This episode is full of a lot of wisdom, laughter, and inspiration that will help you understand why and how to create systems in your business that move you toward achieving your goals and vision.

My guest this episode is Betsy Bird of Ride the Sky Equine Photography who offers her amazing insight into how to develop systems that support your business. Along the way we'll laugh, share stories, and impart some great ideas. You'll also enjoy some interesting metaphors and at least one odd cat fact. ;-)

About Betsy Bird:

Betsy Bird, Cr. Photog., CPP, of Ride the Sky Equine Photography spends her days doing insane things to make animals look at her. Clearly, she’s desperate for attention. Outside of acting like a total goofball, she invests in growing her business, mentoring photographers, dealing with her teenagers' angst, and hanging with her canine friends.

Betsy has earned her Photographic Craftsman degree from the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) which honors photographers who contribute to the photographic industry through speaking, mentoring, and publishing. Betsy is also a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) with PPA. The CPP designation is held by fewer than 2,500 photographers nationwide and is a hallmark of consistency, technical skill, artistry, and professionalism.

Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Professional Photographers of East Tennessee (PPETN) and the Tennessee Professional Photographers Association (TNPPA). Betsy is one of three Tennessee photographers elected to serve on the council of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). She is also a professional member of the Equine Photographers Network (EPN).

Betsy's award-winning work has been featured in a variety of publications and is found throughout homes and stables in the United States. She is the co-author of the book, Equine & Equestrian Photography Poses that Sell: The Ultimate Guide to Posing Horses & Humans. She has been featured on Scenic Trend, the Profitable Photographer Podcast, The Business Animal Podcast, Chatter Magazine, Cowgirls with Cameras Podcast, the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Chattanoogan, and the Focal Points Podcast to name a few.

Based in Chattanooga, TN, Ride the Sky Equine Photography works on location in Tennessee, North Georgia, and beyond. With a strong background in entrepreneurship, marketing and brand building, goal setting, time management, and business workflows, Betsy is an expert in her field (which isn’t that surprising given how much time she actually spends outstanding in a field...get it?)

Betsy's Website: https://ridetheskyequine.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ridetheskyequine

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ridetheskyequine

You can also listen to The Business Animal Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast outlets.

Hey there business animals. It's Kim with Be More Business and welcome to the Business Animal podcast. So today's episode, I want to welcome my guest Betsy Bird of Ride the Sky Equine Photography. I have messed that up more than one time and please tell me I got it right. I meant to check in with you before I started talking but that didn't happen.

Well, I'm so proud of you because you got it right this time. Woohoo!

Well, I think I got corrected over on the Cowgirls with Cameras podcast at least once for not having it right. Betsy and I, so I do have to give you guys fair warning, Betsy and I talk every Monday morning. And so we kind of have a personal dialogue and it really, I think in my calendar, the meeting is titled, Betsy and Kim Solve the World's Problems.

And so that tends to be what our conversation is about. mean, I think we spend way less time on business and way more time on solving global issues that no one is going to listen to us about solving. Is that your opinion of that call? Yeah. Yeah. So it's an entertaining phone call, to say the least, our Zoom call. But we tend to sit here and work and chit chat for 30 minutes.

That sounds about right. Pretty accurate.

She did want me to warn you guys that this call could get a little, mean, this episode could get a little bit off the rails, but we'll, we'll try to, I'll try to keep it as host. It's my job to contain the information within this episode. So what we're going to be talking about today is we're going to be talking about utilizing systems and vision. And this is sort of combining the woo woo aspect of my life, which is visioning.

along with the very necessary part of entrepreneurship, which is creating systems in your business that you can actually achieve your vision. So for those of you out there who are big dreamers and wondering how the heck you're going to get it done, or for those of you who love to get it done and aren't really sure about the visioning part, hopefully we're going to put peanut butter and chocolate together and have fun.

So, Betsy, welcome to the podcast. And would you mind introducing yourself and saying a little bit about your business? I know you've been on a previous episode of this podcast when it was Kara and I hosting, so you did this once, but go ahead and review and catch everybody up on what you do for a business. And yeah.

Well, thanks, Kim. Well, as Kim said, I'm Betsy Bird, and I have ride the sky equine photography. I've been a horse photographer for several years now. It's all beginning to blend at this point. I also do a lot of coaching and mentoring of new photographers, which is just kind of a...

fun way of activating a different part of my brain than the photography side of it because I come from a marketing and branding background and I like both sides of things. So this is just another way to do that and to get my brain working in other ways because my brain has a tendency never to shut down. I'm not quite as bad as Kim, but you know, I'm catching up fast.

you

Yeah, mine definitely does run 24-7, 365. And sometimes I think it adds some hours in there to be able to process things.

You

Do you actually sleep with a notepad by your bed so you can write notes in the middle of the night when you wake up and you're like your brain has figured out a problem or you know solve something because I do that and it's a little freaky. Tell me I'm not the only one.

I use my phone. I don't do well, I lose my pen. So I keep my phone. I have these running notes. And I'll occasionally get one that's so long, I have to change it. But it's just this stream of consciousness of whatever happened in that particular time period. And it could be a day, a week, a month, six months. And they're very interesting to go back over and go, my gosh, that was a

brilliant idea or what in the holy Jeepers were you thinking when you wrote that down? It's a little bit like being stoned or drunk and writing something you think is brilliant and then reading it the next day and going, I don't even understand what I said.

Maybe you should publish it as a stream of consciousness book just to let your followers get an idea of what your mind really is like.

I am afraid that it would terrify them. So I think I'll keep those thoughts private. Thank you very much. I don't think anyone needs to see what goes on inside of here. Hopefully. Well, in all honesty, I say that, but let me make everyone rest assured I have no filter. So pretty much what goes on in my head comes out my mouth because I am an extreme extrovert. so

Hahaha

you

That is, that's the way I process things is by saying them out loud, which has been a problem in the past in many ways.

I find it very fascinating to be around you because I'm such an extreme introvert by nature and I'm like absolutely in awe of someone who can just live it out loud quite to the level that you do.

Well, one would hope that I would learn how to have a better filter by age 58, but that has not happened. So as a matter of fact, I think it's worn thinner over time. But so I want to get back on topic because otherwise you and I are going to be off. We've already derailed. So let's get back on topic because one of the superpowers that you have is creating good systems in your business that support

have we already derailed?

the way that you wanna work. so first of all, before we even go down that path, you and I have had some very interesting conversations about why you became an entrepreneur. And I think that those conversations would merit mentioning here. so there's lots of paths to entrepreneurship and there's lots of reasons why people become entrepreneurs.

The biggest one to me is to create a business that supports the life that you want or in some cases that you need to live. So would you share a little bit of your story about why you became a equine photographer in business for yourself?

Sure, absolutely. And I know for a fact, like this is not a unique story to a lot of entrepreneurs and stuff. However, you know, this is my story, I guess. I used to actually work in a corporate job that required travel five times a week, five days a week. I was gone most of the time. And then once I had kids traveling quite that much was...

Not quite as possible. My husband at the time worked in retail management, so he was gone, you know, like an average work week was about 55 hours a week. So he was gone quite a lot. And we had three kids under the age of four. And so that was a little, little stressful to do that. And I quickly found out that I am not the kind of person who

really enjoys being surrounded by people who don't speak like adults all the time. I mean, I love my kids, don't get me wrong, and it's fun to hang out with them. But, you know, it got exhausting to be around babies all the time and stuff. So I started a business, and originally I started a marketing and branding business, since that's what my background was. And I did, I'm so sorry, Chloe is barking in the background.

Yeah.

I know I hear her. wanted to be on the podcast as well. Yes.

It must be a package being delivered. Chloe. Yes, say hi to Chloe. She's letting me know a package is being delivered right now. So must be some client artwork coming. Anyway. So anyway, I had started a marketing and branding company that worked with small business entrepreneurs and helped them when they couldn't.

Yay, yay, good job, Chloe. Way to be on it.

get a marketing person or they couldn't afford to have a full-time marketing person as they were launching and stuff. And that was great, but it's not as creative as like what I wanted. So I started doing photography kind of on the side. My daughter wrote, I grew up on a horse farm. I've been around horses my whole life. you know, that was always my thing. So it was my creative outlet. Unfortunately.

it kind of grew to being a full-time business at the same time the marketing and branding business became a full-time business and running two full-time businesses with one person and three kids under the age of four is really a recipe for disaster. So I decided to kind of tamp down on the marketing side of it and you know go all in on the photography side of it which I did for several years actually and then I

figured out how to add the marketing side back in and run it this way. Yeah.

Yeah, through mentorships and helping other photographers, which is great. And you are incredibly active within your local professional photographers association and within the photography community as a whole. I know you're a bit of a guide for me within the inner workings of PPA and being able to figure out how to get the most out of that organization. So I appreciate all of that as well.

Well, that's been an interesting thing. actually, so I'm actually active in my local guild and then also in my state guild. I actually sit on the board of directors for both of them. I also, oddly enough, joined the Oregon State.

PPA Guild as well, which is on the opposite side of the country. If you don't know where I am, I'm in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but the other side of the country. And I joined it back years ago during the pandemic because Oregon was doing a lot of online programming, know, lot of classes and stuff like that that you could do online and they were doing a great job with it. So I became a member there and I've just stayed a member.

And so I have a lot of friends over in Oregon. I have a lot of friends over this way that are photographers. So that's always been a lot of fun. And I do enjoy those groups. And I would highly recommend to anyone who's a photographer to check out their local PPA affiliates and stuff. And there's state ones as well. It's a great way to get education, but it's also a great way to meet other photographers. That can be wonderfully helpful.

I mean, as far as learning things from them or, you know, just having someone to talk to when you have a problem or borrowing a lens from, which has been known when your lens got broken. You know, like there are a lot of benefits to it and a lot of educational purposes to it. So I'm very glad that you have started getting involved in it. I think you'll find it very worthwhile.

Yeah.

Yes, and I'm a big believer in networking and with inside your industry as well as without, know, outside of your industry as well as a way to build your business or skills, your network is is to me everything. It's probably the most important. It isn't probably it is the most important asset that you create in your own life. And even if you sell your business, your network still exists so that you can move on to the next

thing. So I find the network hugely hugely important in building things so I think that's great. I do want to... yeah.

Absolutely.

would say honestly I have learned a lot from my network, like too, like just in knowing who to ask things of, like just being like I have a random question, who would know the answer to that that I know and I'll be like Kim will know that, so I'll ask him, you know, or Tracy would know that, you know, and it's very, very helpful, especially when you're starting out in any industry, to be able to network well. I would highly recommend networking.

Hahaha

you know, in an online way, but also in in-person way, which I know a lot of people kind of steer away from, particularly if they're introverts. But yeah, you can network for two hours once a month, like in-person. You will survive, introverts, promise.

you

So, so speaking of the introvert networking thing, and one of the reasons that I think introverts so dislike networking is small talk, like they can't create, it's like small talk feels uncomfortable, or it's useless. I think the introvert mind is like, yeah, no, I don't want any of that. However, I heard something interesting on TikTok, I have a major TikTok addiction going on. And there was

somebody on there that says as an introvert, and this is an animal reference for the Business Animal podcast, small talk is like meowing. know, like cats have created this vocalization just for the humans in their lives. Like cats don't meow at each other out in the world when it's just cats, but they know that that's a way to appease the humans in their life to kind of judge where they're, where they are at.

And if you're an introvert and you hate small talk, when you're around somebody who's doing it, just remember that is that person's way of meowing. So it is a learned behavior that helps that particular individual be able to place themselves in the conversation. So I don't know it's my two cents for whatever it's worth. I know as an extrovert, all I need to do is fill silence. And the best way for me to do that is take what

ever is ticking in my head that seems like it would be publicly acceptable and push it out of my mouth. And then hopefully someone responds to it. So I guess in a way I am meowing out into the world.

describe that way but that's really kind of interesting. I always think of it like one of the things somebody said to me a long time ago was the fact that like if you're going to an industry specific type networking event and everything so like a photography event for me or something or a horse event

that you already have something in common with everyone there. Like, absolutely have everything in common with, you know, that person. You can talk to them about horses. And the fact of the matter is, that like...

at least as far as horse people go, and Kim, you know this as well as I do, equestrians like nothing better than to talk about their horses, right? So all you gotta do is just ask them, like, tell me about your horse. And then you don't really have to say much after that. It gets the conversation flowing really well.

No, they do.

Yup.

Well, and that brings up an interesting thing when it comes to sales as well. There's a lot of people who absolutely hate sales. It's like, don't want to make a pitch. I don't want to sell to somebody. The most effective way to sell is to simply ask a person about whatever the problem is that your business solves and let them go. And if there's anything that you do in that process, it is just simply to keep asking questions. And if you're smart about it, you keep asking questions that direct them

to you as the solution. And frankly, you don't have to do much of anything except stand there and keep the conversation going by asking questions. So that's all easy. OK, I'm going to get us back on topic. And I am going to relate. Yes, I knew this was going to happen. So I do want to relate. We've already talked about two systems that you can institute in your business. We've talked about a networking system.

We're already off on a totally different topic.

And we've talked about a sales system. So here's the reality when it comes to systems is that you have to find one that works for you. And I think that that's an important lesson to take away from everything we've talked about. And I do want to go back and mention one thing. Bitsy, she had twins. So for those of you who are doing the math in your head going, has three kids under four all at the same time.

Two of them came in a package together. But it's important to look at where you want to go and then develop the systems that are going to support that. And here's the thing I know about visioning. This is where the woo-woo part comes in, is that until you know where you want to go, until you have a clear idea of where you want to be eventually, it's really hard to create the systems.

And I think that's a huge disconnect in people's lives, Betsy, that they want the concrete way to get there before they even know where they want to go. And that's the reality when you come to create a system. That's where systems fail because it doesn't fit the end result. What are your thoughts around that thinking about the big picture far in the future and then backtracking?

Well, the way I always explain it to people is the vision itself is sort of like the destination of where you're going on a road trip. So where do you want to be five years from now? Where do you want to be? Do you want to be at Disney World or do you want to be in Paris? Like, where do you want to be? And then the systems is how you're to get there. And you're absolutely, yeah.

Yeah, like are you going to take a car? Are you going to take a bus? Are you going to fly? know, OK.

And those things can then be parceled out. The car is, you know, we're going to do this part as a car ride. And that to me is like the networking piece of it. Or this is going to be the in-person sales piece of it. Or this is going to be, you know, the marketing piece of it as far as blog posting and social media and all. How are you going to do that? And actually knowing where you want to end up.

helps you build those systems. I mean, as what you're saying, where if you don't know where you're going, how do you know if you got there? Like, because you just veer off over to the left and you end up in some totally different place from where you want to be. So I totally look at it as a road trip. And those systems that I build are all taking me towards my final destinations. Not to be confused with the final destination movie, which

Yeah, how do you know if you've actually arrived?

Ended a little scary. A little sketchy.

which is a little sketch. Yes. So let me take this concept one step further, this metaphor. I love metaphors. Anybody who listens to this knows I am a metaphor junkie. So if we stay with the metaphor of the road trip, there's something that is really important in visioning that I think a lot of people miss, and that is the feeling of your destination. And you've also heard there's joy in the journey, right? It's not about the destination. It's actually about the journey.

And if we think of this process of creating systems in your business, there are ones that bring you more joy than others. So let's go with the metaphor. Let's say you are afraid of flying. Like flying just totally messes up your entire mojo. Flying may not be the way that you need to get where you're going. Yes, it might be the most efficient path, the quickest path.

But if you spend that entire path being incredibly uncomfortable and terrified and not as into it, the feeling isn't as good, that becomes a problem even when you get to the destination, because you arrive at the destination with a negative amount of energy. Whereas maybe if you love road trips, if you love getting in a

and driving and seeing all the sights and stopping and resting and all of those things, you create something that gives you a better feeling and you arrive at your destination with a positive amount of energy and you don't have to make up that negative piece that you would have had to have made up. And I think systems in our business work the same way. There are certain things that...

bring us joy and ease. And there are other things that really drain and sap our energy. And as a person who is an undiagnosed neurodivergent human like myself, and they're definitely neuro spicy, I don't think I'm gonna get a doctor to

you're neuro spicy.

You

I've ever have admitted that, but definitely have all of the signs of all of the things. I went to a presentation on ADHD the other day and I'm like, I felt like I was amongst my people. Anyway, so, but I digress, right? That's an ADHD thing. But if we're going to, squirrel, yeah, off on a tangent. But when we create systems in our business,

Squirreling.

If we're going to create a system that supports us, it should be a system that feels good to us, not one that everyone else in the world tells you to take. And I think that the analogy of the flying in the airplane is probably a good one because everyone would probably tell you if you're going to go to Australia, let's say, it's definitely better to take an airplane. It takes you like 20 hours. If you're going to go any other way, you're going to be in a ship, right?

your and it's going to take a really long time to get there. But if you if you don't want to fly the the long way around may actually be more satisfying in the end. So I think we have to look at the systems in our business not only from the place that we want to go as a destination, but what is going to bring the best journey for us.

very long time.

Because at the end of the day, we have to live that. We have to live within that system. What are your thoughts about that?

I actually think this is a really good point because one of the things I see a lot of right now is where there are educators out in a variety of fields who are all teaching basically, this is the system that works for me. And if you do this, you're gonna get the same results I did. And I really don't prescribe to that.

Yep.

theory because as you're saying, I think everybody's brain works different. Everybody's personality is different. Everybody is a different type of introvert, extrovert, know, where their strengths and weaknesses lie and stuff like that. So what works for me may work for you, but also you may need to make some adjustments. And so what I see with building businesses is where you want to look at

Yeah.

building a specific system for something that works for you. So for example, using your metaphor now where we are on cars and boats and trains and everything else, you know, if going to a 100 person networking event, like, and this is a great example, Kim loves a good expo, loves an expo, wants to talk to everybody at every booth and introduce herself and all that stuff. I, on the other hand,

Yeah

Yes, I do.

look at an expo with something akin to horror and want to be in and out as quick as possible and only talk to the people that I want to talk to ahead of time. Like I know going in, I have a plan of who I'm gonna talk to and what I wanna know and what I want to accomplish. So for example, when we go to Imaging, which is the Professional Photographers of America big conference, they have a huge expo.

Yeah.

And to me, all that noise and chaos is just, I can't escape fast enough guys, really, truly. But I always go through the list ahead of time. I figure out exactly what booths I want to visit and what I want to achieve at each booth. And I usually have maybe seven that I go to. I know where they are before I walk into that room. And I go in, I do what I need to do, and I'm out of there probably within the space of an hour.

You

and I'm done and I'm happy and that works for me. Kim on the other hand could probably spend three days in the expo alone doing her thing. I mean, exactly. I mean, it's just, wow, I so can't do that. I mean, you know, I, but I know what I want to achieve. So I go in and I get it done. So Kim is on the boat.

I did. I did spend three days in the expo, much to Phyllis's horror.

there because she wants to hang out and visit and I'm on the plane. I want to get it in, get done and be out of there. So like another example would be something where you want to like, I don't know, you need to talk to some people but networking really freaks you out. know, like going into a room of a hundred strangers at a business gathering is very unnerving to you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

There's nothing to say that you couldn't get to know a single person from that group and go have a coffee with them or go to lunch with them or something like that and build those connections slower, more methodically. Probably better for you, like because you're gonna develop a deeper relationship and get to know that person a little better. That's still networking. It's just networking done in a way that works for you.

Absolutely. And we can extrapolate this to every system in your business. I know some people who let's talk about tech. There are some people that dearly love technology, and it's very easy for them to maintain their entire life on a computer, right? I happen to be a person who strives to be as paperless as possible. The only time I really need paper in my life is

when I'm editing my fiction work, like I have to print the actual stories out and read them off of a piece of paper. I can't for some reason do it on a screen. That's some type of a neurodivergent issue with my brain. I don't think that has to do with anything with joy or happiness, but I had to find something that worked for my brain. But there are a lot of people that they can't process

what happens inside their tech. Like I have tried repeatedly in my own personal life to maintain my to-do list in just an electronic form and I can't do it. I don't get the things done and there's a lot of people like this but there's so many fun little treat apps that you can do that are supposed to help you with your productivity but the best thing that I've ever found to help me with my productivity

I can't either.

is a very, very simple planner that has these are the three things I intend to get done today if all else fails. And these are some other things that I need to do. And these are the people I need to talk to. So I believe that when you create systems in your business, and yes, your calendar and your to-do list and the way that you process through them are systems in your business. So is the automations that you use in your business. All of those have to match.

how you personally want to work, even if it is not the most efficient way for the rest of the world. And I think you made a good point, Betsy, when you are listening to the gurus out there, they're gurus for themselves. That has worked for them. That doesn't mean that it works for everybody, and especially doesn't mean you're defective if it doesn't work for you.

Absolutely. I mean, I'm with you on the to-do list. has to be handwritten. I keep my to-do list. It's literally right next to me right now on a clipboard with a legal pad. And I have tried doing the apps for the to-do list and it doesn't work. But so much of my other stuff has to be electronic. Like my calendar is electronic.

Yeah.

I mean, I live and die by my calendar and stuff like that. But another thing too to think about when you're building systems is the need to be like how you learn things. Like I'm a visual learner.

Yeah, I have to have the electronic calendar. Yeah.

like show it to me in a diagram and I got it, you know, and I also learn by doing things. So like, you know, tell me how to do something. I'll be like, what? But, you know, let me do it myself and I've got it. Let me see it in a visual diagram. I've got it. So being, depending upon the type of person and how you learn, how things are going to stick in your brain as far as systems go.

like that will make a difference as well. Like setting up systems where you can see them visually and be like, this is what I have to do and these are all the steps involved, you know, can make a big difference as well.

Absolutely. And how do you find a good system? I know I have suggestions, but I'm curious how you would answer that question about how do people go about finding a good system in their business?

Well, I think that depends on how well they know themselves. I mean, that's a huge part of it. I mean, and I will say a lot of the younger generations, you know, they do a lot of those Myers-Briggs tests and they do the enneagrams and stuff like that. And they probably know themselves a little bit better than, say, like baby boomers do. I think we probably like the baby boomer generation probably did a lot more trial and error.

Amen to that.

and just something that maybe worked for them and then they replicated it once they figured it out. Me, was kind of, I'm sort of a hybrid. I know a little bit about what works for me through trial and error and growing up and stuff, but then I also have done enough little tests and stuff and I know how my brain works and I'm.

surrounded by neuro spicy individuals in my household. And I am not. So I have learned a lot about how they think and how I think and how it's different. So that's been kind of interesting for me. What do you think?

So I believe experimentation is the best way to get at an answer. But I think you really are accurate in self-reflection and self-understanding. My biggest caveats to that, to people who are going to take like an enneagram or a, I do Kersie Bates rather than Myers-Briggs because Myers-Briggs takes a really long time and Kersie Bates is really short.

But if you're going to do those things, make sure that you are in the correct mindset. Because as a person who delivers these to people on a regular basis and grades them and results them and all of that, and by grade I mean looks at the answers that you gave, the thing that I see people do is they answer the questions in context to whatever they're taking the test for. So for example, if it's for their job,

they take it in context to what the expectations for that job might be. And the problem with that is that that's not truly your preference. That's the preference that you think would be appropriate for that job. So when you do take these self tests, so to speak, make sure you take it based upon living in a perfect world where everything worked out and

whatever reason or context you're taking that test for would not give any regard to you as either a more organized individual or a person who likes to do things more along the lines of what our cultural expectations is of a person in that particular industry job activity result or context. And I think you'll get more accurate results that way, but I do think it is a good place to start. And then I think that

Experimentation is incredibly important. And then the next thing is, is be willing to abandon what you've experimented on if the experiment didn't work. Like let Frankenstein die. It's okay. You don't have to keep shocking the system with lightning trying to make it work. And I cannot tell you how many, probably years of my life I have wasted trying to make certain systems work in my business because it looked like the right system.

that everyone else was using. Does that make sense?

I think you see that a lot actually, especially with people who do follow certain educational gurus where they're teaching a very specific method. And then, you know, if you are an ADHD person or your brain is neurodivergent in some way, it can really be hard for you to stick with that method, like, and stick with that plan. And the longer you sit there and do it, what ends up happening is you fail at the plan.

Absolutely.

And then you're like, I'm a failure, I'm a bad business person, I don't know what I'm doing, this is not good for me, whatever. And the fact is, is that you've stuck with a system that doesn't work for your brain and how you think and act and that sort of stuff. And had you switched to a way that works for you, who knows where you would be? I mean, I think that's really a big thing is knowing and understanding how your brain...

Absolutely. Absolutely.

works and I mean like my daughter and I go through this a lot because she is massively massively ADHD and like I am constantly showing her new apps and new you know this is how I do this or I found this or this says this is good for ADHD you know maybe try this one because I'm like please find the system that works for you like I don't care what it is but find the one that works for you because we need a system that works for you.

Because once you have a system that works for you, life will be easier for all of us.

Absolutely. And it's also the place where you really launch into success. So I think the major takeaway from this conversation that we've had is look at the systems in your business. If you have them, if you don't have them, start looking at ones that might work for your business. But if you have systems and they're not working or you're struggling or you're feeling like that person who got stuck on the airplane when you don't like to fly, go look for something else. Because one thing I love about our current

state of affairs with all of this technology at our fingertips is that there are a lot of people who have different ideas about ways to get to the same destination and they're willing to share those. So I definitely take a look at it.

I'd also suggest too, if you're the type of person who doesn't have existing systems and you haven't been.

you're just kind of flying by the seat of your pants right now, but you want to start implementing systems to try doing smaller systems. Like, you know, a couple steps. They don't have to be, you know, 100 step long processes to do all this stuff. You can just do something very simple that you repeatedly do over a period of time as a system. So it could be something as simple as once a month I go to a meeting and my goal is to talk to two people at that meeting.

Like that's a system that you have now set up for networking, but it's just really truly one step once a month. You don't have to set up something that is multiple steps and multiple processes and everything like that right from the jump. I mean, cause that can be very overwhelming to anyone who's starting that kind of thing.

Absolutely. And my suggestion for people, especially when they're starting in with systems that have automations in them, which a lot of us do these days because technology allows us to, is start automating tasks and procedures where you have something that you do over and over and over again that's already established. And that's the way you can start perfecting that. Yes.

I would also suggest on that, throwing something else in there too, is if you're looking at things and you're trying to figure out what to automate in your systems and your businesses and stuff like that, look at the stuff you don't like to do. Like what are the things that are an absolute, you know, if it's a time suck for you and you totally do not want to do it or you're not good at it, somebody else would be better at it and faster at it, look at automating it or outsourcing it.

Yeah, that's another way. Get the joy in there.

like and that's a system, you get it off your plate, you can spend your time doing something else that you're good at, that you enjoy doing. Trust me, when you're happier doing things, your business is much smoother. mean, quite honestly, when you run a business, know, everybody talks about success in business and everything, but it doesn't necessarily mean to be successful in a business that you're making millions of dollars. Success in a business to you may look like you're just happy doing what you do.

It is a system.

And if you're miserable doing something all the time, look at outsourcing it because you can spend more time doing what you're happy doing.

Absolutely. All right, Betsy, I ask everyone who comes on this podcast two questions. The first one is I know going to be an easy one for you. How does Ride the Sky Equine Photography help create the life that you want to live? How does it support you in that?

Well, Ride the Sky has been amazingly helpful in the fact that I have a husband who travels most of the time. He's gone for months at a time, which leaves me with all the kids and stuff. And when my kids were younger and growing up, I had a lot of health issues going on with them and stuff. So I would not have been able to work a job like a corporate.

in an office 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday job, I spent an extraordinary amount of time at doctor's offices and specialist's offices and stuff like that. And hey, they don't meet on nights and weekends. So I would have been fired from any job probably because I couldn't be there a lot of the time because I had sick kids. I had one child who actually missed seven months of school and he wasn't old enough really to be at home all that time by himself.

Yeah.

So I would have had to have quit my job. So Ride the Sky allows me to really schedule my job around my life, which is really important. know, everybody has things going on in their lives, whether they're a stay at home mom or, you know, working a corporate job or whatever, you have things that are required of your time. So having your own business and being able to work it in the hours that are convenient to you is very helpful.

And then the final question that I have is how have animals, in general or one in specific, taught you lessons about your business or about life?

Well, I'm going to talk about animals in general and I would say for me personally, animals are, it's gonna make me sad, animals are kind of my therapy. Always have been to some extent. They keep me off the therapist's couch by going and spending time with them. So having a business that literally revolves around animals is very wonderful for me.

Yeah.

You know, and also, I mean, for me personally, photography, my dad was a photographer too. And then my mother is a horse person. So it's a way I have things to talk about with both of them, or I always had things to talk about with both of them. You know, my dad, some of our best times were spent arguing over Photoshop. What you could do with it.

We had a lot of arguments about layers in Photoshop. He was a lot of fun to deal with with that and he was always very photography oriented. And then my mother, I mean, she still lives on our horse farm and still rides to this day and she's almost 80. So yeah, right now she's not too happy. She actually has some broken ribs from her horse pulled her over and she fell.

you

Nice.

and she landed on a tree trunk that had fallen down and broke some ribs. So my mother is not one of those people who can sit still ever. She's having a really hard time with this right now.

no!

I'll bet I'll bet. My mother was driving our Shetland pony at 90 on her 90th birthday, she got to drive Shetland pony that actually was raised in our mud room because she her mama didn't have any milk. So she was a bottle baby. So she got to drive her at on her 90th birthday and then her mother's that would be my grandmother actually rode on her 90th birthday. So we come from I come from a long line of women who

love horses and definitely stay equestrian active well into their senior years. Betsy, thank you.

keep hoping my mom will do the driving thing. I think it would be safer at this age. Just a little bit. That's true too.

I don't know. I don't know. That depends on the horse you put in the cart. I honestly think there are times that is more dangerous. You don't fall as far, but sometimes when you fall, you're going fast. there's a there's issues with that. And I have these rotten Shetland ponies around here that I'm a little worried about the bodily harm that would happen if they got out of hand. So anyway, all of that to say we have gotten on to many squirrels.

Hahaha!

Ha ha.

Hahaha

when we're talking about driving Shetland ponies. But Betsy, thank you so much for being on the Business Animal podcast. If someone needs equine photography, or there are a lot of photographers who listen to this podcast, because it's, I'm a photographer as well, and if they need mentorship in something, how do people get to find you, get in touch with you, to work with you?

Yes, we did squirrel a little bit there.

You can find me on the web at ridetheskyequine.com and also on Facebook and Instagram. ridetheskyequine.

Awesome. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today and for everyone else. I'll see you on the next episode.