An Entrepreneur Wears All The Hats
As with everybody who comes to the Trails to Empowerment community, I had the opportunity to get involved in and learn about everything the ranch has to offer and it prepared me for becoming an entrepreneur. Throughout my time here, I have been a part of more things than can be easily listed in a blog story, but here are a few of them:
Wildlife tracking horse pack trip guide. Guide school teacher. Heavy equipment operator on our small scale, sustainable woodlot. Hiking guide. Hay making. Wild horse training. Accounts, sales and marketing. Cooking for 20+ guests. Six Principle philosophy creation. Website maintenance and creation. Content writing. Conservation projects such as California Bighorn sheep population counts, burdock removal and referral writing. I also wrote and published five books based on the community philosophy and everything I’d learned here.
These experiences were all empowering opportunities as I learned more about myself, what I was capable of and learned new skills and mindsets. These mindsets include responsibility, initiative taking, ownership, commitment, a positive attitude, being conscious and aware and being flexible and adaptable. These are mindsets that you need to survive in the wilderness, but I also learned they were the skills I needed to be an entrepreneur.
Throughout my time at the ranch, I created the Lead Mare qualities, which I write about in two of my books, Lead Like a Lead Mare and Lessons From a Lead Mare. It seemed a natural fit that all the mindsets I listed in the previous paragraph and many more were the skills I needed to be an empowered female leader, mindsets I had learned both from the ranch environment and from the lead mare horses here.
In early 2024 I started my own company, Fortress Press, through Trails to Empowerment’s entrepreneur program. Through my time at the ranch so far I had learned that an entrepreneur doesn’t just wear many hats. An entrepreneur wears all the hats. So when it came time to start my own business, I knew exactly what would be involved. Fortress Press is a publishing company and it seemed only natural I would name it after one of our lead mare horses, Fortress.
At first, I was reluctant to call myself a publisher as I was stuck with the traditional idea of a publisher. That was a company that did all the marketing for the book and took all the risk in printing it then making it sell. I wanted to empower my clients to do that themselves. By doing some research I learned there were other publishing companies that give their authors more control of the process. As my target market would likely have small print runs such as local history or family legacy books, having a big marketing campaign wasn’t in their interests anyway. They wanted their books in print to share with family and friends, or to sell in local stores, not to be international bestsellers.
I created a business model that allowed my clients to be in full control of the printing and publishing process. If they wanted editing, proofing and design services, I could do that. If they just wanted me to print 100 copies of their books, I could do that too. This unconventional business model fitted in just perfectly with life at the ranch as living in the wilderness is anything but conventional.
I had already created multiple websites during my time at the ranch, so when it came time to make my Fortress Press website, I already had experience with this. As I’d done the company accounts at the ranch, I already knew what I needed to do for Fortress Press. With sales and marketing experience, I already knew how to promote things, although getting my books into stores was a new experience.
Trails to Empowerment’s entrepreneur program was partly me using skills I had already learned at the ranch. It was partly launching my own business with the support of the experienced entrepreneurs here, which helped me make my business a success.
My fifth book was the first book to be officially published under Fortress Press. My books are now sold in local stores, and I have printed books for external clients.
It is exciting to be an entrepreneur with a new business as I see all the potential for my company to grow and know that I have the support of the entrepreneur program here at the ranch. But the ultimate outcome is the empowerment process. I have learned more about myself and my interests through creating Fortress Press and am now able to say “I can print your book with my publishing company.” In short, I can say “I can do it!” I can now add small business owner, publisher and entrepreneur to the list at the beginning of this blog story.
My purpose is to share an empowering philosophy with more people. With my own publishing company, I am now better able to do this, thereby bringing empowerment to anyone who is interested in reading my books or wants to use my company to publish their book.
Are you looking to start your own business but don’t know how to get started? Trails to Empowerment’s entrepreneur program gives you the opportunity to run one of the community companies here as if it was your own, giving you invaluable experience and a safety net. When you finish your time at the ranch, you will then have all the skills and know-how to launch your own business. Or, you can bring your own idea for a business that fits with the Six Principle philosophy and start it here. Find out more on our entrepreneur program page.
Charlie
