In our second part of this series on some of the fascinating and quite “out of the ordinary” jobs held by our fellow competitors, we feature some incredible minds. When we asked these AQHA and APHA competitors what jobs they return to on those inescapable Mondays, we heard titles like inventor, director, and more, but that didn’t even come close to explaining what they really do when they’re not showing.
Their tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit inspired GoHorseShow.com to reveal a glimpse of their careers. Read on for the second of two in this series about the competitors whose job duties are definitely not part of your average day at the office.
Carey Nowacek – Product Developer, aka Inventor
Nowacek is well-known for her success on the AQHA show circuit and Texas A&M Varsity Equestrian as well as her legendary AQHYA World and Congress titles in horsemanship in 2010 in a plain black fitted shirt. One might even call her a trendsetter, or an influential figure in the horse industry. What she’s also called is “Inventor” at Can Creations, an Equine Product Development company she started 18 months ago that has already brought two products to market: Sanitack Wipes and Copper Cuffs. Carey additionally works with her dad at Green Shavings, which produces medicated shavings for stalls to protect animals from fungus and bacteria. “This is a product my dad and I came up with a few years ago while I was still in school. For Green Shavings, I do everything from sales to marketing. I am not a one specific job title type of girl,” laughs Carey.
“What I do, specifically, is take an idea and bring it all the way from an idea to selling it on the market. I have help from our manufacturers, patent attorneys, and my dad, of course, who owns our parent company. I work with many people throughout the process of bringing the product up to market. From the idea, we then test it but the product will change a million times before it is ‘perfect’ and even then it isn’t.”
Nowacek continues, “While testing, we work on our patent because patent laws are tricky. After we know the product is as great as we had thought it to be, we then move to manufacturing; some things we are able to do here in the states, and for some we must go overseas. While the manufacturing process is happening, I work with our in-house designer/graphic artist to get packaging ideas and marketing pieces. That is the fun part,” she explains.
How does she manage both? “I am so lucky to be involved in the horse industry with my career. Though I am very involved in my career and being a young professional; I have tried to work hard. I have had great opportunities to be able to show and work at the same time. Most everything I do is via phone or email so I don’t have to be in the office at all times. My cell phone and laptop are glued to me so at any moment I get a call or email, I can get it done. “
What she wants readers to know: “It’s so funny whenever I tell people what I do, 99% of the time people say, ‘You know what I have a great idea that I want to invent.’ I always laugh and tell them to follow through if they really think it is something needed in this world.”
Sarah Elder Chabot – Director of Marketing for Blackberry Farm
When you see AQHA exhibitor Sarah Chabot and her horse, A Well Dressed Man winning classes like Amateur Hunter Hack and Working Hunter, you probably are not picturing her shaking hands with celebrities, giving welcoming speeches, and serving champagne. But in her job in the hospitality industry, she reveals she has also ridden in a fox hunt, and given property tours, all for the sake of business as usual at the luxury resort called Blackberry Farm in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
“In hospitality you simply say, yes to everything,” says Chabot. “If you see me at a horse show, I have a ball cap, dirty jeans, and probably a shaving or two stuck to my shirt, but with the job, there are fun opportunities to dress up for the red carpet or special events or dinners like the James Beard Awards. This is such a unique business because we are a hotel first and foremost, but we also produce our own food products like jams, pickles, cheese, and charcuterie. We also make our own beer and whiskey,” she adds.
Sarah elaborates, “I have worked at Blackberry Farm, a Relais & Chateaux property, for the last 12 years. Working in the hospitality industry is always interesting with a variety of changing trends, new guests, and new opportunities. A typical day for me is never typical. We might start the day out in the office working on creative pieces for marketing campaigns and answering emails or find us early morning at a photo shoot. Nighttime can find us hosting a concert or dinner all the while developing relationships, creating unique experiences and always telling the story of Blackberry Farm.”
While she keeps regular office hours to focus her time on creating brand opportunities for the resort, the addition of elements like travel, events, photo shoots, meetings make her schedule unpredictable to say the least. “Throw communication and social media on top of it, and I have to work hard to put work away or at least my phone down.”
Sarah says what makes it easy to show is finally having a good horse. “I now have a horse that I can give some time off to, and he is the same when I get back. He is super laid back and forgiving and that makes coming to the barn a retreat rather than a workout or an additional stress point. The barn is the place that I can put my phone down and concentrate on something that is so far from high heels and phone calls that it really helps me balance. I also live next door to my parents’ farm where my horse lives, so a short golf cart drive over and I can manage a lot of my horse’s needs.”
Beckie Peskin – Associate Director of Equine Marketing for Merial
AQHA Amateur Rebecca “Beckie” Peskin has experienced a great deal of show ring success as an exhibitor, and now many in the show world also associate her with Merial, the animal pharmaceutical company, and rightly so. As she climbed through the ranks, first as a sales rep and later the marketing field, she’s a familiar face for a company that many exhibitors rely on for their horses’ health.
Being visible and hands-on is part of how their team works as a habit. “It wouldn’t be out of the question for me to present to our global CEO the same day that I answer an email from a consumer. I think people assume that big pharmaceutical companies on the animal health side are like the human side. It’s not; we are much smaller teams and usually (at least on the large animal/equine side) we are built from people that are fairly involved in the industry outside of work (not just all living in an ivory tower),” Beckie explains.
“I also spend a lot of time talking about things that most folks would find gross – poop, worms, bacteria, viruses, more about poop…really a lot of discussions end up back at poop–horse poop that is,” she laughs.
Her typical duties can range from sales and supply forecasting to brand and channel strategy to business development projects. “I also travel a fair amount – mostly to attend meetings or ride with reps/meet customers, but also sometimes to events that we sponsor,” she says.
But Beckie describes her days as surprisingly atypical as well. “One day I was in a clinic where they were doing a c-section on a dog that had been in labor for a few days…they obviously didn’t expect to have live puppies at that point, but surprise they did. So, we all grabbed a puppy and helped make sure they were warm and breathing. I think my favorite days are really the ones that I get to spend in the field – talking to vets or horse owners and trainers about real-life situations. I love it when folks that we’ve talked to at some other venue come back and ask me for more information or about something else they’ve seen advertised. It makes me feel like I’ve done my job and added value to their horse endeavors.”
Showing for Beckie continues to motivate her, but she has stepped back a bit due to her travel and family. “This year I brought my horse home for six months so I could get more riding time in and hit more frequent local shows,” she explains. “The competitor in me truly wants to be at the big stuff, but the realist in me knows that spending more time in the saddle is paying off because I have a greener horse that I needed to connect with better. I think it’s all about knowing what is realistic for you given your circumstances – both financially and based on your time available. I am looking forward to stepping back up this fall at the Congress, AQHA World Show, and maybe the NSBA World.”
What she wants readers to know: “For kids in college/new grads – there are a lot of different ways to be part of the horse industry as a career. I strongly encourage them to get out there and spend time with folks doing lots of different things, but, also realize that to pursue one of these careers you may need to adjust how or where you show from time to time…but it is possible to still show.”
