Sparkle Ridge * Podcast

A quick Blog * Podcast about Anita becoming a Super-clothier!

In this episode we will talk about: Anita’s Experience in Apparel Design and Production. After a couple years studying at Southwest Minnesota State University she needed a change. What was she going to do with her life?

MOM FOUND IT!

Apparel Design at UW-STOUT. “It seemed easy” … it was not easy. Anita worked and studied full-time for 5 years and got her Bachelor’s Degree in ‘05 from UW STOUT in apparel design and development. Her experience at stout was mostly corporate-based teaching. She had corporate interviews at a number of companies including abercrombie, target, etc. but really had no desire to work for a big company. Her entrepreneurial spirit wanted her to travel & own her own company.

AFTER SCHOOL, BACK TO WORK

She had an incredible 3-month apparel internship in Florence, Italy after graduation where she did hand sketching menswear designs. Upon her return it was back to work. Her education and internship experience lended her to work in the apparel industry where she was fortunate enough to have

worked at multiple Minnesota-based apparel production companies.

SHE WORKED LOTS OF JOBS GETTING PRODUCTION EXPERIENCES

WSI - athlete-based, active performance sportswear, baseball, hockey, football

-also cutting, sewing, marketing, expos, cutting, wear a lot of hats

hands-on production, sewing, cutting, problem solving

The Lineup - Custom Dance Costumes

-assistant to production operations manager, quality control,

-cutting fringe

-cheerleading, rhinestone, dance, figure skating

Whether it was the 9-5, Freelancing or putting together a fashion show...

SHE KEPT ON WORKING!

She worked many different jobs, some directly pertinent, some not. Either way, Anita soon found herself managing a fitness club. Through her networking she realized there was a need in a niche industry making sparkling suits for fitness competitors and the industry was in need of her help.

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS...SHE ANSWERS!

Her background and experience in apparel design and production gave her confidence to start her own successful fitness apparel business. Her company went from making a few suits to over 600 custom bikinis and figure suits in a year and has been going strong for over a decade.

NICHE MARKET COMPANIES ROCK!

As she reflects on her career up to this point it starts to become clear. It has to be her, she is the only one who can do this, She has been perfectly prepared and groomed for HER role in THIS company. For her entire adult working career she has been getting ready for Sparkle Ridge. No one else has had the same background, knowlege, experience, skill sets, tools & connections like she does!

The dreams keep getting bigger and bigger.

“It didn’t happen overnight”. Don’t give up, keep working on your dreams both inside & out of the ring.

We want you to have fun, be part of our journey & create your own.

Listen to our Podcast & FOLLOW OUR FEED for more inspiring posts about winning in life and in the arena!

Checkout our Facebook Page, for our latest products, offers and promotions, follow our Instagram Page to see what we’re working on behind the scenes, and you can pin us on Pintrest to see exactly what we are talking about. Watch us on Youtube. #mysparkleridge

Comment below to let us know your thoughts!

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-Anita Sowle

​

P.O. Box 18

Dayton, MN 55327

Website: www.sparkleridge.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (612) 615-9845

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In the last episode, we talked about: How we’re making our dreams come true & how you can to.

START HERE:

Know what you want. You have to have a dream. It can be ANYTHING! Consider the lifestyle that goes along with your dream. What kind of life do you want to live? Be receptive to your inner desires, passions & callings LISTEN TO YOUR INNER-SELF. I could feel “the horses calling” me back to my childhood passion. Now find yours!

BE OPEN & RECEPTIVE to OPPORTUNITY.

My opportunity was stumbling across the famous Stacy Westfall bridleless ride video on youtube. This video changed everything for me. It changed the way I felt about showing horses and made me want to look for a special type of horse. More on that in another Blog! I went to Stacy’s website & noticed that she was leading an Equestrian Career Conference in November of 2017. I wanted to go...badly. I knew it needed to happen so I asked my husband Riley. He agreed that would be a fun way to spend our anniversary weekend and we reserved our spot.

ATTEND CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, EVENTS, etc.

This was a game changer for us. We went with no horse, no plans, no nothing. Just receptive to the feel of the pull...the horses and the industry were calling. We had no idea what to expect, I just knew we had to go. And we did. Riley shut down his practice and we took off on a 15 hour road trip to Miracle Mountain Ranch in Pennsylvania to go meet Stacy Westfall!

MEET EXPERTS in your field are of interest.

There we also met many other top industry professionals including a her husband and famous trainer Jesse Westfall, Veterinarian - Sonny Corley, a Ferrier/Rach Manager - Matt Smith, a College Professor/Breeder Jo-Anne Young, Business professional - Molly Wagner, a Judge and “Bella Run Equine” Rescue owner - Rachel Bendler. We learned so much and had such a great time with amazing people!

In the Western Performance Breakout Session we talked about:

Your Why - for me it was the horses & freedom of self-employment, doing what I love!

Our skills & what we have to offer - design & apparel production (more on this in the next Blog!)

What sets you apart from your competitors - here is where we had some more thinking to do.

Once our passion and dreams (our WHY) were clear, we realized that my talents, skills and experience in making sparking sportswear would be key. They helped us figure out that our direction would be more product than service-based and agreed that there was a hole in the industry for western show clothes. This was just the encouragement we needed to feel confident in getting started.

GET STARTED

We decided it would be best to start our own clothing brand. The drive home was filled with ideas; What do we call it? How do we make it work in a “new to us” industry? The long drive was just what we needed to hash out so many details and lay the groundwork and planning for our fun new family business. We will more about having a PLAN & SETTING GOALS in a future episode.

Moral of the story is: Know what you want, be receptive (listen closely) to opportunity, get out there and meet the experts. Talk to them, get their feedback and advice. Consider your WHY & what you have to offer, develop your skills & set yourself apart from the competition!

Listen to our Podcast & FOLLOW OUR FEED for more inspiring posts about winning in life and in the arena!

Checkout our Facebook Page, for our latest products, offers and promotions, follow our Instagram Page to see what we’re working on behind the scenes, and you can pin us on Pintrest to see exactly what we are talking about.

Comment below to let us know your thoughts!

**LIKE🐎COMMENT🇺🇸SHARE🎠**

-Anita Sowle

P.O. Box 18

Dayton, MN 55327

Website: www.sparkleridge.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (612) 615-9845

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Make your dreams come true!

The story of how Sparkle Ridge came to fruition:

After becoming an adult, settling down & having kids I felt myself being drawn back to a childhood PASSION...horses. PASSION is part of the equation. You have to find something about which you are passionate. This is what drives you...I grew up on a farm & my love for horses was really driving me to do something.

I began kicking around ideas on how I could get back into horses without burdening my family with this expensive hobby. If you want something bad enough, you FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. I wanted to find a way to make money to support my hobby and at the same time offer something valuable back to the equestrian industry.

I knew I’d have to rely on my talent, skills & experience in order to make this dream happen. For years I’ve owned and operated an successful physique competition apparel company Perfect Fit Gear making sparking outfits for bodybuilding competitors. My husband insists that I’m quite TALENTED in style, colors, coordination and design. And I know many years of training & experience have helped me to develop lots of SKILLS in apparel production. He also happens to be quite good at lots of other things that help keep our family business going strong.

It made perfect sense for our path to include apparel and sparkles and horses, the things I’m good at & things I love. Remember, everyone has a different path and your won’t look like ours. You have to find your own way. Not everyone is an entrepreneur, everyone has different dreams, but one thing remains true:

If you want something in life, get after it, find a way to make it happen. Be smart about it.

It’s hard to go wrong when you add PASSION + TALENT + SKILL. This formula will help get you to your dreams, but not without getting out there and doing it...MAKE IT HAPPEN. Shoot for the stars, grab ahold of your dreams and go for them with everything you have. Enjoy the ride. FOLLOW OUR FEED for more inspiring posts about winning in life and in the arena!

Comment below to let us know your thoughts!

*** LIKE ✔ COMMENT ✔ SHARE ✔ ***

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I’m a farm kid who grew up to be a fashion designer & owner of Sparkle Ridge making western show clothes.

Our blog * podcast will be sharing gems about western pleasure showing and how to WIN & sparkle.

We will create one brand new post dedicated to each sparkle rider who comments & participates in this very first post. Our topics will cover the latest in western pleasure fashion & styles, creating an outfit or look, the beautification process, preparing for show day, shopping for show day, hair & makeup, posture & presentation, cultivating a winning mindset, overcoming obstacles & challenges, and so much more!

We will do product reviews, bring in expert guests and talk about new products & offers that we have going on our Facebook Page, we’ll show you on our Instagram Page what we’re working on behind the scenes, and you can pin us on Pintrest to see exactly what we are talking about.

Please actively participate in this blog! COMMENT, Ask Questions, I am here to help answer any questions, give pointers, tips, offer suggestions, you name it! I’d love to hear from you & your feedback will always be heard and appreciated. So comment below & let’s get this thing started!

-Anita Sowle

P.O. Box 18

Dayton, MN 55327

Website: www.sparkleridge.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (612) 615-9845

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