Her Hat Is Her Crown; Personal Development For Women

Happy 4th of July America!♥️🤍💙

Our next Essence Exchange speaker is a trauma nurse turned business woman who has been making big waves in the equine industry, 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡!

Melanie Smith is the owner and founder of - the full-service operation focuses on performance horses in disciplines ranging from cutting to roping to racing. At 31 years old, Smith has piloted the company through groundbreaking growth. She grew up a Wichita Falls, Texas, “town kid,” whose parents did not subscribe to her equine endeavors. She began volunteering at a therapeutic riding facility at age 10, and she eventually learned to ride -after cleaning a lot of stalls. She worked for a cutting horse trainer in high school before launching a riding lesson program in college.
After completing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Smith worked in a Trauma Center as an Emergency Room Registered Nurse. At the same time, she was building a successful business selling horses online. After a few years in the nursing field, Smith walked away from all of it to pursue horse sales. At 25, Smith built her business to be The Very Best - and Solo Select Horses began. Since its 2018 inception, Solo Select Horses has led the industry in online horse sales, bolstered by the timely development of The Select Online Sale. Along the way, Solo Select set records, such as the highest selling horse at the Pink Buckle Sale; the highest selling yearling at the NRCHA’s Western Bloodstock Sale; the highest-selling horse ever in online sales with MS Baby Cakes; and the highest selling embryo sold at auction in the Western performance horse industry.
Solo Select went on to acquire a 1,300 recipient mare herd to support her reproduction business, Select Genes, which provides custom ISI services.
At the end of 2023, Smith launched her full-service stallion operation - standing leading stallions Pride And Joy, The Dark Side, This Catt Shines, Metallic Cattack and Plain Cattv.
Smith’s bravery allowed her to pursue her passions but consistent and raw determination to be The Very Best drives her and the Solo Select team through their continued growth.

📝𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: What is YOUR favorite Solo Select horse?

It’s “Silly Saturday.” What random advice y’all got out there?

Things I learned in 2023....

- I am not as strong as I thought I was. 💯
-God never, EVER, leaves. No matter how far you go, he'll be right there waiting for you. 🙌
- You can't be fully restored without being broken.💔
- Beautiful testimonies come out of the hardest circumstances. 😊
- You won't always find relief and deliverance, but you will find redemption.✝️
- Prayers often get answered in the most unlikely ways and miracles show up in the smallest things. 🙏
- How to be a little more patient, a little more accepting and a lot less controlling. 😬
- God is so so good, in every way. His plans are, in fact, better than mine and he absolutely will work everything out for my good even when it doesn't feel good. 🤷‍♀️
- And most importantly, I learned that who I am is 100% ok and I don't need to wonder if I'm good enough. I make a lot of mistakes, but I am certain that God has created me with purpose and given me gifts and qualities that I will use to glorify Him and no one will ever make me question that again. 👊

2023 was a lot of things and I am truly grateful for all of it. Everything I tried to avoid, everything I couldn't change, everything God didn't choose to pull me out of because he knew better...it was hard and it was up and down and all over but I will forever remember this year as one of the most profound in my life that I wouldn't go back and change. If I had known what it would look like, I probably would have opted out, but I would've missed out on the process God needed to take me through to accomplish so many good things for His will. I have so much to be grateful for going into 2024 and I'm going to tackle it with the same positive attitude and open mind that I always do.
Remember y'all, you don't have to start over, you just have to keep going! 💪

Happy New Year and may yours be blessed with God's goodness, grace and mercy and bucket loads of His love! 🎉 Her Hat Is Her Crown

Believe in you!!