Image by Sophie Callahan
Well, this is a podcast and a half! Actually, it’s a two parter with the second part coming in two weeks time – simply because there was so much in the Olivia Towers interview that I wanted to split it up so you’d get to appreciate it all!
For this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast, I caught up with Olivia Towers. Olivia is a dressage rider based over in Ledbury, but she’s SO much more than that. Olivia is a coach, an entrepreneur, a personal brand, and has spent a HUGE amount of time on energy on her mindset. Mindset and empowering people to live better lives (for them) is something that Olivia is hugely passionate about – if you follow her on social media and watch her vlogs, you’ll see this in her every post. So when I got the chance to pop over to Olivia’s gorgeous home and have a chat about everything equestrian and mindset related, I jumped at the chance.
From meltdown to mindset shift with Olivia Towers
In this episode, we chat about so much, from a meltdown at the Regionals to a huge mindset shift, how she started her career as a dressage rider to self development and so much more. As I said at the beginning (and in the podcast!), this is a two parter. The second part will come in two weeks time… so keep your eyes peeled for that.
In this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast I talk to Olivia Towers about, well, everything! In this episode, you will hear…
- How Olivia got into horses and, ultimately dressage. We talk about why she likes dressage and how it works with her perfectionist nature. We also talk about how she transitioned from school into full time horses and how she navigated that.
- The way that Olivia learnt her trade on a professional yard for two years, but then came home and started working with and training her own horses from there. We talk about how she started from scratch with her current team of horses and bought them young and brought them on. Initially, Olivia felt that she wasn’t completely capable of training them and found it a huge struggle. The older horses she has now are the first wave of initial youngsters that she had. She also talks about how she finds the young horses much easier now and they’re progressing so much quicker.
- We talk about Wilfred, the horse Olivia won the Premier League on, and the journey that they’ve had. She also talks about how she feels he might have progressed much quicker with a different rider.
- How three years ago, Olivia went to the Regionals and had qualified for eight classes and felt she’d get at least one to the Nationals. The middle Regional warm up turned into a real turning point in Olivia’s journey. And by the time the third and final Regional came around, Olivia’s mum had said that she wasn’t to compete anymore.
- How a chance scrolling on social media allowed Olivia to connect with a friend, and how this gave her the insight to change her mindset. Olivia realised she’d been negative for the whole of her life to that point, and believed it was a character trait up from that point. She took to Google, with the guidance of her friend, and started to learn about self belief and how to change her mindset through reading, learning and watching videos.
- How Olivia changed everything when she started to make these changes – her friends circle changed, her love life got flipped on its head, her riding went through a turmoil and her parents thought she was going completely bonkers.
- We talk about how Olivia found God, and how she uses her faith to help guide her when she’s having challenging times.
- We talk about how Olivia grew her social media following and how it grew slowly and organically. We talk about the value of growing a social media following properly, so she would get to know people as her following built. From replying to DMs to more. We also talk about the benefits of growing a following in this way and how this allows Olivia to connect better with her followings.
- How Olivia became a vlogger and YouTuber, and how she really didn’t want to be pigeon-holed into being ‘just’ a horsey person. She really wanted to break the stereotype through the social media.
- About how Olivia’s following has responded to her religious beliefs. We discuss that it’s one of those subjects people don’t talk about, but the reason Olivia decided to share her belief in Christianity was because she wanted to share how much it had helped her.
- The difference between school based Christianity and how Olivia sees it and the feedback she gets from her younger following.
- How Olivia has made minor adjustments in how she views behaviour from others. Having this skill means that when she encounters negativity she doesn’t take it personally.
You can find out more about Olivia Towers and Olivia Towers Dressage by following the links below… and don’t forget to come back for part two in two weeks time…
