We were lucky to catch up with Taylor McCollum recently and have shared our conversation below.

Taylor, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I think as people we innately spend head space pondering the “what ifs”. What if I had started sooner? What if I had started later when I was more established? What if I had more resources or knew more about myself when I started? I mean you could go on forever.

Taking on the risk of being a business owner is overwhelming enough – I think you really have to find peace in the notion that you are in the right place at the right time. You have to give up to some higher power, whatever that is for you.

I have been doing this since I was still in high school, but I established my craft in an actual business when I was 28. I was (and still am) a Talent Manager for a large construction contractor and had just moved to Nashville for my husband to pursue his career. Long story short, I was boarding my heart horse at this facility, and the then owners were interested in dismantling it and selling it in pieces to real estate investors. There was no way I was going to let that happen. I consulted with a client and dear friend about the purchase, and Breakaway Ranch was born. The Hunt family (who you will see on our social often) were business partners in our first year and became silent partners at the start of 2023. They have been a pivotal part of this project and this opportunity I have been gifted to follow my childhood dreams could not have occurred without their support. Their daughter is a very gifted young horsewoman that will go far in this industry at the rate she is going.

What we didn’t realize at the time we moved to Nashville and took the barn on, was that this would be the catalyst for a massive personal 180 for both my husband and I: establishing roots, creating core values, and undergoing a massive amount of trauma healing and personal development.

There are an immeasurable amount of things that I learned as a result of that process, but one of them being you have to have respect for your own timeline.

I neither pursue nor reject opportunities – I let them come to me organically and I make a value decision based on what the universe presents me. If it aligns with the businesses mission, and can fill either my bucket or my employees bucket, then we create action. I feel like this allows me to stay wildly open minded and see literally EVERYTHING as an opportunity to make a deal, create something, teach, or learn. This model has been insanely successful for us as it has allowed us to be more than just an equestrian facility, and has allowed our reach extend past who our normal clientele would be.

I can wonder all day if this is how I would have approached business in the past or in the future. But that thought process is not a part of my plan or what I believe. We are exactly where we need to be and fill find success in the journey, not the destination.

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

The “horse bug” phenomena plagues many adolescent girls – most of them are lucky enough to make it out of this life chapter, right of passage, whatever you want to call it, mostly unscathed and hopefully a little wiser. Others, well…. others are unfortunate enough to get hooked deep – so much so that the high they get will affect their wallets, relationships, health, wellness, and careers for the rest of their lives.

My path was the later.

I was lucky enough to have a mom who supported this habit in every freaking way possible. I started taking lessons, and got my first horse after mom made it happen that we were able to move to a home with property. She tried so hard and I wouldn’t have been able to have this life now without her immense efforts when I was a child.

The rest is history.

I LIVED on the back of a horse, and started getting paid by people in my neighborhood for training. I took a hiatus when I was in college, and then hit it back head on with our move to Nashville.

The business is now something I NEVER thought it would be. What started as a simple equestrian facility has turned into a hotspot for Western lifestyle junkies.

Horses give insight to yourself, your flaws, the universe, your relationships, your doubts and your strengths, and have an ability to allow creativity to flow. We want to share this magic with anybody who is willing to listen. Horsemanship can be universal, and we provide services for the active horseperson in all stages, and for creatives who both represent the lifestyle, or appreciate horses for their beauty in their art.

Our business has 4 main components:

The Ranch
The Loft
The Experience
Creative Services

The Ranch is our equestrian facility where we provide boutique and professional training, boarding, lessons, sales, clinics, show team, and events. We are Ranch Versatility/Reining Cow Horse trainers that specialize in colt starting and problem horses.

The loft is our onsite Airbnb that is situated ABOVE the horse stalls in the barn. A truly unique stay.

The Experience is in the works, and will be an offering of horse-centric events (stay tuned!).

Creative Services – working with you to create authentic marketing campaigns, editorial, music videos, and more.

I am the most proud that we have created in such a short amount of time a vision that people easily buy into, and an all inclusive equestrian facility. Historically, the equestrian business is a toxic one, exploiting people and horses in abusive ways for the sake of making a quick buck. We see it happen daily. We get clients who were sold an old, sick horse, unbeknownst to them because they are still learning. We get clients who were pushed out of barns for speaking out against animal abuse. We get clients who never felt like they belonged because they rode a horse that meant the world to them, but maybe didn’t take home as many first place ribbons as their peers. It has been a world of abuse, politics, harsh whispers in the breeze way if you made even the slightest mistake.

Breakaway is different, and we embrace the horses and people that never belonged.

Don’t get me wrong, we still win. And competition is important to us. But we get the blue by being the best because we did it OUR way – humanely, impactfully, uniquely.

Of course I am biased, but this is a special place full of hand picked people who share similar values and put horses and people above all else.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

This is so important for not only our industry but for all. I will say it loud for the people in the back.

TREAT PEOPLE RIGHT.

That doesn’t mean be a pushover, a doormat, or to devalue your worth in the process. But if you treat people right they will sing your praises, and word of mouth has always been, and always will be, your most valuable marketing tool. Go the extra mile. Be responsive. Do what you say you are going to do and if you miss a commitment, own it, learn it, communicate it, and move on from it. Be an open book, be vulnerable. Cry, laugh, be a PERSON with your clients if you are in a service based business. Relationships are everything. Be authentic to capture your ideal audience and clientele.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Figure out who your people are. Once you make sure you have the right people on the bus, get to know them. If you take a personal interest in what fills their bucket, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how to best manage them, they will believe in the business.

We are still in infancy, and so things are still ever changing. There is conflict, and that is OK. There is going to be when you are building something. Teach your team how to communicate effectively and solve conflict in a healthy way.

As a business owner, you have to set the example, especially in times of adversity. High morale starts with you. Accept things as they are, be transparent. Business is not binary, there is so much grey area – talk about it!

Have trust and give them things. If you aren’t delegating you are not being effective and need to spend some time thinking that through.

This all seems cliche but its shocking how many people do not practice this.

Contact Info:

• Website: breakawayranch.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakawayranchtn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083471793679
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorshae/

Image Credits
Dalton DeBerry Melina Masse