Double ’Hoo Phil Stone (MBA ’68, Engineering ’66) channeled a passion so he could jumped off the treadmill and onto a spiritual path. After a career that took him through the military and a series of real estate corporations, Stone decided to follow his dream while fulfilling a market need. He created an online guide to spiritual retreats and conference centers, with contact information for the people who run them. The international directories draw tens of thousands of visitors a month, effectively turning Stone’s hobby into a thriving oneman business. “In the late ’80s I started really developing an interest in spiritual retreats—finding peace, serenity, finding truth, finding God, finding answers—whatever you’re looking for as an individual,” Stone said. “By the mid-1990s I thought maybe one of these days I’m going to create a website to help people find retreats in their area.” Between the idea and the execution lay a wide expanse of technology to be mastered. Stone re-honed his skills for a new direction.

“My whole career had been spent as a manger of people and marketing and technology, but I had forgotten a lot of my technology skills,” he said. “So I bought a PC, started learning how to create web pages. Finally I thought I’ll create this website, findthedivine.com. It took on a life of its own. It grew over the last six years to the point where I have about 1,700 retreat centers. The way it’s listed is similar to the concept of the Yellow Pages. A basic listing is free, but more elaborate entries with graphics and links cost money.”

He started adding to the directory. First there were conference centers, “which have bigger budgets than little retreat centers,” he said. “Then I added a directory of people who run the retreats, and a calendar of upcoming events. An employment page. It was like building a house. I didn’t ever think it was going to get this big.” So last year Stone created a new website, seekaretreat.com, which is specifically designed for people who have a lot of retreat events, directors and an active calendar. The site offers a place for them to advertise their skills to lead a retreat. “What’s been really fun on this path is about two years ago I quit my day job,” Stone said. “My whole career has been surrounded with real estate software—either in finance or information systems, or I’ve been a consultant. So I’ve made this my day job and devote my full attention to this.”

Carrying an entire business in a computer case also has its benefits. “My business is my home office, on my laptop, so I just bring my business with me,” he said. “I’m going to Corolla, NC (along the Outer Banks), next week and I’ll sit at one of the Internet cafes and tend to this, then go back in the afternoon and beach it.”

Cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit, Stone says, has given him the opportunity to get back to the Darden basics he learned 40 years ago. “I get to work in marketing, sales, technology, accounting; I had to set up an LLC,” he said. “So it gives me an opportunity to wear many hats like I’m back in the MBA program, whereas as a manger, you have other people doing it for you. As an entré to retirement, this has been a wonderful opportunity.”

Stone also leads retreat groups. “My niche is contemplative retreats—silence, meditation,” he said. “I lead centering prayer groups and I’m on the board of two retreat centers. So my whole life revolves around this spiritual quest, if you will, whether it’s the business, the retreats, or the board groups I’m on—they all have a common denominator. Although my background is Catholic, I have learned to appreciate a divine source that invites all to enjoy this life. There are no restrictions.”

Findthedivine.com is Phase I of his business plan. Phase II will be to develop an interfaith retreat center, somewhere between Washington, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg and Richmond. “I’m looking for something that will incorporate this vision, not just on the web, but an actual place,” he said. So many people are overwhelmed by the hectic pace of life. The bigger path is a spiritual path that sits as an umbrella over all the religious paths. It doesn’t really matter which path you’re on. I just think it’s important to be on a path.”