From Hawk Medicine to Hard Hats: Shockey Construction joins the flight

In August I drove home from a weekend retreat with Indigenous leaders from Colombia. The time was deep and meaningful. It reminded me why we think of our land as a partner and why this project exists at all.

Just days earlier, we had released our construction documents for bidding. As I drove, my mind kept returning to bigger questions we've been exploring (see The Unfolding: From Vision to Construction). One issue kept echoing: can capitalism evolve to embed social impact, ecological repair, and human wellbeing at its core, rather than treating them as afterthoughts?

Then, at the exact moment an amazing vision of regenerative capitalism began to clarify in my mind — and you truly can’t make this up — a red-tailed hawk struck my driver’s side mirror at highway speed. While I’ll save the full story for another time, this much is clear: the encounter became an inflection point for our project.

What we now call our “Hawk Medicine” moment taught us to see from a higher ground while staying connected, and to honor both what is alive and what has been lost. For our team, it has come to symbolize a shared commitment to soar with the most elevated vision while remaining grounded in practicality and discipline.

With eyes on the long view paired with purposeful steps, we unveiled an amazing Impact Equity program (more to come on this) that unlocked funding, partnerships, and key relationships in the months that followed. Doors that had been closed began to open, and the perfect platform to launch our project into its next construction phase emerged.

By late September, we had completed a rigorous bidding process and selected a hometown favorite, Howard Shockey & Sons, as our general contractor. Headquartered thirty minutes from our land in Winchester, Shockey has been a Shenandoah Valley leader for over 125 years. Roughly a third of their team lives within twenty miles of our site. They know the land, the trades, the county, and the state processes.

We looked closely at several outstanding nationally-ranked firms, but Shockey brings a level of partnership that will help us build in authentic relationship with the ecology, the surrounding community, and the regional culture. This is beyond just another project or line item for them. It’s literally their backyard, and we’re honored for Simply to be part of their legacy.

That alignment matters, because Simply isn’t a typical resort and this isn’t a typical development team. Around Shockey stands a wider circle of remarkable designers, engineers, wellness practitioners, land stewards, operators, financial partners, and Indigenous allies. Together, we are reimagining what a destination spa can be, setting a new bar for a resort with cultural purpose.

This is because our market (between Washington and New York) sits at the intersection of power and deep needs for transformation. To serve our highest mission, we’re blending nature and science with ancestral ways of knowing. We’ll measure outcomes in wellbeing, ecology, and community benefit. And we will do this in a vibrant vacation setting that people enjoy.

We expect to close financing in December, begin construction in January, and celebrate our groundbreaking in the spring. Between now and then, we’ll keep practicing what Hawk Medicine teaches:

Eyes up.

Feet down.

Protect what is living.

Build the future the land is asking for…

and feel the joy in chopping wood.

With love and resolve, the Shenandoah Team : )