After losing her mother last November, Jessica Burns went on a surfing wellness retreat in Costa Rica to help herself work through her grief.

“It was really special,” she said. “It was the first time I had ever invested in an experience, purely to find joy. Previously, everything had been about education or having something to put on a resume.”

Out in nature in one of the most remote corners of the world, helped her feel closer to her late mother, Kim Burns.

The experience was so impactful, she decided to form a wellness retreat business in Bermuda. This month she opened Retreat House at Southern Views, a tourist rental property in Southampton near Horseshoe Bay.

Her first event, a surfing day retreat for women, hosted by Illuminate, will be held there on Saturday.

“I have four spots left,” she said.

Ian Bridges will teach surfing, while Ewa Gutowska will offer yoga and life coaching.

“Ian’s vision was to see more girls surfing in Bermuda and he has achieved that over the last decade,” Ms Burns said.

It was Kim who turned the family home, Southern Views, into tourist accommodations, after retiring from nursing at cancer charity Pals.

When Ms Burns took over the running of it after Kim died last November, she quickly found that business fell away in the off season.

“In the winter, we lag with bookings, just the same as hotels,” Ms Burns said.

Creating Retreat House and targeting locals was a way to creatively fill the house between September and April.

In November, to honour her mother’s legacy, Ms Burns is holding a three-day retreat for cancer patients, sponsored by Pals. She plans to hold “Kim Burns Retreats” regularly.

She believes it is really important for cancer patients to talk with other people in a similar situation, in a confidential setting.

“When my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago, it completely consumed her world and our world, as caretakers,” Ms Burns said.

“It would have been amazing for her to meet other people with cancer. She would not have had to be brave in front of them and could have talked about her feelings. She felt she had to be strong for us.”

The Retreat House has wi-fi and a swimming pool. It can sleep 11 comfortably but could do 14 people, in a pinch. Clients can share a room or have their own, depending on their budget.

“Our retreats are set up to just lean into things people enjoy doing,” she said.

In most cases she finds subject experts to run the retreats. However, she does hope to cohost a coaching retreat next year.

Ms Burns has a background in sales and marketing.

“Previously, I lived in London,” she said. “I was helping small businesses who had a philanthropy side. I helped them grow.”

Her clients included a handmade chocolate chip cookie company that employed people with autism and a water bottle company that funded ocean plastic clean-up.

“Sometimes you do not realise how much something you are learning is preparing you for something else,” she said.

“On the marketing side of things, it is important to get your brand out there. The most important thing I learnt was to be patient and also to really notice your energy with the people you are working with.”

Now, Ms Burns loves getting to choose what retreat leaders she works with.

“I have found so many amazing female entrepreneurs,” she said.

Retreat House already has several events on the calendar for November including another surfing retreat for men and women, a yoga retreat with Salt Yoga and a grief retreat hosted by Big Girl Panties, a grief network.