We recently connected with Lindsay Hearon and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Since I assumed the role of Director of the Bedford Riding Lanes Association, a small-but-mighty 90-mile private trail organization, I have strived to make it more inclusive and appealing to different groups in our community — not just equestrians, who were the dominant users historically. With decades before us as bridle trails / equestrian-only trails, I knew that branching out to other outdoor enthusiasts with appealing events and a means for drawing them in would be an important part of growing our membership. I tried to look at the trail system through a new lens and ask — what are activities and things people enjoy as outdoor recreation — and which ones are compatible for developing within the BRLA? Introducing meditation & yoga on the trails, kids races, snowshoeing, and even cocktail parties in the woods quickly became a successful way to get our name circulating among new groups in the community.

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.

I am an outdoor enthusiast with a marketing and event planning background, I was brought in to lead and grow the BRLA, and to introduce it to new groups of local people and expand our membership. I was originally hesitant about the role because I TOO thought the trails were only for the riding community, something I have no experience with — but I was then motivated once I learned that access was not limited to equestrians. It seemed there was a whole world of beautiful, hidden trails right within our own backyards that the majority of our community thought were not open to them — and in fact they were. This felt like an easy story to tell, share and build events around.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I make an effort to reach out personally to many of our over 600+ members once a year and I try and engage them — especially the ones that don’t participate much. Sometimes just getting a personal email and an offer to meet and walk the trails, or remind them of some interesting aspect of a trail component right near their home, or an event happening near them is enough to re-engage them and make them curious about what they have been missing. I’ll often include links to our events page or to a photo gallery in these friendly outreach emails b/c seeing a list of events or images of people out participating and having fun on the trail can often have the effect of making them more curious or interested in re-engaging ,.. hey, we all have FOMO once in a while… :)

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Im a big believer in visuals and passive PR. Sending photos to the local paper is still an important and effective way to show your community that people are having positive experiences at our events — it helps reiterate that our trail system offers a lot more than they might think. People forget about their local papers — papers always need to fill awkward spaces and more than likely they want imagery as well — especially when its imagery of their own readers /community members.

Contact Info:

• Website: bedfordridinglanes.org
• Instagram: @BRLA_bedford
• Facebook: @bedfordridinglanes

Image Credits
Credits to Kristen Vallejo, Bedford New Canaan Magazine