It was about this time last year that Liz Somerville and I went for a walk. There was nothing unusual about that, except the New Year had sparked the grey matter into action, and as we walked our dogs we chatted about our thoughts for 2022
Liz and I have a long history of brainstorming business ideas. Having worked together for many years we were no strangers to bouncing thoughts and working them up, although previously this had been all veterinary focussed.
As she chatted about an idea based around membership for the veterinary industry I listened and absorbed. Her idea was very similar to an idea that Lou had voiced to me 12 months previously – but for horse riders, not vets.
Lou had approached me several times about the idea of taking Equiteam Confidence Camps online, and I loved the concept, but with four jobs, a family life, camps and my own horse it was impossible to see how we could actually logistically make it work.
Then the penny dropped… what if we combined ideas and the three of us went into business together?
My brain was running wild as Liz’s excitement grew, so I picked up the phone to Lou who sounded a little surprised, but probably relieved that eventually I was also on her page!
An ambitious deadline
We had several Zoom meetings as we developed and bounced our ideas, and the concept grew arms and legs.
In our true ambitious style our deadline was tight – we had a lot to give but a lot to learn and we wanted it all yesterday! We gave ourselves a launch date and set to work.
In a matter of a couple of months we developed and wrote an entire membership website, filmed and re-filmed lots of content, wrote blogs, created downloads and articles and only paused briefly as we asked 10 people to trial and feedback on our new business baby.
The feedback was constructive but brilliant and although there was so much to do behind the scenes, EquiTeam was born.
and then we realised - that was the easy part!
The weekly content is more time consuming than any of us imagined, so very early on I made the somewhat financially crazy decision to quit one of my jobs, a role I’d held proudly at the British Grooms Association for 14 years.
I was passionate about giving something back to the industry and I loved my job – but I knew that juggling an employed position with the new EquiTeam commitments was an unsustainable way forwards – and maybe we could give something back to another sector in the industry.
Liz and Lou were also juggling their own work commitments as well as fulfilling the EquiTeam dream and we are not going to lie – at times it has been tricky, but wow – it’s worth every minute for the incredible response we have had.

Humbling feedback
The comments, reviews and even a video that we have received with feedback about EquiTeam has been quite simply humbling. It is a regular reminder about why we are busting our guts and provides the reassurance that people want from the platform.
EquiTeam is so much bigger than the content we create – it centres around the EquiTeam Connected Facebook group and is a platform that brings people together and allows them to learn, to draw of experiences, to share ups and downs and most importantly be surrounded by an amazing group of people who all have each other backs.
I’m a great believer that the only time you should look back is to see how far you have come and as we head into 2023 I am so proud of what we have achieved in the last 12 months – none of which could have been done without you; our fabulous members and readers.
So from the bottom of our hearts – thank you for believing in us and being part of something really special.
We have a great list of content to share with you over the next 12 months, and we are looking forward to welcoming more riders to the EquiTeam community to share, grow, inspire and motivate each other.
Liz x