Our Story

Hey y'all! We're fritz and hobbes--Cazimi Co-hosts, Curators, Chefs and Besties!
Like most queer relationships begin, Fritz’s ex was hobbes’ best friend at the time. We were friends for nearly half a decade before we realized our connection was one of many lives folded into existence here, now. It was around 2020 when we realized that we want to be here together, in a way that isn’t just about work, sleep, rinse and repeat, but rather really living–a kind of presence most dream of in retirement, but why wait? We started investigating our life purposes (individually and together) through Queer Retrograde, our podcast, which served as a digital platform for sharing passion projects and fostering dialogue among like-minded creative individuals. During this time hobbes was also amid their decade-long career in bartending at hotels, restaurants and catering events. Fritz had just made the shift from working in social media strategy to farming and land stewardship. Through these experiences and 80 plus podcast episodes, Cazimi was born, both as a lifestyle and business! We, as many others do, felt an urgent necessity for sanctuary within an increasingly hostile “grind culture.” We draw on our collective expertise in artistry, hospitality, farming, and homemaking to curate a multifaceted container for counter-cultural healing, directly challenging the scarcity mindset that often ties one’s value solely to productivity. Our aim is to reinvigorate hospitality by providing self-empowerment tools and dedicated space for rest, helping people move beyond mere survival into thriving. In addition to offering retreats, our online presence has grown into programming like book clubs and somatic workshops. Cazimi’s strength lies in our ability to meet people where they are, both physically and virtually through these combined efforts.

Where does the name "Cazimi" come from?
By definition, a cazimi refers to a very close conjunction—within 17 minutes—between a planet and the Sun. The sun is literally a life force - neither humans nor plants would survive without it. In astrology, the sun sign is often discussed as our conscious mind, our will to live and our creative life force. How can we create a space whereW exceptional, but strategically under-resourced folks come as close to their ‘sun’ or their ‘life force’ as they can?

Our Values:
Community - prioritizing love, respect and care on an individual and community level, investigating our social conditioning and holding ourselves responsible to our interconnectivity
Transparency - sharing our resources freely, holding ourselves accountable to the mission at hand
Innovation - incorporating joy, fun, adventure, creativity, humor and play into each day
Authenticity - building collaborations rooted in prioritizing humanity over production

This all leads to growth: both personal and collective healing through actively fostering a safe environment.

Spring 2025 Recap:
This Spring, we hosted 16 retreaters and served approximately 75 community members through our in-person programming. That number expands to over 100 when you include our digital offerings. We expect to triple that number by the end of the year through our fall retreats and programming. The constellation that is Cazimi expands through each person we feed, serve and remind of their power. This contributes to the overall sustainability of each of our retreaters homes, communities and beyond–because we know that joy, love and care are the seeds that keep us feeding ourselves and each other.

By contributing to our Fall 2025 Fundraiser, you are supporting us in continuing to offer sliding scale.
Here's the breakdown:
Living Wage = $30/hour
Retreat Hours: Thurs-Mon 8 hours / day (average) = 40hrs total
40hrs X $30 = $1,200 / co-host ($2,400 total)

$2,400 + $725 food and bev expenses = $3,125 true cost of retreat (not including admin hours)

Currently we make about $1,725 / community retreat, depending on how many retreaters we have and where they pay on the sliding scale. This spring, 90% of our retreaters paid at the supported (lowest) rate. The other 10% paid at the base (middle) rate, with no one paying at the investment (highest) rate. This isn't a surprise to us, as we aim to offer retreats to exceptional, but strategically under-resourced communities. However, it leaves us in a financial place where we need additional support from the community to help subsidize our wages.

Need to fundraise: $1,400 for each community retreat in order to subsidize sliding scale
This fall we are offering three Community Supported Retreats, offered at a sliding scale.
$1,400 X 3 Retreats = $4,200 TOTAL

Fall 2025 Community Supported Retreats:
Vitality Retreat for LGBTQIA+ -- Sept 12-15
Love Letters to Self Retreat -- Oct 3-6
Rest Retreat for BIPOC Land Stewards -- Nov 14-17

Drafted Itinerary can be found here (to give you a sense of what our retreats are like).
We also encourage you to watch our Spring Vitality Retreat highlight reel, made in-house by co-host hobbes!

Testimonials:

"You created a space for people to show up as their true and whole selves, and it shaped a shared environment of acceptance and love for each other." –2024 retreat attendee

" For the first time I had the space to think deeply about what is actually required for me to rest, where I can rest, and what does rest truly look like." --Rose, Spring Rest Retreater

Cazimi Fall 2025 Fundraiser

Community Sustained Retreats for QTBIPOC Rest & Joy

Team Members