Costa Rica 2025 Participants

Jennifer Silbert: Mama. Artist. Ocean lover. Jewish woman of the earth @littlecityfarmla. Trash warrior and dumpster diver @rewildergoods. Dreaming of a matriarchal community centered in love and respect for birth, humanity and the earth. Surfing has all the life lessons.

Shandy Gabbay: I have a M.S from the Columbia School of Journalism (2001)and Undergraduate degree, B.S in Communication Studies and Socio-cultural Anthropology from UCLA. I freelanced for the New York Times, Lomg Island Arts & Culture section and I have poetry published in ONTHEBUS, Bombshell Press, a literary magazine. I am currently working on forthcoming book, Walking the Days: From Warrior to Woman. I have worked with Jack Grapes, using the method-writing process to access my inner voice and the story of who I am. I had the honor of working with Sadhguru at his Tenessee ashram in the Fall of 2023 and I have incorporated his teachings of Inner Engineering and yoga into my daily practice. Lastly and above all, I am honored to be the mother of my 3 amazing children who inspire me to reach for all possibilities in our infinite universe and live every moment of life.

Lindsay Kirschner: Hi! My name is Lindsay & I am from Austin, TX! I am a coach and spiritual queen. I LOVE journaling and doing the deep inner work to be the best version of myself. SO stoked for this retreat and to feel all the feminine energy!

Lucy Shelby is a trained clown, healer and artist. Her trainings, teaching, and performance has taken her around the world where she has worked with and learned from yogis, master clown teachers, Balinese mask carvers, and Mayan Elders. Her greatest loves are play, healing arts, and nature.

Elizabeth Swanson is a writer and professor of literature and human rights. She is also mama to Marcelle, 27, and rescue dog mama to Shadow and Lolo (ages unknown). A native New Yorker, she has been blessed to call the sweet glacial peninsula Cape Cod home for the past 30 years. Elizabeth is on a journey to free her writing voice to express a range of genres and stories. She is beyond thrilled to be joining the Gateless Retreat in the magical Nicoya Peninsula.

Eleonora Corigliano: Hi Creatives – Dr. Ellie Corigliano here, Precision Medicine Oncology Innovator recently reconstructed into a Qigong/Tai Chi instructor, writer, traveler, and Women’s Health advocate for Meno-Journey magnificence! The extraordinary loves of my life are my amazing son, Caleb, and my beautiful 3 year old pooch, Bailey Roo. I have a great love and appreciation of nature, seeking truth, medicine, philosophy and spirituality. I love to fly my kite, go sailing, cook, forest bathe, hike, read and create!

Linda Rietmann: I’m a 54 year old divorced mom of 2 amazing young men. As a fascial stretch therapist, I’m passionate about helping others feel their best. I find joy in reading, journaling, exercising, walking along the beach, and horseback riding. My faith as a Christian inspires me daily.

Maryam Mehrtash is a dynamic entertainment marketing executive with over a decade of experience blending storytelling and strategy to drive innovation in the media and technology industries. Most recently, as Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Brand Partnerships at Paramount and CBS Entertainment, she led the go-to-market advertising strategy for Paramount+, managing multi-million-dollar sponsorships with Fortune 500 companies like Google, General Motors, and VISA. Her work has supported iconic franchises and brands like Star Trek, The GRAMMYs, and Yellowstone, earning industry recognition and exceeding revenue targets. Prior to Paramount, Maryam drove digital monetization for KTLA 5 News and Tribune Media, crafting scalable advertising solutions and unlocking new revenue streams. Her diverse background includes producing several unscripted television shows and podcasts.
Maryam specializes in aligning diverse teams across sales, research, and creative to deliver high-impact campaigns that resonate globally. She is renowned for her ability to balance creative vision with operational excellence, consistently delivering ROI while safeguarding brand integrity. Her accolades include TV Week’s 40 Under 40 Award and the HotDocs Astral Media Emerging Filmmaker Award.
A daughter of immigrant entrepreneurs, Maryam brings resilience and ingenuity to her work, leveraging her personal journey as a foundation for innovative storytelling. She is a Business Fellow at WIF, an active member of Chief, and holds certifications in TV and Film writing and development from UCLA and The Writing Pad. With expertise spanning marketing strategy, global partnerships, creative writing and production, she continues to inspire teams, scale opportunities, and connect audiences with compelling narratives.

Margalit Koffler: I am a 31 year old woman and mother to a 15 month old daughter, who recently left everything and everyone she knew behind in NYC and moved to Atlanta to support her husband in landing his dream job. This new space has allowed me to get clear on what patterns, beliefs, and relationships served me and which didn’t. I am now landing in the truest understanding of myself, and garnering courage to share my truth with those who are most important to me and ultimately serve other women through my process. I am a priestess, a medicine woman, a singer, a writer, an artist, a woman of the earth. I am joining this retreat to help me fully embody this truth so that it doesn’t only live trapped within my internal worlds, but is freed to ripple out into the hearts of others.

Selvi Rengasami: I’m a former medical doctor turned certified health coach who guides women with gut disease on the path to remission and beyond using her unique methodology of integrative nutrition, energetics and intuitive medicine. Having gone through my own personal journey with Crohn’s disease and finding my own way to remission and beyond when western medicine failed me, my journey has given me purpose and meaning through my current work. When I’m not working, I love to dance (salsa, bachata, kizomba anyone?), dig deeper into my spiritual growth (total junkie!), explore deeper wisdom (I’m currently training to be an SE practitioner), connect deeply with friends and like minded souls, cook, and travel. My word for 2025 is INFINITE. I’m excited to connect with more of my own energy and share that connection with others.