About QCYF Retreats

WHY?

AT QCYF, WE STAND ON SIX CORE VALUES.

EQUALITY, COMMUNITY, LOVE, HONESTY, VULNERABILITY, DISCIPLINE

We know you share our values–that’s why you’re here, reading about this incredible trip and making plans to join us. When you choose to travel with us on any of our carefully-curated QCYF retreats, we deepen and fortify our shared values. By thoughtfully immersing ourselves in culturally-rich and diverse experiences, we widen our lens and expand our worldview. We travel to connect our community with other communities. We travel to offer and receive love through our shared humanity. We travel to bear out our authenticity through our willingness to be vulnerable, open, and curious. We travel with the honesty required to gain knowledge of ourselves, and of each other. We travel with the discipline of global citizens who understand that respect is the foundation upon which equality is built.

WHO?

Your retreat hosts and leaders

Your retreat hosts–Deshawn & Marla Thomas, studio owners

Prior to knowing one another, Marla and Deshawn shared the same dream of helping people feel better. In their separate lives, they each sought exercise as a medium for healing – Marla as a dedicated yoga pracitioner and Deshawn as a semi-pro athlete and personal trainer. After they met, Marla shared with Deshawn her dream of owning a yoga and fitness studio. With his unwavering support and encouragement, Marla opened QCYF in March of 2016. In 2018, as the studio began to expand beyond yoga into strength-training and HIIT, Deshawn left his career in the restaurant industry to become co-owner and CFO of QCYF.

Your retreat leaders–Beth Kruger & Autumn Spencer

Beth has led many international retreats and joined the QCYF Fam as our Retreat & Events Coordinator at the start of 2024. We’re thrilled to have her expertise, sense of adventure, steady presence, and depth of experience on our retreats. This is Beth’s fifth retreat to Cuba, and you can count on her for pretty awful salsa moves, quick laughter, ability to go with the flow, and always being able to look at the bright side.

Autumn’s first transformative travel experience was as an exchange student living in Germany in 1989-90. Visiting East Germany prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and witnessing the reunification of two countries and countless families separated for four decades, was a life-changing experience. In the years since, Autumn has traveled to a dozen other countries. Autumn is thrilled to be working alongside Deshawn, Marla, and Beth, to help people feel joy, embrace adventure, and make new connections in new places.