Merger Of Central And Hispanic Chambers Creates Cross-Cultural Countywide Organization

By M. Dennis Taylor

The economic challenges over the past year have left many organizations shifting their missions and goals, often evolving into something new. In some instances, they are reimagining their purpose and developing a new brand for themselves.

Diversity and inclusion are key objectives for business organizations in recent years. That’s why two of Palm Beach County’s most successful business organizations chose the current era of unprecedented changes as the perfect time for a merger. The Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County have been reformed into a single organization. Since completing the merger last October, the new entity has held a number of virtual events. It will host its first in-person meetings this August.

“We have succeeded in aligning two organizations with similar objectives,” explained Mary Lou Bedford, CEO of the Central Palm Beach County Chamber, which is based in Wellington. “We are really excited to now serve a broader and more diverse group of some 600 businesses and growing all throughout Palm Beach County.”

Former Hispanic Chamber CEO Maria Antuña is now the executive vice president of the Central Palm Beach County Chamber. She will focus on business development and Hispanic affairs, facilitating meetings to allow members to maximize the benefits of the united chamber.

The four-decade-old Central Palm Beach County Chamber traditionally focused on the geographical region, but the merger makes the new organization truly county wide.

“We were already overlapping, but now we mesh as a single organization that creates a further synergy — a perfect storm of resources, current and future — of what were two separate groups before,” Antuña said. “With 30 percent of Palm Beach County of Hispanic background, now is the time to join the group which has even stronger opportunities.”

Antuña believes the merger is a win-win for both organizations.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a trend around the nation for chambers to become more innovative and sustainable by aligning with other chambers and business organizations,” she explained. “Strategically, this agreement makes sense and will bring more success to our membership.”

Antuña added that the chamber has been working closely as its member businesses deal with the problems brought by the pandemic.

“The chamber has earned and has already been operating a COVID-19 Technical Assistance Center from a MBDA [Minority Business Development Agency] CARES Act grant project,” she said. “It is a year-long partnership to help current and future Hispanic and minority owned business members navigate this economic crisis with leadership from the chamber.”

The united chamber serves members throughout the county with a goal to continuously improve the business climate and safeguard the economy by facilitating and assisting business expansion and increasing opportunities for growth of high wage jobs. As things continue to slowly return to normal, programs focused on advocacy, economic development, events and direct services to members will expand.

Along with small and medium business enterprises in the geographic and Hispanic culture area, the united chamber’s focus will be on the top employer sectors, including agribusiness, healthcare, equestrian, IT/telecommunications, business/financial services, manufacturing and aerospace/aviation/engineering in bilingual and bicultural marketing.

Bedford explained that the reasons to join the chamber remain as true now as ever: business growth, networking, advocacy, leadership opportunities, market-wide credibility, community awareness, visibility, corporate responsibility, economic sustainability, professional development, and now in multiple languages and cultures.

“The virtual luncheon discussions will continue and change to in-person over time,” Bedford said.

Bedford added that the in-person workshop this summer will be a perfect opportunity for so many members to meet other members they don’t yet know.

“It is the perfect opportunity for existing and new members to reach out in the hybrid organization with economic workshop activities on useful and interesting topics,” she said.

Other initiatives are on the horizon as well.

“By the third quarter of 2021, we will be hosting our business academy,” Bedford explained, highlighting the many resources of the combined organization. “Now we have grown to be truly county wide. Members will have more influence than ever.”

Contact the newly combined chamber at (561) 790-6200 or info@cpbchamber.com. Find the chamber on social media @cpbchamber on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or visit www.cpbchamber.com.

Wellington’s Missy Clark Helps Philadelphia’s Urban Riding Academy Keep Horses Cemented In The City

For Wellington residents, the equestrian world seems like a way of life. Even if you are not a rider yourself, it is interlaced as a part of the community — seeing riders cross the road or gallop along a canal can be a daily occurrence. Where you would not expect to see a horse riding along the roads would be a busy city like Philadelphia. However, Netflix’s new film, Concrete Cowboy, starring Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin, has showcased a part of Philadelphia that few people knew existed, telling the story of the Black urban cowboys in the city.

The urban Black cowboy has been living throughout neighborhoods in Philadelphia for more than 100 years. From the early 1900s through the late 1950s, horse-drawn wagons delivered ice, milk and other produce to city residents. Horses were no stranger to Philadelphia streets. Eventually, modern vehicles replaced those delivery routes, but the urban Black cowboy still remained.

Fletcher Street Stable was one of the first urban stables and was one of the last standing homes of the urban Black cowboy. Like others preceding it, Fletcher Street held those similar values: family, friends and horsemanship. Over the years, generations of urban youth wandered into the barn, learning how to responsibly care for horses and how to ride. They became a part of an environment that gave them refuge from the more troublesome areas of the city.

Due to gentrification, many of the stables that once made up the community of Black cowboys in Philadelphia are now gone.

In 2019, the producers and directors of Concrete Cowboy partnered with the late Eric Miller and the riders of Fletcher Street to form the Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy (PURA) and preserve the life, legacy and culture of Black urban cowboys in Philadelphia.

Recently, PURA found an ally from Wellington’s own community — Missy Clark of North Run. One of the leading show jumping and equitation trainers in the country, Clark has been a longtime resident of Wellington, competing at the Winter Equestrian Festival most of her life. In June 2020, Clark learned about PURA’s executive director, the “Concrete Cowgirl” Erin Brown, through Instagram and wanted to support PURA’s mission.

“I sent Erin an e-mail and we connected with a phone call,” Clark recalled. “We probably talked for an hour and a half during that initial phone call. She was someone I really connected with, and I think she connected with me, and then it went on from there. I told her my idea about ‘Concrete to Show Jumping,’ hoping to encourage other professionals in our sport of show jumping to reach out and form alliances with organizations of their own.”

With a mission to open doors to diversified worlds within the horse industry, Concrete to Show Jumping aims to open the eyes, minds and hearts of equestrians by participating in new experiences, forming new alliances and building friendships with equestrians from diverse backgrounds.

The first initiative for Concrete to Show Jumping is to find a permanent home for PURA and all of the programs it includes. Together, they have launched the “Fresh Start for Philly Youth” fundraising campaign through GoFundMe. The campaign’s goal is to raise money for its new facility in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia that will provide a unique, safe space for children, teens and adults to experience horses up close and personal.

“When I looked at the property, I fell in love,” Brown said. “I knew in my heart that this was the place. It’s perfect because although it’s backed into Cobbs Creek Park, it is also right across the street from a residential location. So, you are in the city, and then you cross the street, and you are in the park. It’s a gorgeous place. Once it is a barn, it is going to be absolutely amazing.”

The “Fresh Start for Philly Youth” fundraiser has the goal of raising $2,000,000 for PURA’s new permanent facility. This home will provide stabling for 20 to 25 horses, paddocks and a covered arena, as well as recreational space for other youth and veteran programs. With the help of the entire equestrian community, PURA and Concrete to Show Jumping believe that this goal is attainable. Every dollar raised will be put toward the facility, and the horses and students that will call it home. PURA currently supports multiple programs, including a 4-H Club, Cowboys Against Crime and the Junior Concrete to Cowboy and Cowgirls, which includes horsemanship and riding lessons for the urban youth of Philadelphia.

“If your child wants to learn how to ride but you can’t afford it, there will be a program for that,” Brown explained. “There will be recreational programs for those who just want to be around horses. This new facility will provide a safe environment for everyone in the community to be able to enjoy.”

Clark hopes that her fellow equestrians here in Wellington chip in their support.

“Horses are something that touched all of our lives in such a special way,” she said. “It’s important to continue that legacy and bring it to people who would not otherwise have the access to horses in their community.”

As a nonprofit organization, PURA is now collecting donations for the “Fresh Start for Philly Youth” initiative, creating a new facility that will provide a space unlike any other for children, teens and adults to experience horses up close and personal.

For more information, or to become a part of Fresh Start for Philly Youth, visit www.thepura.org.

Neighborhood Kids Preschool Now Expanding To Serve More Families

Story By Deborah Welky  |  Photos by Abner Pedraza

Neighborhood Kids, which already operates two preschool locations in Wellington, recently announced expansion plans that will add locations in nearby Royal Palm Beach and Boynton Beach.

The preschool’s owner Frank Toral is pleased to be expanding into the neighboring community after taking over the oldest preschool locations in Wellington in 2019.

“Many of our parents used to be students themselves,” Toral explained. “It’s a real multi-generational community. The children become friends and stay lifelong friends. This faith-based preschool, once operated under another name, is the longest-running, continuously open preschool in Palm Beach County at 43 years. So many of the parents were once students themselves — their relatives and neighbors went here.”

Four decades ago, the western communities were known more as a retirement area with little available for growing families. But “family” is now the name of the game — and Neighborhood Kids aims to serve this growing market.

“We have waiting lists at both of our Wellington campuses,” Toral said. “So, our new Royal Palm Beach location, inside the longstanding Connect Church on Okeechobee Blvd., will offer additional space.”

Following the June 1 opening of Neighborhood Kids in Royal Palm Beach, Toral, together with his wife Olivia, will soon open a fourth location in Boynton Beach.

“It’s a Christian preschool that we’re continuing to expand throughout Palm Beach County,” Toral said. “We get a lot of feedback on the faith-based aspect of the school from our children’s parents. Many of their children will be going directly from our pre-kindergarten to public school, so this will be the only faith-based schooling they will get. We appreciate that the families recognize the value that our pre-K gives their kids for the short time we have them.”

Toral said that one thing that distinguishes Neighborhood Kids from other preschool and pre-K programs in the area is that it’s not attached to another elementary, middle or high school. Yet there’s the same neighborhood feeling throughout all Neighborhood Kids campuses.

“For example, we had a little girl in our three-year-old program. She comes home and tells her mom and dad about her friends, that she wants them to come to her birthday party and that she wants to go to their birthday parties. The point is, the kids form a community. And this has been happening for 40 years,” Toral said.

The two Neighborhood Kids stand-alone locations in Wellington currently serve more than 250 children combined, with 150 at the Greenbriar campus and 112 at the Wellington Trace campus. “The new Royal Palm Beach campus will be a smaller, a more intimate setting for the kids,” Toral said. “We will be able to host 83 children there.”

All the Neighborhood Kids locations will be accepting students starting at eight weeks old and continuing up to the VPK classes at age four.

Toral hopes that the waiting lists in Wellington will grow shorter with the opening of the Royal Palm Beach location. There are about 15 families whose children currently attend at a Wellington campus who are planning to transfer their children to Royal Palm Beach, which will immediately create a few openings at the original two locations.

There will also be a few spots opening up at the Greenbriar campus, as visiting equestrian families from across the United States and beyond leave for the season.

“My wife and I are Wellington residents, so we’re invested in these communities,” Toral said. “We live and work here, and we want to give families this educational and spiritual foundation for their children. It’s going to be the same uniform program throughout and the same curriculum in all four schools — the same mission and the same values.”

Some of the Neighborhood Kids teachers have been with the school for more than 20 years, teaching the internationally implemented Abeka and Creative curriculums, together with the Amazing Athletes fitness program and Go Picasso painting classes, all in a Christian, faith-based environment.

“We’ve heard from multiple parents that they get really emotional when they’re sitting at the dinner table and begin to eat, and their child tells them, ‘We need to pray before we eat dinner,’” Toral said. “We hear this over and over. We have gotten so many positive responses. It’s the joy of their hearts that their child is part of that gratitude of thanking God in a world that doesn’t always value that.”

The schools’ mission statement is to “partner with families to empower their child to discover and realize their potential in a nurturing and supportive environment.”

“To sum up what we do,” Toral said. “We provide an educational and spiritual foundation for your child’s future. In a world that values success, Neighborhood Kids distinguishes itself by teaching your child the value of character, without which, no success can be sustained. That’s the core of who we are.”

Toral also plans an active camp program for this summer.

“We’re looking forward to a robust summer ‘Fun Camp’ in June,” Toral said. “Last year, because of COVID-19, we were extremely limited in what we could offer the children. But this year, field trips are back on the schedule. We’re going to bring Lion Country Safari in. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”

The summer camp program is also open to older children. The summer camp is geared toward ages 5 to 12, Toral said. Registration is open now. For parents of older children — or those just looking to see what Neighborhood Kids has to offer — Toral recommends they contact the school or visit the web site to register. And for former Neighborhood Kids students who have graduated, it might be fun to see your former teachers in a camp setting.

Neighborhood Kids is located at 2995 Greenbriar Blvd. (561-790-0808) and 1040 Wellington Trace (561-793-5860) in Wellington. Visit www.neighborhoodkids.net for more information.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Thanks Grand Champions Polo Club For Support

2020 was a year like no other. Life changed in an instant, leaving companies and individuals trying to plan their next steps. For nonprofits such as the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), this meant pivoting to a completely virtual platform that they had never done before.

The height of the pandemic hit as LLS was starting its Man & Woman of the Year campaign. The candidates and volunteers stepped up to the plate, knowing that even though daily life may have come to a standstill, cancer wasn’t canceled. One candidate and sponsor shined more brightly and made a huge impact for local patients fighting blood cancers — Grant Ganzi and the Grand Champions Polo Club.

Ganzi rallied during the extended 16-week fundraising period to claim the title of 2020 Palm Beach-Treasure Coast Man of the Year.

His persistence and focus on the mission of LLS raised critical funds for blood cancer patients. The Lynn University senior and third-generation polo player utilized his network to support lifesaving research.

On Sunday, May 2, DeAnn Hazey, executive director of the LLS South Florida Region, presented Melissa Ganzi and Grand Champions Polo Club with an award for being the presenting sponsor of the 2020 Man & Woman of the Year campaign in the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast market.

Hazey is looking forward to a longstanding partnership between the organization and the Grand Champions Polo Club.

“Thank you so much to the Ganzi family,” Hazey said. “I know the money they raised is helping families right here, right now, and what they did is truly saving lives. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is so grateful to have such an impactful supporter within the community. The polo club’s sponsorship and support will not only allow lifesaving blood cancer research to continue but will also help patients receive access to medications and other financial needs.”

As a breast cancer survivor, Melissa Ganzi recently finished her final treatment. She is healthy and is back to playing polo. With the start of 2021, Grand Champions is bringing back a sense of normalcy to the area with its spring season in full swing.

To learn more about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man & Woman of the Year campaign, visit www.mwoy.org/mwoy-palm-beach-0.

Wellington To Continue Its  Decades-Long Tradition Of Holiday Fireworks On Independence Day

By M. Dennis Taylor

As this summer brings hopes of a return to something approaching normal, the Village of Wellington is planning a community celebration to make residents feel a bit like it is an Independence Day from years past. Included in the festivities will be the presentation of what is possibly the best fireworks display available in Palm Beach County.

Assistant Community Services Director Michelle Garvey is responsible for coordinating this year’s Fourth of July celebration, which will be conducted safely outside at Village Park on Pierson Road. As of May, plans were still underway, with complete details available in June. There are still sponsorships and vendor spaces available, but the biggest news is the magnitude of the Zambelli fireworks display.

Zambelli is renowned as one of the best fireworks display providers, entertaining area residents for generations. Founded in Italy in 1893, the family-owned business is now located in Pennsylvania and has provided the spectacular shows for Wellington throughout the years. These include past celebrations of Independence Day, as well as New Year’s Eve, which is also the anniversary of the incorporation of the Village of Wellington.

“Our objective is to put the most shells of anywhere in the county in the air during the 20-minute display,” Garvey said.

The celebration will be a day of family fun topped off by the impressive fireworks display. “Last year, we shot off the fireworks from two locations, but now everything will be at Village Park,” Garvey said.

The 2020 observance included fireworks but little else due to the pandemic.

This year, with restrictions eased, will be different. It will all be done safely outdoors with the restrooms sanitized frequently and sanitizing stations throughout the area. Village staff will likely be masked, but vaccinated attendees to the event are not required to wear a mask, unless regulations change.

There will be many activities that are aimed at making youngsters happy with lots of games. “There will be an obstacle course, parachute races and stilt walkers walking throughout the festivities,” Garvey said. “There will be a petting zoo with all the typical barnyard animals, plus surprises and favorites like the miniature cow.”

Food and entertainment will also be part of the experience.

“There will be lots of food trucks for a satisfying food experience, and there will be live music with the Studio 54 band,” Garvey said, adding that the entertainment will include a singing contest where winners get to sing on stage.

Wellington’s Parks & Recreation Department provides the community with exceptional parks, leisure and recreation programs that build strong, healthy lifestyles while contributing to the economic and environmental sustainability of Wellington.

Many popular activities in the usually busy department are returning to the schedule as the summer approaches. Parks & Recreation Director Eric Juckett noted that the village’s new Parks & Recreation Department newsletter has just published its first issue now that activities are gearing back up. It is frequently updated and lists the most current information on recreational activities.

“We are extremely excited to be once again offering so many programs to the residents of our community,” Juckett said. “Tell the community we are back, and we are super excited.”

The food trucks have returned to the Wellington Amphitheater on Thursday nights, along with concerts and movies on Friday and Saturday nights. Free tickets to the concerts are available on Eventbrite.

“The Wellington Community Center has opened back up, and programs and rentals have resumed,” Juckett said. “Swimming lessons in two-week classes will be taking place at the pool, tennis lessons are in the mornings, the all-day summer camps and academies have returned, and registration and availabilities are all in the newsletter on the village’s web site.

Visit www.wellingtonfl.gov/july4th for updates on the Independence Day celebration. For the latest on upcoming community events, visit www.wellingtonfl.gov/events.

Wellington Garden Club Helps Make The Community A More Beautiful Place

“Gardening Makes a World of Difference” is the motto of the Wellington Garden Club, which has been helping to make the community a more beautiful place for nearly four decades.

Founded in October 1981 by a few local women who held meetings in one another’s living rooms, the club began with lots of good ideas and a few bylaws. Yet the women had the foresight to become part of something bigger, joining the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs just a few months later.

Founding members of the club included President Mary Clark, Vice President Mary Rowe, Treasurer Inge Parrish, Recording Secretary Paula Giambrone, Corresponding Secretary Judy Frank, and members Melinda Beasley, Connie Diforio, Marilyn Elliot, Mary Giovanetti, Phyllis Greenberg, Isabel Johnson, Grace Rocket, Alberta Weldon and Lily Wiggan.

“The club’s original scrapbook is interesting to look through,” said Jan Seagrave, the group’s current president. “The women used to do a bazaar; did landscaping for Habitat for Humanity homes; created little handmade programs; and typed up pages for a yearbook that we have professionally printed today. They did a lot of flower-arranging classes where now we have flower show judges and master gardeners as members, and the judges sometimes do arrangement classes.”

Over the past 40 years, the club has grown quite a bit, and with that growth came changes.

“We have added to what our mission statement and motto are, we’ve added activities, and we meet at the Wellington Community Center now,” Seagrave said. “There’s so much to what we do. The club has evolved over the years from that group of wonderful ladies who got it started to a club with more of a sense of community than we had before.”

Some of its original charter members remain on the roster, linking the past to the present. “It’s about how far we’ve come with the club and what we’ve learned in the past to bring forth to give to the community,” Seagrave explained.

The group continues to invite informative guest speakers to its meetings and hosts a biannual Garden Walk tour of members’ gardens, but it also established a butterfly garden at the Wellington Dog Park, currently maintained by the Boy Scouts; sends kids to ecology camp; offers scholarships to high school students interested in the earth sciences; and even honors the military.

This upcoming Memorial Day, the Wellington Garden Club will unveil a Gold Star plaque at the Wellington Veterans Memorial to honor family members of servicemen who died in the line of duty. This marker joins the Blue Star marker currently in place at the memorial, also donated by the Wellington Garden Club. The Blue Star marker was the result of a club fundraising effort, while the Gold Star marker was underwritten by a club member and her veteran husband.

“The markers are part of a national initiative,” Seagrave said. “We also partnered with the Village of Wellington. They gave us a place to put the marker, they allow us to have our ceremony there and they maintain it — and the beautiful landscaping around it.”

It was incoming President Maria Wolfe who led the marker charge.

“Being the daughter of a World War II and Korean War veteran, and spouse of a Vietnam veteran, honoring our servicemembers is very important to me,” she said. “When I found out that the National Garden Clubs had this program and the village didn’t have even one marker, I took it upon myself to do it. The Blue Star marker was dedicated on Veterans Day 2019.”

Wolfe spoke at the ceremony when the marker was unveiled. “We had 50 club members in the parade — everybody was just so excited to be a part of it and support it,” she said. “And now, as the pandemic slowly recedes, we felt like it was time to put in the Gold Star marker, and we’d like to invite all Gold Star families to attend the dedication, this time on Memorial Day.”

Twig Morris has been a member of the Wellington Garden Club for 15 years, joining just two years after she moved to Wellington.

“The club’s membership grew a lot after I joined. There were so many new communities opening up, and also the club was trying to get into as many local publications as possible,” Morris said. “We attracted new members during our garden tour and the plant sales we held at the Wellington Community Center. People bought plants and found out about the club.”

The Wellington Garden Club also began focusing more on the youth of the area, forming junior garden clubs and establishing a children’s community garden behind the Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club in Wellington together with the Young Professionals of Wellington. “We meet every Tuesday at 3 p.m. with the kids,” Seagrave said. “We weed, trim, cut, plant — but mainly it’s the education, from planting the seed to reaping the harvest. A lot of these kids think that fruits and vegetables only come from Publix.”

Teaching local gardening is a key focus of the club today.

“We want our youth to learn about gardening, to love gardening and to respect the environment,” Morris said. “Our scholarship committee does a lot of fundraising. We donate $5,000 in scholarships to local students pursuing a degree in environmental sciences. We send kids to the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs’ SEEK [Save the Earth’s Environment through Knowledge] summer camp. We sponsored one young man for two years, and he was so inspired by the program that he went on to Duke University to study environmental law. That makes us proud.”

The club also provides enough funding to send seven to nine campers to Wekiva Youth Camp, a sleepaway camp near Apopka that is sponsored by the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs and is certified by the American Camping Association.

And although club bylaws prohibit political activity, e-mail blasts do go out informing members about meetings they may choose to attend as interested citizens. A recent Village of Wellington meeting where the future of a wetlands preserve was on the agenda was one such example.

“We are about education in the environmental and ecological areas,” Seagrave said. “As president, I want to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the club in 2021 and then, in 2022, the 40th anniversary of our joining the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs.”

People and plants — both are important to Wellington Garden Club members. “A lot of club presidents aren’t as lucky as I am,” Wolfe said. “They have so much paperwork to do. My therapy is to get in there and get my hands dirty — plop things in the ground and watch them grow.”

Learn more about the club at www.wellingtongardenclub.org.

Show Jumper Catherine Tyree Perseveres To Develop A Thriving New Business

From the moment her mother sat her in the saddle, Catherine Tyree knew that her love for horses was larger than life. Her early success as a junior rider and young athlete at the top of the sport would lead to milestones such as representing the United States show jumping team at just 23 years old, an accomplishment only a small handful of people have the honor of reaching in their lifetime. What she did not realize, however, is that her love of the sport would evolve into a career and business that would both challenge and fulfill her more than ever before.

Under the tutelage of John Brennan and Missy Clark of North Run as a junior, Tyree made the switch to professional status at age 26. She spent one year working at North Run in order to gain more experience in the operations and logistics of running a competitive show barn.

In November 2019, Tyree made the decision to go out on her own, creating her own business, Catherine Tyree LLC, and settled in the heart of the Wellington community.

“My parents have always been incredibly supportive of my passion and dream of being in the sport, and they were very encouraging when I started thinking about starting my own business,” Tyree recalled. “My trainers gave me a wealth of knowledge and confidence in myself, which helped me believe that I could go out on my own. Both John and Missy have given me all the tools I needed to do the job right, and they have been incredibly supportive along the way, which I am very thankful for.”

But establishing the new business would not come without its fair share of challenges.

As Tyree began work to organize the foundation of the company and tackle the common challenges that first-time business owners face, the COVID-19 pandemic put an immediate halt to horse shows around the world, instantly changing the landscape of the equestrian industry and forcing Tyree to quickly pivot her strategy.

“There are a lot of growing pains when you are first starting a business. It’s a little bit nerve-wracking to go out on your own, and COVID-19 only made things more complicated,” Tyree explained. “In some ways, it was perfect timing, because we were able to stay in Wellington for longer than usual. I was able to refine things and really get a hold on what I wanted to do and how I wanted things to be run. On the flip side, without showing so much, I found it to be difficult to continue to put myself out there as an athlete. Looking back on it though, it was a blessing to be able to really take the time and not feel pressured to hit the ground running.”

Through the trials and tribulations of the first year, Tyree faced adversity with grace and grit. She learned from each experience and opportunity that arose and used her growing knowledge to excel in her business. She found solace in her friends and family, and she continued to expand Catherine Tyree LLC with new staff members, while also acquiring up-and-coming horses, one of her favorite aspects of building a high-performance show jumping program.

“You need the right people around you who understand that getting started is the hardest part, with many bumps along the road,” Tyree said. “If you have people who are willing to stick by your side and help in whatever way they can, it makes it a lot easier. You also need a good support system with people you can lean on when things get tough. You need people cheering you on and reminding you that these struggles are something everyone goes through. I’ve been lucky to have the right people behind me to keep nudging me forward and giving me encouragement every step of the way.”

Now 27 years old, Tyree’s perseverance through new situations and difficulties during her first year of running a business has only made her into a better rider, businesswoman and equestrian. While her passion still lies in developing young, inexperienced horses, she is eager to expand her business model into training other athletes. Tyree looks forward to sharing her love for the horses and sport with the growing team beside her. She encourages those contemplating starting a new business to be persistent in what they want and to believe in themselves.

“Having confidence in yourself no matter the circumstance is key. It’s always hard, no matter what sector you’re in, to start your own business,” she said. “I tell myself that the people who are successful are the ones who stay dedicated to their career and never lose sight of what they really want. I think when it gets tough, you just have to hold your head down, keep going and know that you’ll come out on the other side.”

To learn more about Catherine Tyree and her equestrian business, follow her on social media or visit www.catherinetyreellc.com.