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Winning medals, OBEs and ableism with Natasha Baker OBE

Natasha Baker OBE

Image by Jo Hansford

Natasha Baker OBE is well known for her riding prowess, having brought home medals on her debut appearance at any Paralympics in London 2012, something added to at Rio and Tokyo. But do you know how Natasha started riding? How her attitude and focus allowed her to get to where she is today? Or why she wouldn’t hold Sir Lee Pearson’s medal(!)?

Winning medals, OBEs and ableism with Natasha Baker OBE

 

On this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast, Natasha shares her journey from where her passion with horses started to going down the centre line in London. We also talk about sponsors and support, social media, ableism and disability, and Natasha shares some really great insight and tips around this, based on experiences she’s had.

This is an incredibly uplifting listen- Natasha’s bubbly personality and enthusiasm is infectious. Enjoy!

I’ve followed Natasha’s journey for a long time, and it was a complete joy to have her on the podcast talking all things horse. She’s a true inspiration and her honesty and passion for dressage and everything she does comes over so well on this podcast and on her social media and in other interviews she does. I would strong recommend you give Natasha a follow in all the places. I’ve added her website, Instagram and Facebook links below to make it easy for you to follow her and her journey. And if you want to look at Natasha’s stunning wedding pics (which we walked about on the podcast too), you can have a look at Natasha and Marc’s pics on Hello’s website!

Find out more about Natasha on…

Instagram

Facebook

On the Natasha Baker OBE website

Stunning image used with permission of Jo Hansford Photography.

P.S – If you want to find out more about why riders need to use social media, you might want to have a listen to this podcast here. Enjoy!

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How to pick the social media platforms for you

How to pick the social media platforms for you

Ever wondered how to pick the social media platforms for you and your business? It can be incredibly overwhelming to work out where you should be on social media. There’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Clubhouse and more emerging all the time. But where should you start? How can you decide? That’s what we’re talking about today.

How to pick the social media platforms for you


On this episode, I go through how to assess the platforms, think about your audience, work through content styles, and compare these elements and more to create an order for where you need to focus.

When you feel you should be everywhere (or maybe you are!), it can have a negative impact on you being able to make a real impression anywhere. It’s important to grow, look at new markets and grow your social media presence, but if you’re so overwhelmed you don’t know where to start and aren’t dedicating enough time to anywhere to give you the maximum chance of success, you need to revisit and realign your strategy. And this podcast should help.

All at sea with social media?

Fear not – if you’d like some extra help with social media, promoting your brand and growing your business in general, then make sure you check out the Small & Supercharged Mastermind Group. This amazing membership group brings together the most brilliant group of small business superstars dedicated to growing their business and thriving. Want to find out more? Find out all about Small & Supercharged Mastermind here.

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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All about Bolesworth with Nina Barbour

nina barbour bolesworth

The Dodson & Horrell Bolesworth International Horse Show is just two weeks away, so what better time to catch up with Nina Barbour to talk about all things Bolesworth.

All about Bolesworth with Nina Barbour

Nina shares how Bolesworth came to be, from her grandfather’s passion for dairy farming through to the International showjumping spectacular that is fast approaching. Nina also talks about her passion for showjumping and how being a competitor herself helps her keep her finger on the pulse, the riders competing, the attractions available to ensure that Bolesworth provides something for all the family, and so much more.

We also chat about safety- something that is very close to Nina’s heart and a cause she’s passionate to champion to help keep grooms and riders a whole lot safer. We speak about how BETA’s Safety Hub is also part of this.

To find out more about Bolesworth and the Dodson & Horrell Bolesworth International Horse Show, see the website here. You can also keep up with what’s going on from the equestrian side of things at Bolesworth by following the dedicated equestrian Instagram and Facebook page.

 

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

 

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#SheMeansBusiness – Getting Creative: Build Your Brand

shemeansbusiness

As you may or may not know, I’m a #SheMeansBusiness Accredited Trainer. This is a programme run by Meta and powered by Enterprise Nation in the UK and Ireland, and I’m delighted to be able to share this training as a podcast to help you get more creative and build your brand through Facebook, Instagram… and beyond!

#SheMeansBusiness – Getting Creative: Build Your Brand

On this podcast, I’m going to share tips and tricks around building your brand through social media with lots of branding points to help your brand identity stay as cohesive online as it is offline. We’ll also look at your brand’s values, its purpose, and the connection between customer, creative and copy.

To round off, we’ll look at advertising vs. organic content alongside the mix of engaging, exciting and educational posts it’s good for a brand to share across its social media platforms.

For more information on #SheMeansBusiness campaign, see https://www.enterprisenation.com/campaigns/she-means-business/

If you want to find out more about Enterprise Nation and the free training available from #SheMeansBusiness and beyond, head over to the Enterprise Nation website here, and/or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

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Riding the highs and lows of social media with Ray the Goth

Ray The Goth

Rachael aka Ray the Goth has grown a sizeable social media following on both Instagram (22.7k) and YouTube (16.1k). Despite some amazing brand partnerships, opportunities and friendships, it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Ray, as she explains on this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast.

Riding the highs and lows of social media with Ray the Goth

Ray has had a tricky time on social media. She’s had numerous negative comments regarding her weight, her horse’s condition, and had World Horse Welfare called to her horse after some trolls took exception to her, and lots more too.

Needless to say the accusations were baseless, but it still left a very sour taste that meant Ray made some changes (such as location tags) to her content.

Ray shares the highs, the lows, the opportunities, and some great tips for people looking to grow a genuine, authentic following and find the right people for them.

You can find out lots more about Ray The Goth by following her on @raythegoth Instagram and subscribing over on her YouTube channel too.

 

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Why riders NEED social media

why riders need social media

I’m a *bit* passionate about why riders need social media. Talk about an understatement!

Why riders NEED social media

If you’re looking to grow a brand or a business in any sphere, in 2022, social media is an essential part of the marketing mix. And that applies to riders too.

With social media, you have access to billions of people, fans and followers, brands who might want to sponsor you, maybe even owners who would like to work with you and invest in you, TV opportunities… quite literally anything you could want. And yet, so many riders leave so much on the table here.

The days of sponsoring a rider based solely on results is fading fast (for most, it’s already long gone), but the good news is that riders have SO much at their fingertips that they can utilise with minimal effort and time (honestly), that they actually have more opportunities- whether that be for sponsorships, affiliations, owners and anything else- than ever before!

I find it incredibly frustrating to see so many riders leave so much on the table when it comes to their business. By utilising these free channels, not only could their business be more profitable, not only could their opportunities increase, but they could actually have a weight lifted off their shoulders when it comes to the financial side of their business, giving them more time to focus in the sport they’re passionate about.

In addition to this (and this a subject that is being covered in a future podcast!), in correct usage of social media is also a huge bugbear of mine. Flaunting the rules and breaking the law is all too common in our industry, and we need to get clued up to ensure we’re doing our best to do things correctly.

In this episode of the podcast, I share a few thoughts on all the above.

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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Confidence, community and lots of laughs with EquiTeam

Equiteam

Lou Gillings, Liz Daniels and Liz Somerville, aka EquiTeam, join me on today’s podcast to chat all about confidence, growing an online membership group for riders, in person events to extend the positive work the camps do, and how it all started (Lou got blamed!).

Confidence, community and lots of laughs with EquiTeam

The ladies chat through the idea behind the incredible brand that’s been created and how the in person camps started, but also how the positivity, fun and community built in person up in Scotland is now available online through the new EquiTeam online membership.

We share the highs and lows of the journey so far, and the amazing things that can be achieved when you have the right people around you. Which is something members of online community, and the ladies themselves, definitely have.

To find out more about Equiteam, you can see the website here.

Make sure you follow the ladies on social media too- the accounts are fun, inspiring and just a delight to consume!

Follow on Instagram

Like the page on Facebook

You can also listen with Equiteam by subscribing to and listening to the podcast here.

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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How to ask for testimonials

How to ask for testimonials

We all know that testimonials, reviews and endorsements are important to what we do – whether we’re a product based business, a service provider, or an influencer… but how do you ask for testimonials? Or more precisely, how do you ask for testimonials without feeling really uncomfortable? This podcast should help.


How to ask for testimonials

I know that asking people for endorsements or testimonials can feel really icky. Asking people to tell you to your face how amazing you are is never going to be easy, is it? But the thing is, we need to reframe this. Because that’s not exactly what we’re asking for.

It’s important to think about what we gain- as consumers or interested parties- from testimonials. It’s that extra information. It’s more than simply what a product or service does. It can both repel and attract people. But that’s what we want. We want testimonials to give people extra information to make informed decisions. It’s not arrogant or self centred to do this- it’s very much part of how everything works. It’s word of mouth in the written form. And that’s pretty important.

I do understand that it does feel weird asking for testimonials, but by rethinking it all, seeing the opportunities that present themselves to you and then capitalising on these in line with this, it’ll really help.

And, if you fancy a challenge today… why not try and get one testimonial? Just one. Reach out to someone you’ve worked with – it could be a customer, a brand, an influencer- anyone who’s worked with you- and explain that you’re working on your testimonials section and would love a few words from them.  Good luck!

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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Training dogs, people, llamas and pigs with Sue Williams from The Canine Centre

The Canine Centre Sue Williams

Sue Williams is an incredible animal trainer… not just a dog trainer, president of the Guide of Dog Trainers, a professional behaviour consultant, TV star and more, she’s also trained a record breaking llama and a display pig too!

Training dogs, people, llamas and pigs with Sue Williams from The Canine Centre

During covid, Sue started doing work online- something that she’d previously shied away from, but something that was the only option with restrictions. In addition to online consultations, Sue also developed an online training platform called Pawesome, which is an online training community for people wanting to train their dogs, help people teach their pet dogs those all important skills, and also provide a supportive community for all of us trying to train our dogs properly!

In addition to chatting about all of the above, Sue chats about some of her incredible training stories, the work she does, covid puppies, and so much more too.

Sue has been a huge help to me personally in finding our puppy Indy and is a real wealth of knowledge on all things dog. She’s incredible.

This is a great listen- funny, eye opening and incredibly interesting. Find it in all the normal places and enjoy!

To find Sue on social media and online, follow/like her account/check her and The Canine Centre out below.

Facebook

Instagram

The Canine Centre Website

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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What have I learnt from 200 Small & Supercharged podcast episodes?

Can you believe that it’s the 200th episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast?! Since it launched, it’s won an award, had close on 200k downloads, hosted a number of incredible guests telling amazing stories, and shared some tips, tricks and knowledge connected to promoting brands and businesses better, and I’ve loved every moment.

What have I learnt from 200 Small & Supercharged podcast episodes?

In this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast, I share some of the key things I’ve learnt some 200 episodes in. Some are good lessons, some are not so good lessons, but I can assure you that everything you hear is completely honest!

Podcasts are brilliant- I love the Small & Supercharged Podcast and the opportunities that it has provided for me and my guests, but they’re not easy to do. Well, easy is the wrong word. The process isn’t ‘hard’, but it’s a lot more difficult that just sitting down, chatting to your phone, and carrying on with your life.

From organising interviews (and sometimes being stood up!) to quiet environments to record. Edits that aren’t quite what you’d expected to quiet guests, recording a podcast can be challenging. Add on the extra pressure of recording a podcast a week, even when things get busy and you barely have time to think, and you can start to get a clearer idea of the work that goes into producing a weekly podcast.

But despite all the trials and tribulations. the Small & Supercharged Podcast has provided me with more than I could have imagined, and it’s allowed me to connect with so many fabulous people too.

Thank you to every one of you who listens, shares, messages, comments and supports the podcast week in week out. Your support means the world and I’m more grateful than you’d ever know.

Here’s to the next 200 🍾

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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