The Through Line: Avocation to Vocation

Holly Carter

Interior Designer to Non-Profit Founder

At 61 Holly Carter retired from a successful interior design business she had created 15 years prior. Holly’s dream, though she had no way of knowing it then, began in childhood. She always loved horses. One of her early experiences was with a horse that came from a neighboring farm: the family who owned the farm had a horse they could no longer afford to keep. She was given this horse to care for and her passion for these four-legged creatures grew. As Holly matured, got married and had a family, she continued spending time around and caring for horses as a hobby. When a divorce left her in a financial predicament she was forced to create a source of income and did so by starting an interior design business. During the time she was building her business she didn’t have the leisure time or money to spend caring for horses. Eventually though, as her design business expanded and she became more successful, she starting buying racehorses that were no longer able to race and were being put out to pasture - literally - to ride out their days: many had arthritis and other injuries related to their days of racing. While during their prime the price for these magnificent creatures would have been out of reach, they were now affordable so Holly started buying them to give them THEIR next act - living out their days in comfort, being well-cared for.

Holly eventually left the design business to focus solely on a non-profit thoroughbred adoption program she started. She found this new vocation, which also incorporated her avocation, incredibly fulfilling and even spiritual. Horses had always offered comfort and support throughout her life and she felt a need to give that back to them for the contribution they made - and continue to make - to enrich her life.

My note: Though you don’t know it at the time, if you hark back to childhood and consider the things you really loved, you may find they still resonate and discover how you can put those passions into practice at this stage.

Inspired? Please join me in our private fb community for more conversation and to take steps towards creating your Next Act! I’d love to connect!