#78 The Energetics of Money with Sync Equestrian founder Natalia Graf-Anders

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:00:02-00:00:07]
In this episode, we're talking with Natalia Graf-Anders, founder of Sync Equestrian.

[SPEAKER 1]
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Because it goes hand in hand, the more you wake up to yourself, the more you can actually hear your horse.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Welcome to the Equestrian Connection podcast from Wehorse. My name is Danielle Crowell and I'm your host. Natalia Graf-Anders is a German born entrepreneur, equestrian and mindset coach who has seamlessly blended her passions for riding and fashion into a thriving business. After being immersed in the fashion industry in New York, Natalia moved to Northern Virginia where she identified a gap in the equestrian apparel market. This realization led to the creation of Sync Equestrian, a brand dedicated to producing high-performance, size-inclusive riding apparel designed for all body types. Under Natalia's leadership, Sync Equestrian has been recognized for its innovative designs that prioritize comfort, functionality, and style. The brand's commitment to inclusivity is evident in its wide range of sizes and its mission to empower riders of all shapes and backgrounds. Beyond fashion, Natalia's entrepreneurial spirit extends to Sync Academy, an online platform where she offers courses focused on mindset transformation and financial empowerment, drawing from her personal journey of overcoming limiting beliefs to build a successful business. Natalia's work is driven by a desire to bring positive change to the equestrian industry and to inspire others to pursue their passions fearlessly. Let's dive in. Natalia, welcome to the WeHorse podcast. I'm super excited to chat with you today and this really important topic that's not really discussed very often. So welcome to the podcast.

[SPEAKER 1]
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Thank you so much for having me.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Can we go back to the beginning and have you share a little bit about your journey? Like, how did you get into horses? How did you go from being a rider to an entrepreneur? How did you get to where you are now? All of the things.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:01:60-00:06:37]
Yeah, absolutely. So I was born and raised in Germany and I got into horses at a pretty young age. I was six years old. And my first memory of horses, actually, I was like two or three years old and I was having some sort of like bladder issue in kindergarten or pre-kindergarten. And my dad made me a horse out of clay. And it like instantly caught me down while we were waiting for the ambulance. So like even at that really young age, that is my first memory of horses, how they have always played such a big part in my life. Just this energy that I need to just get through life in a way. And then I got into horses as young as I could start, six years old. I had my first lesson in Germany. They started me with gymnastics. I think it's called vaulting here. So we did that. And then I continued my horse journey. When I was 12 years old, my parents actually moved to the United States. We won a green card in the lottery. And all of a sudden, my dad was like, yeah, we're moving to America. And I was like, I don't speak any English. I have all my friends here, you know. German born and raised and um so that was a hard uh move you know at that age especially at 12 years old so we moved to the United States to northern Virginia and again the first thing I did was find a place where I could ride I didn't speak any English at the time I mean very very limited English that I learned in like fifth and sixth grade in Germany um So I got back into horses as soon as we got here, and I met this thoroughbred mare named Patty who showed me ultimate love once again and that you don't need to understand a language because the language of love speaks louder than words. And she was my safeguard for a couple years until I got adjusted, you know, to the new culture, language, school, friends, all of that. Then when I turned 18, I decided I wanted to move to New York City and pursue modeling. I don't know why I was 18. It's just like the glitz and the glamour. Everything attracted me to go there. I was always very free spirited. I applied to one college. So my parents like literally could not hold me back. Like I knew I was going there. I ended up staying there for 12 years. It was a good experience, but I also had some traumas there. I got into the modeling industry, the fashion industry. I starved myself. I never felt enough. I was always told to lose weight. I was put on Adderall to stay skinny and fat. a lot of things that i didn't think about at that age i just thought they were normal um and from the outside looking in i mean you would have thought life was great you know you're going to all of these like a-list celebrity parties like leonardo dicaprio is partying next to you and you're having all the splits and glamour but on the inside i was truly truly unhappy and i still felt alone. I felt very lonely. I felt very unhappy. And the only thing that I was getting me through also is I used to dream about horses all the time, like all the time. And later on, I realized through one of my meditations, they told me that horses are my life battery. And the reason that they kept showing up for me through my dreams then, because I stopped riding when I moved to New York, is to get me through these hard times, to remind me of my own strength and power. um, to keep going. So then eventually I was like, okay, this is not working out for me anymore. Um, subconsciously, I think I needed horses back in my life too. And I said to myself, I need to have a structured life. I need to have like a corporate job. I need to stop living this free spirit model life, you know, doing what I want when I want, which is kind of how that went to. And So I thought I needed more structure and to have like this life that you see on TV where you have this six-figure salary at this corporate job and life is great and you get your white picket fence and all of that. So this is when I really hit rock bottom. Then I was like, fuck, why did I leave New York? So I moved back to Northern Virginia. I actually lived directly in D.C., I did business-to-business sales for a Fortune 500 company. And when I tell you this job was the most soul-sucking thing I ever did, I had to wake up super early, get there, cold call people. from, like, 8 to 12, and then schedule, like, eight C-executives, like, meetings, really high-up meetings for the week just based on those phone calls. So now imagine going from this life where you're, like, a model and, like, people are, like, rolling out the red carpet to now only being able to rely on my voice to get deals done.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Hmm.

[SPEAKER 1]
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It was terrible, but it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. And hitting rock bottom at that job was also one of the best things that happened to me. So naturally, like I always do what I say I'm going to do. So if I gave my commitment to this company, I worked my ass off. I was like one of their top sales agents. Like I worked myself into the ground until one day I woke up. And I had a patch of hair missing. Like literally, I woke up and I was like, what? How did this happen? Did someone like shave a piece of my hair off? And it was because I was so deeply depressed that my body was like trying to tell me like, hey, we cannot do this anymore. And I was still on Adderall. I was taking this synthetic freaking thing to pump dopamine into my brain, you know, to go to this job that I hated just to get me through this job. Then I will come home and just say to myself every night, this cannot be life. And I didn't even have time to ride horses. Subconsciously, I came back to horses. But this job was like I didn't even have time to be with horses, you know. So then one day, I was so depressed. I was so miserable. And I told myself, I can't do this anymore. How can I change? I started meditating during this time. And I was told through my meditations, you know, you have to get off the Adderall. You got to move out. You got to start all over. The life you knew is no longer. Everything you've ever been taught is a lie. And I call this like the dark night of the soul in a way. And this is the hardest year of my life. When I really hit rock bottom, I... had a nice salary nice penthouse apartment like with my ex-boyfriend at the time I broke up with him I moved out the penthouse I quit my job I had to get rid of my car and I showed up at my dad's house and I'm so thankful that I even had a support system I know a lot of people in a situation like this they may not even have that right so I showed up at my dad's house and I was like I need to get off these pills and I need to start life over. I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing. I know everyone thinks I'm doing great and I look happy and I'm closing deals in this, but I am deeply depressed and I need to find another way. So coming off Adderall was the hardest thing I've ever been through. I never never took more than what was prescribed. But you have to imagine when you're taking the synthetic drug, your brain is like pumping dopamine. Right. So when you get off of it, it's like your brain doesn't even know how to pump dopamine anymore on its own. And you are deeply, deeply depressed. I would stare at the ceiling every single day for almost a year, and I did not care if I woke up. I wasn't suicidal, but I would literally stare at the ceiling and say, you know, if I don't wake up, I don't even care. I had nothing left in me. I felt small. Like, my whole identity had been stripped from me. Throughout this period, as I was recovering, so I was staying, I lived with my dad for a year until, you know, I got my own place again. I want to say at that six month mark, I told myself, okay, I need to do something that charges up my energy. Like, what can I do? And I found a place that had thoroughbreds. They would basically retrain thoroughbreds and sell them and they were leasing horses. And I just showed up one day. I was like, okay, well, can I buy it in exchange for work? And she's like, sure. You know, I could use that. The day I get to the facility is the exact same day my horse, King, who's like back there, who changed my life, got off the trailer.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Oh, my gosh.

[SPEAKER 1]
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And the minute I saw him, I had no intention of buying a horse. I didn't even know what the fuck I was doing with my life. Like when I saw him, I didn't know he was going to be my horse. But the minute I saw him, it was like my heart stopped and it was slow motion. And I saw him get off the trailer and I kept referring to him as she because I saw myself in him. And I just kept saying, he is so powerful. He is so majestic. I'm sorry. She is so powerful. She is so majestic. She is so this. Like, I was mesmerized because, like, I saw my own spirit in my horse. Like, we are very bonded. And then from then on, you know, I started riding, not him, but other horses. And I was working with him, like, taking care of him basically for a couple months. He injures himself. Of course, because usually this lady gets these horses in and they're in and out of there, but he injures himself. So he ends up staying there much longer, probably like three months versus like six weeks or something like that. And she saw how we bonded and she's like, do you want to buy him? And I said to her, like, are you crazy? I don't even know what I'm going to do for work. Like, I can't, I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life. And she's like, well, if you don't buy him, I'm going to put him up for sale. He's ready to come back into work. So then I ended up buying him. I had no idea what I was going to do. But he has been the pillar to my entire business. I own an equestrian clothing line, which is now a multiple seven-figure brand. And I owe that to my horse. And this is where our journey started. So here I come. Super down on myself, no self-esteem, no confidence, no idea what I'm going to do with my life. And here comes my horse off the racetrack, hated his life there, too. Right. So we have two parallels already. I hated my life. He hated his life before. And now here we are ready for a new journey together. So then I bought him without even riding him. Like that's how much I knew. Like he was supposed to be my horse. When I first got him, he was a handful. He's a 17 hand, you know, off the track third, but he was a lot. And I was really insecure. So he, little by little, this horse helped me get my confidence back. Within six months of buying him, I started my company. And my first company was a digital marketing agency called where i helped other local businesses like figure out how to do things online like facebook ads all of that um i still didn't like it because i felt like i was dealing with accounts and i realized there was a big big problem in the clothing market um for women in equestrian clothing Um, so I started with three breeches selling out of my apartment at the time. Now we have like 100 plus products selling out of a warehouse. But the problem was that I felt the clothes did not fit all women. They were made for one particular body type. And quite frankly, they were really boring. I wanted to put some of that New York edge into the clothing. And when I first started the brand, I was like, oh, well, I prefer wearing these kind of clothes when I ride, but they don't have the pockets, the stick, all the things that I need. So how can I create a prototype that has all of that, yet hits the comfort and fits every single body type, like every woman who wears it? And when I first started, that was just my thought. But as the brand grew, it really has turned into... an empowering movement for women. So my mission behind the brand has really been to remind women of their own strengths Because I come from that modeling past of having to starve myself. And I still, you know, that's something that I'm still working on. I haven't healed it within myself fully. But I'm the brand who's showing all women, all bodies, all ages, right? So the younger generation or even women who are older, like they don't feel left out because you are still worthy and beautiful just the way you are. You don't have to fit a box that society tells you, you know, the patriarchy has painted this picture. For women to always want to be young, to always want to be small, to always want to be this. Don't take up space. Remind, you know, stay small. Oh, and then if you always want to remain young, you've got to spend thousands of dollars on all these products to do so. Right. So there's a whole freaking thing behind why they do it. But as a brand, it was really, really important for me because of my own traumas that I want every woman to feel beautiful. So as we were growing, I would receive so many letters and emails from women telling us, like, heartbreaking, like, stuff that I would cry reading it about how they used to never fit in clothes and they never felt included and they never felt beautiful. And now when they put on sync, they feel absolutely amazing. They feel gorgeous. It fits. They feel good, you know? So... It's just a reminder that for me personally, The intention that I've put into my clothing, women feel, you know, I truly believe that it's not just clothing. Like there's such a strong intention behind why we do what we do. And it's felt by all these women. And I also think that's why we've grown so quickly, you know, it's because people want to feel beautiful and they want to feel good and they should. Women deserve to feel amazing, you know, and as an equestrian, we wear, at least for me, I wear my riding clothes more than anything else. So when I wear it, I want to feel comfortable. I want to feel good. I want to feel beautiful because how you feel reflects your whole day. People think, oh, I don't want to spend money on clothes. You know, I just... wear a t-shirt to ride but if you're always in that t-shirt it really does affect how you go throughout your day so what if you feel amazing you feel good you know everything else in your life kind of pieces together so that that's the whole mission behind the brand and I know it's a lot a little very long but how it all came together and um I call my horse the CEO because he truly is he he If you would have met me five years ago, and I'm here on this podcast right now talking to you, two different people. I was afraid to speak on a story on Instagram because I was like, oh my God, my voice. I didn't even feel like I deserved to be heard at the time. So he has really... shaped me into this, you know, businesswoman and person I am today to also want to empower other women to have that same strength because we all have it. We just sometimes need another person to remind us, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Absolutely. I love that all so much. And the thing that really was standing out to me is number one, I think every single person listening can relate to the idea of not feeling enough, feeling like they have to change themselves, like they have to shrink themselves, like they have to, you know, do something in some way to make themselves quote better or enough. Um, So I love that your brand has that rooted like that integrity in the mission.

[SPEAKER 1]
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I love that.

[SPEAKER 2]
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I love that for our industry. I love that for women in general. And. I also love so much hearing your story about King because I'm, I was smiling to myself thinking of all the synchronicities that I have with one of my horses in particular, both of them, if you really look at it, but one of my horses in particular, like it was so synchronistic and, and the more people that I speak to, the more we all have those really cool stories. And it's like, they're all different in some way, but they all like, make sense to us and they all were pivotal to us and very timely for us. And so it's so cool that like horses find us, you know, it's like the soul meets the soul. Like we knew each other in another life and we found each other again. I, like, I just, I think it's so cool. So when you were saying, like, when you were telling your story about meeting King, I'm like, of course, of course that happened. Like.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:18:30-00:18:43]
Yeah. The same day. How wild is that? Like not, he wasn't there when I got there. Yeah. And then he injures himself miraculously. So I, he can't be sold. Right. Right away.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Exactly. He had to stay longer. Yeah. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 1]
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I have no words. He is my ultimate teacher. Like I, he's taught me a whole new way of horsemanship too. I came from a very traditional background, you know, especially in Germany, like dressage. And then I got into, I have done every discipline. I got into cross country in high school and everything. And he said, no, we're not going to do that. I need you to, you know, work on biomechanics. He introduced me to the balance through movement method with Celeste. Like he brought that into my life, which then turned into a collaboration to one of my breaches because I love the program so much. I think more people should learn about it. And of course, King and her horse dragon were pulling the strings behind the scenes. I always say like it was their doing. Yeah. So, That's another thing. I think SYNC has really built this umbrella for introducing new ways of horsemanship, how you can help your horses and also the piece for the women, because it goes hand in hand. The more you wake up to yourself, the more you can actually hear your horse. So if you're constantly, you know, if you have so much chatter and you're not, you haven't found your essence within yet, you won't even be able to hear the messages your horse really has for you. So they go hand in hand, right? And that's really what sync is turning into, right? It's, I'm mind blown because I, when I started the company, I was like, oh, breeches, shirts, you know, people need them. And now I'm stepping more and more into the purpose of the brand. And it's just been amazing. And I just let it come. Like, I'm not trying to control anything. That's the beauty of it too. I ask my horse all the time. I'm like, okay, what's next? What are we doing? And then all of a sudden things pop into, you know, because they're making it happen. And it's just so beautiful to be able to witness it without trying to force situations, without going into that whole hustle mentality that we've been told. Like, if you own a business, you need to do it like this, this, this. I've never operated my business that way. And I'm proud to say we're a very successful brand and I've never done it that way. So it is possible, you know? So yeah, got to just listen to your basically.

[SPEAKER 2]
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Absolutely. Can you tell us a little bit about some of the like challenges in particular that you faced when starting your business and how you've overcome them?

[SPEAKER 1]
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Yeah. I think the biggest challenge is our own self. It's our mind because we, I always say my business has been a spiritual tool for me. My business exists so I can grow spiritually. The more I grow spiritually, the bigger my business has been getting. Because it's literally just a tool of awareness to see what your limiting beliefs are. If I'm not hitting certain numbers that I want, I know there's a limiting belief behind it. If something's not getting done the way I want it, I know there's a limiting belief behind it. Because to me, everything is energy and we create our reality. And if I'm not a vibrational match for what I want, the only thing that's holding me back from that vibrational match is my limiting thought behind it. So if something's not going right, I'm always like, OK, what do I have in mind? What's going on? You know, I'm a big believer in meditation. I, Dr. Joe Dispenza, I started doing his work back in 2018 when I was like depressed and starting to get into meditation. building my business and his work is also why i've been able to grow my business so quickly and i still do it religiously sometimes two hours a day i know it sounds like a lot but when you see the results that you're actually getting from doing that work it's mind-blowing and fascinating and you don't want to stop like i'm at a point where i want to increase how much how you know how often and how much i meditate because it's truly magical um when you really understand the science behind it too and that's why i love dr joe is because he really explains the science so your brain can rationalize it too so it's not just like oh is this really going to happen am i really guessing it yeah uh i highly recommend like for anyone listening who wants to get into this work and who wants to be able to create their entire future listen to dr joe dispensa's book take his course do his meditations it is truly life-changing like Like I said, I've built a multimillion dollar business from it. I met the love of my life. I've been able to travel the world. I have the horse that I love. And of course, like not every day is butterflies. Right. But what it teaches you is that you are the sole creator of your life. And I don't let outside circumstances affect my mind and my happiness. Right. So all these things are great. All of these material things are great. But the ultimate goal. attract her to what you want is knowing that you are worthy and you are enough right now in this moment so even if all of that gets striped away like that does not define me it's great it comes as a bonus but I know deep within that it's all love and I'm worthy and it just comes so it's finding that worthiness now to bring it all in

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:23:49-00:24:24]
where you work both with like the equestrian industry and then also within the business industry so you kind of have that unique perspective of like seeing people from you know like i said the horse world and also from the business world do you see any overlapping mindset blocks between both horse women or horse people in general as well as entrepreneurship absolutely um I've learned not to push my thoughts on people anymore because I'm like, God, because I can see it so clearly, but people have to ask and be ready.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:24:24-00:29:32]
Like, so I don't push things anymore, but I can see how business and equestrian world, the more disconnected you are from yourself, the more disconnected you are from wholeness. So for an equestrian, I see so many people who are always like, trying to find this like result and I do that sometimes I'm very disciplined that's just my personality I'm like let's go get it I'm motivated so I fall into this trap sometimes too I'm like okay I have this goal king how can we get there I need you to do this I need you to do this I need you to do that um instead of doing that if you're just present with yourself and you just enjoy having your horse there you remove the resistance and you'll get there so much faster too You know, I see a lot of chatter in the question world, like within the person where they're not even present with their horse. So they get on their horse and they're not there with their horse. Yet they expect the horse back. to listen to their aids and the horse is not listening and it's yeah if you're not mentally checked in and one with your horse they don't care about your aids you know you have to give them your presence these like the horse itself they're always present in their bodies right or present in their minds like they're not thinking about yesterday what they ate or where they're going tomorrow so if we're if they allow us to even get on their backs we owe them our entire attention like that should be the bare minimum Like, if we're getting on you, we're going to be with you, you know? And sometimes it's hard because being aware is hard. And the same goes for business. I see a lot of business owners who are always thinking about problems. And it's the same for equestrians, right? Who are always like, oh, why is my horse never sound? Well, maybe it's because you always think your horse is never sound. So now you're attracting more issues why your horse is never sound, right? Or with the business, why am I not bringing in sales? Why is this always happening? Why does this always happen to me? Victimhood. I am the victim. So awareness and just being connected to yourself will complement your entire life. Now, the other interesting thing is that and this is something I learned from Dr. Joe, which is fascinating, is that our bodies are addicted to certain emotions throughout certain times of the day automatically. So at 9 a.m. every day, I wake up and I'm like, oh, why did Susie say this to me? Why did this? Your body is addicted to the emotion of anger. So now it's using Susie to reaffirm your addiction to anger. The sad thing is, I see people can do this with their horses too. And I have a trainer friend, my friend Amber, she's a horse trainer. She mentioned this too, that, and she went to the Dr. Joe event with me, that a lot of people actually use their horses to reaffirm their addictions. I'm going to use my horse to reaffirm my addiction to sadness. Oh no, you're never sound. I'm so sad. At 11 p.m. every night, I'm going, my body is attracted to, I don't know, Let's just say the sadness, right? I'm going to watch all of these sad videos of, I don't know, like dogs in shelters on Instagram at 11 p.m. every night before I go to sleep because now my body is addicted to sadness and I need to find a reason to reaffirm my addiction to that sadness. But what if you rewired your entire brain and your body to be addicted to the emotion of gratitude, to be addicted to the emotion of joy, to be addicted to the emotion of abundance? And you can do it. You have to rewire your brain. Right. And that's what Dr. Joe's stuff does. And now every single day at 9 a.m., you're thinking thoughts that make you happy. You're thinking thoughts that make you grateful. Before you go to bed, your heart is pumping so hard because you are exuding love. And that is how you literally breathe. Bring in whatever you desire for your horse, for your life, your personal life, your business life, whatever it is you want to do. And a beautiful thing is when you're in that vibration, the more you do it, the more you're in it and the more the field will like the quantums of it will put things in front of you to give you more of that feeling as well. So, yeah, that's what I see in business and a question. We just all need to get more connected and become more self-aware of what we're thinking and feeling throughout our days because that's actually creating our entire reality. Hard part is getting to that point, but meditation is what will help you get there. And if you really, really want it, You'll do the work. You'll learn how to meditate. You might not be able to do two hours right away, but you can do five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Slowly grow that muscle. Just like when you're going to the gym and you're picking up weights, first time you go, it's like, okay, I can't do it. I need lighter weights. And then you go heavier. Same thing. Question is, how bad do you want to change your life? And that's what some people are just really comfortable where they are. And change is scary because it's the unknown. So it's up to the person.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:29:33-00:31:06]
Okay, that's, like, super game-changing. The whole idea of, like, the addiction to something. And you said something, and right away it was like, yep. Like, it's like this, like, light bulb went off. As an example, like, an addiction to... anger or an addiction to sadness or an addiction to, you know, feeling some sort of like a pain. And I think of so many people, you know, myself included, where we do, we overanalyze so much of, for example, like our horse's soundness or something like that. And what's really interesting is I just did a podcast and It's with Karen Winnegar, who's the author of... She just released a book. It's called Horse Lovers, Unpacking the Female Fascination. And it's all about, like, why are little girls and women so addicted to horses? Like, why is it that... We can come from a non-horsey family and just be obsessed with them. And so her whole book is, you know, going through that and interviewing people all over the world that are horse people and et cetera, et cetera. Listen to the podcast and you can find out. But yeah. when I was reading her book, a thing that really stood out to me is, um, going back to the feeling of horses when we were young and how it was just so much fun.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:31:07-00:31:13]
Like it was just that you just loved it and it was just so much fun and you didn't overthink things.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:31:14-00:31:46]
You didn't overthink, you know, how you rode or you didn't overthink, you know, um, your horse, you know, in any ways you didn't overthink, you know, fear or anything like that. Like you just got on and you just had a ton of fun. And yeah, I really think about this idea of like this, like you had mentioned, like an addiction to feeling like a sadness or feeling something in your life that it's almost like if you're always looking for a red car, you're always going to see a red car.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:31:46-00:31:47]
Exactly.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:31:48-00:32:09]
And so if I'm always looking for something wrong with my horse, I'm always looking for something, you know, wrong in anything. I'm always going to see it. Versus like you said, changing and, and not looking for that almost going to that like sense of like innocence or fun or play or joy or abundance or, you know, whatever it may be.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:32:09-00:33:17]
I think for women, especially, and this kind of goes back, I would say into, like, the patriarchy, too, the subconscious beliefs that have been installed in us through the media and stuff like that. Women, in general, I think, are addicted to feeling needed. Yeah. So then when your horse is not sound, there's a feeling of my addiction of I need to feel needed. I need to be there. I need to do this. I need to do that, right? And I'm not worthy just being with my horse, right? Unless I'm doing. And I used to have that myself. That's why I'm bringing it up, right? Instead of just saying we're both whole. We're both worthy. We can just both exist. You know what I mean? It gets really deep when you realize what you could be addicted to. But the great news is you don't really even have to find out or think about it. Because you can just go ahead and rewire your brain. Who cares where it came from?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:33:17-00:33:17]
Yeah.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:33:18-00:33:36]
Don't even overthink that. You know, when people like to go into their childhood traumas, for example, to me personally, waste of time. Yeah. Because why are you going to go back and think about it and bring up those emotions? Who cares? Yeah, you're aware you have some childhood trauma, which is great, but now you can release it. Stop thinking about it or try to go back to it. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:33:36-00:33:43]
If you heal the present, you're automatically going to heal the past. So there's no need to go into the past to heal it. Just heal the present.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:33:44-00:35:00]
Right, and this is a little bit of a contradiction, I think, with a lot of healers and stuff, you know, when they talk about, oh, you're feeling sad? Just emerge yourself in that sadness and keep feeling it. To me? It's bullshit. And I'll tell you, and this is my opinion. I could be wrong, too. Right. But this is my personal opinion. I'll tell you what, because the more you emerge yourself in the sadness, the more reasons your body is going to find to make you feel sad. So I'm not saying completely dismiss it. Okay, I'm sad. Be aware of it. Okay, but I'm also making a conscious shift that I don't want to feel sad anymore. So I'm going to be the driver now and shift my energy to something that feels good. I'm going to think about something that makes me happy because I'm the driver and I'm not going to allow my body to overpower my mind. Because the body and the mind are connected. So what you think the body feels, what the body feels, the mind thinks. So you have to be in control to change that whole, you know, hamster wheel that you put yourself in. So a lot of healers are like, emerge yourself in the sadness and in the anger. I'm like, no, no, no, no. Don't do that because you're just going to make more of that, right? Be aware of it. Release it. Boom. Focus on the next thing that you want to feel. And the more you feel good and the more good thoughts you have, the more good shit just happens in your life. It's really that simple.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:35:03-00:35:58]
Absolutely. One of the things that I love most about following you and tuning in your content and everything like that is your confidence. And it's a really interesting topic for women, especially because I feel as though it's the thing that we're most shamed for. it's like don't you dare be confident like who is she to you know xyz um when in reality we we all need more of it you know we need to all embrace a sense of confidence to see somebody else's confidence and be like look at her how great thank you for showing me what's possible and You know, light sees light. Can you share a personal breakthrough that you've had around, whether it be money, success, you know, anything like that, but especially confidence?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:35:59-00:42:57]
Yeah, totally. So when I first like got into social media and everything, I was kind of shy and I didn't want to put myself out there. And because I didn't want to make people uncomfortable, right? And as I grew, I realized that dimming my own light is never going to serve anyone. And that's also a message that I strongly push with my brand, Sync. It's to never dim your light. Always shine bright. Because when you're truly shining bright, you're authentic. You're yourself. You're not allowing society or others to dictate how you show up. And even though you might trigger a person here or there, I'm sure people look on my Instagram and I get judged all the time. People look at me and they're like, how does she have a business or whatever? Because people have judgmental opinions, right? But as much people may get triggered, you're also judged. subconsciously planting a seed in their head for other women that it's okay to shine. And so, like you said, light sees light and you see other women doing it. You see other women owning successful businesses. It inspires you that you can do the same, right? So, and the thing with money, so I made a whole course about money because money is a topic that women in particular do not like to talk about. It is something that we've been told to keep hush hush. And it is the missing piece in my opinion of, um in businesses so we can talk about you know the law of attraction all that and that's great but until you understand the energetic laws of money and you realize what your relationship with money is you will not be able to get past that threshold and what took us to multiple seven figures is when i sat down and i actually did the money work right it's really interesting so we all have a set of subconscious beliefs about money that have been installed in us since our parents right So you may hear things like, oh, you know, money, money doesn't grow on trees. Money is this. Oh, don't, I don't even like using words like expensive or I can't afford that because even the language you use is limiting you. The true source of money is abundance. Money is energy and it is abundant like water, like the leaves on a tree, like the rain and the More you grasp that concept, the more money will come to you. Like I always say money is not even real to me. And I know that triggers a lot of people. It really does. But it's not. It's just energy. And the more comfortable I am with money and my nervous system, the more of it I make. And that's another big thing. You know, a lot of women will like go and check their men, too, and check their bank accounts. And that used to be me. And the nervous system will go up. Because you're like, oh, shit. Or when the check comes, oh, shit. When you have to pay a bill, oh, no, I don't want to pay that bill, right? So all of these interactions... creating energetic blocks for money to come to you because it is just energy but when you're open to it and you change the way you work with it and you find out what those subconscious beliefs are and you rewrite that story money comes in like crazy like it just keeps on growing and I have done it I have seen it and I thought it was such a missing piece in my Women in particular and for entrepreneurs or anyone who wants to make more money, which is why I created the course, because for me, it was mind blowing. Like once I did that work, I was like, holy shit, this was what was missing. And I still do the work because we all have a money meter. We all have a certain amount of money that we're comfortable making. So you may think and I'll give you an example. So I hit like four years ago, I had a really big month in sales. I was so excited. I had just started my company like a couple of years ago. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is like the biggest month I've ever had. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Excited from the outside looking in on the inside. I was like, I didn't know this. This is subconscious. But my nervous system was like, oh, that is way too much money. Like, oh, man, we don't even deserve that much money. Are we worthy of that much money? Oh, this is making us too uncomfortable. The next month, my sales went down. So this is how I got into this work, too. I started to see a yo-yo pattern. And I'm like, why is this happening? And then I realized we have a thermometer that we're comfortable with when it comes to money. And I still do this to keep expanding. Right. So you slowly have to set that meter up and up and up to make them out really comfortable. So if I tell someone, hey, you're going to make 500K this month, they might be like, oh, no, no. Like that, oh, no, it sounds amazing. Yes, I want it. But the nervous system is like, oh, hell no. That makes me really uncomfortable. So you have to become one with the thing that you want. So there is no separation. And I have all these practices that I do to bring in more money, too. I literally think I'm Cleopatra. I wake up. I merge myself in this bath. I take myself out to lunch. I buy the most expensive champagne. I don't even think twice about how much money I'm spending. I just spend it. And then it comes back tenfolds. Because I'm now in this energy of like, I'm worthy. I am the queen. I'm bringing in all this cash. And it's available to all of us. That's the beauty of it. But you just have to really emerge yourself in this energy and do the work as well, you know, to find out what's blocking you. How can you raise it? How can you reset your nervous system with money? Um, and I go over all of these things in my course and I just had so much fun making it because it's, I get excited talking about money because it's, why are we ashamed of talking about it? Who told us we have to be hush hush about it? And I'm purposely flashy too, which makes a lot of people uncomfortable. You know, like I'm on Instagram, a woman on Instagram posting about her $250,000 car. God forbid men can do it all the time. But when a woman does it, Oh, who does she think she is? Well, darling, you can go buy yourself the same car. That's what I'm showing you. You know, step into that power. You are so fucking powerful. I don't want, you know, I'm happily married and everything, but I was never the one that was like, oh, I want, you know, a man to buy me this, this and that. No, it is so much more fucking powerful when you are in your true energy and that shit just comes to you. And I have a partner who compliments me and I can literally go out there and buy myself whatever the fuck I want without ever having to ask anyone for anything. And as a woman, that is the best. feeling in the world. And it is accessible to every woman. And I want every woman to feel that power. Could you imagine if you lived in a world where every woman was so in tune with her power? And we just released a show jacket called the King jacket, you know, after my horse, but it's also about women really stepping into their King energy. Like, could you imagine if we had more heart centered women running businesses and their King energy with their hearts wide open, what kind of world we would live in? Like, it's just, and this is why I do this work.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:42:58-00:43:24]
I'm obsessed. Um, I like not only hear your passion, but of course those listening, um, We don't have video, but I'm getting the opportunity to see you on video. And you are so lit up, and I'm just obsessed with it. Can we keep this energy going? Before I ask you any other questions, I want to stay here in this topic and in this energy and have you tell our listeners about Sync Academy.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:43:25-00:44:48]
Yeah, totally. So Sync Academy is a money course where I talk about kind of like all of the things. It has, I believe, 10 modules. Each module is not that long. You can listen to it on your phone. while you're driving like 10 minutes and then you have some exercises, but it really helps you uncover what blocks you have with money. How can you change it? How can you, you know, do these practices to bring in more money into your life? And I, I was the Guinea pig and I have a, you know, multiple seven figure brand and I'm still Guinea pigging myself as I keep expanding my own thermometer. Right. So it's just a beautiful way for anyone, not just women to bring in more abundance into their lives because abundance is unlimited. And like I said, if more people, heart-centered people had access to more abundance, what kind of beautiful change could we have in the world, right? Like the media always tells you rich people are bad. Like when you watch movies, for example, they always have the villain be like super wealthy. And that is the programming that they're doing, right? To keep people really small because who's going to work all these jobs if everybody's like, oh, I'm so abundant and all this. They want to keep people, you know, in a certain way. Which is why there are all these programming messages around the movies and the media and everything we watch. So I go over all of that. And, yeah, I just felt like it was a missing piece. I didn't know what I wanted my first course to be like. And then I was like, what changed my business the most? And it was working with the energy of money 100,000%. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:44:51-00:45:42]
Yeah, and that's such a huge topic for not only people in general, not only women in general, but also horse people. It's like this thing where it's like an ongoing joke that horse people are all really poor because all of our money goes to our horses and things like that. So that's a really important thing. topic to not only help people grow their finances, because let's be real, like, horses do cost money, but also to get themselves out of the limiting belief and the ongoing, like, self-deprecating joke that, like, oh, yeah, my horse takes all my money, you know, and things like that, that people don't really, because that joke is such commonplace, nobody bothers to do anything about it. They just think it's the way that it is.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:45:42-00:46:36]
Mm-hmm. And our language is so important with anything, with anything. So how you speak to yourself, and this goes to self-awareness, right, really affects your life. So if you're like, oh, I don't even want to say this. I'm like, what, you just, I am so whatever, right? That is going to attract you being that. If you're like, oh, I'm not going to go do this. Oh, no, I'm making people uncomfortable. Let me just shrink myself. Why? You know, it's like the thoughts you're having in your head, the words you're saying out loud, the way you joke about yourself. I've met women make fun of themselves. And I'm like, girl, like, don't do that. You know, you're dimming your own light and you're calling in all of this stuff and your body is going to react to what you're saying. And it is your reality. You have to be really careful with what you say because your words are your magic wand. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:46:38-00:47:27]
I have two follow up questions to that that I think will be helpful for our listeners. So number one, yes, women making like self-deprecating jokes about themselves, money, et cetera, like body, like literally the list could go on. when we hear someone else say something like that, whether it's a friend or a colleague or, you know, a fellow Byron member or something like that, when we hear somebody saying something like that, rather than like laughing it off with them or saying like, oh yeah, me too, you know, to kind of help them feel like they're not alone. What is a, you know, a turn of phrase that we can use to get them out of that without making them feel like, um, like we're slightly shaming them. Does that make sense?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:47:28-00:49:03]
I would just flip it. Like if somebody's like, let's say they said they're broke or something. Oh, like I spent, I'm like, girl, what are you talking about? Like you have everything. You should be so grateful. How amazing is it that you have this forest and you have a house, a car, like, look at you, like you're shy. Like I would just flip it. Or if someone is making a joke on their body, I'd be like, what are you talking about? You are a bad-ass bitch. You know, like, just flip it and make them feel really confident so then oh actually i don't even need to dim my light like they just gave me confidence you know um i think also this might not be related but it's just something i want to say really quickly a lot of women have a hard time receiving receiving compliments too for example and that goes hand in hand with receiving money too so if somebody's like oh my god i like your shirt right and then you're like oh thank you i got it for sale at such and such like why do you have to explain yourself you're uncomfortable receiving a compliment or if you're like someone tells you you're beautiful you're like oh thank you you're so beautiful too just accept the compliment you know it's like your nervous system gets uncomfortable when someone gives you a compliment or if someone offers you help And that is a block for money. And a lot of women have that in general with compliments and everything where they have a hard time just receiving. So I would also practice like giving your friends like compliments. And if they're not comfortable receiving, just kind of like let them know like, hey, it's OK to receive, you know, so they can learn, too, because this is like a thing that most women are unaware of, too.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:49:05-00:49:32]
Great point. I love that. And then the next one is what is your favorite way to reset? Because, you know, you kind of gave us some ways that, you know, you wake up in the morning and what you do on a daily basis to feel great. But if let's say the day gets off track a little bit or something unexpected comes up and you feel like you need a little bit of a reset, what do you do in that moment or what can you recommend to others?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:49:33-00:50:34]
If I'm having a bad day, I come home and I meditate. I'm like, shit's not going right. What's going on in my mind? Because again, I'm so aware that my entire life is a creation of me, my vibration, where I'm at, my thoughts, my feelings. So something's not going right. I need to come home and meditate. And that's usually what I do. I spend time with my horse all the time. I feel like if I, like I literally go and I just sit in the pasture, meditate there. I hang out there. I might go ride, go on a trail ride, hang out. And that is kind of like the source of my life. Like if I don't do that in like three days, I can see how it affects my life too. So horses are very grounding for me and just spending time with them, spending time in nature in general, Sometimes if I'm having a bad day, I literally go for a walk. I like to talk to the trees. I like go and talk to the trees and sit with them. So there are different ways. Everybody's different too, right? But I think for me, personally, meditation is the best way. And you can do that while you're walking too.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:50:34-00:51:14]
I have a special chair that I keep in my barn. It's like my meditation chair. And so I would bring it out in the paddock and I just sit there. My husband will look out and he'll be like, what are you doing? I'm like meditating with the horses, hanging out. I've been asking all of our guests this question, no matter what the reason, you know, the topic that they're on or what part of the industry that they work in. As we all know, there's been lots of changes and things going on within the equestrian industry, whether it's seen as good or bad. What is your hope for the future of the equestrian industry?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:51:16-00:51:42]
my hope is for people to listen to the horses over trainers and anyone else. Um, I think the best thing you can do for your horse is to listen to them because you're the one who's connected to them. And they're going to like, I mean, my voice showed me a whole different way of horsemanship, no trainer. Like he was like, no, we're not doing this. And it's because I was open to receive the message. And now he's the most sound and balanced he's ever been.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:51:43-00:51:43]
Hmm.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:51:44-00:52:09]
It wasn't because I, you know, got this trainer who was like, do this. No, I listened to my horse and he showed me the way on how to get him sound and feeling amazing and looking amazing and feeling good. So my hope is that more people get connected to themselves as well to actually hear their horse. Sometimes we're so quick to dismiss our horses. To me, horses are on a much higher vibrational level.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:52:10-00:52:36]
than we are like as a human we're here and our horses are here if you actually listen to your horse you can also be here so just to um explain that for our listeners natalia had one hand lower for humans and one hand higher for horses and then she said you know you could be up here so then she put both hands together so we could be on even a level playing field Yeah, and that's where the beauty emerges.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:52:36-00:54:02]
Like, they can really transform your life in a way that you can't even see now. But only if you listen and you meet them where they are, which means you've got to do the work. Writing is great, but there's so much... more that i think we're starting to see in horses um which is beautiful because of social media and we're just learning so much more and a lot of the old ways of doing things are going out the window because we can actually see different ways of doing things so my hope is also that continues to grow and that horses continue to get a voice and um and i believe there's a shift i you know in one of my meditations even um the horses told me the horse collective that um Horses, back in the day, were here to help us with our human evolution and everything. We didn't have cars. Horses now are here to particularly help women. rise up to their own power that is like what's happening right now and the more women rise to their power the more a voice these horses get as well so it's like super interconnected and i and i just see it happening and they told i found this out like five years ago before i even had a business or anything so this isn't like recent um but it's uh it's really really cool so i i do see a shift and i just hope that it continues on that absolutely absolutely We have four rapid fire questions that we ask every podcast guest.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:54:02-00:54:08]
It's just like the first thing that pops to your mind. So the first one is, do you have a motto or a favorite saying?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:54:09-00:54:16]
Oh, yeah. I was actually going to get it tattooed on me, but I just didn't know where. Like, I wanted it on my finger somewhere, but it's where focus goes, energy flows.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:54:16-00:54:19]
Yeah, that's a good one. And it's so true.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:54:20-00:54:23]
Yeah. Just remember, you know, as you're going through your day.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:54:24-00:54:29]
Absolutely. The next one, who has been the most influential person in your equestrian journey?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:54:30-00:55:03]
My horse. Like, I mean, yeah, my horse, like he has been his own trainer in a way, like do this now and do this, you know? And, um, Yeah, I've also met a group of women who are absolutely amazing, and I love them. Like, Celeste is one of them. Tara is one of them. Amber, you know, Shaylee, all of those. Stacia, you know. So there's, like, I found my tribe in a way, which has been really, really nice. But my horse, yeah, he's been my biggest equestrian teacher. He's, yeah, always teaching me.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:55:03-00:55:04]
Yeah.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:55:05-00:55:28]
People, women always want to, this is another thing that pisses me off sometimes about the equestrian industry, like, you don't want to listen to your own horse, but you have a male trainer with a European accent, and anything he says is gold. Why? And it could be a female trainer, too, but she doesn't have an accent. She might have way more knowledge. But just because there's a dude with a European accent, you 100 percent think he's correct. Right. So that's a question.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:55:30-00:55:34]
I'm laughing at that because I'm like, that's actually so true.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:55:34-00:55:41]
I mean, like you've got this beautiful horse to control you the way you listen. Way better than that dude with the European accent. Just that.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:55:42-00:55:47]
Yeah, that's funny. Funny, but it's not funny. You know what I mean?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:55:47-00:55:47]
Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:55:47-00:55:53]
You're like, yeah. The third one, if you could give equestrians one piece of advice, what would it be?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:55:55-00:56:23]
Become really self-aware. It'll change your lives. in a way that you can't even fathom and listen to your horse, listen to your horse over what people think over what trainers say to you. If you know, something's not right in your gut, your horse has put that in your gut and trust yourself to listen to that because it's more important, the wellbeing of your horse or what people think or what a trainer said, who gives a fuck, leave your bar and go find a new place.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:56:23-00:56:27]
Start over. And that's also like the wellbeing of yourself as well.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:56:28-00:56:31]
Yeah. Yeah. Connected. It's all.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:56:31-00:56:37]
Exactly. Yeah. And the last one, please complete this sentence. For me, horses are.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:56:39-00:57:10]
the ultimate teachers um on a way higher plane that we could even dream to be on horses are magical creatures beyond words horses are my sanctuary horses are the reason i'm alive horses are the reason i have a purpose horses are just ultimate ultimate ultimate infinite love um I was listening to one of Lockie Phillips' podcasts, so Emotional Horsemanship.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:57:10-00:57:34]
And, oh, I cannot remember the name of the guest. She was the one that said it. I can't remember her name. She used to work for Oprah. And she said, the paddock is filled with shamans. And I was like, oh, it was just, it was so good. And it came to mind when you were saying that as well. Like, the paddock is filled with shamans.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:57:35-00:58:07]
Yeah. Yeah. Any worries you have, ask your worst. Dude, I ask my worst for like million dollar business advice. Like people, when they visualize, what do you do when you have to make a million dollar decision? I sit in the pasture and I'm like, King, what should I do? And then I leave. I go home. And it comes to me because I, right. Like I literally ask him for advice all the time. People who are not like into this, like might look at it. Like, is she crazy? Like she's literally going to base, you know, that kind of decision on that. But yeah, it's worked out pretty well. So I believe in my horse and what he tells me.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:58:08-00:58:12]
And you said earlier he's the CEO, so you should run decisions by him, right?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:58:12-00:58:18]
He's running the whole show here. Having women do sync.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:58:19-00:58:33]
Yes, absolutely. So speaking of which, can you, you know, where can people find you? Where can they go to, you know, connect with Sync, Sync Academy, you, all of the things. Can you give us some of those links and we'll put them in the show notes?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:58:34-00:58:57]
Yeah, so on Instagram, mine is Natalia or Natasha. Sync is at Sync Equestrian. Or you can go to SyncEquestrian.com, S-Y-N-C. And then Sync Academy is Sync-Academy.com. But it's all linked on my Instagram at Natalia or Natasha because I go by both names.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:58:58-00:59:30]
Awesome. We'll put that all in the show notes so people listening can just scroll down and find the links there. I have had such a blast speaking with you. I feel so fired up. Like I feel a lot in my solar plexus and my heart chakra. And so my both were like, like just resonant and vibrational. And so I loved our chat so much. Thank you for, you know, your advice and your wisdom and all of the things. It's been a blast. And I think our audience are going to get a lot from it as well.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:59:31-00:59:36]
Thank you. It's been a blast. I always get fired up too. I'm like, ah, I'm about to go to the gym now, which is great.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:59:41-01:00:15]
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Equestrian Connection podcast by WeHorse. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world to us if you could leave us a rating and review as well as share us on social media. You can find us on Instagram at WeHorse underscore USA and check out our free seven-day trial on WeHorse.com where you can access over 175 courses with top trainers from around the world in a variety of topics and disciplines. Until next time, be kind to yourself, your horses, and others.

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