Photographed by: Kathy Cline Photography
What led you to start Equestrian Stylist?
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT with Ashley Cline Cagle Equestrian Stylist, Founder/Publisher
INNOLENEWS
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I grew up riding and competing in the hunter/jumper equestrian sports and rode all over the nation. I won numerous national championships with many different ponies and horses over the years, so horses have been a passion of mine since a little girl. The fashion sense came from a young age when I still remember putting my show coat and riding boots on in the early mornings on the weekends for the horse shows. I couldn’t wait to “dress up” for the competitions and make sure my pony was ready for the show ring. I would draw horses and fashion illustrations in high school in my notebooks during history and math class (the boring ones, of course!) Fast forward to college and I still remember sitting in Mr. Mac’s office when we were about to embark on our internship and he said to me, “Ashley, I know how you want to go into the corporate retail world, but I also see you being an Equestrian Stylist one day, an entrepreneur… Think about that…” I graduated during the downfall of the economy in 2009, and many internships and jobs were dropped. I ended up doing a visual merchandising internship in Palm Beach for Urban Outfitters and then went back to school for my MBA in Entrepreneurship while I worked as a part-time key holder manager for Lilly Pulitzer in Boca Raton. I learned that I wanted a job for myself that would be unaffected by the economy. I knew that I wanted to combine my love for horses and fashion and share it digitally. I still remember that time when I was searching GoDaddy for domain names and just by chance “equestrianstylist.com” was available! I knew it was meant to be. It’s been an exciting journey ever since! NOMADIC
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