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

Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

If someone were to ask me “Were you raised in a barn!?”, I’d have to shrug and say, “Well… yeah, kind of!”. When I look at the span of my life, horses have always been there. I think back to new schools, boyfriends, breakups, moving, losing loved ones, and through all of those life changes – horses were always there. Yet, for someone who defines themself as a horse girl who never grew up… I never planned on working in the horse industry. It actually never even crossed my mind! I was always told that there is no money in horses. It’s just a hobby. Get a real job when you grow up. I believed that!

So, I did what the grown-ups said to do! I went to college, got a great job, and worked in corporate America for close to a decade. On paper, everything was great! I still got to teach lessons as a side gig in the evenings and weekends, but I had a fancy job with a fancy title and a salary that made my life comfortable. But, was I truly happy? No, not really. My favorite part of my “great” job was leaving at the end of the day to go teach riding lessons! I was floating through my career without true passion.

My happiest place was at the side gig, being with the horses! In these lesson programs I worked for, I came across horse after horse with body issues. Undiagnosed lameness, slow recovery from injury, soreness, limited mobility, and more. But, I didn’t have any tools in my tool belt to help with these things! The only thing I knew how to do was call the vet, but at a barn with 30+ horses, is it really worth a vet call for a horse that just seems a little “off”? Big nope. So, I did what little I could to make the horses more comfortable (administer anti-inflammatories) and went along with my days, wishing I could do more but feeling limited by time and knowledge.

So, how did I decide to take the leap into equine bodywork? Let’s visit the year 2021. My father-in-law broke his femur and was struggling through the healing process, the bone just simply didn’t want to heal. After countless doctor visits and a final verdict of “if it doesn’t heal soon, we’re going to amputate it”, my father-in-law turned to alternative medicine and found PEMF (Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field) therapy. A less-known but FDA-approved and highly researched alternative medicine used in both human and veterinary applications around the world. He purchased a machine, used it religiously, and voila… the leg began to heal! It took time, but he made a full recovery. His doctors were astonished.

After he recovered, he asked if I wanted to borrow the PEMF machine for a bit to use on my personal horse which had been suffering from some lameness issues. Heck yes, I wanted to! I began to do my own research on the use of PEMF on horses and, as happens in the Google wormhole, I suddenly realized that there is a whole WORLD of people dedicated to equine wellness without being a veterinarian. Things like equine massage, kinesiology taping, PEMF, and more. An industry that I hadn’t ever been privy to but was growing like wildfire: equine bodywork.

THAT. That is what I wanted to do.

So, I did the most irresponsible thing I’d ever done in my 30 years and I quit my job. I came up with a business name, tossed together a logo and a basic website, registered for certification courses, and went all in. I didn’t let myself dwell on the what-ifs, I just knew that it would work.

As soon as the journey started, I knew had found the thing I had been longing for my whole life. In the midst of the biggest life change I had ever made and the first time in my adult life not knowing when my next paycheck would come, I found peace.

Everything about this profession feels right. I crave it. I think about it day and night. It consumes me (in the best way possible). There is endless opportunity for continued professional development and additional certifications, the sky is truly the limit and I now get to help horses feel their best. Little Liz would be so proud.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, I’m Liz Butler, a lifelong equestrian with a passion for helping horses feel their best. My official title is “equine bodyworker”, a profession I didn’t really even know existed until a couple of years ago thanks to my father-in-law’s broken femur. No, my father-in-law isn’t a horse… but he did heal his leg with the use of a machine that is widely used in both human and veterinary medicine, a Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field therapy machine. Once he was done with the machine, he lent it to me to use on my personal horse who was having some hoof issues. I did some basic Googling to figure out how the heck to use the machine and discovered that there was a whole world of options for helping horses beyond just PEMF machines. The equine bodywork industry.

When I learned about equine bodywork, I was hooked before I ever even started. It was exactly what I wanted to spend my life doing but had never been able to fully conceptualize. I now specialize in Equine Massage and PEMF therapy, integrated approaches that help the body heal itself. I remain a lifelong student of the horse and enjoy learning as much as I can about holistic modalities to bring the most knowledge possible to my practice. I work on horses from all walks of life, backyard pets to professional athletes but with one common goal: to help horses feel their best so that they can perform their best. I believe that through bodywork, we can create soft, supple, and most importantly comfortable horses. When horses feel their best, there is no limit to what they can achieve.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I’ve never been much of an “Instagrammer”, but I knew that in today’s society, if you’re not on social media, your business basically doesn’t exist. So, I started a page, found others in my industry to follow, got a feel for what already existed in the social media space for my industry, looked around at what I liked and what I didn’t care for, and then I just… posted! I remember making my first Reel and texting a girlfriend with over 20k followers and asking “Does it take you 30 minutes to make your Reels!?” because man, I struggled! She told me that it takes her less than 2 minutes to make a Reel. Welp, that was bad news for current me, but good news for future me. I realized that I had work to do! Like anything, sometimes when you start something, you suck! So, I just kept doing it. I made Reel after Reel, post after post, story after story until one day, it didn’t feel like it was hard anymore. It was just my new normal! I continued to find and follow others in my industry and engaged on their posts as much as possible (but keeping it authentic… none of that generic “Great post!” BS.). I’m now a year in and I certainly haven’t become an influencer, but I do feel really confident in my content and I have great interactions on my posts. The best advice I can give is:

-Just post it. Yes, you might feel stupid. No, it might not be perfect. Just post it.
-Simplicity sells. The features in the Instagram Reels editor aren’t as fancy as the third party apps (like CapCut), but that’s okay! Simple is good. Your followers just want 6 seconds of content that makes them feel something.
-Film everything. Seriously, just film it. You’re going to feel stupid, but no one cares. Invest in a basic tripod, have a photo/video consent form if you have clients in videos, and get to filming. But also, audit your camera roll at least once a month and delete images/videos you don’t need anymore or you’ll run out of storage real quick.
-Post like you have 50K followers. No, you don’t have to be “that girl” that’s trying too hard. I just mean to post with pride! Even if you have 30 followers and 10 of them are your family, that’s 30 people who care what you have to say! Trust yourself as the expert in your industry and post accordingly.
-Be authentic. When I started, I used “we” in all of my posts because I wanted to sound like my business was bigger than it was. It felt really forced and awkward. When I switched to “I”, everything felt SO much easier – I didn’t have to pretend. I could just be me.
-Get inspired by others, but don’t be a copycat. What are others in your industry posting? Could you do something similar? What hashtags are they using? Use those ones too! Be wary of the fine line between being inspired and copying. If you want to do the exact same thing, ask permission first or give credit in your caption (“inspired by @person post last week”).
-Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself! Feel like you’ve run out of things to post? Remake something you’ve already done!
-Post consistently. Be realistic. Can you post 3x a week? Every other day? Daily?

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Doing a great job. Really, that’s it! Think of the times when you’ve left somewhere thinking “that person was really nice!” or “that person was so helpful!” or “that person really kept their cool even though it was chaotic in there”. Be THAT person in every aspect of your business. Don’t cut corners, be the best you can be, own up to your mistakes, and develop systems and processes to keep you organized. Invest in your education to be the best you can be in your industry!

Contact Info:

• Website: barrioperformancetherapy.com
• Instagram: @barrioperformancetherapy
• Facebook: /barrioperformancetherapy