Stepping into the beautiful countryside home of Melissa and Maël – the couple behind YESS Experience – I’m struck by the calm atmosphere. The stillness feels nourishing. Their five-month-old baby, Koa, gazes up at me with curiosity, unsurprisingly content in such a safe and beautiful sanctuary. Melissa describes the moment their lives changed from a stressful corporate one to one anchored in music and mindfulness. It began, like many transformations, with a feeling of burn out. Responding to the call to stop, Melissa took a sabbatical during which she visited Ibiza and was encouraged by a friend to attend an Awaré concert. “I cried. I laughed. I danced… I was like, what just happened?”
A Need to Share
The experience of listening to the musical duo from Serbia and Argentina was so profound that Melissa returned to her new home of Mallorca, determined to bring them to the island so her closest friends could share in the magic. Maël was behind her the whole way as she embarked on organising that first and supposedly one-off event. “You need to experience it to understand what’s happening because it’s much more than just a concert,” Melissa tells us, adding, “there’s literally healing and connection taking place.”
That first event attracted 150 people and the response was overwhelmingly positive. “We didn’t plan to start a whole movement but it was just so beautiful to see how the community came together in such a strong way. There was a moment where we all were holding hands in a circle. It was just so beautiful to watch the community of Mallorca coming together.”
A Movement of Love and Peace
Since that first concert, Melissa and Maël have continued to say “yes” to the flow of the universe, following what feels aligned and authentic. One such moment was meeting musician Ape Chimba in a café in Ibiza – a serendipitous encounter that led to yet another powerful event. Fast forward two years and their latest concert had one thousand attendants.
“We pick the most intuitive artists out there because it’s all about co-creating with the participants. It’s about feeling the people and playing to suit the moment,” explains Maël. “That’s very different to having an artist turning up to perform his set. Sometimes they ask for sounds from the crowd, maybe a clap or a yawn… and they integrate it into the song. That’s true confidence and trust in your creativity.”
In addition to the music, Melissa and Maël have built a broader community around their events by inviting local artisans and small ecological businesses to share their work. “We really want to promote local and sustainable ways of living. It’s about creating a beautiful, conscious ecosystem,” says Melissa. There are also retreats and a YESS Summit on the horizon. At its core, the movement they’ve sparked is about human connection; something increasingly rare and deeply needed in today’s world. “I think people are frustrated because they don’t know what to do and they feel powerless,” the couple reflect. “There’s not much we can do ourselves individually, but by just coming together and being in that frequency, taking time to appreciate that and spread love and be in that moment is so healing. That’s good. It’s much more than good.”
For those looking for belonging, to rediscover their purpose, and to find a sense of peace, a YESS experience may be the beginning of a beautiful and poignant journey of inner transformation.
