Profile On: Sarah Chase, Chief Business Officer of Horse Lifestyle Network

How much of your day/week is related to horses?
Horse Lifestyle is 100% dedicated to equestrian media and content, so we deal with horses thematically all the time – across all territories and in all languages. We’re constantly developing the narrative around what it means to be a horse person and what the lifestyle entails. It’s an all encompassing experience.

What is it exactly that you do?
I get this question from my mother all the time! As a Chief Business Officer, I oversee a number of executive functions mainly related to B2B and B2C relationships, market development and strategic planning. On any given day I’ll be working on contracts, original programming production, content acquisition, legal and financial issues, HR, social media management, marketing – you name it.

The role is exciting because you really have to think about the big picture of your company, the needs of your staff and weigh all of this with the day to day functions of progressing both a business and a brand forward. You have to be both a creative and critical thinker in one.

In this field of work, is it possible to be a full time professional and earning a liveable income?
The overarching aim of Horse Lifestyle is to provide positive unity and a more buoyant market for the equestrian industries. We support horses and horse people across the board. Our success is predicated on yours.

So, if I’m doing my job right – everyone in the equine industries will be able to make a livable income doing what they love best. It’s possible, it just takes unwavering nerve and a bold, insightful team of professionals working with you who can patiently adjust to the daily ebb and flow.

What are the general steps taken to be employed in such a role?
In the media industry, you really have to “earn your stripes.” If you say you’re going to do something, do it and do it better than anyone else. You have to hold to your vision and prove that you have endurance to last – both professionally and personally.

It’s a bit of a fallacy that you need fancy degrees and years in academia. To be sure, that may help, but there’s also something to be said for what the British refer to as, “Pluck and luck.”

My greatest recommendation for success in the media industries is to read a lot, listen more, and when you’re ready to act – hold nothing back.

Favourite horse memory?
Nearly all of my memories and stories revolve around horses – this is the toughest question so far.

Hmmmm … you know how, at the end of a busy day, when you feel a bit frazzled and you need a calm moment – well, I think back to this one day in late April. I must have been about 8 or 9, and I had been for a trail ride on Black Night, the horse that taught me everything I know. He was part of our family for 20-years, special in every way.

Anyway, … it was one of those especially warm spring days, so I untacked him, spritzed him down and took him out to graze on the clover. He was happily munching away, so I lay down in the grass a minute, staring at the clouds.

I still remember that perfect sound of him munching and snorting at flies and just the peaceful calm of everything. Infinite happiness in that moment. It’s one of the rare memories that you can return to your in mind and find an inner calm.

Future goals?
I’d like to produce more and really roll up my sleeves in terms of original content creation.

Best thing about your sport/profession?
I telecommute with a brilliant team that happens to be based in The Netherlands. So, keeping ties with Europe, where my husband and I were ex-pats for 6-years, is really wonderful. Plus, they’re always sending over stroopwafels!

“Machinery may make for efficiency and a standardisation of life, but horse love is a bond of freemasonry which unites the entire race…” – William Fawcett