Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Lenfestey.
Hi Rob, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Honestly, the best source of this story would be to read it on our website… it’s actually a pretty amazing story and fun to tell.
The first few paragraphs are about Eleanor and I, and then the second section is the actually narrative I wrote on my journey to starting this amazing project. Please let me know any further info you require!
https://www.mandalasprings.com/our-story
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a massive growth and learning curve to successfully run this project.
I can go into exquisite detail on some of the lessons and the growth.
The first layer was, of course, cleaning up the junk yard itself and transforming the land back to its pristine beauty. This took many years of physical labor, and a deep catharsis removing the very real trauma the land endured during decades of abuse and neglect.
The next layer was pioneering the first ever USDA Organic Certification for woodland perennial plants and mushrooms to serve my Certified Organic Chocolate company (to which I built a magical Chocolate production facility on the land!) Mandala Chocolate. This included creating the first ever Certified Organic management of public lands in the USA.
Beyond that the deepest growth involved the building a community and learning the profound relational skills necessary to be in leadership well. This is something I can really share alot around; it certainly required the most personal growth from me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m essentially a modern-day polymath in progress — part musician, part movement artist, part regenerative land steward, and part systems designer. My work lives at the intersection of art, ecology, entrepreneurship, and human transformation.
On one side, I’m the founder and steward of a 67-acre regenerative retreat center and eco-village in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where we’re building tiny homes, domes, trails, food systems, and a thriving community grounded in reciprocity with the land. I also founded Mandala Chocolate, a superfood chocolate company that weaves together ethical cacao, functional herbs, and storytelling to support rainforest conservation and regenerative projects.
Before Mandala Springs, I led a successful conservation campaign that raised $14 million to permanently protect 10 miles of virgin cloud forest in Guatemala. That kind of large-scale ecological work continues to inform everything I do now: every structure, system, and experience I design is meant to serve both people and planet in a very real, on-the-ground way.
My path has always been adventure-driven. I made the youngest solo ascent of Aconcagua, the tallest peak outside the Himalayas, and spent years hitchhiking across South America with a drum and a slackline, climbing remote peaks and living close to the edge of my own comfort. Those years of expedition, risk, and experimentation gave me a deep devotion to aliveness and resilience that now underpins my work with clients, communities, and teams.
I’ve also been immersed in human potential work for decades. I was the first certified Wim Hof Method instructor in the United States and, before that, spent years teaching at the top level of the yoga world — leading workshops, trainings, and immersions that blended breath, movement, and mindset. Today, I bring those tools into men’s work, rites of passage, and immersive retreats, often paired with live music, breathwork, and cacao.
On the creative side, I’m a lifelong musician and producer — a pianist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer creating everything from drum & bass and cinematic soundscapes to live ceremonial music. Music is one of my primary bridges: it connects the nervous system work, the somatic practices, and the spiritual experiences into something people can actually feel in their bodies.
If there’s a single thread through all of this, it’s convergence. I specialize in taking what most people keep separate — business and mysticism, data and intuition, ceremony and spreadsheets, music and strategy — and weaving them into coherent, practical systems. I’m known for designing transformational spaces (physical and experiential), teaching embodied practices, and architecting regenerative projects that are both visionary and logistically sound.
I’m most proud of two things: first, turning a literal junkyard into a living, breathing sanctuary that now hosts retreats, relief efforts, and deep healing work; and second, staying radically committed to my creativity while building businesses and infrastructure. What sets me apart is the breadth of lived experience behind my work: I’ve soloed high-altitude peaks, negotiated multi-million-dollar conservation deals, composed orchestral pieces, moved thousands of gallons of water in disaster relief, and held ceremony under the stars — and I build systems that can hold all of that in one integrated life.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite memories involve a particular tree that I used to spend hours up in the highest branches of as a young kid. Even by 5 I had named different branches and would go to different parts of the tree in response to different moods or goals.
Pricing:
- www.mandalanaturals.com
- https://www.mandalasprings.com/campatmandala
- https://www.roblenfestey.com/contact
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mandalasprings.com
- Instagram: @mandala_springs @mandalachocolate @roblenfestey
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandalasprings | https://www.facebook.com/mandalachocolate | https://www.facebook.com/lenfestey
- LinkedIn: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hO8GkMzWvxDAHoxQGapxI
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ConvergenceLifestyle
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1XQHR8UK9NT8fj1ipRez6m
