Tell me about yourself (what makes you you).
A friend shared a meme with me last year that really stuck. It said, “What is your favorite memory of childhood? Waking up with no back pain.”
Even though in my case, it’s shoulder and neck pain, the main point is that we’re all the embodiment of our experiences and what we’ve learned over the course of our lives – aches and pains and all. In fact, the aches and pains mean that we’ve actually been out there living, right?
With that in mind, I guess what makes me me - a (happily) single woman with a thriving career in higher education and a network of family and friends who are so amazing that I really don’t deserve them - is the circumstances and choices that have gotten me to this point. For example, I made the conscious decision to skip the traditional husband-and-kids route at a fairly young age because it just didn’t appeal; there were always so many other things I wanted to go out and do and being on my own has given me tremendous freedom and flexibility to pivot quickly when opportunities appear without upsetting an entire family structure. The life I’ve chosen has also opened the door for me to have the time and financial ability to train and produce my horses to the international level of competition, which is painstaking and time-consuming but is something I’m completely passionate about. Training horses very often presents a metaphor for the challenges we face in leading our everyday lives and I love when I can recognize these parallels and use them to elevate either something I’m dealing with in my riding or my life.
(Also, physical therapy exercises plus an orthopedic pillow really help with the neck and shoulder pain!)
Have you ever lived or traveled abroad?
I had the good fortune to travel abroad to Europe and the UK a few times during high school and undergrad and am currently planning a YOLO trip to Iceland in May.
Do you have any talents?
I am an expert parallel parker – like, Level 10 expert. Doesn’t matter what size vehicle it is. And no, I’m not using a fancy self-parallel parking car. I’m parking the old-fashioned way, friends, and if there is room for my vehicle, I will get there.
How did you start your career/business?
Like a lot of people do, I sort of fell into my career. I had a really good mentor in college (still a mentor and a very dear friend) who basically said, “If you want a career in higher education, I believe you’ll be successful.” So instead of listening to him, I went to work in marketing for a credit union (!) for a little over a year, hated it, and was poised to take a job riding horses in New York when I ran into said mentor’s wife at Kohl’s and told her of my plan to flee corporate America. By the end of business that day, he had called my office phone, cell phone, and my parents to offer me my first job in college admissions. From there (and because our campus had just created a varsity equestrian program and built an on-campus equestrian center), I gained experience on both the admission and equestrian side, then found another mentor who said, “You have a unique point of view in the industry; you should become a consultant.” So I did that too and now I have two jobs. My career trajectory hasn’t been perfectly straight, but I feel like I’ve wound up where I’m supposed to be.
What was your last moment of bliss?
The last time I sat on my five-year-old warmblood (whom I’ve raised since he was six months old), he let me pick a line and then ride him on it. It’s hard to explain to non-horse people what that means exactly, other than to say it’s the first (literal) baby step toward him developing the mental focus to do upper level work when he grows up and there is no cooler feeling in the world than sitting on a horse that’s locked in on his rider that way – especially one you’ve basically parented for four years.
Do you have any secret obsessions?
Daily crossword puzzles are my new jam. It’s a chance to exercise my inner 80 year old – and my vocabulary.
Is the first impression people have of you accurate?
Probably not. Depends on the person, I suppose. I’m a very direct person with no artifice and it’s easy for people to perceive that as a lack of approachability. I’m nice – I swear! – but it’s easy to find me intimidating unless you know me.
What did you dream of becoming as a child?
Like any kid with a pony, I wanted to ride in the Olympics. My parents (who are unfailingly practical to a fault) made sure that I knew how expensive my sport is and how important it is to have financial stability – especially since they weren’t going to pay for my riding career after college. I’m fortunate now that I have a career that keeps me in the horse industry, but also offers the perks of a regular paycheck and health insurance.
What feature /quality do you get complimented on the most?
People love my hair. A random woman stopped me at a Panera in Wellington, Florida last month and asked where I had it done. I felt so bad when I had to tell her Michigan!
When was the last time you sang out loud?
Probably in the car on my way to or from work. There is no shame in my 90’s song singalong game.
What thing don't most people know about you?
People who have known me for years (for years!) always forget that I’m left handed.
What's your greatest achievement?
If I’m living my life correctly, it’s still ahead of me.
What are your hobbies?
To be clear, horses are not a hobby; they are a lifestyle. But I spend the bulk of my non-working hours with my personal horses or doing horse-related stuff because that world is my happy place. Horses have brought me a tremendous community of people, exposed me to phenomenal experiences. I usually only last about one or two days doing non-horse stuff with non-horse people before I start plotting my escape. (Have I already figured out how I’m going to ride Icelandic horses on my vacation this spring? Yes. Yes I have.)
Have you ever been star-struck?
I definitely forgot how to speak in complete sentences the first time I met [Olympic dressage team captain] Steffen Peters. My boss was with me and somehow miraculously understood the syllables “Geo- ha! Uh… Stfff… Prsss…” to mean “George, please note that Steffen Peters is coming this way.”
What valuable life lessons have you learned that you can pass on?
Here’s what I tell my students:
Karma is real and she will come for you. No one is immune.
If what you’re doing isn’t working, stop doing it. (No really. Just STOP.)
Don’t underestimate the power of likeability when it comes to advancing your career and/or your relationships.
Honesty saves time.
Do you have religious beliefs?
At this point in my life I lean more toward being spiritual than toward organized religion. I typically tell people that I belong to the church of “Don’t Be an A*******.” (If my grandmother asks, however, I’m an Episcopalian.) But I’m not kidding about the not being an ******* thing – there is definitely a higher power in the universe and we need to live with tolerance and grace, however and wherever we find it. So if people find that the structure of an organized religion helps them in that regard, I support them. If they prefer to eschew religion for a strict moral code from somewhere else – the sciences, their upbringing, philosophy – I support that too. Life is too short for us to sweat the details of how we put the good out there; we just need to put it out there!
