JUNE 2024 THE RIDER/ 9 INSIDE


Equestrian Entrepreneur................9 WHAO ........................................10 Pro and Non-Pro Reining Series ......10


All About Equestrian Entrepreneur


Our Interview with Christa Myers of


Equestrian Entrepreneur, Equestrian Entrepre-


neur™, owned and operated by Christa Myers, has a cou- ple of great slogans: “Where stable, profitable equestrian businesses are built,” and “It’s more than just numbers on a financial report; it’s your horse girl dream.” Equestrian Entre-pre-


neur™ is a virtual full-ser- vice bookkeeping service. They also offer: • Bookkeeping Training (for the DIY equestrian business owner) • Bookkeeping and Business Mentorship • Educational Speaking and Networking Events • Online Courses and Re- sources


The Rider: How did Eques- trian Entrepreneur™ start? Christa Myers: The canon event for Equestrian Entre- preneur’s beginnings began in 2018, when I lost my geld- ing to colic and after contin- uing to chase my dreams through heartache


and


trauma, I walked away from the sport at the end of the year. This led to me taking a different path in life; one out- side the equine industry and where I actively tried to ig- nore horses.


The Rider: What came next? Christa Myers: After a cou- ple of years of working on myself and my career away from horses, I found myself starting a business. I was back in school online at Sheridan College completing a Business Analysis diploma while working full-time in the medical and automotive manufacturing industry and experiencing life as a young 20-something does, when a close friend graduated from Chiropractic College.


I


began helping with her busi- ness, it was easy for me, and after her first year in busi- ness, she became my first bookkeeping client, and is a client today still with her own successful equine busi- ness.


The Rider: What were your early influences”? Christa Myers: Growing up, my father owned his own transport business, this com- bined with my passion for reading all things business, working in the barn more than I rode, interning for ap- parel and media equestrian brands, attending Brock Uni- versity and being an eques- trian since I was 7 years old, lead to the ability to not only understand businesses within the equine industry, but also be able to help them identify how their business can create stable profit.


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The Rider: When did you start your business? Christa Myers: I launched my bookkeeping and busi- ness analysis services in 2021 under my own name. This wasn’t launched to the equestrian space - I was just starting out and offering it to really any type of female en- trepreneur. It’s then that my past with horses began to start calling me back, in- quiries came through from people I had interacted with since I was seven years old, all horse people. Within 9 months of


starting I would be riding again and freshly quit my of- fice job to pursue my own business full time, something that was never an actual goal, and hopefully shift how the horse industry operates and manages their money.


The Rider: How has your business grown? Christa Myers: It’s been nearly 3 and a half years since then and I’ve grown to have a fantastic supporting team of contract bookkeep- ers, a lawyer protecting what is being built, virtual assis- tance for all the documents and my sanity, and my favourite liability - Mysti, an ottb that spends money faster than she ran.


The Rider: What helped you focus on the horse industry? Christa Myers: Since the beginning of my equestrian career I was told “you can’t make money in horses”, so I chased becoming a vet in- stead of pursuing a career with horses. Then there’s the “ horses will be around when you’re done school and have a good job”, but I lost my gelding and realized that is not true, tomorrow isn’t promised. I went to school, twice, and I likely will again because I love learning, but I didn’t need fear guiding me through life that early. Since I niched down into the equine industry with my business. My goal was sim- ple; make sure one horse girl knows that she can choose whichever path she desires,


whether conventional or not, and know that passion and profit can coexist without it costing your own dreams. Last year Equestrian managed


Entrepreneur


around 2.3M from our clients within North America. That’s more than just a little bit of money and it’s just myself and one contractor at this moment; there’s a lot of money in horses, they cost a lot, and most of us weren’t taught how to manage money; I wasn’t. I didn’t learn until my


chequing became a revolving door to my credit card, my student line of credit paid for my gelding’s death and then my show season, and gradu- ation was nearing very quickly. I might have learned about economics, account- ing, marketing, statistics, bookkeeping, and business analysis but that didn’t mean I knew how to properly man- age the money I was making and I was twenty one at the time. I’m now 28 years old and while I’m still learning how to better manage, I went from being in a lot of short term debt and no savings, and now I only have student loan, a financed vehicle, and savings in both my personal and business, and beginning to explore the world of in- vestments (and not the four- legged kind we like to call investments).


The Rider: How did you de- velop your approach? Christa Myers: It wasn’t until I was in college in 2020 that I felt smart, I struggled through school my entire life, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. The best class I had in high school? Co-op. You guessed right. It was at the barn. It just so happens, my brain takes information in differently than how they taught it in school and I’m actually quite smart but not in all the things they test you on in school. That’s why, in any of


my services, even the online products, the experience to empower and educate eques- trian entrepreneurs is priori-


tized. Those negative emo- tions that can be attached to money and business when it’s not going well? Put them down, they aren’t needed. My approach is the


same one that happens in the barn; meet the horse you have today and nurture them into what they’ll become to- morrow. In this case, I meet the equestrian business owner where they are in their business and finances today, create a financial foundation, and then leverage their finan- cial information to create a business strategy that creates stable profit. “You can’t make


money in horses” is true, if you’re not actively planning to create profit within your business. It can be true, it’s the story for the majority of equestrian entrepreneurs, but it does not have to be yours. I continue to build Eques- trian Entrepreneur™ with the hope to help create a better industry for our equines and equestrians because stability creates mobility, and hope- fully that can be used for for- ward motion of betterment through the entire sport and industry.


The Rider: What’s to come from Equestrian Entrepre- neur™? Christa Myers: I’m gearing up to bring more data on horses, business, and money within the industry and con- tinuing to look for contract bookkeepers so more eques- trian businesses can be sup- ported through bookkeeping services. When I began, I was told making it to year three is a mark of success, but I am focusing on how I can create more change and keep all of Equestrian Entre- preneur’s clients surviving and thriving through a diffi- cult economic environment. After show season is com- pleted for the most part in Ontario, I’ll be kicking off a industry survey and hosting both in-person and online networking events. For more information


visit Christa at www.eques- trianentrepreneur.ca .


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