An Interview With Sara Connell
Be kinder — to yourself and to everyone. Life is hard. Challenges come (and come and come). If I could find one way to help people be kinder to themselves, be their own champions even in failure, it would be impossible for them to not be that way to others. Imagine all the success each person would have……
Beginnings are a Genesis. That means that not only are they a start, but they are also the origin of all that follows. This means that the way we start something, the way we start our day, for example, creates a trajectory for all that follows. How do highly successful leaders start their day in a way that creates a positive trajectory for a successful, effective, productive, and efficient day? How do you create habits that make these routines permanent? How do you get inspired to develop the discipline necessary for such a lifestyle? In this new series, called Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful People, we are talking to successful leaders who can share the morning routines and habits that have helped them to achieve success.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stacey Adams from Active Riding Trips.
Stacey is a travel expert, avid equestrian and hiker and has worked in the adventure travel business since 2003. Active Riding Trips is the premier provider of World Class Equestrian Vacations in over 20 Countries. Stacey is a common presenter at equine focused trade shows and as a subject matter expert and quoted often in equine trade publications. Prior to working in the travel industry, Stacey was a Division Manager for Pitney Bowes and was responsible for the education and training of 270 sales professionals.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
For as long as I can remember I was that horse crazy kid — the one with a cowgirl outfit when I was 3 or so, who when asked in the second grade what I wanted to “be when I grew up”, responded — an equestrian! I used to “canter” around the yard “jumping” bushes, lounge chairs, benches — anything that I could string together to be “a course”. I was also an avid collector of model horses, as was my neighbor Lori, and we used to get together and create riding school days and horse shows using our horses and our Barbie dolls (FWIW, Barbie dolls aren’t really made with hips that are able to “ride”, so it made for a pretty comical “style of riding” as we maneuvered them around our “lesson rings”.
My parents were adamant that I be well rounded, so riding lessons were just one part of my after school schedule which included swimming and guitar lessons at the YMCA, sports — I ran track, tennis lessons, etc. So, it wasn’t until I was 27 and could afford my own horse, that I FINALLY began to pursue my childhood dream.
But for me, the riding and horse bug never left — and it remains present today! My friends still roll their eyes when we are driving together somewhere and I’m looking out the window saying “Look — horses!” every time we pass a small barn or field…….
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
In the summer of 2001 I was working for Pitney Bowes and traveling 100% of the time. I loved my job but it relegated my riding to just Saturday and Sunday, which didn’t always work as I sometimes had to catch a Sunday flight. A friend had long be recommending a conduct a survey of the marketplace, mainly to see what other companies were paying for similar work — this was long before Glassdoor and the like. On a whim, I decided to do it and as such, posted a resume online. Much to my surprise I was contacted by a headhunter looking for a “sales manager” for a small travel company.
The headhunter said the company only required 40%-60% travel, so that sounded like a far better deal to me — so I agreed to an interview. Back then, resumes were mainly all about your professional experience and education, they didn’t encourage as much information about outside interests. BUT, they DID want you to not have any gaps. As it happens, I had taken a year off work in the early 90s to work at an equestrian facility, so that experience was duly listed.
And that was the game changer! It turns out that this “travel company” was the predecessor to my own current business. They had been offering equestrian vacations for about 15 years and had amazing inroads with a massive list of clients and great places to ride all over the world. Meeting the owner of that company, and ultimately going to work for them a couple of years later, which led to me starting my own company, has literally changed the trajectory of my life — personally and professionally!
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today?
Both of my parents have offered endless emotional support. I feel lucky that they were able to pay for my college education so that I didn’t start out with massive debt on completion. But the “deal” was that they would pay for my education as long as I was actively in school — no gap year and no 5 year plan, only the traditional 4 year plan was acceptable. And there would be no moving back home on completion as by then, I should have the tools to get a job and support myself — there would be no exception on this, so for me, it meant being self sufficient from the get go. Can you share a story about that? My mom, in particular, was ardent in my support. She was super smart in school but only went to two years of college before getting married and moving away. So, she never finished her education and never had a job outside of our home — but was 100% in charge of everything inside the home, including all the finances and hiring of contractors, etc. She ALWAYS told me “You can be anything you want to be. You can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t ever depend on a man to support you (my parents are “old school”)”. I think she harbored some small regret about not having her own career but never could see a path to one. Regardless, that advice, along with her encouragement, has always stuck with me — and to this day, I don’t set any boundaries for myself or my business — I go for it!
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
I’m a driven person and always charging ahead 100%. And I’m also the type that is straightforward — you can see what I’m thinking on my face, and then it generally comes out of my mouth…..as such, I found I wasn’t a good direct manager initially. For example, I had an employee early on tell me that they would be late getting to work over the 2 weeks or so. When I inquired if all was OK at home, I was told, “everything’s fine, but they are starting construction on my road, so I might be late getting through it”. My response at that time: “I suggest you leave a bit earlier.”
It took me awhile to work on myself so that I could better work with my team. For me, I was 1000% fired about this company. But to them, even though they liked what we offered and enjoyed the work, it was still just a job. It was hard to realize that not everyone didn’t eat, sleep and breathe this travel business, and furthermore, that I really needed to get out of my own head and spend some time with them right where they were.
I won’t lie and say that I don’t still struggle with this. But I’m glad to say that I’ve enjoyed learning what makes work fulfilling to each person in their own right and collaborating with them to help this company be “that”. I want them to stay forever — And I want them to have fun here!
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?
- Tenacity — you have to be your own cheerleader and your own go getter, especially when things don’t go your way.
- Perserverance — Stay focused on the goal — always stay focused on the goal. Don’t get distracted by what the competition is doing, or what possible problems. Monitor all of those, but keep pressing on your course.
- Flexibility — sometimes rocks cause us to stumble, other times giant boulders are blocking the way. Getting back up and looking for ways around are the only way — and it sure beats trying to push a boulder up the hill to get to the goal! Can you please share a story or example for each? Travel is one of THE most volatile work sectors. I mean, it’s so totally sexy, right? Getting to hop on plane (or train, or in your car) and jet to a new locale, see new things, meet new people. But every little thing seems to affect it — inflation (funds for travel dry up), war, terrorism (9/11), disease (COVID, SARS)…..it can be exhausting to try and make it work against such major events. So having a great team and getting together to brainstorm ways to still travel, even when flights are grounded, has been essential. For example, during COVID when our clients weren’t traveling out of the USA, we helped them find fun places to ride in the States. And we brought them stories and videos from the dreamy European places they planned to go when the skies opened up again. Our partners in Europe and our clients feedback to them became a lifeline between the two, a much needed spirit booster for each other while we waited it all out.
I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Oh man, I’m SUCH an avid reader, I always have a book going. And my guilty pleasure is anything that is historical fiction, especially around WWII. I love the way books, much like travel, transport you to some amazing places and help you immerse yourself there. But funny enough, the book that resonated most deeply with me was Life of Pi. Can you share a story? When I read Life of Pi I didn’t realize how much it impacted me until you get to the last chapter, where Piscine is in the hospital and the doctors are questioning him about his experience. I was so immersed in his journey, and I had completely suspended my disbelief — for me, the best way to read a book, that when I got to that part, I viscerally (and actually out loud, too) rejected it. I won’t be more specific here, in case there’s anyone that hasn’t read the book, but suffice to say that the doctors point out how powerful your mind, your imagination and your coping mechanisms are.
When Active Riding Trips was young, my vision was black and white on all things and it was “my way or the highway”. My coping mechanism was sheer force of will. Man, it pains me to say this, I can’t imagine working for someone like that, the way I used to be.
But there is a time and place for coping mechanisms, all crises bring them out (COVID, etc.) and the stories we tell ourselves really do matter, and they help us to persevere. During COVID, we told ourselves that we would stay solvent, that we would be there for our clients when travel came back, that we would find new ways to stay connected. But it was hard. Much harder (and longer) than we could have imagined. But that was just it — we didn’t focus on “how much longer do you think this will last”? We focused on today, and what we needed to do today, this day, to stay relevant to our clients. We’d look at tomorrow when it comes.
And looking back, this approach may seem small minded to some larger businesses out there, but I could not be more proud of my team. We stayed afloat and even though I had to take our personal loans to pay salaries, we all did our part to keep the boat pointed and moving toward the horizon.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’m smack in the middle of putting together a UK tour to research new places for our cache of trips. It’s looking to be a few weeks of planes, trains, automobiles and loads of horseback riding — and likely rain, LOL. But in order to add solid trips to our list, we have to see them personally, to be sure they are THAT good.
We are also working on developing new partnerships with Olympians, to give clients the chance to meet real life heroes in the industry. We have plans to find a way to help local horse rescues with each booking we take as well help folks that can’t afford to learn to ride find a way. How do you think that might help people?
The stats for horse people are pretty amazing — for example there are approximately 9 million horses and 2 million horse owners just in the USA alone! And on top of that, current figures show that about 7 million Americans go horseback riding annually. That’s HUGE! But can you imagine if we can help these folks connect with new places and enrich their lives with incredible experiences, all while being carbon neutral? And if they knew that part of their experience went back to a cause, something that benefits someone else…..it’s so powerful, so magical! Think about it, you book a fun riding trip for you (and/or your family), so you can have a great vacation, and all the while, you’re a) supporting local by riding with a local business, b) spending time outside and enjoying nature close up, c) not causing any harm to the environment and in fact, causing less harm than if you’d stayed home and driven around daily, d) meeting and seeing things that make up past and present history and e) knowing that you really are making a true difference in the lives of people and horses, the local community, preserves (such as with our trips in Africa) — and that you are paving the way for others to do the same. It’s such a cool and symbiotic relationship!
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain to our readers why it is important to have a consistent morning routine?
So much can happen in a day! How often have you awoken and had a plan for the day, maybe you’ve made a list of this plan as a map. But then the day actually starts and you find so many things that impede your progress — the interruptions that tear you away. The one time where this is least likely to happen is first thing in the morning. It’s the one time that you can 99% start the day with some easy “wins” to set you literally and mentally on a successful track.
Can you please share your optimal morning routine that can create a positive trajectory for a successful, effective, productive, and efficient day. If you can, please share some stories or examples.
I do three things faithfully every morning and generally in this order: 1) Drink a full glass of water (while my coffee brews) and take a multi vitamin and a vitamin D, 2) Move for at least 20 minutes (I rotate getting on the treadmill, using my rowing machine, practicing yoga or getting outside as weather permits and 3) Make the bed.
If I don’t accomplish one other thing on my list for the day, I’ve at least done something to help my mind and body and will have a nice tidy bed to fall into at the end of whatever sort of day this will be for me. (Or at least to offset how much I’ll need a cocktail by the time I’m home, LOL)
Much of my work is conducted in Europe and Oceania, so the one thing I NEVER do, unless I’m expecting something of an urgent nature, is check email first thing. Email is truly the black hole for me and once I’m on it, I find it hard to break away, sometimes for hours.
When I was growing up, my mother required that my brother and I make our own beds — and not just throwing the covers up and smoothing them out — to really make them, tucking the sheets, hospital corners and all. So that’s been a habit that has stuck, and one I’ve been grateful for because on those days when the moment I step out the door the day goes sideways, I come home to see one thing that is orderly and has worked perfectly.
Like many, my mind is always going a million miles an hour and often in a myriad of directions, thanks to interruptions, new opportunities and constant creativity planning. Keeping my morning routine simple with these three things is where I spend time with just myself. Don’t get me wrong, my mind wanders to a project or to what I’ll need to make dinner later, or who I need to call, etc. But that’s fine — while I’m doing these three things, it’s free to go where ever it wants, which is what let’s me be able to walk out the door ready to work on the rest of my planned items, or not, as the day progresses.
I have days that I come home completely exhilarated and feeling on top of the world because I’ve accomplished so much. But I’ve had many more days when I’ve come home wondering exactly what did I accomplish today? I was busy, and focused, but what happened to all the things I wanted to do today that I never even looked at onece???? So, it’s a huge boost to my mental state to know that at least I took care of myself physically this AM and also that I have a nice comfy bed waiting, where I don’t have to fight with the crumpled sheets just to get in it to relax.
Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? With the invention of the web and even later with social media, we are barraged with news, photos, information, etc. from every corner. Some of it is useful (news both local and international, weather, etc.), some of it is relaxing (Facebook, connecting with friends, relaxing). Yet, it can be a huge time suck, and one that doesn’t add real value to a life.
The nature of all matter is that it craves some type of order. And as human, this is especially true, which is why interruptions are so….distracting and intrusive. So first, I’d tell you to determine what matters most to you — that is — if you could only do one thing today, what is it? What is the key thing, that no matter how crazy the day gets, you will not sit down until it’s completed? Start there.
And then build on that. Figure out what your top three — or top five things are for the day, the week or the month. Only you can know, so what you pick only matters to you — don’t forget that. Because the choices you make now will affect the choices you make later, to either build on the initial choice, or to back track to the path, or to change the path.
And no matter what — do that one (or three, or five) things daily. Just do them. Don’t think about it, just act. Don’t beat yourself up when you slip, just get back on the path. It’s funny, you’ll start to see that once you’ve begun with your own habit building, you may slip back, but when that happens, you are no longer comfortable to accept the “old way” any longer, it doesn’t feel as OK as it did. Your mind has already started to grow into your new habit on its own! Conversely, how can one stop bad habits? It’s a conscious decision. And you have to be ready to make it. I mean you really have to be ready, firmly ready. You want to quit smoking? Decide that you will, hard and fast. And don’t decide to do it but build in a cheat day — it simply doesn’t work. When your day overwhelms you and want to smoke so badly it makes you twitch, pick another activity or put on a good TV show, or read. The first 24 and 48 hours may be easy or they may be hard. But the further away you get from the point where you started, the more you’ll look at that progress alone as reason to stay the course. And if you slip up, start again. Sylvester Stallone, Vera Wang, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling — they all FAILED at least once (and some up to 20 times) — but they kept going!
Doing something consistently “day in and day out” can be hard. Where did you get your motivation from? I’m a fairly active person in general but I don’t like to work out, LOL. But I also don’t like it when I can’t button my pants…..so some days, when I don’t feel like moving, I literally have to say out loud, “OK, get up and just do it now! It’s only 20 minutes.” I’m not able to “challenge” myself because I’m so uber competitive, so that never works for me because if I don’t “win”, it puts me in a bad mental state. But I’m a bit stubborn, so in my case, I literally just tough it out and make myself. I get it that not everyone can do it that way, so you really have to find that one thing that really gets you to act.
I had friends who used to allow their kids to sign up for any activity they chose for an after school item. The only requirement was that the kids had to stay in it for the entire term/season. They were not allowed to quit early, no matter how much it wasn’t what they thought it would be. I’ve reflected on this often and how useful it seems. Hardly anything out there is “forever”, so finish it, at least you will have succeeded just by completing it! I signed up for tap dancing classes recently only to find out that I’m really bad at it…..like REALLY bad. (I’m the one swinging my arms left when it’s supposed to be right….you get it). AND, we have a recital in June. In front of an audience. As an adult, I so want to walk away and just say “well, that wasn’t for me”. But I’m making myself stay in it to the end. It’s not harmful to me and in fact, it’s a great workout. And it also gives me perspective as I thought initially that I’d be really good — so even on the days when I don’t push myself to try and be better at it, I’m still ahead of the game because I’ve not flat out quit until the end. What do you use to motivate you now? I celebrate my wins — and especially the small ones! Using that tap class as an example, I’m still winning because I’m still going and still trying — and maybe I really will be able to fake it till I make it! But either way, I tried something out of my comfort zone and I stuck with it.
And I’m also kind to myself. I’m doing what I can do, sometimes to the best of my ability, sometimes just enough to get by. But no matter what, I give myself credit for trying.
What other resources would you suggest to our readers?
Surround yourself with a good network — either in person on online. One of the great things about Facebook, for example, are all the groups you can find — for any interest. If you are working on self improvement, growing a business, starting a business, or just trying to make any sort of change in your life, get plugged in to one of those groups — it’s really something to have people cheering for you, offering help and advice and genuinely supporting you. They’ve walked a mile in your shoes. And sometimes they’ve failed, but they can help you get back up and stay up. Not to mention, some will likely be in your own area so you can connect directly.
Likewise, if you need to make a major change, such as picking up stakes and moving, in order to be your best self, these groups are essential. They are filled with folks from all over the place, who can offer all manner of recommendations and support.
For me, my faith is always the strongest underlying part of what gets me up and keeps me going. God made me this way; to be strong, to be resilient, optimistic, always willing to get back up and keep going and to always try to do the right and best thing. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I couldn’t live any other way.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Be kinder — to yourself and to everyone. Life is hard. Challenges come (and come and come). If I could find one way to help people be kinder to themselves, be their own champions even in failure, it would be impossible for them to not be that way to others. Imagine all the success each person would have……
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?
Ronald Reagan. And if he’s reading this, hot damn! He would have been someone to really meet…..but in this world, I think it’d pretty cool to meet Warren Buffett. He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
How can our readers further follow your work online?
www.ridingtrips.com or https://www.facebook.com/ActiveRidingTrips or Instagram or https://www.instagram.com/activeridingtrips/
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
Stacey Adams Of Active Riding Trips On The Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful People was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.