A Smart(Pak) Career

I am taking a break from our story to comment on a pretty cool company most of you have heard of: SmartPak.

Today was the infamous Career Day, and I heard from an array of professionals in all different lines of work. My unique predicament with careers is that I know what I want to do, but at the same time I don't. It has always been my dream to be a writer, but I am not the starving artist type. I realized long ago that I would need a "real" job to support me after college until my earnings from writing can financially support me. On that note, an English major is out of the question; I am not a teaching type (except maybe at the postsecondary level, but even so I can't afford to pay for a private school PhD right now), and other than teaching and writing, there isn't much else an English degree is good for. So my career search has long revolved around finding a job that I'm interested in doing until I can do what I simply love to do: write.

I've been waffling around through a large hub of possible jobs for the past year or so, and today, I discovered a choice I would probably never have considered on my own: marketing. There weren't many speakers with careers I was interested in (postsecondary education, neuroscience, performance psychology, diversity management), so I found myself hitting up all the business and mass comm speakers. After all, I've always been mildly interested in owning my own riding academy or boarding barn. I was also, once upon a time, considering a job in event planning. And then I found out the salary and ran for the hills.

But I found this marketing speaker of more value than I expected. I went to see her based on the suggestion of a friend of mine, and I realized halfway into her presentation that not only was this a job I wouldn't mind doing (hands on, creative, only four years of college needed, and the possibility of promotion and growth), but it was also very possible for me to tie a job in marketing to the equestrian world.

I read in What Color is Your Parachute? that you can take almost any job you can think of, any skills you have, and apply them to your passion or interests. If your passion is flight, but you can't be a pilot, you can contribute by designing seats for airplanes, getting a job planning flight schedules, working to create a greener plane fuel... Anything, really. By connecting the jobs you are capable of having to things you are passionate about doing, you are much more likely to find your job fulfilling. And for me, that means the possibility of connecting my career to the horse world.

It's my first thought when I consider a job: How can I apply this to horses or riders? I want to write; I can write about equestrians. I am interested in psychology; I can become a performance psychologist and help competitive riders. I may want to study and research neuroscience; as a researcher, I could use my findings to recommend safety regulations to horse show regulations. The application of a job to the horse world is not a must for me, but it is a huge perk. As I considered marketing, the thought came to my mind: I could work in the marketing department of Dover Saddlery or SmartPak.

So what did I do when I got home but check out big equine supplies companies and their marketing programs. I found a little blurb on the Dover website about interships, nothing on the Equestrian Collections or State Line Tack sites, but on the SmartPak website? Jackpot! Not only do they list their current job openings, but they also provide what qualifications those applying should have and the skills they will need: a useful tool for me to look into the future. Really, SmartPak sells you on working there. They've garnered tons of awards from national magazines, such as the Best Bosses/Winning Workplaces award and the Globe's 100 Best Places to Work (rare awards, really, for an equine company). And then I saw their benefits.

You may have also heard my concern about affording a horse in The Price of Owning a Horse. Well, SmartPak seems to share the same concern about their employees, and as a company, they take measures to ensure that those who want a horse can afford one. Forget the usual employee discount (although they have that, too), and say hello to the Active Riders Program. "Board a horse and ride regularly?" the company asks. "In exchange for monthly testing and using SmartPak products and reporting on the results, we’ll pay a percentage of your horse’s monthly board or lease." Now that's a perk! If only they offered it to non-employees willing to test out products! ^^

At any rate, the world of marketing is definitely a possibility for me, and the equine world can make that job worthwhile. Will you being seeing me at SmartPak a few years from now? You never, folks. You never know.