My Butt Was in the Mud Before It Was in a Boardroom

My career didn’t start in an office.

It started in mud.

Twelve. Thirteen years old. Baling hay with the boys. Trying to prove I could keep up. My boots were always dirty. My hands were always sore. My butt was literally in the muck cleaning stalls before most kids had their first real job.

That’s where it began.

And if you trace the line from there to where I sit now, it doesn’t look straight.

I’ve worked in farm stores. Federal offices. Ag tech. Higher education. Marketing. Advancement. Insurance. I’ve helped run a trucking company at night while working a government job during the day.

There were seasons where sleep was optional and pressure was constant.

None of it was random.

Every season built something.

Physical grit turned into mental grit.

Hay bales turned into policy language.

Truck routes turned into operational strategy.

Retail taught people skills.

Federal work taught structure.

Marketing taught positioning.

Insurance sharpened precision.

Layer by layer.

Today, I work a 9–5 I genuinely enjoy. The people are sharp. The work is detailed. It uses every skill I’ve stacked over the years. It keeps my life stable on paper.

And then there’s the arena.

Teaching riding lessons is the most rewarding work I do.

It pays the least.

It demands the most.

It gives the most.

In the dirt, I’m teaching discipline. Emotional regulation. Confidence under pressure.

Accountability before a gate opens.

The demand to grow it exists. The client base exists. The runway is real.

What limits expansion right now is infrastructure.

Horses.

Equipment.

Time.

Capital.

So I build in seasons.

My 9–5 builds structure.

The arena builds legacy.

They are not competing.

They are collaborating.

Scaling without structure is reckless.

Building structure before scale is leadership.

If you feel restless in your job, ask yourself something better than “Am I stuck?”

Ask:

Am I stacking?

Stacking skill.

Stacking capital.

Stacking leverage.

Some seasons are for expansion.

Some are for capacity-building.

You’re not stuck.

You’re preparing.

💚 Dream job

💙 Growing in place

💛 Building quietly

🧡 Restless

❤️ Repositioning

Be honest with yourself.

Then build accordingly.