the practitioner guide as well. It explains how our different products and training options relate without suggesting that cacao training qualifies you in another discipline.
