Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back.
This is Julie Barron, host ofthe 7 Figure Builder Show, and
I'm here today with my friendNatalia Graf-Anders.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey, Natalia Hi,
thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I am as well.
Today's going to be a fun show.
You are the CEO of SyncEquestrian, so we get to go into
the equestrian world, which isnear and dear to my heart.
Tell us a little bit about yourbusiness.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
What do you do?
Art?
So tell us a little bit aboutyour business.
What do you do?
Absolutely so.
Sync Equestrian is an apparelbrand for equestrians, so I like
to think of us like theLululemon of equestrian apparel.
We really came in, you know,four years ago and we changed
the industry when it came to fitcomfort, style and we just
changed it all up for customers,which is why I think, you know
(00:44):
a brand ended up being a hugesuccess.
We're also one of the fewbrands who strive to show all
body types, all ages, alldisciplines, because, you know,
in our sport there's always been, like, one protocol of what a
rider is supposed to look like,and we wanted to come in and
really change that so womendon't put so much pressure on
(01:04):
themselves to like, oh, I haveto look like this or, oh, my
gosh, like I'm over 40, no onecares about me anymore.
You know, like society tells usall of these things.
So I took it as a really bigresponsibility to come in and
showcase, you know, all womenbecause, like, we're so powerful
and we're so amazing and allwomen should be celebrated, no
(01:25):
matter what age or size orriding discipline.
Like, if you love horses, syncis for you, you know, and yeah,
so that's how the brand cameabout and it's just been growing
into also like an empowermentmovement for women, you know.
So everything we do is reallyto make women feel good, and it
started with just kind ofhitting pain points that a lot
(01:48):
of women had in riding clothesand making them cuter too and
more comfortable, but then itjust ended up growing into the
empowerment piece, because Istarted receiving so many emails
from customers just telling mehow amazing they feel, you know,
wearing sync and how confidentthey feel and how beautiful they
feel and they never had thatbefore.
(02:09):
So then I was like, okay, it'sour responsibility to really
keep going with this and breakthe barriers within the industry
and within society on what awoman should be like.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
I love that and
that's it's so true and so
important and just yeah, awesome.
And I'm a horse girl as well,so I can greatly appreciate what
you do in the world that you'rein, so I think it's pretty
amazing.
But can you tell us a bit aboutyour journey, you know, with
your business?
Like, what did that look likefor you?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah.
So it was definitely a journeywe launched right around COVID
and I think that helped in aweird way because no one was
going to physical stores anymore.
So we really took off as soonas we launched.
And then it's been four yearsnow and we just keep growing.
I think our biggest year waslast year and this year is going
to be a huge year as well, evenfor X-ing what we did last year
(03:04):
so far.
So I'm, you know, just reallygrateful and I do business very
differently than most people.
So I don't believe in hustletill you fall apart.
You know that whole mentalitythat society tells us.
I work with energy and I knowthis is going to sound a little
bit like out there for a lot ofpeople, but and I don't like
(03:25):
using the word manifestingbecause I think it's been thrown
around in the wrong context andmanifestation is really very
science-based, when youunderstand, it's really just
about rewiring your subconsciousbeliefs.
So I'm really really heavy intoworking on my subconscious
beliefs on a daily basis andI've seen my business just keep
(03:45):
on growing the more I get intothis aspect.
Right, so every morning, like Idon't want to sound like that
CEO, but I do meditate everymorning.
You know I take at least anhour every morning to myself to
get my mind right, before I evenjump into anything business
related.
Because, as humans you know,like we can have our nervous
system switched on all the time,like we're no longer being
(04:08):
chased by lions but sitting intraffic, for example, our
nervous system gets turned onlike we're being chased by a
lion, but back in the day itwill go back.
It will turn back off after thechase was over.
But in today's life, like wehave so many distractions
constantly pinging at us afterthe chase was over.
But in today's life, like wehave so many distractions
constantly pinging at us, ournervous system is constantly
turned on, unless we consciouslymake a choice to come back and
(04:32):
to turn it off.
And the decisions you make whenyour nervous system is turned
off are so much more powerfulbecause they're more in
alignment with you and where youwant to go, whereas if your
nervous system is turned on,you're, like you know, in a fear
state, as like with our horses,for example, I always want to
have my horse, or I've beenteaching him how to be in a
(04:52):
parasympathetic state instead ofhaving his nervous system
turned on, because then you'redoing everything through tension
and resistance and nothing isflowing.
So once I understood how totake control of that and how to
really control my thoughts andmy emotions every single day, no
matter what was going on on theoutside, my business just
(05:12):
completely took off.
Like my numbers were justinsane.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, and I think
that's oh, go ahead, finish your
thought.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I was going to say,
and I saw that correlation the
more I got into that work, themore my business grew, and it
wasn't necessarily because I wasdoing more physical work.
In fact, I do less physicalwork now.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
So absolutely, and I
think it's really cool that you
take that perspective, whichapplies in horsemanship right,
like the way your mindset is,the way you walk into, you know
coming to be with your horse,and for those people that don't,
that aren't into the horseworld, like there's a very deep
connection between the rider andthe horse.
They sense your energy, theycan sense where your mindset is,
(05:53):
they can sense when you'redistracted.
And you know my background is,I did, I've done a lot of
liberty work with my horse and Iabsolutely love it.
So I can, I can you know, tellthat that's so I can.
I can you know tell that that'sthat's your mindset, which I
think is really awesome.
Which Liberty work, for thosethat don't know again, we don't
typically go down the horsepathway.
So I'm excited that we are today.
(06:13):
It's being able to work withyour horse without force,
basically, right Like being ableto have them just listen to
what you're doing and listen towhat you're telling them through
different movements, thingsthat you've trained them, and
just being very in sync withyour animal.
And I see that you've takenthose same principles and,
frankly, applied them into yourbusiness.
Right Like the more you'represent, the more you put
yourself first, the more youfocus on your mindset and and we
(06:36):
talk a lot about mindset onthis show but this is a
different, a different way ofdoing that.
Right Like it's being very intuned with with your energy,
your thoughts, first puttingyourself first and then getting
in the right state of mind andthen being able to grow your
business because of that.
And yeah, I'm curious what?
What is the correlation thatyou see there?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Oh, absolutely Like
if it weren't for my horse, I
wouldn't have this business.
I mean, my horse turned me intowho I am today from every
single aspect, aspect, and wehave a very close relationship.
Um, and I do everything like.
The way I train him iscompletely different than what
you see being taught um, and I,my horse teaches me.
(07:16):
I'm not his trainer, he is mytrainer, um, and that's another
thing with with the brand, youknow the partnerships and
collaborations I do withtrainers and riders.
It's all about mostly the peoplewho are coming in and changing
the way we also train horses andwork with horses, because I'm
(07:36):
seeing such a huge shift and Ido believe my purpose is to
always put the horse first, likewe can have a big rider, and if
I don't think they'repracticing horsemanship the way
I would, I will not sponsor them.
I will always put our horsesfirst and you know we even the
charities we give to all abouthelping abuse donkeys and horses
(07:59):
and it's just I wouldn't behere without my horse took me
from being extremely like,insecure and shy and like not
trusting myself to now I've hadhim for five years now to just
being like a CEO, being veryconfident, just if you would
have seen me five years ago andyou see me now, your mind would
just be because we did that,though, you know and I owe my
(08:22):
entire business to him our logois him.
That's his picture in the back.
He's on every like.
That's with me and, spiritually, like, I'm so connected to the
herd and, yeah, I wouldn't behere without them.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I love that, and
could you tell us a bit about
your own transformation, likeyou kind of touched on it, but
what did that look like for youand and how has that, you know,
contributed to your life?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So I went from.
I've had like I've lived 20different lifetimes in this one
life, so I'd make it as quick aspossible.
But I went from like I lived inNew York for 12 years.
I was a professional model,everything was glamorized and
from the outside you would thinkI was really happy, but I was
miserable.
So I quit that long story shortand I moved back here to the
(09:05):
northern Virginia DC area and Ithought, okay, well, that was
fun, but I was so unhappy.
What should I do next?
And I thought doing thecorporate life you know was
accepted by society.
It's like okay, get asix-figure salary, do the rat
race, do all of that.
I did that for two years and mybody was was literally breaking
apart Because I just could not.
I was super depressed.
I was missing patches of hairbecause my body was telling me
(09:29):
like I cannot sustain thisanymore.
My job was really, reallystressful.
But again, from the outside,looking in, you know, six figure
salary, nice car, everythinglooked amazing.
But I was deeply unhappy, evenmore unhappy than I was in New
York.
So that's when everything kindof hit the fan for me and I like
I quit my job.
I used to take Adderall becauseit was like the only thing that
(09:50):
could get me to even go to thisjob.
You know, people talk about ADD, a lot, adhd, and within
today's society, like almosteveryone has it Right, and I
truly feel that Adderall is justa way to medicate people to
keep working these jobs thatthey absolutely hate, because if
you learn how to work with yourADD or ADHD, it's like a, it's
(10:12):
a really cool gift, you know,and you can get so much done if
you're doing the things that youtruly want to do.
So I was medicated.
I kept taking this Adderall tolike go to this job, and so one
day I just broke down and I saidI can't do this anymore, like
this cannot be life.
And that's literally what Iasked myself Like if this is
life, I don't want to do it.
Like this sucks.
So then I quit my job and I wascoming off the Adderall and I
(10:37):
was lucky enough to be able tolike I got rid of my apartment,
move back home, you know, and Iwas lucky to have that and a lot
of people don't have that.
So I had like a year of justcoming off the Adderall, which
was extremely difficult becauseyour brain does not know how to
pump dopamine on its own anymore.
So you're like depressed.
You know, I was extremelydepressed, to the point where I
(11:00):
would just like stare at theceiling and not even care.
If I woke up the next day, likethat's how bad it was, not that
I would actually do anything,but I didn't.
I felt so hopeless.
And that's actually the sameyear I met my horse, and this is
where I was when I met him andthe way I met him is you know.
I thought to myself, well, whathave I always done that made me
happy?
And it was horses.
So I started volunteering atthis rehoming facility for
(11:22):
thoroughbreds and the crazystory is that my horse actually
got there the same day.
I got there kidding, yeah, andI had no intention of buying a
horse or anything at the time.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I didn't even have a
job, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And um ended up he
got he injured himself on top of
that like usually they weremoving in and out of there so
quickly and like he injuredhimself.
So then we bonded and the ladywas, like, do you want him?
I was like how?
Like I don't even know what I'mgonna do with my life.
But long story short, I wasable to like work some things
off there to board him there andI ended up getting him and
that's when my journey reallybegan.
(11:54):
Like my horse took me fromstaring at the ceiling and not
caring to.
Little by little, he built meup little by little.
He gave me to little by little.
He built me up little by little.
He gave me confidence.
Little by little, you know, Istarted to feel better and
better as I was transitioningoff my old life, like stepping
into my new journey.
So the first thing I did afterthat was started digital,
digital marketing agency,because I've always loved
(12:17):
advertising and marketing and Isaw this is like I think this
was like 2019, right, yeah, 2019.
So there was like a huge shiftwithin like Facebook ads and all
these things going on.
So I wanted to help otherbusinesses like really take
their platforms online and doall these things.
But then, once I was doing that, I realized I didn't really
want to work with customers likeone-on-one like that, and I
(12:41):
wanted to find a way to makemoney where I could have freedom
, because what I really justwanted to do was hang out with
my horses.
I was like, well, how can Imake money just hanging out with
my horses?
And then I realized there was ahuge problem in the clothing
market, because nothing was cute, nothing was comfortable,
everything was like supertraditional, like I would wear
(13:02):
gym clothes to go ride becauseit was just more comfortable,
but then I didn't have stick andall the things that I needed in
the pocket space, you know.
So then we created, I think,equestrian, came about.
Um, our first launch was threeproducts.
Now we have like over 60 and um,he, my horse, once again, like
I give him credit for all of it.
(13:23):
I truly believe that my horselike put seeds into my brain,
like I ask him questions and Iget answers, so that connection
is just so strong and yeah, sothat's how Sync was born.
And here we are and I love whatI do.
I love that, yeah, and now I'mstepping into teaching a course
which is really interesting.
(13:44):
So I've been wanting to do thisfor a very long time.
I was always really scared todo it because, for one, I
thought I needed to build up mycredibility and have the numbers
.
Like I can't just go and say,hey, I want to sell a course on
this, if you don't have thenumbers, I couldn't do it.
So I waited and I waited and Iprobably could have done it,
(14:06):
like two years ago, but I wasreally scared.
And then finally, just lastmonth, you know, I launched my
first course because I want tosee other entrepreneurs,
especially women, like, havethis kind of financial freedom
and time, you know, to do thethings that they love.
And I and I know it's possible.
So that's yeah, that's whereI'm at now.
Long story short, I love that.
And tell us about the course.
What is involved with that?
Yeah, so the course is.
So it's about working withenergy.
(14:27):
But so when I went from six toseven figures, it's because I
started working with the energyof money in particular.
We all have so many subconsciousbeliefs about money that we're
not even aware of and we cannotgo past a certain financial
point unless we address thosesubconscious beliefs and they're
so deeply rooted.
(14:48):
So if you think about it, likeHollywood even, you know, like
all the movies, everything youwatch, it's always like people
with money are evil, people withmoney, or X, y and Z.
Money doesn't grow on treesLike.
We've all heard these thingsthroughout our lives, but it's
actually so far away from thetruth.
Because money, the naturalstate of money, is abundance,
(15:08):
like nature, like rain, right,it's only your limiting beliefs
that are blocking money fromcoming to you in abundance.
So once you crack, you knowwhat those subconscious beliefs
are, money just becomes like aflow.
It just keeps coming and it'samazing.
So once you crack what thosesubconscious beliefs are, money
just becomes like a flow.
It just keeps coming and it'samazing.
So once I started to really getinto that work is when I saw the
biggest shift within mybusiness, which is why I thought
(15:32):
it would be a good first course, because I see a lot of
manifestation courses and allthese things, but no one's
really addressing this.
And this is the most importantpiece that anyone who wants to
bring in more abundance needs tounderstand, because you can do
all the work right.
You couldn't spend freaking 15hour days like doing all the
work, doing all the things.
But until you phase and figureout what those subconscious
(15:55):
beliefs that you have aboutmoney are, you will not be able
to go past a certain point.
And then it becomes we all havea money meter, right.
So we all have a certain amountof money that we're comfortable
making every month.
And I'll give you an example.
So, like when we first firstyear, I had like a really big
month and I was so happy like Icouldn't even believe it.
(16:18):
It was like more than I got inmy yearly salary.
Like I was shocked and I waslike so happy.
But then after that month itstarted to drop down and I
realized it's because, eventhough I was really, really
happy, I, my deep subconsciousbeliefs, were not used to making
that much money and my nervoussystem set off and I got scared
and all of these likesubconscious beliefs about not
(16:39):
being worthy and like justdeeply rooted stuff came up,
which then for the next monthafter that became down in sales.
So I started to notice a yo-yopattern in my sales too, and
that's how I kept getting intothis work and like even now I'm
constantly making our monthsbigger because I'm making that
(17:00):
number that I'm comfortable withbigger and bigger, and bigger,
and it's a process you can keepgoing with, like it's not just
like a one and done and that'sthe beautiful thing.
Like you can literally growyour business into whatever you
want, once you understand how towork with these principles.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah.
Well, the alternative, if youdon't address them, is
self-sabotage and getting inyour own way and, just you know,
not moving forward in yourbusiness right?
Absolutely, absolutely, yeah,and I'm curious, you're
mentioning what is your horse'sname, by the way?
King, king.
I love that.
How has your relationship withKing helped with your confidence
(17:34):
, like it sounds like that'sbeen a journey in and of itself.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Oh my gosh it's still
a journey, because some days
I'm like, but, um, so I got him.
He's huge, he's like this 17hand, dark bay, like horse, and,
um, I just fell in love withhim.
And the crazy thing is, when Ifirst him, I kept referring to
him as her for like a weekstraight.
And this is when I was likereally broken and I was like, oh
(18:01):
my God, he's so, she's sopowerful, she's so elegant,
she's so this, that, and it'sbecause I was seeing myself in
my horse, but I wasn't aware ofthat until recently.
I was like that's why I keptcalling him or her right, that's
how connected we were from theget-go.
And you know, when I first gothim, he was really like, I mean,
(18:23):
he was fresh off the track andhe's huge and he knew it, um, so
he really made me step up andnot and face my fears, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
and it was a journey.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
It didn't happen
overnight.
I mean, I still have days whereI'm like, oh my gosh, like
we're gonna die today, but it'smy fears, you know, and I trust
him.
So he's really helped me stepinto my myself and just knowing
that I can trust myself and alsoletting go of control is the
biggest piece.
Like I took him bitless as soonas I got him off the track and
everybody said I was crazy.
(18:53):
I do too.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
He told me he's like
I want to be bitless.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
As soon as I got him
off the track and everybody said
I was crazy, he told me he'slike I want to be bitless and I
was like I don't know, okay, notraining, you just put it on.
But he was perfectly fine, youknow.
But that's another thing likealways gripping like the reins,
like just letting go, trusting,cantering on a loose rein, doing
everything on a loose rein,really being in tune with myself
(19:16):
.
So when I'm riding my horse,more than anything I'm also
paying attention to my ownenergy.
Where are my thoughts, you know?
Am I with my horse?
Am I paying attention to otherstuff?
Am I thinking about my business?
Like he's become the mostprecious self-awareness tool for
me?
There is.
You know, most preciousself-awareness tool for me, for
(19:37):
me, there is, you know, yeah,you feel their energy under you
and you're so connected in thepresent moment, like, as I'm
sure you know, it's like themost liberating, powerful,
freeing feeling.
You just get goosebumps, likethere's nothing I can compare to
that, you know, and I thinkthat's why we're so addicted to
horses, because they give us.
They give us so much that wecan't even put into words, I
think.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Absolutely no.
I couldn't agree with you more.
And I know they read so muchabout us, like to your point of
just self awareness, and youknow reading each other like I
don't.
We, I take my, we go for walksand you know I'll be walking
with him.
No rains, no, nothing, and wejust walk together, side by side
.
You know, and as soon as myphone buzzes and I pick up my
(20:20):
phone and I'm distracted, he'sinstantly distracted and it's
like we lose that connectionimmediately and it's like, okay,
back to you know, refocus,reconnected.
And you mentioned that you doLiberty also and from, like I
said, most people listening.
This is new to them, can you?
tell us a bit about what that is, what that looks like, yeah, it
just looks like working with my.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I look at it like
energy.
I work through a field ofenergy.
There's no force, I tune intohis energy, he tunes into my
energy and we dance that's thebest way I can put it and it's
like energetic dance dance, youknow, and I draw him in and I
draw him and we're just vibing.
Um, so there's and there'snothing wrong with people who
(21:02):
like to compete and do all thesethings if you're doing it
correctly, like.
Another thing I'm reallypassionate about is the
biomechanics of a horse.
I think 99% of horses do nothave to correct biomechanics to
do the things that they do, evenon Olympic level.
So, bringing awareness to that,and you know, there's um, like
one lady who we work with, myfriend celeste.
She has a program called thebalance through movement method
(21:24):
and her program has transformedmy horse in ways that I can't
even tell you, and not just him,like thousands of horses, and
it's such a revolutionaryapproach.
So one our dragon breaches, forexample, our collaboration with
her and her program, and it'sbecause I really want to get her
program out there, even for ourcustomers.
I think every person shouldknow about the things that she's
(21:46):
teaching, because it's justmind-blowing.
The horses are just so muchmore comfortable in their bodies
and they're using themselvescorrectly, so they can do all
the things we ask them to do.
You know, and um, yeah, sothat's another thing that I
guess is like syncs mission,just really bringing awareness
to that stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah, awesome,
awesome.
And looking back over yourbusiness, I mean we've talked
about a bunch of this, but whatare some gaps that you see that
other people don't do with theirbusiness?
That could really help them.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Staying original and
not being in a mindset of
competition like a fear set.
I would say that comes fromfear.
I think a lot of people, whenthey see someone successful,
they just try to copy theirblueprint instead of doing what
they should be doing.
Because I think the reason somebusinesses are really
successful and others are not isbecause they're following their
(22:45):
own intuition on what theyshould be doing.
It's intuitive decision-making.
It's, in my case, intuitivedesigning.
It's everything is so alignedto me versus like looking at, oh
, like this brand is doingreally well, let me take that
and put my logo on it and justchange it a little bit.
Or let me copy their fabricsand stuff like that and just put
(23:05):
my stuff on it.
Like you just have to be reallyoriginal from A to Z, not just
copy some and then add your ownthing to it.
Because when you're original,that's what will set you apart.
People feel that energy.
I truly believe that ourcustomers feel the energy in our
breaches.
There's like magic woven intoit.
I believe that and it's becauseit's so intentional, so
(23:27):
original to my mission and whatwe want to do, that people pick
up on that.
So if you have a business, ifyou're true to yourself and
you're in alignment withyourself and you're making
intuitive decisions and not fearbased decisions, you're going
to have a product that willalign with a lot of people,
because that's your gift, youknow yeah yeah, and then you
(23:47):
come through.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
You know everything
that you're doing, like
everything together, and you'veaccomplished a ton in your
business, personally,professionally but how do you
define success?
What does that look like foryou?
Speaker 2 (23:58):
For me, success is
freedom.
I mean, look, I'm very abundantnow and I'm very grateful, but
what I like about it the most isfreedom to wake up and do what
I want.
Freedom of time, you know,being able to spend my time the
way I want it.
That is true success to me,Because if I even if I were
(24:21):
making what I'm making now and Iwas working 40 hour weeks, I
would not be happy.
I think being able to crack thecode of how to create something
where you have free time for memeans success absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
And if you had the
attention of the whole world for
five minutes, what would youtell them?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
pay attention to your
thoughts and your emotions,
because that's what's creatingyour reality.
Whether you want to believe itor not, it's science-based.
At this point, and stop playingvictim, because once you start
becoming your own creator, yourlife will change drastically.
But until you realize that youknow you are playing victim and
(25:05):
you change things, it just won't.
You'll stay in the same boat,like.
You can become the captain ofyour boat versus just being the
passenger.
But that takes a level ofawareness and changing your
thoughts and shifting yourenergy.
But you can do it.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You can a hundred
percent do it Okay, but it
requires being intentional andmaking a decision to do that
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
And wanting it like,
how bad do you want it?
Or the thing is, a lot ofpeople want change, I think, but
they're also afraid to come outthe comfort zone because,
whether, wherever they are, evenif it's not good where they are
right now, it's comfortablebecause it's what they know.
So not being afraid to stepinto the unknown and not being
afraid of change and justgetting a little uncomfortable
(25:46):
is also important, because younever know what's going to meet
you on the other side absolutelyawesome and where can people
find you online and check outyour apparel and really just
connect with you?
Yeah, so my personal Instagramis Natalia or Natasha.
Our brand is Sync S-Y-N-C.
Equestrian and you can also getit at SyncEquestriancom and at
(26:08):
SyncEquestrian on Instagram.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Awesome, and we'll
have all the links below for
people to come check you out.
Thank you, yeah, of coursecourse.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Thanks for being on
today thank you so much for
having me my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, and if you
found value in this episode,
please do share it.
That's how people find us, andyou can find me at
sevenfigurebuildercom and I willsee you on the next episode.