Meet the Team | Men Love Men Retreats, Byron Bay

Gabby Dalli

Founder | Retreat Director

Curating extraordinary experiences that nourish, inspire, and create lasting memories.

Gabby is dedicated to creating exceptional experiences that make people feel welcomed, connected, and inspired. For over thirty years, she has united people through food, dance, business, and community, building successful ventures and fostering environments where others feel genuinely valued. Gabby is a professionally trained chef with degrees in Human Movement and Psychology, and she is currently completing a Master of Counselling. She has offered counselling and emotional support at conscious relationship and self-growth workshops, as well as plant medicine journeys, deepening her understanding of how safe, nurturing environments help people relax, connect, and grow. Her thirty years of yoga and spiritual practice, along with a lifelong commitment to celebration, hospitality, and meaningful experiences, have shaped Men ♥ Men into a retreat where every detail is intentionally designed for guests to arrive, unwind, and fully immerse themselves.

Ezel Doruk

Founder | Retreat Director

Guiding deeper intimacy through embodied awareness and authentic expression.

Ezel is a sensual somatics practitioner whose work invites people into a deeper relationship with their bodies, their pleasure, and their capacity for authentic connection. Drawing on years of experience supporting clients across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, he creates spaces where safety, curiosity, and embodied awareness allow participants to reconnect with their innate wisdom.

As co-founder of Men ♥ Men, Ezel has carefully shaped the retreat experience to support gay, queer, bisexual, and trans men in exploring intimacy, self-expression, and meaningful connection. His vision is to create an environment where participants feel safe to soften, open, and discover new possibilities within themselves and their relationships.

Marion Ellyard

Tantra Teacher | Somatic Therapist

Supporting conscious relationships with wisdom, compassion, and embodied practice.

Marion is an internationally respected tantra teacher, somatic therapist, and founder of the Taste of Love Festival and Taste of Love Tantra School. With more than 25 years of study and practice, she integrates tantra, somatic therapy, meditation, and trauma-informed psychology to support deeper intimacy, embodied awareness, and conscious relating.

Drawing on decades of experience facilitating retreats and working with thousands of clients, Marion brings a grounded, compassionate, and deeply experiential approach to every space she holds. Her workshops invite participants to reconnect with themselves, cultivate authentic relationships, and discover what becomes possible when the body, heart, and mind are brought into greater alignment.

Ron van Twuiver

Body-Based Therapist | Relationship & Intimacy Coach

Helping people come home to themselves through embodied connection, conscious relating and intimacy.

Ron van Twuiver has been exploring conscious sexuality, personal growth and body-based healing since 1998. His work grew from a deep curiosity about relationships, intimacy and what it means to truly connect — with ourselves and with others. Over the years, he has developed a practice centred on embodied awareness, conscious relating and creating spaces where people can feel genuinely seen, heard and accepted.

Ron is known for his warm, grounded and experiential approach, guiding individuals and couples through workshops and transformational experiences that bring attention back into the body. His work explores intimacy, connection, consent, authentic expression and the ways embodied awareness can support deeper and more fulfilling relationships. He has facilitated workshops throughout the Northern Rivers and internationally, and was a co-director of the Taste of Love Festival alongside Marion Ellyard.

Paisley Heart

Temple Arts Ritualist | Facilitator

Awakening joy, ritual, and authentic expression through music, movement, and play.

Paisley Heart creates immersive experiences where music, movement, ritual, and embodied expression come together in celebration of queer joy and authentic connection. As the founder of Rave Temple and Queer Sauna Sounds, they have spent years cultivating spaces that honour creativity, community, and the transformative power of shared experience.

At Men ♥ Men, Paisley invites participants to step beyond the everyday and into playful, heart-opening experiences that encourage presence, self-expression, and a deeper connection with themselves and one another.

Damian Kalusiewicz

Breathwork Facilitator

Creating spaces where breath becomes a pathway to presence, clarity, and inner calm.

Damian is the founder of FALA Breath and has dedicated more than a decade to exploring the transformative power of breath, meditation, sound, and embodied awareness. His calming presence and intuitive facilitation create a safe and supportive environment where participants can gently release tension, reconnect with themselves, and cultivate greater presence, clarity, and inner ease.

As a queer man, Damian is passionate about creating spaces where authenticity, vulnerability, and genuine connection can naturally unfold, allowing people to experience the profound simplicity of coming home to themselves.

Marisa Sidoti

Head Chef

Crafting vibrant, nourishing meals that celebrate local produce and the joy of sharing food.

Marisa is passionate about creating beautiful food that brings people together. With many years of experience catering weddings, retreats, and special events, she combines exceptional hospitality with a love of fresh local produce and generous Mediterranean-inspired cooking.

Having lived in the Byron Bay region for almost thirty years, Marisa believes that sharing a meal is one of life's simplest pleasures. Her warmth, creativity, and attention to detail help create a dining experience where guests feel welcomed, nourished, and completely at ease.

Meet the People Behind Men ♥ Men