How Kim Fields Built a Wellness Retreat That Feels Like Coming Home

The actress and entrepreneur discusses creating The Refresh, why wellness should be accessible to everyone, and what five seasons of Netflix's "The Upshaws" taught her about rare air.

Kim Fields has spent decades making us laugh—from Tootie on The Facts of Life to Regine on Living Single to Regina Upshaw on Netflix's The Upshaws. But in recent years, she's been building something quieter, more personal, and arguably more transformative: The Refresh by KF, a wellness retreat series that's rewriting the rules of who gets to access healing spaces.

What started as Fields exploring her own health during the 2020 lockdown has evolved into a community of "retreaters"—80% of whom return again and again. They gather in resorts from Georgia to Arizona to European cruise ships, not for celebrity sightings or Instagram-worthy moments, but for breathwork circles, men's vulnerability sessions, and champagne yoga classes that somehow manage to feel both indulgent and sacred.

In conversation with The Layover Podcast, Fields opened up about why she refuses to charge premium prices for wellness experiences, what it's like working with comedic legends Wanda Sykes and Mike Epps, and why Switzerland owes her a proper visit after a childhood day trip that barely lasted long enough to finish a chocolate bar.

You've created something really special with The Refresh. For people who don't know about it yet, can you tell us—what is The Refresh, and what made you say, "I need to create this"?

Honestly, it wasn't something I set out to create. I was in explorer mode in terms of my health and well-being during lockdown in 2020, and I just wasn't finding anything that resonated with me. Not as a woman, not as a woman of color, not as a woman of a certain age—it literally was just what I'm into and what resonates with me. I started having conversations with people I was discovering in my exploration, and I ended up sharing those conversations on Instagram Live only to find out there were millions of people who felt the same way.

We started having these conversations monthly, then we started a website, and maybe two years later I thought, out of nowhere, "I want to do a retreat." I had never been on a wellness retreat. I certainly had never hosted one. But I knew what I would like to do, and furthermore, what I don't want to do. That started me curating and educating myself about other people in the wellness space—not the usual suspects you always see, but who else is out here? The last thing for me was creating something really inclusive of everybody. It wasn't something for Black people or women or Black women, but everybody. It was disheartening to me that men didn't seem to be included in the wellness conversation. I wanted to do my part to make sure this feels inclusive for every being, because well-being should be for all beings.

We were on the Soulful Experience cruise with you, and one thing that stood out was how intentional every element was—the breathwork, the men's circles, the paint workshops. Talk to us about why wellness and travel belong together for you.

Part of The Refresh is giving yourself permission to discover and explore, giving yourself permission to really lean into that curiosity. Being able to explore spaces and places that were either honoring or celebrating or just informing—in that environment, on that cruise—was just another layer of, "Oh my goodness, another moment for us to really enjoy." The thing for us is the mind, the body, and the spirit, the soul. Being able to have retreaters say they found cultural awareness and learned history they didn't know—that for them was the refresh part. That's very powerful for me as we're curating these experiences.

Your retreaters keep saying The Refresh feels accessible and authentic—that you don't use your celebrity in this space and it feels like a family reunion. Why was accessibility so important to you?

When I first started curating the very first retreat, one of the things that really struck me was that wellness did not seem accessible to most people. It seemed like you had to be of a certain price point or income or class to have wellness experiences, and that just didn't sit well with me. I wanted to set price points that made wellness accessible, especially in this climate of the economy where people are having to pick and choose what they can do. There's a lot that comes with saying yes to a retreat—making sure the kids are all right, if you're a caregiver making sure your parents or grandparents are taken care of, time off, flights, the retreat itself. There's a lot that goes into giving yourself permission to be well, which is our tagline. I wanted to honor that by saying, "I know this is a stretch and a sacrifice for a lot of people." Wellness should be accessible to everyone, and it wasn't about gender or race or culture.

You've said The Refresh is about "starting conversations others are afraid to start." What does that look like when people show up?

I think first of all, really making sure people understand this is a safe space we're creating. I mean it when I say it's a judgment-free zone—you can feel safe to share or do or be, and we're all in that same type of journey. Even if somebody's sitting there thinking, "What is she doing? I wish he would shut up"—any of that starts to fade away because those are some of our knee-jerk go-tos. We've been conditioned for so long because we haven't been in a safe space with a community. So it's not so much that it's conversations people are afraid of. I think more than anything, it's creating the space for people to have a deeper dive and to have more meaningful experiences with themselves and with others.

Travel clearly means a lot to you beyond just The Refresh. When did you catch the travel bug?

Because of my work as an actor, I've been blessed to start traveling very early. The first time I went to Paris, I was 12. The first time I went to Australia, I was almost 18. But I never really thought much about it because I was always in work mode—you go there and you make a movie. Vancouver, beautiful. I was there to make movies. Utah, make a movie. I didn't set out to have a travel retreat initially. I was at a resort and thought, "This is really nice. You know what?" And that's pretty much how it started.

Since then, we've had hospitality brands, resorts, tourism boards pitch to us: "Would you come here and do a retreat?" They'll also make sure people feel welcome to stay either before or after and enjoy the city. Now when I'm scouting a location, I literally am thinking about the people who come to our retreats. I can see their faces, especially our regular retreaters. I can picture them: "Oh, they're going to enjoy this," or "He's going to love that," or "This couple is going to have a great time here." It becomes very intentional.

Where haven't you been yet that's at the top of your list?

I really want to get back to Switzerland. When we were in Paris doing the Facts of Life movie—I was 12—we did a day trip to Geneva. I remember being in this square, there was a big clock or building, we had chocolate, and then it was time to go. [Laughs] So I truly want to go back. I want to return to Italy because I did a TV special in Rome as a teenager. I'd love to go to Nice, New Zealand, and back to Australia to see the reefs.

Quick lightning round—window or aisle seat?

Window.

Best travel snack?

Biscoff cookies. But can I tell you about Delta's Bourbon Cream? You can have it over ice, and it's lovely on the rocks. But when you have a cup of tea, instead of adding cream and sugar, do the bourbon cream in the tea. You're welcome. [Laughs] That is an edge-sucker-upper.

Do you have a travel ritual?

Here's the ritual: I can get 50 or 60 people halfway around the world for a seven-day cruise and retreat, but I can't remember to pack a bathing suit for myself. [Laughs] I'll look up and have one shoe like, "Well, now what the hell happened here?" My packing is just throw some stuff in the bag, and if it all works out, great. I'm always on the move, and I've realized I can always grab something if I forget it.

One thing you never travel without besides your passport?

My Aquaphor lip balm, always a hat—usually my big gray beanie—and a coffee tumbler my son gave me years ago. It says, "You don't always remember you're awesome. This is your reminder." I always bring it. If I'm on set for one of my films or The Upshaws or a retreat, wherever I am, I always have it.

Let's talk about The Upshaws. Five seasons, seven parts—that's rare air for any sitcom today, especially Black sitcoms. How does that feel?

We would always say at The Upshaws that we breathe rare air. We had always known we were very much a unicorn. That said, we did the work—don't get it twisted. Both sides of the camera, we did the work. But what's considered longevity now? I come from a time when nine seasons of Facts of Life was normal, five seasons of Living Single was over a hundred episodes. But all the business models have changed. Sixty episodes is a lot for a streaming platform. We were getting season orders of 12, 14, 16, 10 episodes when people weren't getting those. A season nowadays is like six to eight episodes.

It's not just Black sitcoms—there's a lot of great content that doesn't get a pickup or only gets one season for a number of reasons. Industry executives are trying to move entire narratives. Right now, comedy is not having the heyday it had a few years ago—everything is big dramas or big sci-fi. And everything is cyclical. We had this conversation decades ago when they were "taking all the Black shows off," and then a couple years later, here comes a whole new wave of Black sitcoms. Everything is cyclical.

Regina is such a grounded, no-nonsense character, but she's also got really tender moments. What do you love most about playing her?

Let my kids tell it, anytime I'm giving "the look," they're like, "Oh, you're not acting there." [Laughs] But I've learned so much from her—working so hard and really putting your family first. We have that in common. And loving so hard with the idea of wanting to help people. I enjoyed playing her because she was so irreverent, like the show. She had strength but also vulnerability. They let her explore what was important to her, when she was completely vulnerable, and when she was making it clear what she was and was not having. I loved seeing all the different ways they grew her as a person.

What's it like being in a room with Wanda Sykes and Mike Epps?

Here's my favorite part: Mike and Wanda don't spend all day trying to one-up each other or have a pissing contest of who's the funniest. They have such a reverence for each other's work as standups and they respect each other. They self-sacrifice for the good of the show, for a joke or a storyline. But then Wanda—she always rolls three deep in the chamber. I call her the joke gunslinger because she always has it, and it's so effortless. You're like, "How did your mind…?" And Mike, the same thing. Mike has always been funny, and at the same time they're both very grounded. It feels really good to work with them.

The Refresh by KF continues to host wellness retreats nationwide and internationally. For upcoming retreat dates and locations, visit refreshbykf.com. All seven parts of "The Upshaws" are now streaming on Netflix. Follow Kim Fields at @kimfieldsofficial on Instagram.