Ep59: What It Takes to Keep Growing After 17 Years in Business with Kari Fulmek

Kari Fulmek has been an entrepreneur for most of her life.

She is the founder of Equine Connection, the Academy of Equine Assisted Learning, which helps people build purposeful careers working alongside horses to support human development.

But building the business she envisioned was not a simple or predictable journey.

It required resilience, significant investment, a willingness to ask for support, and the courage to keep moving through periods that could easily have convinced her to stop.

Years later, after establishing a global certification business and community, Kari encountered a different kind of challenge.

A path to growth that had served the business for years was no longer producing the same results.

The business had a meaningful offer and an experienced team.

But something needed to evolve. And quickly.

Her original positioning didn’t work. She got support and changed it.

Google worked. Until it didn’t.

Their original webinar approach wasn’t working. They changed it.

The original offer they launched was not ultimately the best match. We refined it.

Throughout her entrepreneurial journey, Kari has repeatedly been willing to acknowledge: What got us here isn’t necessarily what’s going to take us forward.

In this conversation, Kari shares the real experience of building and continuing to refine a business over 17 years.

In this episode we explore:

✨ The resilience required to build a business over many years.
✨ What difficult periods taught Kari about belief and continued action.
✨ Why experienced entrepreneurs still benefit from strategic support.
✨ What to consider when an established growth method stops working.
✨ How clearer thinking can strengthen the path towards an offer.
✨ Why an offer may need to meet customers differently as the business evolves.
✨ What delegation can make possible for a founder and their team.
✨ Why awareness is such an important part of sustainable growth.

If you have built something meaningful but know the way you grow needs to evolve, or you want to be inspired by an entrepreneurial journey and the way a live launch system works for a high ticket offer, this conversation offers an honest and encouraging perspective.

If you have a takeaway or "aha" from this episode and want to share it with your business besties and community, screenshot and share it on Instagram, tagging me at @jada.businessmentor.

💬 Let's connect!

Instagram: @jada.businessmentor
Email: jada@jadadegoey.co
Website: www.jadadegoey.co

If you're ready to grow your online business in a way that creates more profit and ease through aligned strategy, smarter systems and stronger leadership, I'd love to hear from you.

Transcript

Episode 59. 

Welcome to the Aligned and Thriving podcast for ambitious female entrepreneurs, where we align systems, strategies, structure, and self for sustainable success. My name is Jada. I'm your host. Thank you so much for being here, whether you are new or returning. This episode I'm really excited to share because I'm going to be speaking with a fellow long-term entrepreneur and also one of my clients, Kari Fulmeck, 

She is the founder of Equine Connection, the Academy of Equine Assisted Learning, and we have been working together since the beginning of this year on her live launches to sell into her certification and business training that she provides for equine facilitated learning

I'm excited to speak with Kari and for her to share her story with you [00:01:00] because she has been in business for a very long time.

In this conversation, Kari shares some of her entrepreneurial journey. She shares some really, really important gold nuggets around entrepreneurship and growth mindset, and just the realness of being in business for a really long time. And she also shares her journey around

Shifting the way that they promote their business so that they're going out and finding new people and bringing them into the business through the live launching events

Jada: Hi, Kari. So nice to have you on the podcast with me. 

Kari: Well, thank you so much for inviting me. This shall be a fun little time together. 

Jada: Yes, I'm looking forward to it. So to introduce you to all of our listeners, this is Kari Fulmeck, and she is the founder of Equine Connection over in Canada, and she is one of my Aligned Launch clients.

And today we're gonna talk through her experience working together on their live launch, which sells [00:02:00] into their certification course and business training for equine facilitators. And so I'll actually let you, Kari, introduce yourself and share a little bit about you and your background, because I know that you have a huge, huge entrepreneurial background, and I know that my listeners are right into the whole entrepreneurial development and journey and all that kind of thing.

So, I really would love to hear a little bit about you. 

Kari: Okay. No, sounds good. So yeah, hi, everyone. My name, again, like you said, is Kari, and I founded the Equine Connection, the Academy of Equine Assisted Learning, in 2008. So I am going for a long, long time. But you know, one thing I've always said is I've been an entrepreneur, I swear, since diapers.

Like, I've been always in that part. I love being my own boss and determining exactly how my life is going to veer. Don't get me wrong, being an entrepreneur is a ton of work, but it's [00:03:00] the greatest work to me on earth. So I'm a master instructor, so I help people globally around the world do what it is that we do, which is the greatest job on this earth, because it's working with horses to help humans to be able to move forward in their lives.

So it's building skills. We work with the horses on the ground. The coolest part with our certification, which to me I think it is what we're most proudest of, is the welfare of the horse always comes first in these certifications. So the horse is the actual teachar- teacher, and literally we allow the horse to teach in these objectively driven programs that have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

And you know, in all the years that I've been doing this, there's not one human who hasn't had a change in their life and built something, because the power of the horse, these magnificent creatures who naturally know how to teach, [00:04:00] do it in such a way that humans understand. Non-horse people understand that the horse is trying to tell me to do this, or I've gotta change that.

It's not us as these professional facilitators. So it really is the greatest job in the world, 'cause every day I wake up- You get to breathe these horses in and you're like, "Really? This is what I get to do with my life? This is the greatest thing ever." Like, my last breath is going to be so happy 'cause I got to work with horses, which is my favorite love.

And then of course, the second is all of us. All of us on earth want our purpose, and our purpose is to always help another human, and it's such a great way to combine both 

Jada: It's amazing. I absolutely love every time that I speak with you and that you share about what you do, because it is so clear your deep, deep passion for it, the joy that you have in what you do, and the [00:05:00] deep meaning that, like, it brings you, but also that flow on effect out into the world, and the purpose that you have around everything that you do.

And it comes through the screen and it lights up. And it is so important when we are building businesses to have- be doing something and have something that we are that lit up about. And you can absolutely see that. Like, every time I've had a conversation with you, it comes through. 

Kari: Oh, thank you.

I do. I love it with all, every ounce of being in me. There's definitely not a day that I wake up and say, "Ugh, I gotta do this again?" 'Cause it changes every time, because humans are different every time. So it's just remarkably fulfilling. 

Jada: Yeah. And can you share a little bit, I mean, it would be a huge journey because it's been many, many years, but a little bit of the journey, I guess, of, like, where you started compared to where you are now with your business, because I think it's always just super fascinating, and as other business owners, [00:06:00] we're just like, "Well, how...

You know, what was that person's journey like?" as far as, I guess, where you would've started out with getting into this space to where you're at now and actually training other people to be able to facilitate and create businesses in this same space that you're so passionate about. 

Kari: Sure. 

So it was just before I was coming to my 40s, so I'd say it was around 38. And again, I was an entrepreneur. I was still running many other, um, businesses in what I was doing, but my craving is, well, this is the way my brain thinks in life, is I'm gonna die and I don't know what day it is I'm gonna die. So I wake up every day knowing that this could be my last day.

So I said, "Hey, Kari seriously, what is your purpose on this earth?" Not to say... Like, I know each of us has a purpose from the moment we are born on this earth, so I don't take away any of that. But as we're trying to find, what is this business I [00:07:00] want to be and grow into when I grow up? It had to do with horses.

So I knew since I was a child that it had to do working with horses. However, I never knew what that was ever gonna look like, 'cause I didn't want to be a riding coach or, you know, sell tack or create food, like, but I didn't know what it was actually ever going to be. So as I'm in my journey and I was selling, uh, weekenders, and a lot of you might have known weekenders, which is a direct marketing- Uh, business, and that was the clothing that you...

People would come to your homes, and you would do this little striptease but never show anything. But that was the ultimate in passion, helping women to actually be empowered to find their purpose in their life. But, you know, and I was a manager for that too, but the one thing that still was drawing me is now I'm helping women to put stuff on their outside [00:08:00] to find their beauty.

But I wanted to help humans to find their beauty that exists in every single one of you. So I knew it did have to do with horses, but I didn't know what that looked like. Then equine-assisted learning came into my life, and I'm like, "What do you mean equine-assisted learning?" It's where horses do the teaching And you are the facilitator that helps run these programs, but my brain could not figure it out.

Now, back in the day, so that would've been in probably 2007 that I was looking at this, nobody even knew what equine-assisted learning was. So I get into this course, it probably cost me about 12,000 by the time it was all said and done. You know, getting to understand it, flying back and forth to where I needed to go to to understand exactly how this horse was the teacher.

And at the time, I thought I could do it online. I had bought all of the stuff for the online, and I couldn't understand [00:09:00] any of the words that the people were trying to tell me in these manuals and books. So I finally called up the l- designer, who's actually Tamara McKinnon, and I'm like, "I have no idea what you're trying to say to me.

I am a learner that actually needs to see and understand. Like, reading isn't doing it for me." So she said, "Come on out and I'll show you exactly how it all rolls." Well, that's when it was like, wow, I can't believe you can have a business where the horse is not ridden, where you're not controlling a horse, or trying to, 'cause you can't control horses.

But, you know, at the same time, it was, like, remarkable that these creatures could teach so much to us humans. So when I did say, "Yeah, I'm in. This is the most exciting thing ever. This is my calling 'cause now I get horses, I get a purpose to help humans find their inside beauty, whether it be men, women, or children," [00:10:00] that's when I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I cannot believe I finally found it."

So then, then I start 2008. Nobody know. Now, I'm thinking the doors are going to be knocked down as soon as people find out that we have horses and a business that helps humans to build skills. Mm-mm, there's no stopping these people who are coming. That was not, not the picture whatsoever. Nope, not even close.

So it's 

Jada: like- I love that you're sharing that because I think- Oh ... it's so, like, it's so common, right? So we find- Yes ... this thing or we create this thing and we're so excited about it, like, this is the best thing since sliced bread. Like, you know- Yes ... this is gonna help all these people, and we put it together and we're like, "This is great," and then we tell people about it 

Kari: And 

Jada: then- And 

Kari: it's like, "Huh?"

Jada: Like crickets. What is going on? 

Kari: Yes. So it's, it's a- I know it. Yeah. It was quite the- And 

Jada: what did you 

Kari: do? ... quite the [00:11:00] shocker. So here I am now three years in. I've spent all of our money. So it's a great thing I have such a supportive husband who knows, no matter what, if the worst thing happened, I would go out and get a job.

I, I would find ways to pay back. But I was 300,000 in the hole. I used every credit card. I used every credit line. I was doing everything to create this business. Now, just so y'all know, the 300,000 did include, after two years, I did finally build a itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny arena, but I spent copious amounts of money in the very, very wrong, wrong places.

And being an entrepreneur, I'm like, "I know how to run business." Yeah. "I don't need anyone to help me." Then it hit me, oh, boy, 300,000 in the hole. Sid finally says, "Okay, babe, you know if this thing doesn't go soon, you are gonna have to get a job." I'm like, "I know I [00:12:00] will, but I cannot do such things." So of course then I got my butt in gear, and I actually hired an outside coach at that time.

Mm. He cost me $20,000 for three months, and I tell you, it changed our entire business. We were pricing everything wrong. We didn't actually know what it was we were marketing, because as Jada was saying before, you know, people would look at us when we just thought the horse was the magic and everybody come.

Well, people are afraid of horses. People have anxiety. Most of our clients are non-horse people. So you see, we were doing it all wrong. So when we saw the value in the skills that this business had created, and how to actually market in the proper way, and how to price, that was the biggest thing. 'Cause we were down pricing, and not understanding our competition was of skills development, not horse-related anything.

So it's funny as an entrepreneur, the things that you have to learn and be humbled by- Yes ... [00:13:00] to go back. It, right? But it was the best 20,000 we ever spent, because from the moment we got it all right with him, the business started to fly. Then I was just wanting to just have a business that I had casually in my life.

Mm. Like, I wanna make a living, don't get me wrong, but that was my goal, is this is my business. So I bring on a, another person to help me to ... 'Cause I don't, I'm not IT. I don't know any of the computer stuff- But oh my gosh, it just, it flew into a dream that I actually didn't know. And I'm a entrepreneur, so I always make my goals at the beginning of each year, but I close the book, and I never look at them again because I don't believe you can keep focused on that, 'cause it wrecks your movement forward.

So I would make my goals, and then all of a sudden this certification is taking off. Now people are asking us to come to the other side of the world. I'm like, "Uh-huh? [00:14:00] What do you mean?" I have a certification that can actually travel. Of course it can, 'cause all horses speak one lang- language globally around the world.

Yeah. And I tell you, since like 2013, I believe it is, when we started traveling, it, it's just mind-blowing when you have a dream and a goal. It's always gonna be bigger than you could have ever imagined, but you still gotta do all the steps in order to get it, and then it takes you to a place that you're like- Wow.

And I wouldn't have done this. Can you imagine what not would have happened in my life? And I truly believe, and I had hell. In 2011, I lost all my horses and my mom in a six-week period, and I thought God was trying to tell me, "Oh my goodness, you are not supposed to do this business." Yeah. But what I learned from all those losses and starting again and hiring the coach is, "Here's your proof.

Show me. [00:15:00] Show me how you want this dream to come true." And it's really... He didn't answer. I just knew it's you still gotta move forward. And as I moved forward, this incredible world global certification opened up. 

Jada: Yeah. I've got goosebumps. I've got goosebumps from the story because There's so much, there's so much resilience, there's so much belief, there's so much taking action even in the face of adversity, of difficulties.

It's still choosing to go after that dream even when you're in huge amounts of debt or taking actions as well that, I think for most people who are not super entrepreneurial, are, like, they're crazy actions. You know, to then invest- Uh-huh ... $20,000 when you're already in debt $300,000. Mm. A lot of people wouldn't do that.

Right. But so many really successful people who have been running businesses for a really long [00:16:00] time have experienced some version of that. And- Absolutely ... so I think it's really, it's really great to be able to share that. And a few things that you said is that keeping on taking action and also not taking signs.

You know, you could have taken signs in a particular way, like, "Oh, I'm being told I shouldn't be going in this direction." Mm-hmm. But you chose not to interpret it like that, and you continued to take those actions. 

Kari: Absolutely. 

Jada: Yeah. And can you tell us a little bit now about the business? Because you do a lot of facilitation yourself with the business, but what you're really about is supporting other people to become qualified and certified in being able to do all this amazing facilitation with the horses.

and helping them as well not just- Yeah ... get that certification, but to you know, have support, like you know is needed to actually create- Mm ... the successful business and pass on a lot of those business skills as well. So do you wanna share a little bit about the actual [00:17:00] offer that we started working together on to grow, together with the launches?

Kari: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. And you know, our biggest thing is our motto is, "We're not successful until you are." Mm. But we stand by that. I don't believe in a certification that you just come and get it done and good luck to you. Because how I had to struggle for those three years, that's where it hit me. If I'm doing a certification, by cracky, I'm gonna help every single human who's doing this passionate calling I'm gonna give them the same support back.

So most of our business, I mean, we do very few certifications a year, like maybe 80 to 100. So we're nice and small with our beautiful supportive family. And then through that, 40% of that goes back to our certified facilitators with the business training, helping them to continually move forward through their ups [00:18:00] and through their downs.

And with having this global family, which is not Facebook, I really wanna make that very clear. 'Cause Facebook irritates me for the groups because I don't like not having organization. I want to be able to talk and find specific things, so I don't ever find in a Facebook group you can do that. But, you know, this beautiful team that we have of over 400 facilitators, it's so beautiful because we all help each other.

It's just not the Equine Connection. You know, it's all of us together who are saying, "Hey, let's help each other." They can talk to each other when Australia's awake and North America's asleep, or vice versa. Someone is always up running the business, asking questions, giving the great stuff that's happening, asking for, "Oh my gosh, it was so sad," or, "This happened to me.

Someone help me." Like, it's, it's just a beautiful piece to be a part of now, and it's ... That's, that's what fills our [00:19:00] cup, is continually helping our facilitators to move forward, to help those humans in their community who so desperately need them. 'Cause, you know, the biggest thing is, it's very few of us on this earth who have the horses.

Yeah. And now you get to, you get to have the horses, which you're already paying for copious amounts, high expense horses. Now you get to bring it into a business, and understand how you get those write-offs and those expenses, and how your income comes in. But you're still doing something very purposeful, and you're still working with the same horses, but in a completely different way to support your love and passion for your pony pals.

Jada: Yes. And I loved, love, love that about when I saw everything that, that you do when I came into your business around the certification. But not just leaving people hanging with that, and actually helping them with all of the business learnings and the steps, and helping them to speed that up and create more business success, and create [00:20:00] a life out of it, and create an income and a business out of that, and bringing those two things together, which is so powerful.

Kari: it was incredible because how the business has rolled from 2008, then we created a ... We did something really dumb, and this is what happens being an entrepreneur. I want you all to hear this. You're gonna do one dumb thing that happens when you're very successful.

Jada: Mm. 

Kari: And then you do one little change, and then it makes your business go, whoop, way down low. So that was- Mm ... kind of a frightening little thing because we actually did a new website. Now, in this new website, which is very, very sad ... So hear this, people. If you change your website that has been doing incredibly well, because it takes a long time for Google to rank you and get you up to number one, 'cause that's where we were globally in the world.

You get a new website, it takes out all of the [00:21:00] old stuff. So here we are starting like brand new babes, and it has been ... Wow, it was three years of H-E-L-L. It was terrible times, but of course, what do you do? You stick through it because you know it works. Mm. And you know people need you globally around the world.

So then I hired Karsyn, who is my, my daughter as well. She's also a facilitator, also an instructor, but then started her own company, which is Scooter Social. Well, because of Karsyn, she discovered Jada, and because of that ... And she had done other things throughout these three years of trying to rebuild this business, but most things actually didn't work.

But then when Karsyn introduced me to Jada- I am like, and I had the meeting with her. I'm like, "Holy jumping tuna fish. This gal actually excites me." And it made me happy to be a part of ... Again, spending money, [00:22:00] 'cause that's what you have to do in order to get movement again. My mom always said, "You gotta spend money to make money," and by cracky, that is the absolute freaking truth.

And knowing as an entrepreneur when I spend the money, I'm gonna get the reward back of the income. That's why I always take the risk to spend the money, 'cause I gotta do it the right way. So then Jada started helping us with our certification course. we can't do anything with the website. We got a whole new website again with our trusted very first website, so he's looking after us very well.

So very, very happy. It's the year of the fire horse. Fantastic. Everything's going good, but we still had to get people that we never found before, 'cause we're not doing good on Google, Google Search yet. So with Jada coming into the family and understanding what it is that we needed to do to help people become more aware of what the Equine Connection, the Academy of Equine Assisted Learning does, wow, it has [00:23:00] really made our 2026 an incredible, exciting journey of introducing awareness to what people did not know before.

So I have loved the entire journey, and I keep spending the money because she knows exactly what to do. And I love that as an entrepreneur because I don't wanna do all the work. I don't wanna think of what to do. I do enough work, and my biggest thing in life, because I can die today, I have to have balance all the time.

That's the thing I always work on, and of course it's safer for horses. So I believe in delegation, hiring out to the humans who know exactly what to do so my brain don't have to do all the thinking in order to do it 

Jada: Yes, I love that. There is so much gold in what you just shared. Can we circle back in just to make sure?

I want to really underline this for people, because I've also been a part of a really long-term business, and [00:24:00] when people are kind of starting out, there's just, there's just a whole lot of different things that happen when a business has been going for a really long time. And so what you're saying is that around three years ago, you had most of your people just coming into you, and you were flourishing, and people were booking in for the certification and the business training through your website, 'cause you were top ranking, and you'd built up over years that positioning, and people were just finding you.

That's what I remember when we first had our meetings. People were just coming to the website. Oh, there's fireworks. That's, that's my thumbs up. I don't know how it does it, but it does the thumbs up every time. That was just perfect timing. People just come to the website- ... and they just book on in, and we have fireworks.

Beautiful. Yeah. 

Kari: Yep. 

Jada: So people listening to the audio won't get that, but we just had fireworks in Kerry's Zoom, which was perfect timing. So yes, so this is the thing is you were so established, and you weren't needing to actively be out marketing [00:25:00] and chasing and pulling in and attracting new people into the certification.

They were just coming to you, and they were finding you. Mm-hmm. Until you changed your website and something went very wrong. I've experienced something similar. 

Yeah. And so you changed your website. You made a beautiful new website, but part of that wasn't done well, so that you didn't keep all of your Google ranking.

And so now suddenly- You basically just, your flow of people coming into the business just tanked down. 

Kari: Yep. 

Jada: Do you have an idea of, like, how many people were coming in monthly, and then just kind of what changed? 

Kari: Well, not specifically monthly, but our, our norm is, like, around 80 to 86 facilitators a year.

Jada: Mm-hmm. And I 

Kari: love that number because- Yeah ... 'cause then we can still help them. 

Jada: Yes. 

Kari: And then it was like, oh my gosh. I think the one year we were like, "Oh my gosh, I think we only, like, had 10 by the eight month in." I'm like, "We can't survive like [00:26:00] this. Like, we got to... We have to..." I, again, when you're working with the same people, 'cause now I have extra people who are obviously a part of the team, because no entrepreneur can do it all by themselves.

So here's the thing. You don't even want to do it by yourself. There's no way your energies can understand and do everything it needs to do in order to move forward. Like, it, it possibly can't. That's why paying other people to do what they're great at, it's such a compliment to you and your team and the business you are creating.

So again, that's where it's like Karsyn came up with you, and I'm like, "Well, Karsyn, some of your other things haven't worked, and I paid some big bucks to do the other things, too." Yeah. And she said, "Well, let's just, let's meet Jayda," blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, oh yeah, I'm spending the money because there's something about this that feels incredibly right for not being able...

'Cause you can't pay to have your [00:27:00] website move up in Google. Mm. So I'm comfortable and I'm very happy for 2026. Website is fine. It's solid. It's more than solid. So I know we'll get there again, but we needed a you in order to- It's amazing ... 

Jada: um, 

Kari: create a different marketing. I mean, even helping Karsyn to- create those, those emails and how you get them excited before and after, or, you know, even the social media marketing component, which I want nothing to do with.

I don't want none of that. I have no time, no time to have those conversations. I love that Karsyn and you could just take it away and everything just worked. 

Jada: Yes. And so what was really interesting is, like you said also, you brought Karsyn on board, and she was, doing all of the, the learning and the implementing around the digital marketing.

And when I came on board, it was really quite amazing because I audited everything that you'd been doing [00:28:00] as far as with the, with the webinars, with the digital marketing, all that kind of thing. And what Karsyn had built, and she'd obviously, I could see, she's done the courses, she's done the learning, she's implemented the things, and it was like a textbook perfect launch.

All of the pieces were there, all of the funnel was there. And so through that, that period of time, or I guess just before starting to work with me, you had been doing webinars. Yep. You had been doing- 

Kari: The lives ... 

Jada: you as in the business, as in Karsyn- Yeah ... all of you as a team- Yep ... had been doing social media, email marketing- Mm-hmm

Facebook ads, uh, looking at different promotions, utilizing the live launch system, all of those different things. But you hadn't, it hadn't been giving you results. So you were kind of doing- Yeah ... all of those pieces, but n- getting very small to no results [00:29:00] from those actions. 

Kari: Yep. 

Jada: Yeah. And so you were really looking for a way to get all of that working, and like you said, to have a different way of attracting people, actually going out into the world and finding the people and attracting them into your business, because obviously they weren't just landing on the website anymore.

Like, you needed to go out into the world digitally, find them, and actually bring them in. Yes. And so with this process, like you said, Karsyn and I worked a lot together, and you and I only worked across little pieces. Uh, obviously in the beginning to get the, the whole direction and the foundations and the core transformations and all of those different pieces.

Can you share with me from your point of view, because really Karsyn was working as your launch manager and implementer, and so- Mm-hmm ... your role was very much in that founder role to support the direction, the core transformation, the, the [00:30:00] alignment with your ideal people, and then obviously the creation and the delivery of the actual launch event itself, um, with your business partner Carolyn.

And so from your like perspective in that kind of role, what was different about this process compared to what you'd been doing beforehand with the webinars? 

Kari: I, well, the biggest thing was, first of all, you made me really think differently, which blew me away, and that's why outside coaches, to me, are the cat's meow.

Because you guys take us to a place that our brain hadn't gone to yet, because we're working the forest through the trees. We can't see anything anymore, and that's why it was so brilliant. So even though it irritated me that I had to think differently again, it was brilliant. And when I, I laugh because when I look on our slapstick webinars, I guess that's what I would say.

You know, we had joined a lot of free webinar things where you get the ideas, and then you [00:31:00] think you can put it all together. Yeah. But after working with you and I see what we did before, I mean, I laugh because we were throwing everything in that webinar. There was no, no, um, beauty in understanding what that core transformation was even going to look like, and I think that's vital to people who are joining on a webinar workshop, that they understand the value is going to happen 'cause we understand where they're coming from.

And then the value's gonna happen when you give them something that they can work on which is individually personal to each one, and then the value comes when they understand that this is what's gonna happen because of this. And that was, that was huge, and the webinar actually ended up being shorter, but s- but still long But it was so much more valuable.

Like, we weren't just sitting, talking about a different slide or, or floating around from this, horse thing to maybe this is what you can do as a facilitator, or this is what you do in business. We were all over the place. It was very discombobulated [00:32:00] webinar, but at the time, we thought we were brilliant.

What a webinar. If people don't book after this, I don't know what's wrong with them. But then you came, and then it's so, so specific, and that's what I love too, is 'cause I was the creator. After doing the work with Jayda and how the PowerPoint or the presentation was actually going to roll, and it still had to be from my passionate piece.

It had to be from who it is that we are. It can't be from any other's point of view. And wow, did I... It was mind-blowing to understand what I didn't understand before. But I love organization, and I love that things need to flow in order to have an outcome. So it was really quite brilliant, and that's why I keep hiring Jayda.

Jada: Yeah. I remember, though. I remember. You're like, "Jayda, you're hurting my brain." 

Kari: Yep. 

Jada: Like- Yep ... you're like, "I, I kind of love it, but you're hurting my brain." 

Kari: Yeah. You did. You did, lady. 

Jada: Yeah. We had to think, we think deeply, yes. It is a thing. It, it... I've realized it's a, [00:33:00] a common occurrence that people are looking at me.

I'm like, "Is your brain hurting?" They... Yes. 

Kari: Yep. 

Jada: Yeah. And so we worked really closely, you and I, on the actual workshop. So yes, what we did is we worked on, just for people listening, we did a webinar, quote, unquote, "webinar" style of launch. We did not call it a webinar. 

Kari: No. 

Jada: We called it a workshop. Workshop. Well, actually, I think at first we called it- a class, but we've moved towards a workshop.

All right. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Because this is part of it, right? We have to... We've done a number of launches together, and we've been refining the different pieces over time. And so it was a live event webinar style of launch, which is what you'd been doing previously as well, but obviously we, we made a bunch of different changes, really working right from the entry point to the offer, and then the actual class itself, the workshop itself, and then flowing back from there, and really redoing all of the pieces.

So it was really great because Karsyn already [00:34:00] knew all the skills and knew what all the pieces were and could already build pages and funnels and all of the pieces, but we really redid each of those pieces from scratch again to build out the whole funnel in a different way together. and we've also developed that workshop over time, but we've also looked at the offer itself.

Do you wanna talk a little bit about that and where we kind of started with the offer that we were selling, that you were selling into originally when we started to how we've then changed the actual offer that you're selling into now with the, with the workshops? 

Kari: Yeah, it's very interesting because when we first started, we did our certification with business training, which is one of our, you know, our top models in a certification because it just gives you every single thing so you don't have to think about anything.

But also, it's our highest, uh, price point, which at, at that time is $6,997, because we're with [00:35:00] you forever. So then we had done that a few times and have ... Do it over a few days. Like it's a mind ... It's, it's incredible to think, again, how we used to do webinars and how we do them now, because it's a very consistent model that you run time and time.

And then all of a sudden we started talking, and with the understanding we do have a certification that is get certified and get your curriculum program, and the curriculum is all about your objectively driven program. So you can just get out there, and it's at a better price point, so at least you can get started, 'cause that price point was 4,997.

I mean, eventually, the beauty is they can always upgrade up later on, but it ... It's so much more exciting, in my opinion, to have an entry point that has a place for these humans out there who've got this passion and they run a roll. But at the same time, 'cause we work with horses, we always money going out all the time, we don't exactly just always have, like, that money just sitting [00:36:00] around.

So that has really been quite exciting, 'cause I think that's the top-notch one that I'm really excited to continually keep moving forward with, 'cause at least it's an entry point that most horse people can accomplish and get started with. So they're not waiting to begin and just dreaming about it and sitting on the sideline, they're actually literally doing it.

Jada: Yeah. And I mean, from my point of view when I looked at that, because we ha- you have the certification coupled with the business training, and as we worked on things, we were looking at finding and refining the exact people we wanted to reach with the workshops. And also, though, where exactly are they at?

We did so much talking about where exactly are they at when they're ready to join, and what are they thinking about? What are they wanting? What are they focused on? And the conversations really went along, and this was only, I think it was after three or four launches that we changed- Yeah ... the offer [00:37:00] that you were selling into through this kind of realization, well, hang on a minute.

When we, when they are, and I think you even spoke about it, like if I ... If you were thinking back to where you were at when you were doing the certification, even though you had that entrepreneurial background, it's thinking about- what do they want at that time, and how can you give them what they're wanting most?

Which was that entry point. They just wanted to, they just wanna work with horses. Mm-hmm. They want to learn how to work alongside horses and learn something that they can turn into a career. And even though the business side makes a lot of sense to us, because we're business owners and we're running businesses, to a person who might be coming in to start running the business for the first time, even though they might kind of see the value in the business training- Mm-hmm

it's not really what they're focused on yet. So it was kind of too much information, or it was kind of trying to sell them something that was going to be something that they would start to desire down the [00:38:00] track. 

Kari: Yeah. 

Jada: And that, for me anyway, when I was looking at everything, that was the biggest piece in looking at that offer and how we could actually meet the people where they were at with a part of the offer so that it was what they wanted to grab onto next.

Mm-hmm. And then have the next piece waiting for them when we, you knew that they were going to need it down the track, but not trying to sell it to them before they were really aware of it. No. It was too much work to get them understanding- Yeah ... enough, quickly enough. Like, in one class, trying to get them to- Yeah

fall in love with the idea of taking that path to working with horses and being like, "Ooh, I can do this, and get a certification," to being like, " And also, you get this whole business training," but they've never run a business before, so they're not, like- Yeah ... it was a big gap, which is what I kind of talk a lot about.

Like, if we're trying to sell something- To someone who's not ready for it, and there's too much of a gap between those two points in a live launch, specifically, [00:39:00] where we're looking to do that within a class or within a week or two weeks of them even finding us, it- we have to try and take them too far.

And I know that's- that was my angle in looking at the offer is kind of like, how can we just basically sell them what they want right now, and then have the next piece ready for them- 

Kari: Yeah ... 

Jada: to kind of shift that, and kind of break it up a little bit. Ab- 

Kari: absolutely. And I think my favorite piece to that was because why any of us people who own horses might even be thinking or considering this idea that they didn't even know existed is a horse has changed our lives in some way or another.

And then when we're trying to find that purpose of who we are, that brings everything together because you wanna now share what the horse has done for me or for yourself into someone else who would never have that experience, and you can't teach it. Yeah. Like, it's just such a natural piece. So I really love that piece, 'cause that's right, get into that piece first, because you do wanna help.

You do wanna have the purpose in helping [00:40:00] a human. And this way, now you're sharing your horses and helping another human to be able to move forward. So it's very exciting to have gone all the way through that gamut of everything- Yeah ... to this one that we all, as a team, feel so much better with. Even though we felt good with the other ones, it just feels so much more I don't know, maybe realistic, and we are meeting them where they're at versus, like you said, trying to help them to understand now we have a second part.

It's too overwhelming. We don't want to overwhelm people in that way. We want to overwhelm them with the beauty of who they are when they become a facilitator, but not in all the other stuff that they need. 

Jada: Yeah. Yeah. Because that confusion, yeah, the confusion doesn't help them to move forward. No. It doesn't help you to make sales, all of those things.

So I wanted to talk a little bit about, so just because I think some of, some of my people geek out a little bit on all of the details. So when we talked about, obviously, you weren't having a flow coming in, even though you were trying all of those pieces. Your website wasn't [00:41:00] working. You were trying the pieces.

The people were not coming in. So we redesigned the launch event, and we put it out, and I was checking the numbers to make sure I was on the right, on the right track with things. It was a little while. It was... When did we do the first one? February. Mm-hmm. 

Kari: February 

Jada: 2026. We're, and we're in August now. So in that first launch, which was when you were selling the $7,000,6997 offer from- Mm-hmm

the webinars, you brought in seven new customers to that full package. 

Kari: Yeah. 

Jada: And what was really cool as well is I think five out of the seven were pay in full, which was what you were going for. 

Kari: Yep. 

Jada: Kari does not like payment plans, my friends. No, I don't. 

Kari: She has a passion. Hell, I did not. So 

Jada: we were very happy that the majority of the people were also that pay up front, and also the majority of them were new to your world, which was exactly what we were looking to do.

They were not people who had been [00:42:00] around on your email list or in your community. A couple, yes, but the majority of them had seen the ads, come to the workshop, and purchased. Mm-hmm. So straightaway from that first one, it was doing what we were wanting it to do. And I remember at the time, we were kind of going for that goal of getting 10 people in.

You were like, "If we can get 10 people in each time we do this, we're gonna start to create that momentum that the business had been missing for a while." So that first one, we got seven people in, which was super exciting. And obviously then over the following, uh, launches, we've refined different parts of it and things like that.

Uh, the other thing that I will mention is that we have done a paid workshop, so not a free class. Oh, 

Kari: yeah. Right. Yeah. 

Jada: Yeah. And so previously, had you been doing free webinars or had you been- Yeah ... charging for them as well? 

Kari: No, I have been doing free. 

Jada: Yeah. Yeah. And so this was an interesting one as well.

we decided to do it as a paid workshop [00:43:00] because we wanted to look for the people who were most ready to, to move into that, and also it's a high ticket item that we're looking to sell into. It's not a $49 a month- membership or, you know, $200 course or something like that.

It's a $7,000 investment. So we were looking for people who were, you know, ready to at least put a little bit of money on the table, and we were charging $10, for the workshops to start with. 

Kari: Yes. Yes, we sure were. And I do, like, I think there's more value when a human pays for something. Like, I've always told my, my, my family, my friends, my facilitators, if you keep saying the word free, free has no value.

There's, there's nothing in free, but when you add a little bit of this kitty is $5, or you add value to the workshop, 'cause you're giving them hours of your time in my opinion, 'cause it, everything to set it up to make sure they're going to be guaranteed to have a transformation, by cracky, that is so valuable.

So for 10 or $17, which we're now [00:44:00] at now- 

Jada: Yeah ... 

Kari: like, yes, I, I would rather have more people come in who are putting some, what is that something in, skin in the game? Or something- 

Jada: Skin in the game. Yeah, I 

Kari: know it. Oh, it is called that. Okay. Skin 

Jada: in the game. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Kari: Versus the free. 

Jada: Yeah. Yeah. And so this has worked really well.

It does mean that we get a smaller number of people in, but we also get a higher quality type of person coming in compared to doing it free. And as Kari said, we've moved it now to $17, which I think we only just did in the last one, and we still got- Yeah ... similar kinds of numbers. But what is cool about that is I was doing an audit of that whole launch recently, and you've covered half of your ad spend with the amount that you've brought in with the ticket sales.

So before you even go into selling the actual offer itself, you're really a little bit more ahead, which is really a great thing to look at doing- 

Kari: Mm-hmm ... 

Jada: without, with the launches as well. Whether it is charging to come along to the actual launch event itself or having a piece that you're upselling with it or [00:45:00] things like that, but that's another really cool piece of your whole launch and the way that we've built it.

So- 

Kari: Mm-hmm ... 

Jada: we have done about four launches together, and if we fast-forward to this last one, we've now shifted the offer that you're selling into. We have refined the class as well- And we've upped the price of the actual workshop from 10 to 17, and in this last launch you brought in 11 new people- which was super exciting. So we've crossed that 10. Oh, we get, yes, we get the fireworks again. It's amazing. It's amazing. and also the other cool thing was even though you were giving the lower, lower, the certification package, which was a, is a lower price than with the business training, a number of those people also upgraded.

Kari: Yeah. Yeah. 

Jada: Yeah. 

Kari: It works perfect. And, 

Jada: mm, and again, the majority of those people are also new to your world. 

Kari: You know, I think that's one of my most favorite [00:46:00] pieces, besides hiring out to someone who knows exactly what to do and telling me exactly what I need to do, and yet you're still doing the work yourself, but you're helping along the way, is I am so excited that we've had more awareness in the globe.

Because we were number one before, until we had changed that website. And to, you know, even have 150 people register, let's say, for an actual workshop, that's very exciting to me. Because whether they're with us live or they get to watch it in a replay after, that is, you know, 100, you know, more people than maybe would have existed before, even with a Google search.

'Cause sometimes people don't know that that's what they're looking for either. That's why I love the awareness the most and spending the money. Mm-hmm. Because I know awareness will pay off, because as long as you're moving forward, it always pays off. Like, there's never a time where it's like, "Oh, that was a waste of money."

No, it's never a waste of money. It's just you gotta keep doing it the right way, and if you don't [00:47:00] know the right way, you gotta hire out so you know the right way. 

Jada: Yeah. And I love that you were always so excited about the awareness that the launches were building. Mm-hmm. Because I feel like oftentimes people are so focused on getting the sales- Yeah

which obviously is the ultimate piece. We're doing all of this work- Yeah ... and it's a lot of pieces, to grow our business and create more income and more impact, of course. Yes, we want that. But there's so many other aspects that doing live launches creates for you, including the awareness and getting out in front of new people and bringing them into your world.

Is there anything else, I guess, from this process that you have been, I don't know, surprised about or that you weren't expecting, um, or that you've loved? 

Kari: Well, my love is the awareness. 

Jada: Yes. 

Kari: I've even l- and I did love, I do love spending the money because I believe as business person, you should always be able to understand the concept that when you say bye-bye to the money for [00:48:00] such the value that's gonna come back, you will get it tenfolds back.

Like, I truly believe in that piece. So I love that part. y- yeah, I just think the whole ride and journey from here we start with the certification with business, and then months later we go down to the certification with the curriculum program to help people get in. I found that very exciting in the fact that it is a place that maybe my brain wouldn't have, again, thought of.

And I think just is more opportunity for all of us humans who have horses globally around the world that they can do this, too. Like, we're just normal horse people loving our horses, being a part of them, and all we're wanting to do is help another human, 'cause that's what purpose is. That's exactly what purpose is.

So when we can combine the two, and I feel it's through this power of how you've helped us to deliver and create these powerful workshops, that the excitement even every time to always have people sign up is also very exciting because they [00:49:00] registered. They want this. They just didn't know how to do it before, and now it's so logically presented, and it's clear, and it's crisp, and it makes sense to the, you know, brains globally- Mm-hmm

because we're all confusing us humans. It, it's really lovely, so I've really enjoyed that process. 

Jada: Yeah, I love that. And when you talk about spending the money, are you talking about even just, like, the Facebook ads, like the advertising for each of those- Everything ... that you love doing? Everything. Yeah. 

And- 

Kari: Well, and, and you and, and paying my team, and it's been nice because I've actually been able to give my team bonuses, which has been kind of a goal since I've chatted with you.

'Cause it's like I don't wanna go bigger. Like, that's not a part of my journey and what I wanna become. I love where we're at, but just bringing more of that awareness. But a goal was to be able to, wow, wouldn't that be fun, to surprise the team with an extra bonus because we've done so amazing because of these workshops.

So I have been able to accomplish that. I love that. So I like that part, too. Yeah, me too. Yeah. [00:50:00] 'Cause it's fun. It's at a different place in life, and I'm really enjoying being a part of ... What we all can do as entrepreneurs, we, we freaking feed economy. Yeah. Like, we are, we are creating things that didn't exist in our communities or globally or whatever it is we're doing.

Like, we should be so darn proud that something that we're doing is affecting someone, and it wouldn't have existed if we didn't think of it- Yeah ... and then hire out to be able to move forward with it. 

Jada: Yeah, I agree. It's so amazing. We take something that's an idea in our mind and our soul, and we bring it out to the world, and we create something with it.

And we employ people, and we- Yes ... you know, the ripple effect out. Usually, we're doing something that is positive with the people that we're s- you know, doing a business around, all that kind of thing. Oh, I- Well- I could talk about this for days. I love it. I 

Kari: know. I know. Me too. 

Jada: Yeah. 

Kari: Me too. 

Jada: So I was going to say, and I'm so, that's so cool about the bonuses, which I didn't know, so I love that so much.

I was gonna say, I guess, you know, from doing this whole process, what has really [00:51:00] changed for you from before we were working together? So we've really started doing the ... Well, we started working together at the end of last year, but we did the first live launch, at the beginning of this year. We're now in August.

So now that you have this system in place, what has that meant for your business? 

Kari: Well, there's the power piece in understanding that every two months, let's say, we are doing these incredible workshops, bringing that awareness to Equine Connection, the Academy of Equine Assisted Learning, and we're doing it in such a succinct, clear-minded way to help people.

We're not just selling, 'cause that's not the company we are. We're actually providing a complete lifestyle that has a supportive component to all of us humans who are by ourselves on our little acreages or our big acreages. Like, we're a family. We are a herd together, and I think because of having these beautiful workshops, they will be a part of what Equine Connection will always provide for the world.

We're not [00:52:00] gonna just rely on a website, ' cause it's not the way it was before. This is very exciting because we're actually affecting a human because they're live with us. And I think, I don't know, I just love that part. It's not like doing a live Facebook. Yeah. It's like we're doing something live that's actually helping a human think differently of who it is that they are, and I think that's what we all need to do, too.

We ... Why not us? Why not you? Mm-hmm. We can all do things like this. Yeah. But we just don't know that there's a inc- credible little step in order to do it that way, right? 

Jada: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And I often find this with a lot of my clients who ... Well, people that might have been having some fear around showing up and doing these live classes, but actually most people, I find, once we do the, the whole shebang, once we do all of the pieces, actually love delivering the classes because it's what- You love to do most, you love, like, being with people, delivering, transforming, interacting, all of those things.

So I find that sometimes [00:53:00] there's a fear around doing it, but actually it's a part that all my clients end up saying, "I actually love running the class." Yeah. It's that actual piece of showing up with people live. Um- 

Kari: Yeah, I do love that, and I think that the team also loves it, too. And the confidence that even though I'm a very confident woman in who I am, where I'm moving to with my business, I h- do have that.

But I have to say, when you're sharing it to people who don't even know you, it's very exciting, the an- additional confidence that comes along. 'Cause then when you have the Q&A, it's so exciting 'cause you're getting different questions. And well, by cracky, by now you should know many, many answers. Yeah. So it's exciting that different things are happening, and it sparks you, and it makes you feel so much more alive because it's not just doing a mundane, "Great, I'm getting business in.

Let's do it this way." It's like, no, every time you are disciplined, and which you have to be in business, when you're disciplined to [00:54:00] make sure it's put into your calendar each year on certain months, it's exciting to look forward to that time. Yeah. Together to the world. 

Jada: Yeah, yeah. I love that so much.

Yeah. And I guess just to wrap up, and thank you so much for all that you've shared, I feel like it's gonna be really inspiring just for the entrepreneurial journey as well, and just hearing your whole journey more than around the launch itself, but just your whole journey I feel like is gonna be really inspiring.

I'm always very inspired by you. So I guess just to wrap things up in relation to this position with you being the founder, you having a launch manager, and working together, is there anything, that you would share around that process 

 being in that position and running a launch in that kind of way where you're not doing all of the things, and you have team members running that for you? But the parts that you're involved in are also very, very important and es- essential.

if someone was looking to move into doing their launches in that way or if they [00:55:00] already had that team structure and they were looking at, "Well, how's it gonna work if I get support?" Is there anything you would kind of share around that? 

Kari: you know, I have, always believed as an entrepreneur this isn't my business, it's the team's business, 'cause I do not believe any entrepreneur on God's green earth can do it by themselves. So I believe the team. So no matter it be your sister or family member, you know, there's people out there in and around you that actually like doing those kind of pieces where they don't literally have to talk to the people or be the presenter but would love to help organize them.

Again, to have someone do what they like to do excites me, because I don't like it, and I don't wanna do it, so I get to be with the horses, and I get to help the facilitators. I get to do my favorite pieces, 'cause again, that balance piece. So would ... I always ... As every entrepreneur or every person who's starting their own business should have [00:56:00] somebody, even if it's a part-time somebody.

And even nowadays, I mean, I believe and Jayda would know groups that have people, 'cause you can do it so eloquently in the digital way that you can be from different sides of the world or, you know, different places in North America or wherever the case it may be. But a lot of these people love what it is that they're doing.

If you can get the help, which you would be able to understand, like, everything that's created through that, launch manager, that's all your stuff. So you're, you're getting everything as she's doing it. But oh, man, to take all that pressure off of you, it is tons of pressure if I had to do what Karsyn does to make these workshops work.

I could not spend the time in scheduling and training to figure out how to do it or to write stuff up. She's like just, to me, yeah. She sends it to me for a look-over. Most times I say, "If you feel it goes with my PowerPoint, my presentation, just do it. I don't have any time to look." Yeah. I [00:57:00] think that is the beauty of being able to understand delegation is the powerful piece to allowing other people to be a part of your journey- Mm

and being a part of the team.

Jada: Yes. Yeah, and it really allowed- I don't know if that helps ... yeah, I, it really does, I think, because sometimes people, I think, are a bit, you know, if they're moving into that and they haven't done it before, or they're not sure how it's going to work. So, I think it's really great to hear people who are in that space just sharing about, you know, how it works and how you feel about it is really powerful.

And I was gonna say, what it allowed us to do was for you, like, you were literally focused in on, yes, the original direction, making sure that we were building everything around the entry point and who you wanted to be speaking to, and those core transformations. And then you and I just worked on the actual launch event presentation and flow and inclusions, and that's really the main piece that you focused on.

And then Karsyn did all of the other pieces around that, th- you know, the funnel pieces and all the moving [00:58:00] parts and assets to get it all flowing, and you were then able to stay in your full zone of genius- Mm-hmm ... and where you can give the most value, which is then showing up with Carolyn to actually deliver the class itself and then be in conversation with people.

And then they were your parts, which is- Oh ... keeping you in your zone of genius and where you give the best value. Yeah. 

Kari: Oh, it is so very true. I can't even comprehend the pressure. And to talk to you once a week, like for me, even as a, a business owner, I, I don't have time to do a conversation, like, once a week.

Like, that's a lot when you're doing so much. So yeah, to have Karsyn, my manager, you just deal. You do it 'cause you're doing it. It's like whatever. It all works, so no, the power of gifting that to another team member and the pressure is off of you, you feel so good.

So good. 

Jada: I love it. Well, Kari thank you so much for joining me- You're welcome ... and coming and sharing so, in such a giving way, in such an open [00:59:00] way and genuine way to really share some of your entrepreneurial journey. Some great golden nuggets for people on their entrepreneurial journeys, , and inspiration as well.

And I look forward to, yeah, watching, watching this space with you as things continue on, and just really appreciate you coming and spending this time here on the podcast, so thank you. 

Kari: No problemo, and it's such a joy to work with someone like you. You are just an incredible part of where our business went, so thank you so much.

Jada: Oh, thank you. It's such a pleasure. 

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