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Get to Know Me

Susanna Massie Thomas,
CPC, ELI-MP

Empowerment and Leadership Coach 

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There are so many reasons for not being heard:

From introversion to lack of confidence, competition from noisier individuals, to experiences of being ignored, dispelled, or traumatized.

Been there. Done that.

I come from a vocal, opinionated, and articulate family. When I was 10, we moved to France. (Oh my! Do I know how horses feel when they try to learn the language of humans!)

I went to Princeton University with of lots bright, outspoken, and intimidating students. Then I worked in publishing in midtown Manhattan at Random House where words were all powerful. Introverted and shy, I watched rather than spoke and what I saw was a lot of posturing, pleasing, and pretending. Not my gig. So, what next?

Horse-crazy as a kid, I never had the luxury of owning a horse growing up. Which is why, in my mid-twenties, I decided it was time to live my dream. I quit my job, borrowed a car, and headed for Lexington, Kentucky, “Horse Capital of the World.”

​​​What horses taught and continue to teach me, is a conscious and mindful way of experiencing, seeing,  and navigating life with authenticity and purpose.

It’s an art form to live that way. But once you become a heard leader, mastering the art of always becoming the next best version of yourself gets easier no matter how upside down you get in life.

There I created my own “graduate school” of horsemanship working sequentially as a veterinary assistant, farmhand, exercise rider, night watch person, Thoroughbred sales showman, and farm office manager.  All the while, I wrote for horse magazines about subjects I wanted to research, or horse people I wanted to meet.

From horses I learned how to speak up and how to hold my ground, giving me the confidence to be a heard leader in all kinds of endeavors—from advocacy for land and historic preservation to running a nonprofit adoption organization for former racehorses, to being an editor for several magazines and a contributor to many others, to owning my own farm where I raised and trained my own horses, and now have a haven for retired race and sport horses.

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Think About It...

Horses Transformed Civilization

Ready to experience how they might transform you in your herd?

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