If you’ve been here awhile, you know I don’t shy away from talking about the struggles of owning a small business. I think it’s important to focus not just on the highlights and the wins of entrepreneurship, but to also share the real journey, the process. Because let me tell you, as with everything in life, you’ve got to learn to fall in love with the process in order to keep going. If you’re always focused on the destination, you miss out on the juicy, good stuff. You miss the falling down and getting back up again, the hard work and then the reward, the getting lost and then finding your way, and—maybe most importantly— the incredible people and animals that are alongside you while you travel.
With all that in mind, I’ve been looking back at 2022. Looking at it and thinking:
What the hell was that?
For most of the year, my energy was all out of kilter. I was trying to push, grind and force my way forward. It was almost like I lost my connection to what got me started down this path in the first place. I finished up the year exhausted, with a hurt back and a defeated spirit.
This is not the way I want to live my life.
On a very fundamental level, I needed to change my mindset or close my business. I knew I didn’t want to close my business. So that meant I had to make some big changes. Not just in my business but in everything. My relationships, my riding, my own mental health…all of it. Because it’s all connected. There is no changing your energy and mindset without it influencing every part of your life.
So, around the end of the year, I made some big decisions about my business. I took
some of the pressure off myself to do things that were dragging me down. I decided to refocus on things that inspire me, that light me up – the stuff that really fuels this business. In other words, I took my happy ass to the spiritual chiropractor and got that shit back into alignment.
It’s amazing how things change when we decide we’re ready.
One of the things I absolutely love about this business is when you, my customers, pop into my booth at a horse show, a tradeshow, or anywhere, and tell me that the designs make you smile. Or that you can feel the love and joy that went into creating them. That is so affirming for me because that’s how I feel about making them.
Not to get too woo-woo on you guys but that love and joy is what’s really at the heart of this business (pun intended). I truly love horses and I love creating things and sharing that love with my little piece of the world.
I love meeting other people who love horses and I love hearing how horses have transformed their lives. I believe these stories and this shared passion are what connect us to each other and give our lives meaning. I may have lost some of you by now—so if you’re still here—thanks for hanging in there with me while I woo out.
2023 is already a very different year. I feel it in my core. I’m really excited about what’s in front of me. (Spoiler alert, I have no clue exactly what it is but I’m ready for it!)
So just know this: whatever is going on in your life, you have the power to influence where you go next.
You get to decide whether to fight the currents or go with the flow; to choose the
hard path or find a better way. Sometimes you gotta go down that hard path for a while before you realize there might be a better way—trust me! And, most importantly, there is no wrong answer. There is only experience to be had and lessons to learn and ALL of that makes you the kind of person that the world needs more of.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.