Meet Taylor Hall: The Tried Equestrian Owner/Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor Hall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When I started The Tried Equestrian, most people thought it was “too risky” – there was no way selling used items for a niche industry could make any money as compared to the “safe” job I had that paid well. I have always been okay with risk because I’m okay with failing. I trust myself to be creative, pivot or change what we were doing anytime there are signs something isn’t working. And we have pivoted MANY times!

I’ve also look at minimizing risk by making sure we are offering a unique product/service that there is a definite need for. Consignment is not a new idea so it’s in the details how we truly separate ourselves to carve out our space and make our consignment services and selling platform better than anyone else in our industry.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
As a consignment shop, we have two sides to our business and two very clear focuses : giving the consignor an extremely reliable and transparent selling experience and the buyer an easy and trusted shopping experience that focuses on desired high quality products.

Many consignment shops I had seen sold through unorganized platforms online like eBay or had brick and mortar stores that were filled with dated and dirty items. The payouts to their sellers weren’t always clear and the communication with the consignor was poor at best. I felt like it was the perfect opportunity for us to rise to the top by addressing each of the issues head on with a more modern online approach.

Getting to this point has definitely had it’s fair share of high’s and low’s. I would say the hardest for me to learn personally has been the financial side. My undergrad is in Animal Science (I had planned to go to vet school!) and I have always thought of my self as good at numbers and more analytical. Through starting this company though I have found I’m actually more creative. It’s so easy to have great ideas on marketing, branding, adding plug-ins and apps to the website but each of those really adds up cost wise and I really have tried to have zero debt against the business from the start. As we continue to grow, I’m still learning to manage our cash flow and working to focus our spend where we see the most bang for our buck!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
1. Newhall Press Room – order a cheese board and a bottle of wine and just hang out and chat. The downtown Newhall area has become such a cute spot with a great vibe to grab dinner.

2. Sugar Fish – great sushi!

3. Edelweiss Farms – Where I ride and have my horse! A beautiful private barn out in Moorepark

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give a huge shout out to my friend and first hire ever, Karina Harris! She no longer works at The Tried Equestrian but her creative genius in branding and marketing helped us really stand out and gave us that initial leg up!

Website: www.triedequestrian.com

Instagram: @triedequestrian

Facebook: @thetriedequestrian

Image Credits
Some of the photos were taken by our photographer, Kristin Lee Photography. Those are the photo of the girl (me, Taylor, actually) riding the white horse and also of me standing at my desk with tall boots. Everything else was photographed either by me or just as a casual picture.