Our Team | Trauma Retreat

Meet the Founders

Founder FRTR & Shadowland Foundation

Colette Duvall Pondella

Colette is the Wolfmom to our pack. Prior to this, for the better part of her adult life, she was a professional actress/director/coach in NYC and Los Angeles. Her projects and students were not just limited to theater, film, and television, it also included the corporate world.

In 2004, she embraced a non-denominational spiritual practice and is now a minister and spiritual teacher dedicated to helping others like herself who are recovering and wish to recover from life events that have caused great pain and suffering. A survivor of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, Bulimia and PTS, she knows all too well the courage and commitment it takes to heal.

Founder FRTR & Shadowland Foundation

Paul Pondella

Paul is the Alpha of our pack. Wild animals have always been a foundation of healing for Paul since childhood. Being severely Dyslexic he was ostracized at school and by his family. Because of his condition, he turned to the forest and wild animals for companionship.

Despite all of this, he survived some drug related problems with the law and at 18 years old, founded Tree King, Inc., the most prestigious Arbor Care company in Los Angeles. Due to this early childhood trauma, he struggled for many years with Drugs and Alcohol. Clean & Sober now for more than 2 decades he has dedicated his life to saving wolves, wildlife, and the environment.

Together they have committed themselves to saving the lives of First Responders, bringing hope, faith, and spiritual guidance to others in need of assistance through recovery, and therapeutic healing practices here, in nature's classroom. They know firsthand that wolves (the original canine) are phenomenal instruments delivering deep meaningful healing at the soul level. “Love... unconditional love is the best "medicine" of all. Wolves operate only at the heart level, possibly more than any other creature. This, and other holistic and evidence-based therapy and techniques they offer here at Shadowland Foundation’s First Responders Trauma Retreat could make all the difference.

Together, Paul, Colette and the Shadowland Foundation Wolfpack have committed themselves to saving the lives of First Responders, bringing hope, faith, and spiritual guidance to others in need of assistance through recovery, and therapeutic healing practices here at the ranch, in nature's classroom. They know firsthand that wolves (the original canine) are phenomenal instruments delivering deep meaningful healing at the soul level. “Love... unconditional love is the best "medicine" of all. Wolves operate only at the heart level, possibly more than any other creature. This, and other holistic and evidence-based therapy and techniques they offer here at Shadowland Foundation’s First Responders Trauma Retreat could make all the difference.