Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Hilary Adams, founder of Story and Horse, located in Colorado, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Story and Horse partners with creative practitioners to support their creative growth through personalized 1-1 business and life coaching, workshops, our Story and Horse Podcast, and educational opportunities. We also offer virtual and in-person sessions that include horses as co-coaches.

We support our clients in their creative journeys through a three-step process:

  1. Breaking through any blocks, fears, and limiting beliefs getting in the way of the creative flow. We have workshops, self-guided e-books, and courses specifically focused on this step.
  2. Gathering inspiration. To support our clients’ sparking their imaginative spirit, we offer an eclectic collection of experiences, including guided imaginative horse journeys, creative-themed workshops, our weekly newsletter focused on creativity, and in-person or virtual horse connection time.
  3. Up leveling creativity. For our clients who are ready to take their creativity to the next level, Story and Horse offers customized, creative-centered, 1-1 coaching. Creativity is at the center of our work. We celebrate the power of activated imagination to transform individuals and the world.
    Horses! Our services also include options to work with horses as co-coaches and guides, both virtually and in-person. There is no prior horse experience needed, and the work is on the ground, not riding.
    Podcast! The Story and Horse Podcast offers inspiration and community. We welcome guests who are living creative lives. They share creative-themed stories, give us an inside look at their creative processes, and offer inspiration and insights for our listeners who are feeling stuck in their creativity.

Tell us about yourself

I founded Story and Horse because I am passionate about the importance of creativity as healing, positively transformative force for individuals and communities. Creativity is our first universal language. However, there are many things that can get in the way of its full expression. Story and Horse were created to support, encourage and nurture clients’ creativity both in their business and personal lives. Story and Horse were named for two things I love, as well as the intersection of our embodied life stories and wild spirit, as symbolized by the horse. That intersection is where the invisible becomes visible, and creativity is activated into physical form.

Story and Horse came out of my unique combination of experience in theatre, leadership, and horses. As a long-time professional theatre director, including working on Broadway, I’ve been immersed in collaborative storytelling and surrounded by intensely creative people. I also had the great joy and privilege of seeing how positively impactful creativity could be on creators as well as the audiences. In addition, I am certified as an Equine Gestalt Coach. This coaching is less talk, more action, and partners with horses as co-coaches. It blends perfectly with creativity and my theatrical experience.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment are the creative projects that have come into being through the work with my clients. There is nothing as exciting as creative dreams coming to life! We often have big breakthroughs too, such as understanding and healing past trauma or discovering what a fear is really about. So the creativeness that has emerged is a celebration of not only the creativity but also the client’s empowerment of their life.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The hardest thing is all the things! It is a challenge to do everything that needs to be done to keep the business going as a solopreneur. Luckily, I love to learn, so continual education about all aspects of business ownership is uplifting as well as necessary. I am very much looking forward to taking some items off my plate, and I have it all mapped out and ready in anticipation of when that can happen.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Do a resource audit, including financials, before beginning. Make sure you have what you need to start and have an operational plan to close any gaps between resources and needs.
  2. Figure out your WHY. This might be the public-facing “why” or a variation that is private, just for you. Then write it, type it, put it on post-its - anything that will keep it upfront and center everywhere you look. That way, when the going gets tough, your “why” will rekindle the original spark of why you got into this adventure in the first place.
  3. A fun way to explore your business: create a map of your business, like kids, do with a treasure map. If your business is a landscape, what would it be like? Mountains, water, trees, roads, buildings? Animals? People? Other beings? You could do this on a large piece of paper with markers or whatever you have handy. It’s for you to play with. Don’t worry about it not making sense to anyone else. Once you have a landscape or territory, then create a path or road through the place. Let your imagination guide you! Allow what emerges to emerge. Figure out what the start and endpoints are and what they represent. Allow reflection time afterward to hear, sense, and see any insights, ah-ha’s, or inspirations that arises.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

You are creative, and the world needs your creativity! Bring your creative dreams to life!

If you could use some inspiration to step into your creativity, take a listen to the Story and Horse Podcast. Our guests live fully expressed, creative lives - often in delightfully unique combinations of creativeness! They also are not shy about sharing their challenges, breakthrough moments, and how they get inspired when stuck. https://www.thestoryandhorsepodcast.com/

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.storyandhorse.com/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/storyandhorse/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyandhorse/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.