In this episode of Founders Future, with host Mishal Saeed, we sit down with Tracey Evans, a former VP of Marketing at American Express who left the corporate world after 20 years to pursue her passion for horses and founded Dreamwinds Equine Assisted Learning. Tracey shares her unconventional journey from leading high-stakes marketing teams to pioneering a unique approach to leadership development through equine-assisted learning (EAL). She discusses how her realization that horses could serve as unbiased mirrors for human behavior led her to create programs that bridge the gap between traditional corporate training and authentic, experiential growth. Tracey explains how Dreamwinds’ corporate team-building and facilitator certification programs help participants reveal blind spots in communication, emotional intelligence, and team dynamics—often missed by conventional methods—by working directly with horses in ground-based, non-riding activities that emphasize clarity, trust, and nonverbal cues.

Tracey also delves into the challenges of scaling a niche business, from navigating unpredictable sales cycles in corporate training to leveraging targeted Facebook ads for her EAL certification programs. She emphasizes the importance of niching down with the mantra "choose what you love, not just what’s profitable," and shares her vision for 2025: expanding specialized retreats like Ignite Her Leadership and increasing broader awareness of EAL’s proven ROI, noting that her programs have achieved 100% top-box satisfaction rates. For aspiring entrepreneurs, she offers profound advice: "Your passion will fuel you through the ‘no’s’—it’s the only way to build something sustainable".