A few years ago, Emma Costin was craving a more purpose-driven career. Now, thanks to the help and support of Wyndham City Council, she’s running her own social enterprise, where she designs equine-assisted professional development programs for business leaders.
A lot of people ask Emma this when they learn what she does at EQ Leaders. But if you’re familiar with the concept of equine assisted learning or therapy, you’ll know that horses are highly intelligent creatures and very attuned to people and their emotions.
“Horses don’t care if you’re the CEO or the cleaner, they just respond to your intention and energy, and they act like mirrors that reflect those things back at you,” Emma explains. “That’s what makes this such a safe space to practice leadership and connection and how you relate to others.”
Emma, who has 15 years’ experience in learning and development, notes that horses have their own distinct personalities, just like people. If you don’t make a genuine connection with them as individuals and get them on board with what you want them to do, you won’t get very far—also just like people.
By forcing participants to consider and reflect on their energy, leadership approaches and the response they’re getting from the horses, Emma’s specifically designed activities can inspire profound personal insights and professional growth.
But why practice these strategies with horses instead of people? For one thing, the feedback you get from them is much more direct and obvious than it often is with people. And, for another, “We do our best learning when we’re outside our comfort zone,” Emma says.
After starting her EQ Leaders journey only a couple of years ago, Emma is already making incredible headway with her business. A lot of this she credits to the support she’s received from Wyndham City Council, and her participation in its Innovate to Excelerate program.
“Innovate to Excelerate gave me the confidence to jump in,” she says. “I’d probably still be dabbling in part-time work and not fully invested in the business without it. It gave me a lot of confidence, as well as the coaching, mentoring, tools and connections to move forward.”
In 2023, EQ Leaders won the New & Emerging or Start Up award at the Wyndham Business Awards and received one of the Wyndham City Small Business Innovation Grants.
“That grant was really instrumental in getting us off the ground,” Emma says. “We put it towards innovative marketing and really being clear on what our mission and values are.
“So I really feel and value everything the council has provided to get us off the ground. They want me to do well, and they want me to succeed, and it feels very genuine and supportive.”
After receiving so much help and support from her local council, Emma was delighted to be invited to consult on the themes and priorities for its upcoming WYNnovation Festival in May. She did this as part of a group of stakeholders, entrepreneurs and other local business owners.
“We all shared ideas about what we thought were the important problems to be addressing for the business community, and what we needed to be fostering,” she says. “It was amazing to have the council ask for our insights and what we thought, and to help shape what the festival is going to be.
“The overarching theme that came out of that was ‘Human Connection’, which is just so exciting for me, because I really formed my business around that need for human connection and engagement.”
The WYNnovation Festival is on during the week of 13-17 May.
“The Pitch Competition asks businesses: How might we future-proof our growing Wyndham community?” Emma says. “It’s calling for entries from entrepreneurs with a ground-breaking idea or business that aligns with one or more of the festival’s core goals, which are collaboration, inclusivity, and human connection.”
In the morning and afternoon of Tuesday 14 May, EQ Leaders will be running two four-hour masterclasses at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre. The activities Emma is designing for these will focus on celebrating diversity, and working with others.
“The WYNnovation Festival is an opportunity for innovation, connection and collaboration, and to be inspired to step outside the limits that we habitually give ourselves,” she says. “So I’m really, really excited to be working with all of the local trailblazing businesses and opening up their minds to the possibilities that they can achieve in the year ahead and beyond.”
Wyndham is one of Australia’s fastest growing municipalities – its population is expected to reach 500,000 by 2040. Strategically located midway between the Melbourne CBD and the City of Greater Geelong, Wyndham City is a business and investment destination representing unparalleled opportunity with the scale of its growth and the diverse qualification and skillset of its community. The city is home to more than 32,000 ABN registered businesses, and one of seven national employment and innovation clusters, the Werribee NEIC including East Werribee. Wyndham City Council is hard at work designing precincts, building the infrastructure, developing the policies and delivering the programs that will ensure the City is prepared for the future.
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