Right now, Hold Your Horses is just a seedling of a personal portfolio. I have no rigid intention for its final form, but one day, I hope it blossoms into something much greater than myself. The idea hatched shortly after my Granny’s passing in 2019.

Granny was the matriarch of our family. She was born in the rural South during the Great Depression. Her father was her hometown’s pastor and he frowned upon Granny’s love for Jazz music, smoking cigarettes, and barefoot dancing with her friends “across the tracks.” She was disowned by her family after announcing her first pregnancy at 16. She left home in search of any means to support herself.

First, she ran a collections agency out of her single-wide trailer. Then in the 60s, with the help of my father’s father, she built a local vending machine empire. They first operated the business out of the trailer, but as the company expanded and more employees were hired, they moved operations into an old WWII airplane hanger. The rest is history, as they say.

In her time, she was a groundbreaking maverick. A female businesswoman in a world dominated by men. She was fearless, feisty, and fierce. She was what some might have called “bossy,” or perhaps another “b” word.

I spent many of my early days playing in the airplane hanger/vending machine warehouse alongside my father and Granny (who I should clarify were hard at work and reluctant participants in my play). My Granny would tell me to hold my horses whenever I’d become impatient, agonizing for one of them to get off the phone and acknowledge me. As a young child, I didn’t know what the phrase meant and I would give a sassy rebuttal of, “but I don’t have any horses to hold!” (hoping deep down that she’d gift me a pony out of spite. She did not).

As I grew up and entered the professional world, the true meaning of the phrase “hold your horses” revealed itself. It wasn’t about literally picking up a few miniature horses and holding them tight to your chest, as I had formerly visualized. “Hold” meant “to hold the reins of,” so "holding your horses” just means … slow down. You’re going too fast and there’s no need.

In the modern age, in every line of work, in every aspect of our lives, we are rushing to get someplace. To complete a project. To put an idea on the assembly line. To hit an arbitrary milestone. We want instant gratification. We must constantly improve our speed and efficiency. But if you run a mental marathon every day for the 60 years, will you have savored your life? Or will you by exhausted by the end of it and dying to get off the ride?

Remember: everyone’s story has the same ending. Enjoy the view, you’ll get there when you get there.
Hold Your Horses.