Our story
How Portals came about
It started with a rooftop DJ set and a dream about Jupiter.
How Debbie and Shannon met
Debbie had just left Los Angeles. Three years of chasing success there had left her feeling hollow and depleted. On her way home to Taiwan, she made a stop in Mexico, hoping some space would help her find her ground again.
Shannon was in Playa del Carmen too, and already in love with the place. A friend had told her about a healer named Pamela, and she had come to see for herself.
Then a small coincidence changed everything. Shannon needed a laptop, and the person she bought one from was Leroy, one of Debbie’s closest friends. Small world.
The first event: an ecstatic dance
Leroy went straight back to Debbie with the verdict: “You have to meet this woman.” He wasn’t wrong. Not long after, he DJ’d a rooftop set at Debbie’s place, and Shannon showed up.
Soon after, a local gallery invited Shannon to host something, and she said yes to an ecstatic dance. Debbie helped bring it to life. The dance spilled out of the gallery and into the street, and strangers joined right in. Shannon closed the night with a soundbath.
Debbie left knowing she had found someone rare: a woman who could hold a room with real power, and enough tenderness to reach everyone in it.
The birth of Portals Retreat
Months later, back in Taiwan, Debbie had a dream about Jupiter she could not shake. She woke up certain of one thing: it was time to bring women together.
Shannon was the first person she thought to call. Turns out, Shannon had been dreaming up the exact same thing on her own.
Their first retreat happened in 2022, and the idea behind it hasn’t changed since: women lifting each other up, and building something together that makes everyone in the room feel more alive.
