Art & Culture

Shams Club Heads to Palm Springs for Its Second Creative Retreat

BYKhaoula Ghanem

May 6, 2026

After years of being sold the idea that success requires relentless self-optimization, nonstop visibility, and an almost performative independence, many creatives are rejecting the mythology of the lone genius entrepreneur and gravitating toward ecosystems rooted in collaboration, emotional honesty, and shared cultural references. Community, it seems, has become the new currency.

This May, that shift is heading to the California desert. Shams Club, a SWANA-focused creative community and founder network co-founded by Lena Kouri from Between East, Yasmine Rasool from WAASTAA, and Anousha from Joy Culture, is hosting the second edition of its Creative Retreat in Palm Springs, bringing together a small group of creative entrepreneurs, creator founders, and cultural innovators for four days of workshops, wellness sessions, portfolio reviews, communal meals, and long conversations away from the pressures of everyday life.

The retreat, scheduled to run from May 31 to June 3, has been intentionally designed to stay intimate, with organizers prioritizing depth of connection over scale. Each day follows a different emotional and creative structure. One focuses on arriving and settling in, another on presenting work and learning about each other’s worlds, while the most intensive day revolves around workshops, challenges, and collaborative learning. The final day is reserved for reflection and future commitments.

Programming is thoughtful and intentional, and includes workshops centered around brand building, content strategy, pitching, and growth mechanics, alongside peer-matched sessions based on shared goals and values. Attendees will also take part in an open portfolio evening where everyone has the opportunity to present their work, as well as communal dinners and morning wellness sessions designed to create slower, more intentional starts to each day. The experience closes with a Community Closing Circle before optional group explorations through Palm Springs and Joshua Tree.

The decision to host the gathering in Palm Springs feels deliberate in ways that go beyond aesthetics, even if the desert city has become shorthand for a certain kind of curated wellness fantasy. According to the organizers, the location was chosen because of its “space and its light,” somewhere detached enough from everyday noise that people can think clearly and actually be present with one another.

That desire for distance makes sense when considering the kind of community Shams Club is trying to cultivate. Co-created by Between East and Waastaa, the collective was built specifically for creatives across the SWANA region and diaspora, many of whom are navigating industries that often demand constant visibility while flattening or tokenizing their identities in the process.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable rise in creative communities built around shared cultural understanding and emotional sustainability, largely because traditional networking spaces rarely account for the realities of building something creative while existing between multiple geographies, languages, and identities. Shams Club seems particularly aware of that gap.

“We built Shams Club because we wanted to fill a room of creative entrepreneurs that were similar to us,” the co-founders shared. “Mexico City showed us what’s possible when you put the right people together. Palm Springs is us doing that again. It’s somewhere our members can slow down, share their work, and leave with something real.”

Its first retreat, which took place in Mexico City earlier this year, brought members together through guided workshops, one-on-one sessions, wellness practices, private chef dinners, and city explorations. According to one attendee, Mariam H, the experience left participants feeling “inspired, energized, and connected.” Judging by everything Shams Club has planned for Palm Springs, we have a feeling the desert will leave people feeling much the same way.

Shams Club Heads to Palm Springs for Its Second Creative Retreat

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Shams Club Heads to Palm Springs for Its Second Creative Retreat

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