Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Angela Joseph. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Angela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

As a Registered Nurse, Board Certified Nurse Health Coach and Certified Equine Partnered Life Coach. I am dedicated to empowering clients to overcome limiting beliefs and fears, guiding them through transformative life transitions. By fostering a deep connection between humans, horses, and nature, I help clients experience profound healing, self-discovery, and personal freedom.

My mission is to support humans, animals and nature in creating a life of purpose, joy, and fulfillment, leading from a place of love and authenticity.

Vision: To cultivate a peaceful and loving environment where people can fi nd solace, pause, and embrace the healing energy of nature. A space where individuals can engage with horses (and other animals, if they choose) to explore their inner selves, uncover their purpose, and gain the clarity and wisdom they seek.

In 2025, I am starting a new program called, “Honor Her – Honor You”, as well as a Honor Her: Apparel for Brave Women (and merchandise). This started out with a mission to celebrate and empower women veterans by filling a significant gap in the market for feminine, stylish and empowering apparel and merchandise tailored specifically for them. Most apparel and merchandise that have US Veteran on them are very masculine dark colors, boxy male sizes that do not look appealing on women. Although collectively, a US Veteran is a US Veteran, but its time to celebrate the same strong and brave characteristics that all Veterans have, however, these items will be in light feminine colors, designs that fit women bodies, that are attractive and classy. Women veterans are 1% of US Veteran populations and it’s time to Honor Her.

A 6-8 week, Honor Her- Honor You program is currently being created for all women who want to learn how to honor themselves better, to grow their self worth, their self confidence and live strong and powerfully in today’s culture. I want women to feel so empowered that they feel great talking about how great they are and eliminate any old conditioning and limiting beliefs. It is going to be an incredible program, and my goal of launching this will be by the end of January 2025. It ties in so nicely with what I’ve created in the brand for Honor Her apparel – made for the elite brave woman. I’m excited to get this going.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

**Angela “Angie” Joseph: A Life of Service, Passion, and Purpose**

Angela K. Joseph, known as Angie, grew up in rural Hillsboro, Wisconsin, as the eldest of seven children. Her upbringing on a farm instilled a strong work ethic and a love for community. From a young age, Angie was deeply involved in farm chores, school sports, and the arts, even serving as her high school mascot. With a graduating class of just 42, she thrived in her small-town environment, developing resilience and a passion for learning.

Facing financial barriers to higher education, Angie joined the Army National Guard in 1987, launching a nearly 35-year career in service. Twenty-five of those years were spent on full-time active duty and in federal civil service, where she rose to the rank of nurse and medical service officer. Her military career was both challenging and transformative, shaping her into a skilled and compassionate leader. Angie retired in January 2022.

In 2010, a dream on Martin Luther King Day sparked Angie’s passion for integrating animals into therapeutic programs. While volunteering at LUVS Morgan Horse Rescue in Wisconsin, she was also serving as State Surgeon for the Wisconsin Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). During her three-year tenure, she championed two key initiatives: equipping VFW facilities with Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and promoting the benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), particularly Equine-Assisted Learning and Therapy (EAL/EAT). Her advocacy aligned with emerging research and legislation recognizing the therapeutic benefits of animals for veterans.

Angie’s dream led her to co-create Veterans Equine Trail Service (VETS), a nonprofit program offering equine-assisted therapy to veterans and their families. Her master’s degree in healthcare leadership further solidified her expertise, with a capstone focused on complementary healthcare through EAL/EAT.

In 2018, Angie moved to Tennessee, fulfilling a vision she had documented years earlier: establishing a sanctuary for healing and growth. By 2025, she had realized this dream with Hold Your Horses Farm in Christiana, TN—a serene property with a barn, event space, and natural water sources, just as she had envisioned.

Today, Angie combines her skills as a board-certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Life Coach, Equine-Assisted Learning Facilitator, and Animal Communicator. Through individual and group sessions, she fosters healing and personal growth. Her farm hosts unique experiences like sound bathing with horses, yoga, and nature walks. In 2025, she plans to launch “Honor Her – Honor You,” a women’s empowerment program, alongside “Honor Her Apparel,” a clothing line celebrating resilience and strength.

Angie’s mission is clear: to inspire others to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and pursue their dreams. With her motto, “I Aspire to Inspire,” Angie has created a sanctuary where humans and animals thrive together, embodying her lifelong commitment to service, healing, and holistic well-being.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I retired after serving in the US Army for almost 35 years in January 2022. As a nurse in the military during COVID period, I like many nurses were very burnt out. I still wanted to serve others but I was exhausted. I hired a business coach because I
did have aspirations to run my Equine Assisted services farm, but didn’t really know where to start. Although I have had a dream and vision to run a peaceful and powerful equine assisted learning/therapeutical services program, I was so exhausted and felt resistance to move forward with anything. Transitioning out of the military is a challenging process, especially for me having been in since I was 17 years old. I still had the ambition to do amazing things, but I was feeling resistance, meaning every action step I took towards this business seemed too difficult to do. But my ego got in the way too and I knew I could do this, so, I pushed myself harder and harder, even though my exhaustion turned chronic. In my first year of starting to construct this vision into reality, I started to get sick, a cold here and there, and feeling very run down. I started to get more migraines, I started to gain weight, and my post traumatic nightmares were getting so bad that I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep, and then the sicker I became. I had hit bottom, barely having enough energy to function. I had surgery on my neck from an former injury in service and the incision opened the week after the surgery. I went into the ER for emergency surgery, as it became infected (easily done with a struggling immune system), and was in the hospital for a week after on multiple antibiotics and protocols. After two weeks of being home following this time, I was experiencing really bad abdominal pain, and went into the ER again. The CT scan showed that I had large ruptured abscess in my intestines, and again I had emergency surgery. The surgeon told me I had a very bad infection, so much they had to take out a part of my intestines along with my appendix because the infection spread. Now, I not only have an incision mark on my neck, but I also have a large vertical incision scar from my sternum to my pubic bone. I was in the hospital for another week with broad band antibiotics, and two weeks later, I was in the hospital again with a kidney infection. This was not how I wanted to continue in my retirement, sick and tired. This forced me to take time off, resting, sleeping and not worrying about “the business” stuff until I had more energy. I saw a Naturopathic doctor and got on the path to healing and recovery as natural as I could do it and at a much slower pace. I took another six months off to recover and heal. Please know, that I have always been a go-getter, work hard and harder type of person. But I burnt myself out, overworking, not giving my mind, my body and soul to recharge when it needed it. After the six months, I was feeling much better, with more energy and my creativity was back. I was feeling much better and more myself. All it took was some time to slow down, rest, recover and recharge. To honor myself with time for healing. And I needed that time, because the fall of 2023, my husband was in a bad trucking accident, that left him with a broken neck. And shortly after that happened, our beautiful mare passed from an equine encephalitis illness too. Again, life was slowing me down to really take notice of what really matters family and our health. We all took time off together, healing and rehabilitating, honoring this slowing down period. But I have to say, even though we took more time off, I had never felt as creative as I did last year. Ideas for holistic and natural programs were pouring into my heart and mind, and we had a good and productive 2024. Its the beginning of 2025, and I am launching a new program Honor Her which will be my primary program this next year with nature and horses, along with some fun collaborations with sound bathers and yoga instructors. The message here is that it is so important to listen to you body, your mind and your soul. If you’re feeling burnt out, rest. If you’re getting sick, rest. If life throws a bunch of challenges at you, it’s time to step back and reevaluate the priorities. When we listen to our inner voice and honor ourselves to rest and recuperate, we actually thrive! The universe works with us, not at us, we just need to listen and honor our calling and purpose. And in all of this, we thrive. (please rewrite as necessary if you wish, I know this was a lot).

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Go to my website and there are tons of great books and references I provide. www.holdyourhorsesfarmtn.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.holdyourhorsesfarmtn.com
• Instagram: angie@amazinglifecoach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angela.k.joseph3/. and. https://www.facebook.com/AngieHYHFarm/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-k-joseph-rn-amazinglifecoach/

Image Credits

The first photo is Angie with her two horses, Lambert and Little Joe.

The Honor Her logos and the Hold Your Horses Farm logo: Horses Helping Humans Thrive.

Pics of horses during the Fall Equinox sound bath. And people interacting with the horses.