We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Miki Briggs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Miki below.

Hi Miki, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I wouldn’t say that most people disagree with my values however, I would say that I consider it one of the most important aspects of my business. I believe that great customer service is something I strive for while running my business day to day. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve shopped in a small business or a larger corporation and have wandered around needing help and there was no one in sight. Or the amount of times I have asked an associate in a store for assistance and it feels like they couldn’t be bothered with helping me. It makes me not want to return to the store.

At Miki Saddlery, we greet everyone with a smile and make it our mission to get each customer exactly what they need. Whether they know exactly what they need or require a little guidance, we are extremely knowledgeable about the brands we carry and want to make sure they are happy with their decision. In fact, we LOVE when customers ask a ton of questions! They want to know everything and we want to tell them! We want our customers to be informed so they feel confident, and confidence is key in and out of the saddle!

At Miki Saddlery, we also believe that not everyone is the same and everyone has their own personal preferences. We always take their preferences very seriously to create a product that is as extraordinary as our customers. This applies to everything we carry in our store; Tucci boots and Ego7 riding apparel and boots.

We believe this creates positive word of mouth about our store. When I hear a customer come in and say to me “My friend got fitted for boots with you and loves them so much! They told me I had to come see you!”, it makes me so incredibly happy. I believe it is one of my biggest motivators to hear great feedback regarding the customer service one received in our store. The amount of friends we have made around the country by being friendly and helpful is rewarding enough.

I plan to keep this value at the forefront of our goal here at Miki Saddlery until the end of time!

Miki, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Miki Briggs, I am 24 years old and my boyfriend Maks Riossa and I travel around the East Coast of the US selling Tucci boots and Ego7 riding apparel and boots. We started in June of 2022 so its been just over a year of business and we have exceeded our expectations of our success by far! Traveling around can be tiresome, but the places we have been and the people we have met has made this journey so rewarding.

Maks has been the US Sales Manager for Tucci for roughly 5-6 years now and his expertise in fitting boots and horse show life is remarkable. Which makes him the perfect partner to team up with. I worked for a destination store in the Los Angeles area of California for 3 years which is how Maks and I met. Working for such a prestigious tack shop taught me a lot. There was an endless opportunity to learn, the work was so rewarding I wanted more! So opening a store myself has truly given that to me. I am still learning and improving everyday and it is a lot of work but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I started Miki Saddlery to become a tack store determined to provide excellent customer service and to have the best products right at each equestrians’ finger tips. I will search high and low to accommodate every person thats walks into my store. Occasionally, people will have questions regarding a product we don’t have or a product we do carry but was purchased at another store. We believe in helping customers in any way we can regardless of any circumstances, because if we have the answer, we want to share it! Balancing everything life throws at you can be overwhelming, and if we are able to make it a little bit easier, we want to!

Being riders and equestrians ourselves, Maks and I believe it helps us find products that best suit the need for others at any level. Predicting trends is a challenge however, having awesome customers make it so helpful to get all the information we need to best support everyone in the horse world!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have always considered myself to be an independent and determined person. So as soon as I decided to start my own business with my partner Maks, I was constantly brainstorming, jotting random ideas down and was feeling super motivated to make the idea real. I did recognize that starting a business at 22 was going to have its challenges, however I did experience a lot of surprised faces when I told people my plan.

I didn’t know even half of the challenges I would have to face and when someone would question me about a topic I knew very little about: ie taxes, payroll, accounting, etc. I felt a bit out of my depth. Even to this day, most people who come in my store don’t think I’m the owner, just that I work here.

I take it as a compliment and a challenge. Yes, I am pretty young to have started a small business and support myself completely from it. I had an army of family and friends supporting me and learning with me all the things I needed to know and still need to learn. Maks was as determined as I was maybe even more!

I could not have gotten to where I am today if it wasn’t for the support I received from everyone. I will continue to prove that I am up to any challenge!

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

The horse world is packed full with influential people who are riders, grooms, trainers, judges, and spectators. It’s a big world and it’s easy to get lost in it. We try to make an impression or contact with everyone but of course, that is never ending. We have noticed that some trainers can be very specific with the style of clothing or boots they prefer their clients to be in. So to make our jobs a little easier, we attempt to help as many trainers as we can. If we are able to provide clothing or boots to a trainer, most likely they will recommend us to their clients and their friends.

Attending as many shows as we can across the east coast also helps us get in contact with as many riders as possible. It is a great feeling to make a contact at one show and see that person continuously at other horse shows. We like to think it makes us look reliable, to be exactly where they are when they need us!

Most of the time, it’s hard to be at all the best shows happening seemingly all at the same time. Which is why we offer something called a Virtual Fitting. We take measurements to fit for Ego7 and Tucci tall boots over a video call and send the best fitting option by mail. We believe this also makes our customers feel like we will do anything to get them what they need and we will!

We are always thinking and coming up with different ways to be there for our clients. Soon, our website will be ready and will have all kind of features that were designed for the equestrian!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mikisaddlery
• Other: Store Phone : 954-417-5605 Email : [email protected]