We were lucky to catch up with Joann Kelly recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joann, appreciate you joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?

I manage our Facebook and Instagram accounts, but have someone else who runs our website. Most often I’m the one who is there for everything happening at the rescue. This means that I am able to capture photos, videos, and I know exactly what’s happening and what help we need. Because of this, I am able to post our needs immediately. Since I work a full time job on top of running the rescue, I just don’t have the time to also be maintaining our website and decided to delegate that task to someone else.

My advice to others would be to work to your strengths and the strengths of those around you. If you aren’t best suited for a task or job, it’s ok to delegate that to someone else with more knowledge or a better understanding while doing the tasks that you are best suited for. You always want the best person for the job in that position and it won’t always be you. When running a rescue, delegation is important. Know your strengths and know when and where to ask for help.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I first got started in equine rescue when I lived in Florida. My daughters and I volunteered for a rescue there. When we moved to South Carolina, one of their horses was gifted to my daughter Kaitlyn. We started Hasty’s Haven in honor of him.

Our hope is to provide the proper care for equine in need and eventually have them placed in loving homes. We are very proud of how many equine we have saved since starting our nonprofit. As our rescue grows support and more donations come in, we are able to provide for even more equine. So many lives have been saved from neglect and we are excited to continue saving as many as we can.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

We post daily updates on equine in our care. If we aren’t updating about those already in our care, we are posting about those who need our help. This allows our followers to see where their donations go and how they’re being used. Advice for those starting would be to post everything- the good, the bad and the ugly. Be real with your audience and let them see what’s happening behind the scenes.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honesty and our openness about everything that happens at the rescue. We don’t only post the good things here, – we don’t sugarcoat anything. We share every bit of what’s happening here at the rescue. If a horse is having trouble putting on weight, we share that. We don’t try to hide any of the happenings here whether they’re good or bad. We tell it all. It’s important for potential donors to know exactly how you’re using their money. It’s equally important for potential adopters to know their equine received all the care it needed while at Hasty’s to ensure they are receiving a healthy equine. Our openness creates trust with our supporters. Without trust, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hastyshaven.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/hastys.haven?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hastyshaven?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Lezah Nicole Photography