About

• A place of solitude.

• A place of creativity.

• A place of mentoring.

• A place of sacred space.

• A place of refreshment, encouragement and diffusion for gifted artists and leaders.

Kalein (kah-leen) — der. Greek word kaleo for calling with an underlying nuance of beauty. Thus: Beauty is Calling

Eleven years ago the re:create Gathering of Creatives came into existence in Franklin, TN. It began with a dream of refreshing, encouraging and diffusing ideas among creatives. A short time later in that same year, two Nashville recording artists asked me to consider mentoring them. I realized immediately the mentoring entailed the same three goals as the re:create Gathering. As mentor I was to encourage, refresh, and diffuse ideas with these creatives.

These two opportunities became ongoing realities and a short year later I found myself journeying to the country of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. While changing flights at Heathrow in London, I was challenged by security that I possessed a fake boarding pass. They had never heard of the city Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, nor the country. After confirming that it was indeed a real place, I traveled on.

A few days later, after eighteen hours of flying and another eight harrowing hours driving in a dilapidated van to a remote village in the foothills of the mighty Tien Shen mountains, I found myself conversing on the muddy streets of Karakol, shivering in the snow, with a young man named Rafael.Through the interpreter he asked me, “Randy, what is your dream?” I told him and then in turn, asked him the same question.

The answer caused one of those pivotal moments in life, when your head spins and you realize your life will never be the same.

Rafael answered, “Oh, I want to be a rapper like Ja Rule.”

Imagine standing in a third world village with sewage running around our feet, only one old black and white television in the entire village, literally in the middle of nowhere, and even so, a young man has been influenced by an American artist.

These three events shaped a vision called Kalein.

A place of encouragement. Every creative needs an inordinate amount of encouragement.

The magic in their lives has been churched out, spanked out, combed out and educated out. They’ve been beaten down and told to grow up, for God’s sake, by the ones who are ashamed of what they’ve allowed to wither within.

A place of refreshment. Every creative needs an inordinate amount of refreshment. Empathic creatives tend to give out emotionally to others and in their art, and deplete their emotional tanks.

Solitude, beauty, nature and the sacraments of food and drink offer refreshment for a dry and weary soul.

A place to diffuse ideas. The world needs the ideas of our creatives. For years, my life mantra has been “to influence influencers,” but a true understanding of the word diffuse compels us to identify and influence innovative influencers.

Ideas are spread most effectively by global people of the same tribe gathering together in a refreshing and encouraging environment and exchanging life experiences.

In the past eleven years, re:create has grown into a gathering of 150 global creatives and innovative influencers.

And as eleven years have passed, the weekly mentoring group of two recording artists has grown into a group of ten. I promised them I would always be at our meeting place on Tuesday morning, and only four weeks in eleven years have I sat at our meeting place alone.

I have come to realize that re:create, the mentoring group and Kalein are one and the same.

Kalein is simply an extension of the same three goals.

To refresh, encourage and diffuse ideas.

Kalein is:

• A place of solitude.

• A place of creativity.

• A place of mentoring.

• A place of sacred space.

• A place where gifted artists and leaders are refreshed, encouraged and where the diffusion of ideas begins.

Kalein is such a place. Imagine six young songwriters, cinematographers, singers, culinary artists, fashion designers, painters, writers, illusionists, comedians, poets, philosophers, or contemplatives from all over the globe gathered round a roaring bonfire with real world artists.

These artists serving as master teachers by regaling them with stories about their Grammy and Oscar awards, war stories from the road and stage, practical experiences and the nuances of their craft. Imagine sitting at the feet of some of the greatest artists the world has ever known as they mentor and teach in an intimate and aesthetic setting.

Kalein is such a place. Imagine a place where a leader or pastor who is burned out, tired, or walking through a moral crisis can come for grace filled one-on-one mentoring and friendship with a time-tested veteran of the pastorate or business world. Imagine a safe place of total confidentiality and complete solitude endowed with breath-taking beauty.

Kalein is such a place. Imagine thought leaders and artists from around the world converging for salons to discuss art, leadership and faith. Imagine religious leaders from all faiths coming together to dialogue and collaborate.

Kalein is such a place.

Will you join us?

Randy Elrod, Founder & President